[1397] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
No subject found in mail header
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Peter Finin)
Mon Feb 17 18:09:16 2003
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 16:48:22 -0500
From: Peter Finin <pfinin@GRASP.CIS.UPENN.EDU>
To: MIT-Talk@MIT.EDU
chris possinger wrote:
> Hello,
> If you have had the chance to pick up the Tech today, you may
> have read the article "Fall Planning Shifts Away from Housing." This is
> just another example of the administration's continual disregard for the
> opinions of the students. I have had enough, and the Institute has had
> enough. Petitions, one-off emails, and isolated phone calls, are nice in
> theory, but, as evidenced by today's article, they just don't work.
> The only thing that we have left is to co-ordinate en masse. If you
> think that the administration is doing the wrong thing regarding
> Orientation, and you want to make a difference, join academy@mit.edu
> (blanche academy -a yourusername), and we will get the administration's
> attention, or get fined trying.
> Planning will start on the list today at 6 pm, and hopefully
> will result in the first "event" on Tuesday. All opinions and
> commitment levels welcome, and the group will be steered by a general
> consensus, but activities will surely include mass email witting and/or
> phone calling and public demonstration. "When the kids are all united,
> they will never be divided."
As a crusty alumnus who was at MIT when Kruger died, and was involved in
a lot of the first round of protests when the FOC decision came out, I
wish you luck. The administration has a huge time advantage over the
students on issues like this - first because you are all hosed and have
very little time to do anything about it, and second because a generation
of students goes by every 4 years, allowing them to ratchet their changes
through in small steps without ever getting the students so riled up that
they'll take the strong action about it.
Unfortunately, as far as the rules governing how MIT is run go, you
don't have much power. As Jeremy Brown suggested, to have any real
effect, you will have to be willing to break the rules, and to be willing
to suffer the consequences. Looking back on my time at MIT, one of my few
regrets is that I wasn't willing to put more on the line to defend what is
undoubtedly one of MIT's strongest points - its vibrant and wonderful
housing system. Don't let this be your regret.
Another thing - don't make the mistake of refering to students as "kids"
and faculty/adminstrators as "adults". Don't let them make this mistake
either. You are (almost all) legal adults. Insist on being respected as
such. If you refer to yourselves as kids, you only encourage them to
think of you as kids. And as long as they think of you as kids, they
won't respect your right to make decisions for yourself, let alone for
MIT.
> Chris Possinger
-Peter Finin
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Documentation on the use of the mailing lists mit-talk, all-talk,
mit-news, housing-talk, and the mit-talk Zephyr class is available at:
http://web.mit.edu/institvte/talk/
