Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!decwrl!shelby!polya!waters From: waters@polya.Stanford.EDU (Jim Waters) Newsgroups: news.admin Subject: Re: posting privileges Message-ID: <7592@polya.Stanford.EDU> Date: 10 Mar 89 18:45:16 GMT References: <7526@pyr.gatech.EDU> Sender: Jim Waters Reply-To: waters@polya.Stanford.EDU (Jim Waters) Distribution: usa Organization: very little, actually Lines: 42 In article <7526@pyr.gatech.EDU> gus@pyr.gatech.EDU (gus Baird) writes: > >Addressing some more points that have come up in responses... > >Ok, who decides who's an irresponsible user? Inspecting 40,000 undergrads >is not the kind of work a sysadmin can do. So you want to give every one >of them one free bite? One percent irresponsible new users means 400 >trash postings from one big school, if you catch and discipline after one >offense. And there will be another 12,000 next year. And the next... I suspect part of the reason that the flood you seem to be predicting hasn't arrived, although a fair number of major universities now give their undergraduates posting privileges, is simply that most random undergraduates don't go to the trouble to figure out netnews. If you are worried about the flood, simply don't advertise. If worst comes to worst, have any user who wants to post come to some office, give them a sheet of net rules, and have them sign some form before you allow them to post. That will discourage random postings on a whim, but still allow the undergraduates that really have something to say to do so. It will also insure they have at least SEEN some of the posting guidelines in advance. >Before you trip out on silliness like "patronizing", and so on, just >how can it be so wicked to suggest that a 13-year-old may not be mature? >Do you think we are *born* mature? I deal with more freshmen that most >Tech profs do, and I cannot afford, for *their* sakes, to assume they >are fully mature. If freshmen are treated like children, they will act like children. Then when they become sophomores, they will still act the same. If you continue to treat them like kids, they won't get any better, and they'll become immature juniors. Pretty soon, you're treating the seniors like kids, and they're playing along. Really, if you want people to be responsible, give them some responsibility. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Waters UUCP: decwrl!polya.stanford.edu!waters waters@polya.stanford.edu BITNET: waters%umunhum.stanford.edu@stanford -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Waters UUCP: decwrl!polya.stanford.edu!waters waters@polya.stanford.edu BITNET: waters%umunhum.stanford.edu@stanford