[Air-l] Trolls

[Kevin Guidry]

On 5/17/07, Julie Cohen <jec at law.georgetown.edu> wrote:
>
> None of us is a shrinking violet; we all have experience publishing and standing behind
> our own words.

   I'm not sure that is the necessarily the case.  Many subscribers
are students; I seem to even recall an undergrad or two posting to the
list in the time I've been subscribed.  I also seem to remember that
some of us are practitioners and not full-time, published scholars,
professors, or teachers.  I am very comfortable in my ever-evolving,
shifting, and multiple roles but to project that comfort and sense of
authority and experience onto others seems a bit unwise.
   I would also assert that part of this organization's duties,
implicit or explicit, is the nurturing of new talent and assisting
new, inexperienced, or shy would-be contributors, particularly
students.  Given the interdisciplinary nature of our work, I would
also imagine there are some among us who have no local support for the
work we do and the interests we exhibit (folks in my profession
certainly don't know what to make of me sometimes!).  Hence some of
this dialog is, perhaps unconsciously, focused on the future rather
than the past.  It's related not just to present and past behavior but
expectations of (and hopes for) future behavior.


Kevin