Because Dartmouth is an educational institution , it should not limit free speech on its computer network.
But the College did just that when it suspended an employee's computer network access after he made anti-Semetic comments on the InterNet &emdash; a computer bulletin board where millions of users all over the world can browse various topics.
Ludwig Plutonium, a dishwasher at the Hanover Inn, wrote a message on an InterNet group referring to The New York Times as "The Jew York Times" and recieved a 30-day suspesion of his Dartmouth computer account for his transgression.
Because Plutonium's message was posted on InterNet &emdash; a public system where users choose to read messages &emdash; and not addressed to a specific person, Plutonium violated no one's rights by making his comments.
While Plutonium's comments were offensive and should not have been made, InterNet readers were not forced to read them.
His message, however, did not justify the College's suspension of Plutonium's account. Dartmouth violated of the right of freedom of speech.
Administrators, employees, faculty and students should be able to post whatever they want on the InterNet without fearing that the College will deem their message offensive.
Although it is true that access to electronic-mail and bulletins networks is a privilege given to users by Dartmouth, the College still does not have the right to violate the principle of free speech.
The College has no clear-cut guidelines for what constitutes a suspendable offense. The College's Computing Code mentions nothing about what constitutes an "offensive message."
There should be clear-cut guidelines &emdash; saying that users have the right to post anything they want. Currently, the College arbitrarily decides when someone does something "bad" and should be punished. This should stop.
An educational institution should support free speech, discussion and debate.
The College currently does not read through InterNet postings or BlitzMail messages and it should keep it that way.
Even if someone sends harassing or offensive messages through BlitzMail, the College's electronic mail network, the College still should not act as a network police.
The recipient of such a message could pursue legal actions if they wanted to, but the College should keep its hands out of matters of free speech.
The InterNet also has its own system of "justice." When a user posts something that other users do not like, he receives "flames" &emdash; hundreds of messages lambasting him or her for the post.
The College should take a leadership role in promoting free speech on electronic mail networks.
Dartmouth's purpose is educational and a key element of education is discussion and debate.
By taking away Plutonium's network access &emdash; even if he was offensive &emdash; the College pulled out the plug on any attempt at free and open discussion and debate.
32 Robinson is a series of columns representing the opinions of the summer editorial staff. The columns do not
necessarily represent the official views of The Dartmouth.
