[1554] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
two-way discussion about flags
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Ray Jones)
Tue Feb 10 13:10:17 2004
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 12:38:49 -0500
From: Ray Jones <thouis@MIT.EDU>
To: MIT-Talk@MIT.EDU
The "not-getting-it" quote of the day is brought to you by Benjamin
Navot '07, on the issue of hanging flags outside dorm windows.
Mr. Navot was on the Ad-Hoc Flag Committee.
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From the Tech article (2004/2/10):
"Things on the outside of a building aren't a two-way medium. They're
not a discussion. It's just a statement.
[Goler's Israeli flag is] just an in-your face thing, and that's not
what personal expression should be about. He just wanted to state
things and not to have a reply. It become almost harrassing in a
sense."
----------
It's a good thing we have people like Mr. Navot and Julie Norman to
look out for us. I'd hate to see someone express an idea that
offended me, and not have the opportunity to respond. Bonus points
for bringing up harassment. That's always good for justifying
limiting speech for the wrong reasons.
Justified by the report from the Flag Committee, next time I see a
poster in the hallway that I disagree with, I'll be sure to deface it
in big, bold letters. Because, after all, it's not fair unless it's a
"two-way medium." Also, I think I'll run a different flag up the pole
in Killian. Finally, I really prefer that lobby 7 read "entertainment
and hacking". Anyone want to help me change it permanently, in the
interest of two-way communication?
Haven't these people heard of the usual way of dealing with ideas that
differ from their views, e.g., ignoring it, getting your own flag,
sending mail to mit-talk? The principles espoused by these people
have no business in a place of learning. Julie Norman should be
especially ashamed, as she's the Associate Dean for Academic Resources
and Programming. One would think she would stand up for ideas that in
some way resembled academia's goals, instead of parrotting this
"students are too dumb to think for themselves" crap.
Ray Jones
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