No Balls

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Dennis Ruhl, Jul 30, 2004.

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  1. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

    No balls at collegehints


    "Due to an anonymous letter written to us today threatening legal action against us, we are closing the forums immediately.

    This has been in the works for some time since moderation of such an opinionated group is almost impossible. Repeated lack of consideration for rules and decent behavior have been apparent since the inception of the forums.

    The small revenue earned by this web site barely covers the hosting fees and certainly would not cover legal fees from vigilante individuals intent on using us as a testing ground in the new world of Internet media litigation.

    We apologize that the self-centered views of a few, have defeated our goals of creating an honest and balanced overview of distant education. It proves that education is worthless without moral behaviour. We wish you all well."
     
  2. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

  3. Casey

    Casey New Member

    No balls is right!

    An anonymous letter? Are you kidding me??
     
  4. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

    Is this what happenned to online-college?
     
  5. Gus Sainz

    Gus Sainz New Member

    I can’t say I am surprised (except that it didn’t happen sooner). In only my third post on CollegeHints I commented on how the lack of proper moderation would lead to the demise of the forum. I also commented on how the core group of members (one of which became the moderator) and the cadre of like-minded individuals they convinced to join would be never lead to the generation of ad revenue sufficient enough to support the forum, and that only by allowing the real and honest expression of all viewpoints would this be accomplished. In return, I received a blistering ad hominem attack from Glen, the owner of the Web site.

    Like you said from the start, Dennis, “The degree mill guys seem to own the place.” As such, it days were numbered. I find it interesting that Glen’s last message echoed what I have been saying (particularly to you, Dennis) for some time, “education is worthless without moral behaviour.”
     
  6. Gus Sainz

    Gus Sainz New Member

    If, as you claim, no abuse was permitted, why do you think they would have received dozens of threats? Moreover, why do you think they would’ve succumbed to a single threat?

    The truth is, as I have been claiming for some time, that the so-called friends of the moderator acted with impunity, and barely a day went by in which (not so) subtle ad hominem attacks were perpetrated on Dr. Rich Douglas, Dr. John Bear, and other members of DegreeInfo. More than likely, it was the inability to successfully defend themselves from such allegations that led to the closure of the forum, and one doesn’t have to look any further than the fact that the word “DegreeInfo” was censored as an obscenity to realize that this behavior was sanctioned by the individuals in charge.
     
  7. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

    Anything said was pretty subtle and probably true.

    Unless you are the one that made the threat, my guess is that degree mill people or their graduate shills did it.

    The mills took a good spanking over there.

    Look out degreeinfo.
     
  8. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    If an anonymous letter was enough to close up shop then they probably already decided that it wasn't going to be a financial success anyway and were just looking for an excuse to close the doors.
     
  9. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    I don't think Degreeinfo has anything to be concerned about.

    CollegeHints allowed a great deal of personal attacks, provided they approved of the targets. It's not surprising this has happened. They permitted some pretty ugly stuff, things that would be deleted here (and the poster banned).

    Online-College would seem to be another likely target.

    By the way, it wasn't the number of complaints, I'm sure. It was the type of behavior and activity happening on server space owned by someone else, someone who didn't want the liability.

    Degreeinfo continues to demonstrate its superiority and its intolerance for bad behavior. Again, I wouldn't worry about Degreeinfo. But some of its ill-behaved posters might want to get a clue. ;)
     
  10. DaveHayden

    DaveHayden New Member

    Lol Dennis. Outside of Online-college.info and the K-W pub, Collegehints offered the most degree mill support of any board I have come across.

    James openly supported K-W with its five class requirement. Neil and the Knightsbridge gang supported that less than wonderful institution. K.C./S. Laven was constatntly posting venomous writings that had to be deleted. What a nightmare from an ownership point of view.

    IIRC, this is the second time Glenn has closed the board. Also both Online-college and Collegehints close on the same day? A bit curious if you ask me.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 31, 2004
  11. Jack Tracey

    Jack Tracey New Member

    Sorry, Dennis. I guess that for you this is a case of "all dressed up and no place to go." Don't worry they'll bubble up again.
    Jack
     
  12. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    What does that have to do with cleaning out cesspools? Oops, sorry wrong thread.
     
  13. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Perhaps the work of someone sick of what was happening on both boards.
     
  14. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

    I see it as a free speech issue, those who do not are individuals banned for their disruptive and abusive behavior.

    It was simply a mill shill or a mill making threats. Other shills have wrongly stated that a lawsuit would be heard in Liberian courts and that would scare some people.
     
  15. oxpecker

    oxpecker New Member

    I'm sorry to see College Hints go, even though I visited the site only occasionally. Glen was an absentee landlord with no commitment at all to the forum or its members. So the forum's demise is not surprising.

    On the other hand, I'm pleased that the worse-than-worthless online-college.info is gone.

    I think the free speech issue is a red herring.
     
  16. Gus Sainz

    Gus Sainz New Member

    I don’t see it as a free speech issue, and I wasn’t banned for disruptive and abusive behavior. However, there is a free speech element to CollegeHints demise. Had they truly allowed free speech, the forum would have thrived. For example, CollegeHints never experienced a greater increase in membership or a greater number of members online than the period of time during which Rich and I were posting (eloquently and respectfully) viewpoints that were not in agreement with those of the core group of members.

    Once again, you make an asseveration without a scintilla of evidence to corroborate it.

    I don’t recall any shills making that threat, but why should that scare anyone?
     
  17. DaveHayden

    DaveHayden New Member

    I agree Ox. It is good to have differing viewpoints. The moderator who also posts here did an admirable job trying to be balanced. However, there was a core group including James/Jay2/?, K.C./S. Laven, Neil Hyndes who were not interested in balanced and truthful discussions, but instead on furthering their own agenda. That combined with the degree mill shills made its operation and ownership what I would consider a nightmare. Glenn's assertion that one anonymous threat caused the closure is clearly false, but it may have been the final piece that helped him make the decision.
     
  18. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

    Dave

    The 2 sites were total opposites. There was little abuse at degreehints. The only people who say there was are people who were banned. You??
     
  19. DaveHayden

    DaveHayden New Member

    Opposites? No, not really. Online-college was 90% degree mill shills and people who never learned important lessons in Kindergarden. They celebrated the tragic accident of Mark Isreal among other despecable acts.

    Collegehints was much better but still in many ways a free-for-all. The moderator did his best to make it a community and (I am guessing) probably got a lot of garbage from James, K.C., and other regulars who wanted NO balance. James repeatedly said 5 course from K-W were enough for a B.A. What garbage!

    K.C. made everything about Dr Bear, Dr Rich, and other people he didn't like. He had no problem making things up and saying the most venemous things to further his agenda. He repeatedly went way over the line and at least at times got away with it. Probably 100% of his posts included at least one lie. Certainly every one of his posts would be considered abuse.

    Collegehints suffered greatly under James. K.C., and others who wanted it to be more like Online-college. The moderator did what he could to make it reasonable but the only thing that would have worked would be to ban K.C., James, and others. Hmmm, that happened elsewhere didn't it?
     
  20. Gus Sainz

    Gus Sainz New Member

    Since the core group of members and most prolific posters on both sites were the same individuals, how can the two sites be complete opposites? And, supposing what you say is true, what does that reveal about these individuals?

    DegreeHints? Didn’t you mean CollegeHints? If so, you are, once again, posting averments for which you have no corroborating evidence. Although the abuse was subtler that what the same individuals posted on Online-College, it was just as pervasive. Moreover, as one of the abusers, you are hardly in a position to judge. Why don’t you ask the victims of the abuse? CollegeHints even had members with abusive signature lines that appeared in every post.

    Think about what you just wrote. The implication is that those who were victims of abuse were banned, leaving the core members free to continue their shenanigans with impunity. In fact, the quickest way to get banned from CollegeHints was to protest about the abuse.
     

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