[WikiEN-l] ArbCom - too attached to "equal treatment"?

Wed Mar 2 19:01:01 UTC 2005

Fred Bauder wrote:
>No, calling other Wikipedia users "morons" will get you in trouble,
>especially if you try to excuse yourself with the explanation that you
>thought the other user "really was a moron".

To be clear, I never claimed that my belief that the other user "really was 
a moron" is a defense.

I stated that I knew that the fact that I believed this is not going to 
help me (in other words, it is not a valid defense).

I stated that although I did believe this at the time, I no longer do and 
regret that I used this word (which some members of the ArbCom seem to 
think constitutes another personal attack).

I have not tried to offer any defense.  I have, however, offered mitigating 
factors -- first, that I felt provoked by a nasty attack on Wikipedia, and 
second, that the words I used are more mild than the words used against 
others and against me.

Having made these two points, I then wrote that I nevertheless admit that 
what I said was a personal attack and that I regret this.  I have also 
posted more explicit apologies for these and other remarks.  Perhaps I was 
mistaken to believe that others would interpret my apology as an admission 
of wrongdoing, rather than a defense.

Steve

Steven L. Rubenstein
Associate Professor
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Bentley Annex
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio 45701