[Air-l] FW: Deleting Online Predators Act, MySpace and a plea for help

[Ellis Godard]

> ... For better or 
> worse, i've become a press puppet on all things MySpace and i'm tired 
> of seeing myself in print.  I also believe that there are other voices 
> that need to be heard, other relevant academic knowledge that needs to 
> be elevated.

Yes!

> I have to imagine that there are other academics who 
> could join me in addressing the press and combatting the fears the 
> public has over how people use technology.  If you are interested in 
> speaking to the press about these issues, please let me know. 

Me! Me!

> i'm definitely in the camp which says, "I am obliged to contribute. 
> Silence is complicity" (Diane Bell, "Writing in the eye of a storm").  

I had a "Silence is the voice of complicity" sticker on my car for 16 years,
but recently sold the car and am looking for another one of those stickers.

> My hope is that others are interested in helping combat the 
> fear-mongering with all of the knowledge that we have about this 
> domain.

Ready and willing - plug me in! And here's the angle:

Anytime anyone mentions the "1-in-5 children" stat, about how often minors
are propositioned or harrassed, send them my way. The study behind that stat
was poorly done, and the stat itself is sufficiently dubious that it's
discreditable even to a reporter without any methods background.

Related, if you can suggest an appropriate forum (essay or letter, to some
publication; or perhaps a "con" for someone else's pro, in a paired essay
exercise), I'd like to summarize the various problems with that study and
get it into print, ASAP. Any ideas?


Regards,
Ellis Godard, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Sociology Department
Cal State Northridge 
www.csun.edu/~egodard