owens, good moderator or not

Originally Posted by Chris@TSE

That's fine Rich, I'm discussing this here.

Do me one favor though.... Please tell me where exactly this should be discussed?

I tried to discuss this with you in a thread that was specifically geared towards discussing these changes yet was treated this very same way.

If it was not appropriate in a thread discussing warnings and changes here, I am at a complete loss to where this would have been more appropriately addressed.

It was not a personal issue so I did not think a private discussion was necessary, so please let me know if you get the chance. Thank you.

And Dr. Owens...... I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I stated mine here regarding the topic at hand. If you took offense to it, I apologize. It was an honest opinion, nothing more. Take care.

No you are not going to discuss this here. Take a look at the title of this thread. THAT is what you can discuss here. And I see, no, you are not smart enough to take the warning I offered you. You are quite simply trolling for a rise out of me in order to dredge up some crap in the past. YOU are the only one bringing it up and you do so in every post here that you can.

Next time, you get fined and suspended. Do it again afterwards, and you get banned completely. I don't know what agenda you are following, but I CAN and will stop it on this site. I hope I am perfectly clear about this Chris. This is you very last warning.

actually that initial line was the typo, but this can be obviously noticed since the rest of the post would make sense given the corrected version, not the one prior to correction. No point in saying im discussing it here if im asking you to do me one final favor afterwards...

and actually no, i have no prior issues. if youll read through my messages in the past few days youll see i tried to address CURRENT issues and was treated this way, regardless, you have a pm. ill deal with it there if you decide to respond.

Wow you guys are funny, you make me feel like i'm back in my most difficult class. Let me give an example (I promise to make this on-topic by the end of the post)

The class is small. There are 12 students. 6 of them "Get It" (like the majority of the members here on Fauna), and 6 of them don't "Get It" (like some we all know and sometimes love.)

Now, keep in mind that I'm teaching math in my classes. A typical "bad day" starts with one or more of my unruly students questioning everything that I do in my class. Most of them are breaking at least one or more rules. I have to give them warnings, sometimes give them penalties, and some get kicked out.

One of their favorite complaints is something like the following situation:

"Sally" is one of those borderline students, mostly she's a good girl, but sometimes she will speak out. The other day she brought food into the classroom. I told her to put the food away and gave her "the look". She complied and was chastised. Most of our communication was non-verbal, but I saw her level of chagrin, she saw that she was in trouble, she complied, and it was over. End of exchange. Then "Edith" (same class period) seemed to be eating as well. "Edith," I said, "Are you eating?". Her response, with her mouth full of visible food (yuk) says "No." to which I respond "Throw it out!" because I know she's lying to me. She continues to lie "It was my finger I was chewing on." and so I insist that she get up and throw it out. So then she starts a tirade into how it's because she's black, it's because I don't like her, etc., and uses the "punishment" that Sally got as an example of my bias. See... she doesn't GET IT. She doesn't realize that I just want peace and order in my class so I can teach math. She doesn't realize that Sally didn't make waves, didn't lie, and didn't start harangueing me. When Edith continued her volley of attack, "God gave me a mouth, and I'm going to use it," in the end I had no choice but to have her escorted out of my classroom.

Now this might not seem relevant to some, but the things I've seen here on Fauna remind me so much of this miserable class I teach. Keep in mind that I teach six classes a day, and five out of six of those classes while having their moments, have no major issues. The problem class, and another of my classes, are targeted at "at risk" teenagers who are least likely to graduate from high school. These students are the notorious ones who are most likely to be "problematic". I do not have the same issues with my other class that is the same.

I get kind of tired of hearing the students whining about my supposed biases, pushing every single limit, and taking up my time, and the time of my "good" students with all of this garbage. Sometimes the entire period goes by and no teaching takes place because so many of those students just don't "get it." I've had to get hard nosed and heap major penalties on the students who continue to harangue me and hold up the learning in the classroom environment. Eventually some of these kids are going to not only be kicked out of my classroom, but their behaviour (mirrored in all other classes), will get them kicked out of high school and make their future possibilities limited.

In any society, it is important to understand the rules, and when you don't agree with them, understand the proper ways (and improper ways) of trying to get the rules changed.

It seems to me that Dr. Owens, like the other moderators, has his own personality. He handles things in his own way, and that's okay, because he does not go beyond the boundaries of his job. He might not handle things perfectly, but nobody expects him to be perfect. Harangueing him, and Rich, is like my students who don't "Get It". Arguing the rules and the verdicts passed down won't make Rich decide differently.

Frankly the examples from the Leverton thread, compared to the inane chatter that has gotten others warned and even banned, are ridiculous. At least in my opinion.

Anyway, I'm not sure that this post makes much sense, but I thought I would share my opinions.

Originally Posted by Sasheena

Anyway, I'm not sure that this post makes much sense, but I thought I would share my opinions.

Sasheena, I don't think your post was in vain. I "get it" and have gotten it since the first time the changes were mentioned. I think pretty much everyone gets it, including those who claim not to get it.

I personally do not think that this thread serves any purpose but to foment rebellion. Nothing more, nothing less.

Anyway, I really do not believe that more than a handful of people are being fooled by the whole "I don't get it" charade that has been playing itself out over the past week or so.

Originally Posted by Sasheena

In any society, it is important to understand the rules, and when you don't agree with them, understand the proper ways (and improper ways) of trying to get the rules changed.

It seems to me that Dr. Owens, like the other moderators, has his own personality. He handles things in his own way, and that's okay, because he does not go beyond the boundaries of his job. He might not handle things perfectly, but nobody expects him to be perfect. Harangueing him, and Rich, is like my students who don't "Get It". Arguing the rules and the verdicts passed down won't make Rich decide differently.

I think that was a very good analogy Sasheena and would have to agree we all need to understand the proper ways of trying to get the rules changed, if indeed they can be changed.
I also think that arguing the rules and verdicts is pointless because this isnt a democracy, this is a privately owned and run site and Rich has the right to do want he wants without asking anyones opinion. (even though he does ask us sometimes). 99% of the time Rich and the MODs, Dr, Owens included will listen to you as long as your respectful towards them and follow the rules. I had a issue yesterday that Dr. Owens responded to quite quickly, which just shows he is being vigilent in his duties here. I dont know whether or not his "judgement" will be in my favor after he reviews the facts but its nice to know that he respected me enough to respond to my concerns.



P.S. ummmm...What does Harangueing mean anyway? (guess i will look it up)

This is a joke, right?

Sheesh! What a terrible foul mouthed aggressively derogatory person Dr. Jay Owens is! I mean really..... I can't imagine how the guy can show his face in public without shame for such terribly offensive posts.

I thought this was a forum to be able to give our opinions and if they were respectfully written we would be dealt with respectfully. Was this quote typed out of respect? I respect the site and your decisions but I don't have to agree with them. Should I be rediculed because I felt a mod was disrespectful? I guess so. Those were the more mellow posts but shows the personality. Rich if you were to be talked to like that at a store/resturaunt you would be talking to the manager immediately. I have had no warning points from Dr. Owens and have no personal agenda against him I was just giving my opinion. I will not post on this subject again due to the fact that opinions are not wanted and I don't really want to be tarred and feathered for going against the grain.
Mark westberg

That is fine. This thread was started by someone who obviously has an axe to grind personally with Dr. Owens. I am not interested in such personal issues. From what I have seen so far, a few people are bringing up molehills, in my opinion, and calling them mountains from their perspective. A moderator was sharp to a member about a problem? A moderator is aggressively trying to correct problems and being a bit short or somewhat lacking in patience in the responses? A moderator wasn't as kind and gentle as you would wish in his responses? Those are NOT abuses of a moderator, I am afraid.

Well I am sorry, but we are not wearing kids gloves when dealing with issues that need dealing with. I certainly don't do so, and I am not asking my moderators to do anything differently then how I handle things. I fully intend to AGGRESSIVELY enforce the rules, and happen to be short of time and patience with those people who apparently have no intention of working with us to help make this a better place. If the replies you get from myself or my moderators seem a little brusque or a little harsh, then bear in mind that we are all busy too. We only have so much time to put into this, and in most cases our comments are going to be as direct as possible to impart what we need to say in as short a time as possible. Some people will likely consider that as rude, because their background is different from mine or my moderators. That is unfortunate, but unavoidable.

Sorry, but it is not my style to beat around the bush or offer platitudes before I get down to the real issue I need to discuss. I will take the shortest distance to get from point A to point B with what I write. Certainly my moderators will likely do the same. When I see someone complaining about something as minor as those copied quotes were showing, it just indicates to me that no one has any serious issues to bring up in respect to Dr. Owens acting as a moderator here and are really just wasting every one's time.

So please take this as you will, but just because a moderator here will smack you across the knuckles for something you have done is not valid justification for complaining to me about "moderator brutality". If you have issues that are REALLY indicative of a problem, then by all means I am interested in looking into it, but this entire thread has proven to be absolutely nothing more then a waste of my time. I will support my moderators FULLY when they are doing what I asked of them to do here. But on the other hand, CLEAR abuses of their powers just will not be tolerated either. And I do mean REAL abuses, not what I have seen displayed here in this thread.

Indeed, the worst I heard was "I think Dr. Owens is a bad moderator because he gave me warning points I did not agree with." Again, sheesh.............

Originally Posted by Junkyard

Would Rich's post here not apply? Dr Owen's posts get the point across, though the way he does it may not be to your liking. I did not interpret those posts as derogatory, nor did I see them as condescending considering who he was repling to and what the topic was about. Is he not allowed to have a sense of humor also?

I dont think so. Those posts just illustrate him goading and a being general wise***. The same actions that get others warned for provoking a moderator or whatever the latest charge is.