[L.Wray] is a weblogger whom I first noticed listed among those participating in Grey Tuesday. I was basically intrigued that someone would provide an address hosted at, or at least directed through, their university, hence putting their academic career on the line. She quit after reading the last-minute cease and desist Capitol Records sent, but I occasionally looked at her weblog after that and subscribed to the feed five days ago. There’s an offbeat freshness to her writing that I liked, but I probably would’ve unsubscribed in a while anyway since her pieces are way too focused on personal activities that few people besides friends would care about.
In any case, the fuddy-duddies in her college’s administration were not amused. And their actions have made her rethink her content:
The message I’m forced to take away from this is that the administration of this college is failing badly. If a freshman student’s blog, hardly better than hearsay, is distressing enough that it’s grounds for taking punitive action, then administrators are truly and sadly clueless about the scope of undergraduate activities at MIT. I am still shocked that anyone would care what I write on a personal website. In any case, I know online journals by students at other college who talk with complete frankness about getting hammered most weeknights, smoking pot, experimenting with other drugs — all kinds of things a college administration would surely jump on if they knew. [...]
So. I’m trying really hard not to be completely pissed off, but this whole business makes me very angry and sad. No, this isn’t censorship, per se. But the MIT Big Brother has definitely paid me a visit.
Add one more to the list of people muzzled by work/academia, family or other concerns.
