Search All of the Math Forum:
Views expressed in these public forums are not endorsed by
Drexel University or The Math Forum.
|
|
|
|
Re: Dr. Dwight Duffus
Posted:
Jun 26, 1996 11:22 AM
|
|
Please avoid crossposting this thread to SOC.CULTURE.PAKISTAN.
Headers appropriately modified.
Thank you.
Saif Al-Shirawi.
Allen Adler (adler@pulsar.wku.edu) wrote:
: Robert Salesas writes, with considerable justification based on the
: information available to him:
: > root@mathcs.emory.edu (Admin) wrote:
: >
: > >While we find these forgeries reprehensible and realize that Mr.
: > >Isley was not responsible, we have decided to move out of the
: > >battleground and have asked Mr. Isley to vacate this guest account.
: >
: > It is extremely disappointing to see that you have absolutely no
: > interest in the defense of speech on the Internet. Mr. Isley's that
: > is. If this is all it takes to silence an institution with your
: > reputation, we are in very serious trouble.
: In reply, he will probably receive the same emailed explanation from
: the Emory department that I and others received after posting
: condemnations of the Emory department, i.e. that Isley's status
: was such that he was not entitled to an account in the first place
: and that this was the real reason it was taken away.
: While the official description of Isley's status and lack of
: rights to an account might be accurate, my experience is that
: rules about these things are not hard and fast at most
: universities. They only become hard and fast when it becomes
: expedient for them to be. Nothing is more expedient than getting
: rid of a person of marginal status if that will clear up a problem.
: Accordingly, I am dissatisfied with the explanation I received
: by email. I also feel that the explanation given by the Emory
: math department in the posting to which Robert Salesas is replying
: does not do them credit. Basically, they just say that Jan Isley
: is in the middle of some controversy and that they didn't want to
: get involved. Again, they are depicting themselves in a way that
: makes it seem as though all they care about is expediency.
: However, there is another aspect of this matter. That concerns
: what the controversy was that Jan Isley was in the middle of.
: According to the Emory posting, Jan Isley was a vote taker for
: a vote as to whether to create soc.culture.kashmir. In an active
: thread that has appeared on this and other newsgroups, evidence
: was presented to the effect that Jan Isley had falsified some
: of the votes in that election. If that were the case, then
: this would have been perfectly good grounds for terminating.
: In view of the seriousness of these charges and the apparent
: availability of evidence, I decided to withdraw my complaints
: about the decision of the Emory math department to terminate
: his account.
: As for the administrative mindset that their posting and
: their email reveal, that is another matter. I generally prefer
: honesty, but I can understand that if they terminate his account
: on the grounds that he allegedly did something unethical, they are
: slightly more likely to face a lawsuit than if they take it away
: because he had no right to one in the first place. So it is
: expedient to give the reason that exposes them to the least
: danger of litigation. Again, it all comes down to expediency.
: Whether those were their motives, I can't say. But at any rate
: I no longer condemn them for taking away his account.
: Allan Adler
: adler@pulsar.cs.wku.edu
|
|
|
|
