[203] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
thoughts on making change at MIT
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Aimee L Smith)
Wed Apr 25 12:32:42 2001
Message-Id: <200104251632.MAA12765@gold.mit.edu>
To: SMITH <cdsmith@MIT.EDU>
cc: Brad Ito <bito@MIT.EDU>, mit-talk@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Wed, 25 Apr 2001 05:23:45 EDT."
<200104250923.FAA24721@quickstation-2.mit.edu>
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Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 12:32:07 -0400
From: Aimee L Smith <alsmith@MIT.EDU>
I agree with Chris and Brad that we could do a lot more. Having
inspiring leaders never hurts, but I also think we as students
need to think carefully and strategize when we want to go for
something. Everyone's busy schedules makes it tough, but
actually organizing and building up the network of people
involved is a powerful way to make meaningful change. Our
strength is directly proportional to our level of organization
and to the extent of our networks.
Think about it from an admin's p.o.v. Random student A walks into the office
and complains about problem x suggesting y. Random student B walks in a few
days later complains about x but suggests z. y and z are not
completely orthogonal, but it still
i.) puts the work of figuring out a plan on the administrator
ii.) gives the administrator the opportunity to split the concerned
students against each other and do nothing or make changes that
NO students support. It opens us up to classic divide and conquer rule.
Now, you will find a range of personalities of people in administrative
positions. They range from those who consider all students "kids" in contrast
to their view of themselves as "experts" and therefor not needing to
really hear from students, to outright hostility to students who think
they have the right to seek changes in their own living and learning
environment, to those who are actually good solid human beings who do all
they can within the constraints of keeping their job (which may involve
keeping a boss of the former mentioned types happy and always
involves minimizing negative publicity and potential lawsuits of any
kind... they are all pressured to be risk averse...) (And note that which
administrator is of which type depends a lot on what is important to
you and the particular issue at hand.)
Now picture that a broad collection of students hashes out their differences
in resolutions to problem x. They now have a unified consensus solution
to problem x that has been strengthened by this process of considering
cost/benefit analyses of different strategies, etc. Now they are a
force that can't be splintered. They may still be defeated, but they
will have much better bargaining power than that of isolated students randomly
lobbying administrators.
One last comment on "leaders." At MIT, we generally need people to pick up
the ball when it comes to keeping things organized in terms of setting
up meetings and reminding folks and doing background work. For reasons
mentioned above about administrator's constraints, this should really
only be done by students if it is something that the administration
doesn't already support (or isn't already scrambling to look concerned
about due to recent publicity or litigation.) But b/c folks at MIT
are also fairly independent and generally quite competent, "leadership"
may be more effective if done in a facilitation type frame-work, rather
than a top-down hierarchy framework. Students already feel like we
have a lot of authority figures in our lives and having to take on
peers as additional ones can be a deterrent to joining organizations. But
if we can figure out how to form groups focused on issues that are
based on the empowerment of everyone involved and, as always, lots of respect
and appreciation for those taking on the tiresome tasks of keeping
things rolling, then it can be a win-win process toward getting the
change that is sought. Let's not wait around for an MLK or Emma
Goldman to get us moving. Pick something you are concerned about and figure
out who else out there is also concerned and organically build up the network
to work on making that change. And I am sure the deans and administrators on
this list would have to agree that that is also an important part of your
education as effective scientists/engineers/professionals, and certainly as
citizens of any meaningful democracy.
In hope,
Aimee
______________________________________________________________________
The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the
oppressed.
- Steve Biko
