Re: SUO: on SUO and other projects
Stefano Borgo wrote:
> Folks,
> Jim's call to participate in the BIKE project (message reported
> below) has raised some criticism. I'm trying to understand if this is
> just a communication problem or something that goes deeper. I suggest
> we discuss this issue since it is likely we will face it again in the
> future.
[...]
> From this perspective, I consider Jim's message as an accident that
> might help SUO to understand how to relate with outside projects.
>
> Finally, Jim, let me give you a piece of (friendly) advice.
> The chair (any chair) of a group based on voluntary work should be
> careful in proposing a project when there is a strong connection (in
> this case identity) between his employer and the organization that
> founds the proposed project. Any suspect of a conflict of interests
> weakens the SUO activity and might jeopardize it in the long run.
> If this is the reason (or part of it) for the criticisms to your
> message, I think they are justified.
> I hope you will clarify your position in this regard.
Stefano,
Thanks for posting your message, which I think is a diplomatic
attempt to open up for discussion what for some may be a bit of
surprise, and perhaps open a way forward. I would say that the
issue does go deeper than simply a communication problem.
Over the past twenty five years I have altered academic and
professional course, and turned down a number of potentially
lucrative career opportunities because I did not want to be
involved in military or surveillance work. I am not a pacifist,
but I also don't want my personal energies directed towards the
conduct of war. With this is mind I was rather dismayed to learn
of the chair's employment. And I wish to make this clear: there
is nothing whatsoever personal or partisan in what I'm saying,
nothing to do with the chair as a person. This is about my own
desire to not be involved in military work. As you say, Stefano,
a medical or legal project would not (to me) have this stigma.
We are living in a time when there is possibly greater sensi-
tivity to these issues, though looking back through history I
can't think of a time when this issue didn't exist.
So while the SUO project is hungry for some example project to
flesh out issues, etc., I would myself not be involved in the
BIKE project, and if SUO were to seem to become enmeshed in
predominantly military work I would cease involvement altogether.
I know of a number of friends and coworkers who feel the same
as I do. For some this may not be an issue. But I must agree with
the sentiment expressed earlier, that the SUO project is interna-
tional in scope and should attempt to promote itself as a neutral
(and hopefully peaceful) endeavour.
Murray
......................................................................
Murray Altheim http://kmi.open.ac.uk/people/murray/
Knowledge Media Institute
The Open University, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK7 6AA, UK .
"Ours is a dangerous time with two relatively new threats,
both of them exacerbated by the Iraq invasion and this
administration's policies. One is the threat of future
terrorism by Osama and al Qaeda. The other is the threat
to our freedoms and our constitutional republic. These
are dangers that were never faced before in my lifetime."
-- Daniel Ellsberg
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/02/29/CMG3R50LHE5.DTL