[Air-l] And there goes academic freedom again

[Maximilian Forte]

Hello everyone,

In addition to the recent US news concerning scholars editing Cuban
manuscripts as being a form of "trading with the enemy"--with the
possibility of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $500,000--there is the
following news about the University of Birmingham expunging academic
websites because some of them do not promote whatever the "correct" view of
whatever Israel is supposed to be. I am hoping that once we digest these
items we will stop focusing on how China and Saudi Arabia control or filter
Internet access as opposed to the many "freedoms" that "we" supposedly
enjoy.

University bans staff websites after anti-semitism row
Polly Curtis
Thursday March 11, 2004
The Guardian

Academics at Birmingham University have condemned moves by the university
authorities to ban 300 of their personal websites.

The university's decision to stop hosting staff websites on university
computers follows a series of controversies over links to allegedly
anti-semitic content.

As at many other universities, staff have been able to set up sites on a
university server on any subject they like. Under new guidelines, from March
31 they will have to demonstrate that content is "relevant and legitimate to
their academic or administrative work".

Among the 300 websites that will be taken down is one about air quality and
another dedicated to genealogy; others are weblogs containing academics' CVs
and publications and links to other sites.

However, others have caused controversy. In October 2002 the Board of
Deputies of British Jews wrote to the university demanding that they sever
the university's link to the website of Sue Blackwell, an English lecturer.
They said links from her site led to images glorifying suicide bombing and
comparing Israel to Nazi Germany.

Before this, Ms Blackwell came under attack when she severed all the links
between her website and Israeli websites as part of an academic boycott of
Israel.

Ms Blackwell, who is leading a campaign to keep staff sites, said the move
was draconian.

"I am sure that the university considers my sites an embarrassment, but it
should see them as an asset," she said. "I have had messages of support from
all over the world."

The Association of University Teachers at the university has also condemned
the proposed policy. The union's web owners' group has asked for meetings
with university administrators, but says its requests have been turned down.

A spokeswoman for the university said: "It is important that our website
accurately reflects the business of the university. Personal websites that
are relevant and legitimate to academic or administrative work are being
re-registered through a process of peer review."

She added that staff were free to create websites using external internet
service providers.

The campaign has set up a website at web.bham.ac.uk/web_campaign - but as it
is hosted on university servers, it is likely to disappear when the ban
takes effect.

From: http://education.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4877272-108341,00.html

Dr Maximilian C. Forte
Assistant Professor in Anthropology
Department of Anthropology and Sociology
University College of Cape Breton
P.O. Box 5300, Sydney, NS, Canada, B1N 1A3
Tel: 902-563-1947
Fax: 902-563-1247
E-mail: max_forte at uccb.ca
Website: http://faculty.uccb.ns.ca/mforte/