CAS Water Cooler - Summary Please- What gives?

[Anonymous]

I only came here (to the "rebel board") after being unable to suppress a desire to post on the CAS website...but it appears that there's some brew-ha-ha stirring with regard to the Water Cooler section---the net result being that noone can register to post...

Can anyone encapsulate the cause or the controversy and give me the dirt?

[Flora]

There have been several spates of "inappropriate" posts, usually showing up in large numbers all at once by a small number of individuals. The COOS was trying to figure out what to do with the WC and one of the things they did to try to mitigate the problem was limiting new registrations. Even though automatic registration was eliminated, some people have succeeded in registering by contacting the CAS office directly and providing information on their real identity. Apparently this is now going to be the only way to register (from what I can gather based on discussion of the meeting of the COOS on Monday).

[Anonymous]

Thanks Flora! Since I believe there are no absolutes with regard to "inappropriate"-- that its a personal line that's drawn by each and every individual-- can you tell me who or what was making that subjective value judgement and what was being said that was deemed by that particular individual or group of individuals to be "inappropriate."

-Love, Fauna

p.s. I'm gathering that the arbitrary value judgment was being made by the COOS...but I don't know what that is and I'm guessing it doesn't refer to the way Quentin Tarrantino uses it in the opening diner scene of resevoir dogs. Whatsa "COOS"?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ODB@WuTang.com on 2001-11-29 08:30 ]</font>

[Maine-iac]

COOS: Committee on Online Services

Its just my perception, but it seems that "inappropriate", while vague, encompasses
1) ethnic or religious slurs (of the type that would make a CAS attorney blanch), though NOT heated religious discussions. Citations of Augustine and Thomas Aquinas may fly at will. "You are going to burn in hell" may not.
2) Sexual and drug use references that would make the CAS president blush if a golfing buddy were to say on the course one afternoon "Hey, I was surfing the CAS watercooler last night, and whoa, baby!"

Mild flirts and games seem to be very annoying to some posters, but not particularly frowned on by COOS.

[Flora]

Pretty much what Maine-iac said, near as I can tell, though I doubt "you are going to burn in hell" would result in a reprimand.

The way it has worked so far is that no one is specifically monitoring the WC, but if someone is particularly insulted or disgusted or offended, they might write a note to the COOS and ask that a post be removed. Then a member of the COOS might decide to look around and get rid of more stuff, and people may be warned or, if they have already been warned, removed.