Filters/Cybersitter and IRS/AltaVista

[jim hewitt]

i have been watching this discussion for some time now and have come to
one conclusion...this issue seems to be like the abortion issue in that
there are few people from either end of the spectrum who are listening
(respectful, considering, and open listening) to the people on the other
end...and there are few people in the middle...

i feel that this this is an issue that goes to the core of first
amendment rights, and i am responding both as a librarian and as a
school board member (i'm writing this from the national school board
convention in anaheim)...i was accused yesterday of  "polluting the
minds of our young children" by a school board member from a very
conservative western state because i was kowtowing to NEA and ALA
positions that were "drawn up by the pornographers" so that they could
make money...interesting in that i suspended my ALA membership this year
because i feel it is doing too much in areas it has no business in and
too little in actually raising the standards of librarianship, and in
that i have little respect whatever for a union that calls itself an
education association and is much more concerned with educators than
children...(these are my opinions solely stated here for elucidation of
my distance from these associations...flaming in response to them should
be directed privately to me, because i don't see the need for muddying
this issue further)...

if we as librarians can not, and will not, listen to each other without
pre-judging the issue, there is no utility in further discussion...any
stand i have at the moment is open to further amendment, based upon
consideration of the issues...the stand i have taken is not solely a
knee-jerk liberal one...it is the consideration of a deeply religious
(and conservative christian, at that) librarian, parent, school board
member, and human who has weighed the issues and taken that
position...if we are not willing to listen and amend, we might as well
get back to the wonderful world of real librarianship and discuss here
whether or not we should chain the mouse pads, mice, and other
peripherals down, or whether we should mount guards on them to prevent
loss...

for what it's worth...
jim hewitt, head of reference services
concordia college
and moorhead independent school district #152
moorhead, mn 56560