On Fri, Mar 25, 2005 at 12:26:43PM -0700, Stuart Jansen wrote: > I know we joke about this being a dictatorship, but that was an > inappropriate decision. Micheal was a long time contributor with many > interesting and useful things to say. Even if he hadn't been, a > warning of some type would have been more appropriate than banning him > without consulting the group. His language may have pushed the > envelope for a BYU setting, but I've heard it uttered on campus and > the person wasn't stoned or run off.
I'd like to make a few comments about this topic.
First, the decision was made among all of the officers, and was
unanimous (this includes tuxgirl and all the rest, for those of you who
are trying to turn this into a campaigning thread).
Second, it's not a permanent ban. This is the only way to knock someone
on the head and say, "Look, we take this seriously." If Michael would
email us and say, "I'm sorry. I realize that it was inappropriate. I
won't do it again," we would reinstate him. In times past (since before
I was a UUG officer--check the list archives for November 2003), this
was the same action taken, and the reason is that people that write
offensive emails tend to do it several times in a row. We have to have
a way to tell them to chill.
If any of you read Michael's response, you can see a really bad attitude
("I'm willing to accept that I'm just not BYU-approved material"). I
think he likes to be a martyr (check the archives for the last time he
got in a huge fight and left the list in a storm). I have a hard time
seeing him come back and apologize and commit to better behavior, but if
he does, I'm more than happy to put him back on the list. With his
current attitude, I would feel irresponsible signing him back up on the
list.
> I think it's time we had official policy on list subscriptions and
> dealing with problems. Autocratic banning just isn't appropriate,
> especially for such a minor offense.
This was not a decision made by any single person. It was made by
elected officers of the UUG. This is not the first time Michael has
made a stink, and we have had several complaints about his behavior on
the list, including at least one person who isn't on the UUG list
because of receiving what they feel to be abusive treatment from him.
If Michael wants to rejoin the list, I'm happy to let him. All he has
to do is commit to following BYU standards--to follow the rules. I'm
responsible to the school for making sure that things are kept
reasonable, and I'm trying to do the best I can. If we all try to
respect each other and use common sense, we can keep the list pleasant
and inviting.
--
Andrew McNabb
http://www.mcnabbs.org/andrew/
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