Dear Susan and Edequity List:
First, I apologize for anything I may have done to make others feel the
recent interchanges have been unproductive. That said, I want to suggest
a slightly different view of those interchanges and how to structure
Edequity discussions. I am replying to the list, not the admin, for
specific reasons.
First, I think a certain amount of conflict is not only inevitable but
healthy--it sharpens minds as well as tongues--on both sides of an
issue.
Second, this is a public list and is archived publicly. Thus when
interested students or distraught parents, or teachers of goodwill look
for information on a subject that this list covers, such as Title IX,
they right away find Edequity messages and participants.
Therefore, it is useful to have issues discussed and argued in public.
The contributions will end up in term papers, dissertations, debates,
news stories, conferences, teach-ins, T-shirt slogans, legislation,
lawsuits, and lesson plans across the world.
And furthermore,we should pose each message as something that might be
used, thought about, quoted--and misused. Each piece should generally be
short, succinct, and self-explanatory--especially as Edequity has lopped
the participant name off the incoming message and lopped off the message
to which the participant was replying. (I am not objecting to these
changes; I'm just pointing out the need for more exact writing in
responses--explain what you are adding to, responding to, objecting to,
etc. This can be done without giving your opponent more air time.)
And each message should have at least one wider audience than the one
to which you are ostensibly replying. For example, I get a lot of
requests for high school term paper information; high schoolers are a
very educable bunch of future activists. Our messages on Edequity should
be understandable to them.
Finally, we should pay attention to the medium--really, people are
very
busy,and and a message of opinion that is longer than a screenful is
usually flicked out into cyberspace unread. (If you got this far, you
probably noticed I am trying to do this but not always succeeding.)
Have a good week,
Linda Purrington
Title IX Advocates
lpurring@earthlink.net
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