From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.7 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID, PLING_QUERY,SUBJ_ALL_CAPS autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,53f1f03353d5ae00 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman) Subject: Re: STUDENTS GO AWAY!!!!!!!?????? Date: 1997/04/26 Message-ID: <5judbh$85f@felix.seas.gwu.edu>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 237638600 References: <335bdd1b.5485893@news> <5jju5g$18s8@newssvr01-int.news.prodigy.com> <335E25E6.41C6@magellan.bgm.link.com> Organization: George Washington University Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 1997-04-26T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: In article , Robert Dewar wrote: [snip] >So, speaking for myself, I think we should go out of our way to welcome >students who do their homework, and ask useful and well thought out >questions and not banish them to a backwater group. Students who have >not done their homework are better served by pointing them in the directions >where they can help themselves rather than sending them off to another >group. I second Robert here, on both counts. Students studying Ada (or anything else) in a structured college or university course should have access to texts, teaching assistants, the prof teaching the course, and so on. It's unfair of these institutions to expect the net to make up for their unwillingness to provide proper resources to their students. It's also unfair for students to ask folks on the net to do their homework for them. That said, I think we are still under some obligation to be polite in responding to students. First of all, it's common civility. Secondly, we'd really like them to learn and use Ada, and acting like jerks is not going to encourage them. _That_ said, Robert's statement that "there seem to be a lot of people on the net who don't understand how it works" is true, and, in my opinion, definitely a good sign that the net is working as it should, attracting new folks who are feeling their way. How else are they to learn "how it works" unless they try it? What will they find out when they try? The net is like the larger community - some inhabitants are friendly and welcoming, others are impatient and off-putting. The only generalization is that you can't generalize. None of us has a monopoly on truth, or a monopoly on the privilege of setting the rules. For whatever my opinion is worth, if any of you out there feel that a post is inappropriate, PLEASE do not waste bandwidth discussing it. Write a private note to the poster, or, better, just ignore it. If _everyone_ thinks it was inappropriate, the poster will find out soon enough - nobody will follow it up! If someone does follow it up, well, that's life on the net. Nobody appointed or elected me, or Robert, or any of us, to legislate rules. It's a wonderful, anarchic place. (just my $0.02) Mike Feldman ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Michael B. Feldman - chair, SIGAda Education Working Group Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science The George Washington University - Washington, DC 20052 USA 202-994-5919 (voice) - 202-994-0227 (fax) http://www.seas.gwu.edu/faculty/mfeldman ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Cooperate with those who have both know-how and integrity." Fortune cookie, Wu Dynasty, Bethesda, MD, Spring 1996. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ada on the WWW: www.acm.org/sigada/education or www.adahome.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------