RE:moderators, shouting, posting, and sweeping comments Re: about the group

[Guest guest]

Hi Diane,

I think there is some confusion, due to the way posts hang on the end of a

reply, as to who got " capitalled " , etc. As Francesca rightly said, she did

not " shout " at me, nor was I offended by anything she said to me directly.

However, I was concerned about the person who submitted the study questioned

according to its age. (That person may not be concerned at all, as he has

not said a thing in this exchange. I wish him well at his wheatgrass

cocktail by the pool, it that is the case.)

I felt that the way that people were addressed on the age aspect of studies

offered was likely to make them feel intimidated and their information

unwelcome. That is why I (also a moderator) wrote to ask that we discuss

this. As you know, I think age is just a single factor, to be evaluated

with other factors, when assessing relevance and validity.

It is important that we don't lapse into the mean practices of the list from

which many of us came. I sometimes wonder if that is an unfortunate

byproduct of CRONing. I don't believe that anyone intends to be demeaning,

critical or condemning, but it does sometimes seem that way to me. It also

seems to me that sometimes people can be rather arrogant when discussing

others - people with weight problems, people eating bad diets, people in

other countries, people who prefer Atkins...

I know that in my case, I have really been sensitised by the whole

scientific publication procedure. I had a paper accepted by a peer reviewed

journal, and then it was suddenly pulled. I was told that they had taken it

to an extra reviewer, who had panned my paper, saying it had no validity. I

was given no comments to respond to and was just told that there was nothing

I could do, it would not be published. I turned right around and got it

published in another publication with greater circulation, almost

immediately, and later the " extra reviewer " identified herself to a

colleague, bragging about stopping my paper. My paper described a technique

which is currently revolutionizing my field. I will have the last laugh.

However, it will take a while for anyone from the status quo to open up to

testing my information. This has no bearing on the relevance of what I am

doing, or the paper I wrote. If Ashuwana is also professionally involved in

research, he may have seen similar things. It tends to make us get rather

emotionally heated when the subject is broached. I have certainly directly

experienced the limitations of the current system.

I don't actively moderate, just ready to pitch in if needed. So, I don't

include myself when I say that I think you guys do a great job in general.

This is a large, fairly high volume, list. It provides many resources. I am

glad to be a member and happy to help if needed. I hope that in the future,

we can still value peer reviewed research, but expand our views of what

makes something relevant and valid, and make sure that all offerings are

valued. It certainly livens the list to have more people posting.

Best,

Kayce

From: " Diane Walter " <dianepwalter@...>

Reply-

Subject: [ ] Re: comments about the group

Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 18:15:58 -0000

Ashuwana,

As a moderator, I was somewhat taken aback by your comments. I have

never jibed anyone with whom I disagreed. My view is that every

moderator on this list posts with a high level of decorum. This means

to me that we don't post sarcastic comments, flame anyone, SHOUT,

etc...all the behaviors that Francesca was trying to avoid when she

left an earlier CR group, formed this group, and set up the very high

standards which make this group attractive to me.

Your sweeping criticism of the moderators was unfair and unwarranted,

in my view.

Diane

> >

> > Ashuwana: a few thoughts:

> >

> > We always welcome CONSTRUCTIVE ways to run the group better.

> However your

> > post is not constructive, but scarcastic, destructive and yes,

> rude.

> >

> > We who run the group do not get any compensation or reward other

> than

> > feeling we are doing a service. We're certainly not here to be

> your

> > punching bag.

> >

> > If you don't appreciate the group, and don't care to improve the

> group in a

> > constructive way, why are you here? In the event you were

> unaware, you can

> > leave at any time.

> >

>