5 ms·

Do they really think that this is making them look any better in this situation?

by jlgreco 13y ago

Vivtek 13y ago
Clearly they must.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  I wonder what they must be trying to hide then, because this looks pretty bad itself. I wonder if the same person may be behind both unreasonably disproportionate reactions...
  - noonespecial 13y ago
    I had the same disturbing thought. What if it was some muckety-muck at MIT leaning on the prosecutor's office the whole time in order to teach those meddling kids a lesson. Now that would be mucho-embarrassing if it came to light.
- Amadou 13y ago
  There are (at least) two ways to look at it: 1) They have no idea how it will be perceived from the "outside looking in." 2) They do know it will look bad, but they believe that it is worth it to protect the reputations of whomever might be revealed to have participated in the persecution.
hnnnnng 13y ago
Whats gonna happen? People are not going to stop going to MIT. The market it is in is education which is always growing and (sadly) the majority of people don't care what happened to Aaron Schwartz. MIT will still retain its top position and frankly I cannot fathom a scenario where it would have to face any serious consequences. So its most likely trying to hide something thats worth the loss of 'face' by filing this. But even if it fails, I don't think they give a fk.
- marshray 13y ago
  But MIT didn't get where it is by being careless about its public image. Association with that image is a nonzero part of the value of a degree from MIT. If they go about acting like bozos it affects current and future students as well as alumni.
  - ericd 13y ago
    Eh, I think you have to separate the students and faculty from the admins. I don't think many MIT students have ever been proud to be associated with the admins, because they do boneheaded things pretty regularly.
    - Amadou 13y ago
      The way the administration threw Star Simpson under the bus within hours of her arrest was despicable.
      - ericd 13y ago
        Did they? I graduated the year before that whole debacle, so I didn't get a very good sense of what happened beyond what was going on on one of the dorm mailing lists. I wouldn't be very surprised, though.
  - rayiner 13y ago
    MIT got where it is by being a crucial instrument of the military industrial complex, in many years the largest non-profit defense contractor in the country. They know which side their bread is buttered on.
- jmharvey 13y ago
  Donations matter, I hope. But I don't know how many regularly-donating alumni will follow through on their pledge not to give until this case is resolved, and proper action is taken. It's hard to do, and it feels lousy. The alumni who feel closest to this case are probably people who spent a lot of time making stuff. When they donate, they're more likely to target their money at helping other people make stuff, by donating to things like the Edgerton Center [1], MITERS [2], or SIPB [3], or even just giving money directly to dorm governments (my hall had a PIC burner sitting next to the toaster on our kitchen counter and a couple of oscilloscopes you could check out from the front desk, courtesy of some slush fund somewhere). When these alumni donate, they're not doing it to get their name on a plaque, or out of some kind of broad-based affinity for the school, they're doing it to help current students have the same kind of experiences they were able to enjoy. And if they stop donating, it's pretty easy to see the culture of creation suffering. People will keep making stuff, but it'll be a little more difficult, require a little more dedication, and it'll wind up being fewer people. That's a significant price to pay to stand on a principle. [1] http://web.mit.edu/edgerton/ http://web.mit.edu/edgerton/ [2] http://miters.mit.edu/ http://miters.mit.edu/ [3] http://sipb.mit.edu/ http://sipb.mit.edu/
marshray 13y ago
Another theory: they are conspiring in some sort of quid-pro-quo in order to give the government another chance in court or at least delay. MIT gets a lot of direct and indirect government money, or is in other ways susceptible to influence. I imagine a federal prosecutor's office can be quite persuasive.

Do they really think that this is making them look any better in this situation?

by jlgreco 13y ago

Do they really think that this is making them look any better in this situation?

Vivtek 13y ago

Clearly they must.

jlgreco 13y ago
I wonder what they must be trying to hide then, because this looks pretty bad itself. I wonder if the same person may be behind both unreasonably disproportionate reactions...
- noonespecial 13y ago
  I had the same disturbing thought. What if it was some muckety-muck at MIT leaning on the prosecutor's office the whole time in order to teach those meddling kids a lesson. Now that would be mucho-embarrassing if it came to light.
Amadou 13y ago
There are (at least) two ways to look at it: 1) They have no idea how it will be perceived from the "outside looking in." 2) They do know it will look bad, but they believe that it is worth it to protect the reputations of whomever might be revealed to have participated in the persecution.

hnnnnng 13y ago

Whats gonna happen? People are not going to stop going to MIT. The market it is in is education which is always growing and (sadly) the majority of people don't care what happened to Aaron Schwartz. MIT will still retain its top position and frankly I cannot fathom a scenario where it would have to face any serious consequences. So its most likely trying to hide something thats worth the loss of 'face' by filing this. But even if it fails, I don't think they give a fk.

marshray 13y ago
But MIT didn't get where it is by being careless about its public image. Association with that image is a nonzero part of the value of a degree from MIT. If they go about acting like bozos it affects current and future students as well as alumni.
- ericd 13y ago
  Eh, I think you have to separate the students and faculty from the admins. I don't think many MIT students have ever been proud to be associated with the admins, because they do boneheaded things pretty regularly.
  - Amadou 13y ago
    The way the administration threw Star Simpson under the bus within hours of her arrest was despicable.
    - ericd 13y ago
      Did they? I graduated the year before that whole debacle, so I didn't get a very good sense of what happened beyond what was going on on one of the dorm mailing lists. I wouldn't be very surprised, though.
- rayiner 13y ago
  MIT got where it is by being a crucial instrument of the military industrial complex, in many years the largest non-profit defense contractor in the country. They know which side their bread is buttered on.
jmharvey 13y ago
Donations matter, I hope. But I don't know how many regularly-donating alumni will follow through on their pledge not to give until this case is resolved, and proper action is taken. It's hard to do, and it feels lousy. The alumni who feel closest to this case are probably people who spent a lot of time making stuff. When they donate, they're more likely to target their money at helping other people make stuff, by donating to things like the Edgerton Center [1], MITERS [2], or SIPB [3], or even just giving money directly to dorm governments (my hall had a PIC burner sitting next to the toaster on our kitchen counter and a couple of oscilloscopes you could check out from the front desk, courtesy of some slush fund somewhere). When these alumni donate, they're not doing it to get their name on a plaque, or out of some kind of broad-based affinity for the school, they're doing it to help current students have the same kind of experiences they were able to enjoy. And if they stop donating, it's pretty easy to see the culture of creation suffering. People will keep making stuff, but it'll be a little more difficult, require a little more dedication, and it'll wind up being fewer people. That's a significant price to pay to stand on a principle. [1] http://web.mit.edu/edgerton/ http://web.mit.edu/edgerton/ [2] http://miters.mit.edu/ http://miters.mit.edu/ [3] http://sipb.mit.edu/ http://sipb.mit.edu/

marshray 13y ago

Another theory: they are conspiring in some sort of quid-pro-quo in order to give the government another chance in court or at least delay. MIT gets a lot of direct and indirect government money, or is in other ways susceptible to influence. I imagine a federal prosecutor's office can be quite persuasive.