Talk:Overheard in Bennington
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[edit] A Question
What happened to the huge discussion here? I thought Eileen Sculley had a lot of really interesting points throughout the "overheard in Bennington" argument - where did that whole back and forth go?
If it was just deleted, that doesn't seem true to the wiki spirit at all, and I hope someone somewhere will be able to put it back.
-k$
[edit] A Response
Hi, just to let you know that I deleted my own earlier postings. It's good to know that folks were following the discussion. I just got the sense last week that it was time to get the heck out of the way. I think Michael Zimmer made several good points about how responsible STUDENTS have generally been in posting on this Overheard page. Perhaps an age limit of BELOW 23 years old would be helpful?
Here's a better idea: make the BCW a student-run "virtual space." You all figure out what you want to do with this space, whether it's possible to have different "atmospheres" in different sections of the Wiki. If it was mine to "give" students, I'd sure do so.
Regards,
Eileen Scully
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[edit] A response
It's all in the history section, i suspect that someone will come along soon enough if they care enough to and just pull all that info and throw it into this section; it's a 5 second job, and it's not lost in any way. Plus, the discussion was happening where it shouldn't have been; it's just an editor's fault that they were removed instead of removed and then replaced here. no worries.
~DG
[edit] A Student's Response
Student: Hello. This page is a result of seeing the various "overheard in..." series of websites that follow the same format. If you listen to people talk all day, you're bound to hear somebody say something that makes you laugh. This is unavoidable. It is a simple fact of life, like death and taxes. I don't feel people who submit quotations to this page "hang out" on it and waste all the time they could be spending on their homework. It's just simply a place to write down something funny you have heard and would like to share. Having submitted a few, I can say my intent wasn't malicious, and most of the time I told the person I was writing it down and where their words were going. It's simple fun and while there are a few that could offend, mostly they're just funny, and I don't see any real problem with this page. It's a wiki. If you don't like it, change it. If you feel you've been personally attacked, confront the person who wrote it, most of these have the names and it's pretty easy to find out what initials belong to whom, because on this campus there are very few possibilities for each. Anyways, I think it's just fun and it's not meant to be taken so seriously. I don't see any gossip in here either, just funny one liners. As a great man on this campus once said, screaming out of a window...
D: BOOGIEBOOGIEBOOGIE!!!
Overheard by: M.Zimmer October 16, 2007
[edit] A Student's Response: Part Deux
Student: Sorry I wasn't logged in before when writing the response, I am now logged into my username "Zubamba" which is also my current iTunes shared library name. This is in fact M. Zimmer, or Michael Zimmer for those of you who are unfamiliar. I am also posting from my laptop while I'm in the Video Cage, so you can check the IP or whatever. In response to the response, I think the idea of a bulletin board in commons wouldn't do anything better for this considering you could still write and put up "overheards" that may or may not be true from an anonymous stance. We could have some sort of Hall Monitor watching it at all times and could be run by a board of volunteers who can monitor the gossip and slander that this campus devises on occasion. But I think that might become costly in both time and money. The idea of having someone being logged in is an idea that could work. But beyond tracking IP's there is still the anonymity that is allowed when registering with a fake name on any computer, so we'd have to get some real pros working on the tracking system. So we can choose from those, or there is always the idea of destroying the page, but what would keep it from springing up again on some facebook group or livejournal community or even another wiki run by the students? When does it end? Never, that's when. So I'm at a loss to a solution except trust. That we trust everyone to use this as a source of purely light entertainment that we can contribute to when we happen upon students and their funny ramblings. If that trust is broken from time to time, then hey, that's life, can't trust everyone, but yet you have no choice. This wiki is like a person, ever changing, ever influenced by those engaged with it in a sort of digital relationship, it's really quite beautiful when you think about it. Anyways, I think we should just leave this page be, it's all in good fun, and those who take it too seriously will only be annoyed, and that's too bad.
-M. Zimmer- October 24, 2007
I would also like to apologize to anyone I may have offended in Japan, Jamaica, Cranberry Isles, Weehawken, Hungary, Cairo, and anywhere else in the world. We are working very hard to translate this page.
[edit] I need an adult
I dont understand why a large philosophical argument/redunant comments are dominating the page devoted to quoting hilarious things that people say on campus. I am also confused as to how putting several inappropriate posts on an article page when there is clearly a discussion page for such discussion is defending "Bennington pedagogy." Needz moar mod. I know it seems like this is a thread or a message board, but its not. It's a wiki, and this user would appreciate it if it was treated as such.
-Rhea M. Riley
[edit] A "blog" from Betsy
Hello all you readers of this page,
I happened upon this page when I was browsing the Bennington wiki in search of further content regarding a topic that was discussed at science workshop. Imagine my surprise when I came upon this most peculiar and, at times, disturbing page. I find myself quite in agreement with what Scully wrote below. In fact, I feel as though the kinds of things that are on this page, particularly when they were posted anonymously, or simply taken out of context, are a kind of breach. Many of the postings, by the way, flatter neither poster nor postee. Those of you who spend inordinate time hanging out at this site must have plenty of spare time on your hands. One is given to question how much more constructively you might be engaged in other endeavors. Finally, I wonder how many of my colleagues are aware of being “overheard” in faculty meetings or their classrooms. Both of these environments, if they are to work effectively must be safe…safe from this kind of titillating, facile, out of context reporting of them.
Betsy Sherman 10/12/07
