[obol] Important Message From Cindy Ashy

Sat Apr 19 19:53:55 PDT 2008

Hi,

    My condolences to OBOL administrator Doug Robinson and his supervisors
for enduring Cindy's complaints and threat of legal action (see her
email below).  Being OBOL administrator is a thankless job and takes
time and willingness to serve as a volunteer.  I think Doug has done a
good job as OBOL administrator and does not deserve being hassled.

    In response to Cindy's telephone calls about issues other than she has
brought up in her email below, I bought a Caller ID telephone.  That
may not be an option for Doug's supervisors.  I try to listen to
complaints, but I have learned to not respond to Cindy's complaining
telephone calls and emails.  In my opinion, freedom to listen (or not)
is as important as freedom of speech.

    Cindy's day in court is coming for at least two charges (e.g., "News
Times Stands by Story" at
http://newportnewstimes.com/articles/2007/10/19/news/news10.txt).  It
is my understanding that Cindy appeared to be in violation of a court
order involving the earlier charges, when she was arrested at the
countdown social after the Jan. 5 Yaquina Bay Christmas Bird Count. 
In America, one is presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of
law.  That decision is up to the legal system.  Hopefully, justice
will prevail.

Range Bayer, Newport, Oregon

On Sat, April 19, 2008 1:42 am, Pelicans Passing said:
> OBOL,
>
> It was a very difficult decision as to whether or not to send this
> message. However, in the end, I really felt it was important that I speak
> up and let all OBOLers know about certain injustices occurring.
>
> "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
> Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
>
> As many of you know, my civil rights were seriously violated at the
> Christmas Bird Count in Newport on January 5 as a result of at least one
> person blatantly lying to the police and others about the true nature of a
> CBC. According to a police officer, this person (who is friends with
> someone who has a vendetta against me) claimed that the CBC countdown was
> a "private social function" which "had no affiliation with any group, ie;
> the Audubon Society." After being told where the countdown would be held
> by this same person, paying my registration fee, and participating in the
> field all day, I went to the countdown cold and wet. The countdown took
> place at a public property the city owns. As in most countdowns,
> participants were going over their data that would be entered into the
> Audubon database. After warming my hands and getting a cookie, I spent the
> rest of time sitting at a table talking quietly with other birders. After
> about 35 minutes, I was arrested with the charge bei!
>  ng Criminal Trespass II. Many people have asked and, yes, I did try to
> tell the police the truth, but they refused to even listen.
>
> Unfortunately, this painful incident has somehow spread to OBOL. Without
> any warning it was going to happen, all of my messages to OBOL suddenly
> started being intercepted by Doug Robinson (whom I've never met and don't
> know) right after this incident. Every time I try to post a message, I
> instantly receive an "OBOL bounce" message back. In all honesty, it is a
> slap in the face and salt in my wounds every time I get one of these
> ridiculous messages. Then I have to wait for my message to be posted. It
> has zapped the joy out of participating in OBOL for me and even my reading
> of OBOL has been curtailed since this started happening. I hadn't posted
> for a while but when I read the posts about migrations, I really wanted to
> chime in as I have thought a lot about these topics. I composed what I
> consider to be a thoughtful message. I sent it about 8:30 pm and then
> checked before I went to bed to see if it had been posted but it had not
> been. I checked again in the morning and severa!
>  l more times during that day but each time I discovered it had still not
> been posted. It was still not posted the next morning or late that
> afternoon. It took almost 2 full days for my message to finally appear on
> OBOL (~46 hours) -- which made my post appear untimely as the migration
> thread had already petered out. I have been considering now for months
> whether or not to tell the entire OBOL community about what's happening
> and this was the final straw that compelled me do so.
>
> "A right delayed is a right denied. "
> Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
>
> I have asked repeatedly for an explanation as to why Doug decided to start
> intercepting my messages in the first place but none has been given. Doug
> has refused to respond to my emails or my phone calls. I finally resorted
> to getting in touch with 2 of his supervisors at OSU, neither of whom can
> offer any explanation as to why this started. I'm a known entity on OBOL.
> I've posted more than 134 messages over the last 2+ years. I seriously
> doubt any of my messages ever offended anyone. I have always tried my best
> to be respectful of others in my posts and I believe I deserve better
> treatment. I'm assuming that someone has given Doug false information
> about me and that it has something to do with the civil rights violation
> that occurred January 5 because of the timing of when this started. One of
> his supervisors informed me that there are over 1000 subscribers to OBOL
> and that only a handful are "moderated" (their posts are intercepted and
> not automatically sent to the list). I!
>  n general, I find OBOL to be an online community of friendly folks who
> bend over backwards to be helpful and share information. Even in the few
> instances where I have observed people being disrespectful, I have not
> seen anyone getting moderated for it. The person who actually sent out a
> message beginning with, "Are you dense?" didn't seem to get moderated. I
> think moderation should be reserved for extreme cases where people show
> obvious disrespect for others or spam the group.  I do not fall into
> either category.
>
> I started reading OBOL in the fall of 2005. I posted my first messages
> that winter -- some of you will recall my fascination with the Snowy Owl
> that visited Newport for 3 months. I have posted at least 134 messages in
> total (maybe more). I truly enjoy OBOL and I've learned so much from all
> of you. OBOL has become one of life's simple pleasures that I cherish,
> often a pleasant diversion on an otherwise hectic day. I've also enjoyed
> many private dialogs with OBOLers offlist. I have spent a great deal of
> time trying to work this out without taking legal action but I seem to be
> hitting a concrete wall. I want to remain part of this online community
> but I don't see how I can if things don't change and I don't get a written
> explanation as to why this started occurring in the first place. I am
> hoping that some of you can help. If you want to contact Doug, his email
> is douglas.robinson at oregonstate.edu.
>
> I should also probably mention to the group that Doug's immediate
> supervisor emphatically stated to me several times that they really don't
> want to host OBOL. In fact, he gave me quite an earful on this topic and
> he actually seemed to want to use my situation as leverage to get me to
> help him find another server which I have to say offended me even more.
> While I feel a state university receiving public funding is the perfect
> place to host a community forum of this type, I believe it may be
> worthwhile to consider looking for another server for OBOL.
>
> If anyone wants additional information about what happened at the CBC Jan
> 5 or about my conversations with Doug's supervisors, please email me
> offlist at my primary email: tunicate89 at yahoo.com.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Cindy Ashy
>
> --
> Want an e-mail address like mine?
> Get a free e-mail account today at www.mail.com!
>
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