On Fri, 2005-03-25 at 23:29 -0700, Andrew McNabb wrote: > I mean that seriously. Put some thought into it, write a thoughtful > draft, and good things will happen. We're all on the same side.
I suggest the following text and policy: ================ The BYU UUG has a long and proud history of fostering lively debate while maintaining a civil atmosphere. In recent years, however, problems have increasingly arisen as the community has grown and diversified. In an attempt to foster open discussion, while preserving a non-hostile environment, the following policy has been defined. The focus of this policy is education, not punishment. This exact text will be included with all public or private notifications of action. Public notification is perferred both to maintain transparency of leadership and serve as education or reminder to other list members. While private reminders may be sent at the discretion of list administrators, actions with public consequence, such as removal from the list, should always be accompanied by public notification. In general, first offenses against this policy will result in a public reminder that the behavior was inappropriate. Second offenses will result in removal from the list. List administrators have the option of occasionally extending additional warnings. Obviously flagrant attacks on the community will result in immediate removal. A time limit is specifically not defined. Violator's should expect that offense will be remembered for a very long time. List administrator's should be lenient and err toward reasonably short time limits. Previous behavior and reputation may be considered when administering this policy, but must specifically be cited by list administrator's when serving notification. Spam will result in immediate removal and banning from the list. Impersonal messages with a good chance of being welcome, such as job offers or calls to political action, should be sent to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for approval. Vulgar and profane language is unwelcome on the list. Acceptable language is defined according to the ulra-conservative norms of BYU. While a list member might not be officially removed until a second offense, posters should be aware that a single offense may result in individual list members adding the poster to their kill file. Creation of a hostile environment will not be tolerated. Attacking ideas is acceptable, but attacking people is not. Personal attacks are almost invariably a sign that the attacker is unable to defend his or her opinion; they weakens any argument. Nonetheless, list members are reminded that there is a difference betwen "your idea is stupid because" and "you are stupid because"; do not assume offense where none is intended. Private behavior and personal opinion must never be included in decision making. A tension betweeen certain aspects of this policy is acknowledge; it is intended that human intelligence will be brought to bare in resolving the tension appropriately. Transparency of action is vital to serve as a check and to create a feedback system. ================ You will note that I specifically did not include "though shalt not criticize Church doctrine or BYU policy". I would prefer that debate of such topics occur here where many will be capable of defending them instead of in other forums. Both sides, however, will be equally responsible for doing so in a non-hostile way. -- Stuart Jansen e-mail/jabber: [EMAIL PROTECTED] "XML is like violence: if it doesn't solve your problem, you aren't using enough of it." - Chris Maden
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