Subject: "Catty" comments (off topic)
Date: Aug 20 18:51:05 1999
From: Korpi, Raymond - RKorpi at clark.edu


Tweets,
This is on list manners, not birds--delete if you're not interested.

I have to echo Ted Kenefick's sentiment, and others, about the vitriol
currently on the list. I unsubscribed for about four months while
researching, and have come back to a situation that seems more polar than it
was when I left. OBOL and Tweeters are, thankfully, two very different
lists, but the bitterness that has been ongoing has cost or nearly cost us
participants. If our goal is to share knowledge about birds, is isolating
those who are asking for help or advice the best way to handle this? I can
understand some acrimony over creation vs. evolution (heck, the Kansas story
even made the Jim Rome sports show the other day--out of the mouth of a
running back), and I can understand that people are correct about the
dangers of cats, but a more civil tone should prevail. Irony translates
very quickly into malice in this medium.

After this morning's tirade, I went back over the digest of the last ten or
twelve days--the bird reports and the other discussions were actually about
half and half. I like to listen in on a good debate as much as the next
person (and frankly, some of the things said in the evolution vs. creation
debate were very intriguing and thought provoking), but today's interplay
was not a debate. One of our number had a concern, she voiced it, and
hopefully some helped (and I'm guessing privately, as would be proper). One
person started a firestorm on a subject many are tired of (and I'm guessing
more of us are in agreement on than the last thread), people responded to
the comment, and that person responded in kind. At least last week there
were some thoughtful and interesting responses in between the vitriol (and,
if you go back and look through the digest, the vitriol had a common source
at times--it was a VERY informative stroll throught the digest, fellow
Tweets).

I sat here last week and the week before (have to sit here--even when it's
nice as waiting for students can be boring) and said nothing to those two
threads even though there was much I could have said. Others who have
similar jobs where they leave their e-mail up responded quickly and really
in much more even tones than has been the case in the past. The glory of
Tweeters is this interplay of thoughts--but those who choose not to think
and who choose just to be venomous are hurting the list, and therefore
hurting what many of us subscribe for--increased knowledge of birds in the
Northwest. I have learned much more about birds in Washington here than
when I lived in Pullman for four years in the relative isolation
pre-Tweeters. A community like this is a valuable thing. The project Don
B. has put together is going to increase this knowledge base, qualify and
quantify it; others have pitched in with their knowledge about AviSYs and
other programs--and I know from talking to him that Don has a fine project
here. But every time someone writes vitriol, one piece of that project, one
bit of knowledge could go away. I have lived in places where the birding
community feuded--it's not pretty, and diplomacy in such situations make
even field time tedious. Let's enjoy birding, enjoy knowledge, share
information, and communicate civilly.

If you would like to respond, please respond to me privately. I would be
happy to carry on a conversation off line early next week--this weekend, I'm
birding, finishing my atlas data, editing a birding journal, and writing a
site guide for birding. I may not be out in the field all the time--but I
am going to contribute and I encourage you to do the same.
Ray K

Ray Korpi
rkorpi at clark.edu
Portland, OR/Clark College, Vancouver WA
President, Oregon Field Ornithologists