[314] in libertarians
Re: Someone really did make a complaint "MIT policy is harassment itself"
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Vernon Imrich)
Thu Oct 13 17:25:48 1994
Date: Thu, 13 Oct 94 17:19:38 -0400
From: vimrich@flying-cloud.mit.edu (Vernon Imrich)
To: theobald@duke.cs.mcgill.ca
Cc: libertarians@MIT.EDU
Here is the first post, which was sent only to the safe@mit list:
From sethf@MIT.EDU Thu Oct 13 10:12:42 1994
Subject: Someone really did make a complaint "MIT policy is harassment itself"
Status: RO
I've found people frequently say, in semi-jest, "The MIT
harassment policy qualifies as harassment by its own standards", and
suggest that someone file a compaint of this type. It turns out that
this has in fact been done (by several people, actually), so it's not
just a joke or urban legend. However, it wasn't very effective. One
person who did this has given permission to to put the letter,
and the response received, in the safe locker [see the file
/mit/safe/writings/harass-policy-is-harassment]. I thought I'd pass it
along to the list, since the concept comes up so often, and it might
help to see 1) It's been done and 2) The response (basically, "we make
the decisions, and we've decided you don't have a case against us")
================
Seth Finkelstein
sethf@mit.edu
Date: Thu, 05 May 92 18:15:27
From: <name deleted at author's request for fear of political retaliation>
To: stopit
Subject: I'm being harrassed!
I find the anti-harrasment poster about to be put in Athena clusters
to be offensive. I have carefully considered the four questions:
- Did the incident actually take place?
Yes. See MIT Policies & Procedures, Section 3.16.
- Did it cause stress that affected your ability, or the ability of
others, to work or study?
Yes. The existence of vague, threatening policies that can be
unfairly applied by the whim of a single administrator, with no
precedent to guide him/her and no method of appeal, causes me a great
deal of stress.
- Was it unwelcome behavior?
Yes. MIT did not warn me in its acceptance letter that such
irrational policies would exist.
- Would a reasonable person of your gender/race/religion subjected to
this behavior find it unacceptable?
Absolutely. All reasonable people, of any gender, race, or religion,
find the current harrasment policy unacceptable and offensive.
Certainly, a real problem exists. The current policy attempts to
solve it by instilling fear and silence in the MIT community, instead
of setting forth a coherent system of guidelines by which actions can
be judged and punished.
<name & address deleted>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 21 May 92 15:57:35
From: gjackson@MIT.EDU (Gregory A Jackson)
To: <name deleted at author's request for fear of political retaliation>
Subject: Your mail to stopit@mit.edu
Cc: keyser@MIT.EDU, mrowe@MIT.EDU, cgwm@MIT.EDU
You wrote to stopit@mit.edu (a mailing list for reporting incidents of
possible harassment, which is read by several senior Information Systems
managers) about the posters Information Systems recently placed in
Athena clusters. You asserted that the posters themselves constitute
harassment.
Our motivation in placing the posters in the clusters was to encourage
people who think they may be targets of harassment to use the resources
available at MIT in deciding how to handle a situation and to point them
towards these MIT resources. The posters reiterate MIT policy, which is
that "harassment of any kind is unacceptable at MIT and in conflict with
the interests and policies of the Institute." Stating policy does not,
in itself, constitute harassment in any sense that requires
administrative action from Athena or Information Systems.
Your mail makes it clear that you disagree with the current statement
and implementation of MIT's harassment policy, finding that it
constrains your ability to speak and act as you wish.
The current policy emerged from extensive discussion within the MIT
community. It attempts to balance the diverse interests of different
groups and individuals at MIT, and to recognize that with rights come
responsibilities. The balancing of interests inevitably leads to
constraints on individuals; such, often, is the nature of social
contracts.
If you would like to understand better how MIT's harassment policy
balances diverse interests, or, even better, to suggest ways that the
policy might be improved in this regard, then I am sure that Professor
S. Jay Keyser, the Associate Provost for Institute Life, will be happy
to hear your ideas and see that they are reflected in policy debate.
Alternatively, you might want to speak with either Mary Rowe or Clarence
Williams, who are Special Assistants to the President.
Gregory A Jackson
Director of Academic Computing
Copies:
S.J. Keyser
M.P. Rowe
C.G. Williams
