[FC-discuss] FreeCulture.org is now Students for Free Culture

[Nelson Pavlosky]

I think that it makes sense to limit our focus to the schools of the 
world rather than trying to be all things to all people... isn't that a 
big enough task?  I think that organizing off-campus should not be 
within our mission, and that we should avoid mission creep, e.g. 
watering down the term "student" to mean "everyone in the world".  If we 
find ourselves doing a lot of stuff that doesn't involve students and 
youth, I think we should spin off a separate organization so that we can 
stay focused, and make sure that students remain in the driver's seat of 
this organization.  Older people and people not involved with a 
school/unversity in any way can certainly get involved and help out, so 
long as we maintain the clear mission of representing and organizing 
*students* for free culture.

Let's face it, most organizations with totally open membership will end 
up being run by older people with more experience and connections... it 
doesn't make sense to kick out old experienced leaders for new greenhorn 
students, *unless* you are trying to represent students and give them a 
voice.  I think that it's important for us to give students a voice, to 
show that they genuinely care about free culture issues by organizing 
them in a grassroots manner, by letting them speak for themselves, and 
no other organization in the field today offers that.  If we water 
ourselves down so that we just represent a vague group of people who 
support free culture, I think that will make our organization less 
valuable... what makes us different from e.g. iCommons at that point?  I 
think Fred is right, serious off-campus organizing can probably be done 
through iCommons or an iCommons "node".  Or the EFF, or PK, or 
Copynight, or any of the numerous organizations in this field whom we 
work with and support.

However, if members of our chapters disagree on this point, guess what?  
We're holding elections soon for the Board of Directors.  Members of our 
chapters can run for office, can make their position on whether we 
should remain *students* for free culture part of their platforms, and 
the chapters can vote them up or down on that issue, and the elected 
Board can make motions in the desired direction.  If the chapters want 
to change our name yet again to reflect a different mission, or change 
the purposes set forth in the bylaws, they can amend the bylaws through 
the official amendment process, and officially change our name for the 
3rd time.  These issues will be decided through a democratic process 
that represents what our student activists want to do with this 
organization.

And if that's not good enough, you always have the right to fork and 
start your own org.

Peace,
~Nelson Pavlosky~
Co-founder, Students for Free Culture




Elizabeth Stark wrote:
> We've actually worked quite successfully in Boston *with* students and
> in universities as well as *beyond* academia. While it probably makes
> sense at this point to be primarily university chapter-focused, I
> don't see why others can't get involved. I'd like to define "student"
> as broadly as possible -- essentially, anyone with a willingness to
> learn.
>
> -E
>
> On 10/2/07, Fred Benenson <fred.benenson at gmail.com> wrote:
>   
>> Yes, it's a shame that some people can't find value in campus organizing as
>> there's surely precedent.
>>
>> Crosbie: why not consider an organization such as iCommons which has much
>> broader goals and membership?
>>
>> F
>>
>>
>>
>> On 10/2/07, Thomas (TJ) Olsen <tj at tjolsen.net> wrote:
>>     
>>> absolutely disagree--students and academia in this country and globally
>>> have a long history of great activism and creative output
>>>
>>> tj
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Crosbie Fitch" < crosbie at cyberspaceengineers.org>
>>> To: "'Discussion of Free Culture in general and this organization
>>> inparticular'" <discuss at freeculture.org>
>>> Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2007 6:52 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [FC-discuss] FreeCulture.org is now Students for Free Culture
>>>
>>>
>>>       
>>>> I would have thought "Artists for Free Culture" would have been better.
>>>>
>>>> Or even "Free Citizens for Free Culture"
>>>>
>>>> I would suspect that the popular conception of a student is a passive
>>>> receptacles for knowledge, only expected to start doing anything
>>>> significantly productive/creative until after they've ceased being a
>>>> student.
>>>>
>>>> The last thing a passive receptacle needs is the freedom to publish
>>>>         
>> copies
>>     
>>>> or derivatives. People will assume students are just after broader
>>>> educational exemptions for using the library photocopier.
>>>>
>>>> So 'Students for Free Culture' comes across as if it was "Couch Potatoes
>>>> for
>>>> Free Culture".
>>>>
>>>> At worst "Students can't afford much, so we should get the world's
>>>>         
>> culture
>>     
>>>> free of charge. Thanks."
>>>>
>>>> The best light it can be put in is "Typically militant students having
>>>>         
>> the
>>     
>>>> luxury of being able to agitate against cultural oppression of the
>>>>         
>> masses"
>>     
>>>> What's so special about a student?
>>>>
>>>> That's what I want to know.
>>>>
>>>> If you say 'many people showed up who were not aware that we were a
>>>> student
>>>> organization', perhaps instead of concluding that you need to strengthen
>>>> the
>>>> student angle, you could have concluded that you should ditch the
>>>>         
>> student
>>     
>>>> angle (even if students do constitute the key demographic most able to
>>>> perceive the corruption in copyright and patent).
>>>>
>>>> The last thing a body that champions cultural freedom should be is
>>>> exclusive.
>>>>
>>>> If only FreeCulture.org was now 'Everyone for Free Culture'
>>>>
>>>> "We found people were confused when we said it was a student
>>>>         
>> organisation,
>>     
>>>> so we've stopped saying that. We now just say it's an open and
>>>>         
>> egalitarian
>>     
>>>> organisation that welcomes everyone interested in promoting cultural
>>>> freedom"
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>> Discuss at freeculture.org
>>>> http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>>
>>>>         
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Discuss mailing list
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>>>
>>>       
>> _______________________________________________
>> Discuss mailing list
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>>
>>
>>     
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