tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18871255904835402.post5224805620626263746..comments2024-03-20T13:32:48.857+05:30Comments on Inside the Campus: Hall day skit leads to suspensionsDheeraj Sanghihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06367519409840642182noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18871255904835402.post-50695910960656447192015-09-09T18:00:18.686+05:302015-09-09T18:00:18.686+05:30Dear Vivek, I fully agree with you that IITK must ...Dear Vivek, I fully agree with you that IITK must include awareness as a way to deal with the issues. I do not know what happened in 1992, but I have gone through each and every case of SSAC in the last 10 years, and in almost ALL cases, the punishment, if we can call this a punishment, has been a warning. (Barring a couple of cases.) And hence to assume that the current punishment could possibly be retributive and meant to create an example of "an eye for an eye" is little far fetched, till we know more details.<br /><br />When we consider punishments in general, besides reformative and retributive punishments, there is something in-between, which is deterrence. And in all the discussions that I have ever had in Senate and other bodies in IITK, the debate has always been reformative versus deterrence, and in most cases, it has been decided that we should try to reform, just issue a warning, etc.<br /><br />I can understand that even a single incident where the students felt that an unusually harsh punishment had been given would remain with that student for life, but I think after 20+ years, we can look at the Institute record over a long term period and then judge whether it has indeed been following "an eye for an eye" approach.<br /><br />While in this case, I do not know the details, but my view has been that the Institute has been unusually soft by giving warnings for even serious things in the last 10 years, so much so, that the copying in exam (I am not talking about copying in assignments and lab reports) has become very rampant. Even after getting caught red-handed, students have been issued warnings. I am not aware of any university in the world, which would have done that repeatedly for every such case.<br /><br />And my contention is that it has happened because every time, we discuss the punishment, it is felt that a semester drop is too harsh, and somehow every inter-mediate sort of punishments (the examples of which I give in the blog) are rejected on one ground or the other.<br /><br />And through this blog, I am pleading that in all serious cases, we must look for something between a warning and a semester drop, because besides reformation, we do need some deterrence, particularly when it comes to cheating in the exams.<br /><br />Thanks for writing your views here.Dheeraj Sanghihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06367519409840642182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18871255904835402.post-6518886548175589972015-09-09T17:29:52.205+05:302015-09-09T17:29:52.205+05:30Dear Dr. Sanghi,
I applaud you for making an effo...Dear Dr. Sanghi, <br />I applaud you for making an effort to explain the Institute's position. <br /><br />With due respect, these students are merely the manifested symptoms of a wider problem. <br /><br />Their actions are also an indictment into the failings of the Institute to address the root cause of the problem here. This unfortunate incident could have been averted had there been some guidelines, and a proper vetting process for such performances in place, for instance?<br /><br />If we want to create engineers and scientists who would become parts of prestigious global organizations, we also need to train them about fitting into diverse workplaces. Many companies I have worked for had simple but effective, (and mandatory) "diversity awareness" programs that sensitise all employees towards words and actions that might cause offense even unintentionally, and could be illegal. Once such guidelines are in place, there is no ambiguity about "did I really cross the line?" or "was my simple joke judged as racist/sexist too harshly?" even in the minds of the offender (and his/her friends). You see far fewer cases of ill-judged, tasteless or offensive jokes (including the Sardarji jokes, that a large number of faculty members themselves may have shared at one point or another, for instance). <br /><br />I strongly urge IITK to look into fixing the root cause, than merely creating an example via "an eye for an eye" retributive justice. Harsh punishments have been tried several times in the past too (e.g. 1992) and clearly are NOT effective. I would argue they have even been detrimental, and have poisoned the environment with more hatred and suspicion. <br /><br />Respect out of fear is usually only temporary. These problems will only go away when a large number of boys genuinely stand for the girls in such cases of harassments. All said and done, I am confident that a vast majority of IITK boys are fairly righteous and conscientious individuals, and would NOT side with a wrong doer just for the heck of it. <br /><br />However, the perceived lack of transparency, and the unexplained procedural issues are bound to cause resentments, and would be seen as disproportionate by a lot of boys. THAT is not going to help solve anything - misogyny will only increase. None of us want that. <br /><br />Thanks and Regards,<br />VivekVivekRaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17798052842159712381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18871255904835402.post-13728590718900203912015-09-07T03:36:03.787+05:302015-09-07T03:36:03.787+05:30It depends on which semester. Normally, the studen...It depends on which semester. Normally, the students prefer that the current semester is dropped so that they don't have to stay at home for long, and they don't have to answer to neighbours and relatives. In that case, they forfeit the fees this semester and pay again the next semester. On the other hand, if it is the next semester which is dropped, then you are right that there would not be any fee to be paid. Only wage loss for a few months, but that too is serious money.Dheeraj Sanghihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06367519409840642182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18871255904835402.post-43439365252440148342015-09-07T03:17:58.664+05:302015-09-07T03:17:58.664+05:30Dheeraj: Correct me if I am wrong, but won't a...Dheeraj: Correct me if I am wrong, but won't a semester drop mean that there will be no fees paid that semester as well? He can in fact choose not to stay in the hostel as well, paying no hostel fees either.वैभव Vaibhavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02969438768035492250noreply@blogger.com