Kata Markon

[Tony Prete <tonyprete AT earthlink.net>]

At 10:47 PM 12/28/2001, JFAlward wrote: 

> Stating that you believe that the
> professor's request was inappropriate is 
> equivalent to saying that forum members' helpful responses to it are
> likewise 
> inappropriate, which is a slap to their faces.  I think this is an
> unnecessarily oppressive intervention, and is insulting to some forum
> members, and it's not the first time you treated them with
> condescension.  It 
> is your list to do with as you please; from my point of view, however,
> you've 
> done very little with it.  By my count, this forum has average only
> about 
> five or six posts a month.  Perhaps if you fostered a more friendly,
> more 
> inclusive, less-elitist attitude on the part of forum members, you might
> find 
> that both the quality and quantity of the Kata Markan posts will
> increase. 


This kind of personal attack is inappropriate on the list; it should have
been made off-list (as was my response to Alward's criticism of me). But
since it was made publicly, let me respond in kind. 

Alward is free to draw any conclusions he wants regarding how the list is
maintained--including the assumption that the quality of the posts has
deteriorated (talk about a slap in the face to forum members). But his
one piece of factual information, that the forum has averaged "only
about five or six posts a month," is grossly inaccurate, thus
negating his conclusions regarding the impact of the moderator's
"attitude."

Let me be specific. Forum posts began in February, and as of Nov. 30 they
totalled 248. That's almost twenty-five a month over the ten-month
period, not five or six. Of that 248, Alward's posts account for
49--which means that by his calculation "this forum has average
[sic] only about" one other post a month. [Wait, now I get it: The
forum is going to the dogs because Alward is posting about five
times a month!)

Of course, none of this has anything to do with a scholarly interchange
on the Gospel of Mark--which is why I will stop here.

Anthony Prete

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Haddonfield, NJ 08033

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