Regarding Our Recent Hiatus
On Thursday, November 10, we received a comment that stated, "The school is looking into filing an injunction to have this blog removed from the internet." After various readers questioned the legitimacy of this claim, we received yet another post which said, "The rumor about the injunction is a fact and the school['s] lawyers are going to argue that [this site is] making defamatory remarks about Jeff Bullock and the school's administration."
Because we were unable to assess the accuracy of these claims, and because we had received reports of a number of more specific alleged threats, we decided to temporarily suspend access to the site early Friday morning until we could discuss these matters with a legal counselor. Having done so, we are now back up and running.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. We will continue with our postings as usual.
We would like to express how appalled we are at the prospect of the University's administrators threatening us with legal action. We are self-described "students, alums, and others." Why would a university threaten legal action against its current and/or former students, or others associated with it? Especially when the matter at hand is a website? It seems utterly ridiculous, offensive, and a confirmation of our worries.
What is more, we maintain that we have not defamed Dr. Bullock in any way. The figures we have posted regarding his compensation are accurate, and our critical views are obviously matters of opinion. The charges we have made to the effect that the administration's practices cannot be reconciled with the University's mission are points upon which reasonable people can debate.
We wish to reiterate that any factual errors that appear on this site should be reported to us at: whatwendtwrong@yahoo.com.
Thank you,
The Editors
Because we were unable to assess the accuracy of these claims, and because we had received reports of a number of more specific alleged threats, we decided to temporarily suspend access to the site early Friday morning until we could discuss these matters with a legal counselor. Having done so, we are now back up and running.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. We will continue with our postings as usual.
We would like to express how appalled we are at the prospect of the University's administrators threatening us with legal action. We are self-described "students, alums, and others." Why would a university threaten legal action against its current and/or former students, or others associated with it? Especially when the matter at hand is a website? It seems utterly ridiculous, offensive, and a confirmation of our worries.
What is more, we maintain that we have not defamed Dr. Bullock in any way. The figures we have posted regarding his compensation are accurate, and our critical views are obviously matters of opinion. The charges we have made to the effect that the administration's practices cannot be reconciled with the University's mission are points upon which reasonable people can debate.
We wish to reiterate that any factual errors that appear on this site should be reported to us at: whatwendtwrong@yahoo.com.
Thank you,
The Editors
posted by WhatWendtWrong at 1:21 AM
5 Comments:
Should a university really be spending student tuition money and alumni gifts for attorney’s fees to even consider prosecuting a group of “concerned students, alums, and others” who are simply posting publicly-available information about the university on a website?
I think an important point is that the repressive atmosphere on the UD campus is simply not suited to the principle of open discussion and dissent that is essential to academic life. True, a few departments, like Flight Operations, are able to effectively train students in the absence of open discussion, but this is only the case in such technical programs.
The threats under which UD faculty live, with "tenure" being an open joke on campus, make scholarship difficult if not impossible. For example, science faculty are now pressured to consider "Intelligent Design". Noone is safe, and only loyalty to the "King" is rewarded.
Is there any hope for this institution that so many of us love??
According to the law, for something to be found as malicious, defamatory or libelous, the "reporter" of the information must know when the information is reported that the information they are reporting is false, and have been able to "reasonably determine" that such information is misleading and unfactual at the time of publication. This is based on the standard of New York Times Actual Malice, from New York Times v. Sullivan, 326 US 254 (1964). The standard is based on the idea of truth as opposed to the idea of intent. The reporter can have any kind of intent they want, as long as they report truth. So in this instance, I don't think there is any way to establish a malicious intent with this website.
I agree with the above poster about the repressive atmosphere at UD. This University tries to be a lot more conservative christian then it should be. Pressuring faculty to consider intelligent design is ridiculous. I'm not saying that there shouldn't be some mention of it in the classroom, but anymore than a few minutes during a lecture would be too much. In my four years at UD, i found the religious aspect of UD increasingly overbearing. Starting in my freshman year by being prodded to attend lighthouse with the promise of "a lot of hot high school chics are gonna be there"...to my senior year when UPC was prohibited from having "pretend gambling" at one of their events based on pressure from the usual religious fanatics inherent in the UD organization, and im not talking about the casual or even fervent believers in God, just the people who try and push their beliefs on others.
While I do FULLY agree with the previous post against the possible "malicious intent" of this site, I also FULLY disagree with the ideas of UD having a "repressive atmosphere" and "more conservative christian [sic] then [sic] it should be."
The UD Mission and Values state "The University of Dubuque is a small, private university affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) offering undergraduate, graduate, and theological seminary programs. The University is comprised of individuals from the region, the nation, and the world. As a community, the University practices its Christian faith by educating students and pursuing excellence in scholarship."
This is a Christian institution. I have no doubt that your quote pertaining to lighthouse is very accurate, and I am frustrated with those who "push thier beliefs on others" in this setting. We should, as was noted above, be able to openly discuss our differing vantage points with an honest willingness to admit we are not 100% right, and even at times 100% wrong! If any of us are not willing to admit we might be 100% wrong then we have been duped by the devil into a self-righteous attitude. Our country needs more people who will have the PERSONAL CHARACHTER to openly admit wrongs, seek repentance and forgiveness, and then be given another chance to move forward from where they are. Isn't that the gospel message?
Ok, someone PLEASE address the "Christian" mission of UD in terms of B.E.T. blaring in the Underground daily, and the poor families who are submitted to loud,foul, overtly sexual video as they scurry through with their children on a "tour" of the campus. What a fabulous impression we leave.Where does that fit in the mission of a Christian university? The place is out of control and not one adult. Why? Students swearing,yelling,fighting.
All of the real problems are still buried, they will never be uncovered. The people in power will ignore the little people and act like everything is a-ok. Very,very sad.Actually, I'll bet the Underground is soon removed from the tour. Why not? Why start dealing with problems now?
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