Classified Conversation: IITM Moral Policing

---------- Forwarded Message -----------
From: PRAKASH MAIYA M <mpmaiya@iitm.ac.in>

Dear Colleague,

Thanks for your inputs.

1. For the next open forum, if at all there is one, we must get the questions screened by responsible students first. Just because it is open forum, one cannot ask insulting / embarrassing questions. "I am 21 and what is your (read Warden, CCW, DoS, Director) problem if I have sex with my girl friend or
whoever it is in the hostel room?" and questions like that.

2. I found the students assembled at CLT did not show the collective responsibility, and seem to silently support the irresponsible questions. It appears that the students want the rotten culture to continue. I understand that the students do not want to own the responsibility nor accountability, but would like to enjoy unlimited freedom without contributing to the system in any way. Students reiterated these in the open forum!!! These together as good as, for me, doing something unacceptable during the hostel day and the clause - "All hostel days then onwards stands cancelled irrespective of the financial loss to anybody". Then the question is do we need continue with the Hostel Day?

3. The general opinion of the student gathering is that they can manage well without the warden. Hence as a first step, if (at all??)  we continue with the hostel day, the students will manage all the financial aspects. The financial transactions must be as per government rules, being public money for the Est.
B to operate. Else they can collect money individually from each students, spend for food, lights, stage, ice cream, etc. without involving Warden, and CCW. I request all the Wardens to implement this aspect. We will go for the win-win situation wherein students want to manage themselves and neither
Wardens nor CCW want to the party for bad bills.

Regards

M.P.Maiya
Professor of Mechanical Engineering

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From: SHALIGRAM TIWARI


Thanks to the arrogant and indisciplined student who spoke loud yesterday and shook our patience.
There are many such elements who make fun of academic students in the hostels, irritate teachers when they come to class, derive false pride by participating in Shastra and saaarang.
I would say that we have given them enough chance to do so. I simply disagree in calling it a generation gap. Little better living parents (mainly who suffered poverty in childhood) themselves are fascinated to show off and give much freedom to their children. I apologize in stating that such parents do not have enough education to recognise moral values. They perhaps know on what all moral fronts including patriotic ones, they have been faulty. That is why they become less courageous and even scared in objecting their children when children get on wrong tracks.

I believe the only way this problem can be tackled is by generating enough fear towards any wrong doing. As Prof Narayanswamy says it has become necessary to handle them in harsh way. Of course, the good and academic students will naturally remain unaffected.

I also agree with Prof Sinha that director has to be informed about everything and he has to address the mass of these students at least once in SAC.

Thanks and regards
shaligram


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From: Narayanaswamy N. S


Nandan,
I do not think that the director needs to be involved. We are the directors of our hostels.  We first need to face facts The students are being pampered by us in the name of their being "elite".

Some of them are experimenting:  this is the norm and we have to face it. There will be fellows who will
do bungee jumping, smoke grass, "make-out", drink alcohol.  This group is a small percentage and I think fairly constant in a society over time. Majority are unwanting to stand out. They do not want to do "dangerous" things, that includes wanting to support the administration by giving information. "Why take the risk?" is the attitude.

What we need to do is to recognize this and make our rules.  When the number of experimenters increase,
percentages do not matter.     The analogy is impure water, small volume with a fixed percentage of impurity is seen as "ok". Increase the volume, and then it is seen as "not ok".   We have reached the latter stage, the volume is high and it is impacting all of us. It will be too late when some fellows are found to be having "alternate sexual" preferences and also on [WINDOWS-1252?]drugs….and we will be left with no defence.

we make rules to convey the message "your life in iitm is in the academic zone and in the sports fields and in clt and in sac and oat. the hostel is the place for you to sleep.  the bathroom/toilet is where you get your privacy".

we administer the hostel by taking care of fixed infrastructure and any celebration has to adhere to ohm rules and they can pool money and do what they want.

No walker on campus, no mahendra on [WINDOWS-1252?]campus….

We should start with the current set of rules and amend it so that the wardens see a value in working with students in a clear framework.

regds
nari

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> From: Narayanaswamy N. S [swamy@iitm.ac.in]
>
>
> Dear All,
> Actually it is a generation gap.
>
> This is a generation of kids born to parents who think that touching an elder's feet is meaningless.
>
> We should design our system so that we can administer the hostels inspite of varying generation gaps.
>
> let us be clear-
> our strengths are in teaching and research.
>
> Further, the number of students per hostel are so high that mentoring their life's choices is beyond our efforts.  Also, input is dynamically changing.
>
> So we need to put in a framework which is reasonably self-regulatory
> a. open door and windows.
> b. ideally no LAN.
> c. morning wake-up, and yoga and mess, night lights out.
> d. expenditure on establishment B is closed, they collect and spend.
>
> What shocked me was the demand for privacy.  We need to root out the feeling that the
> room is theirs for anything and everything.  I hope no one says "it is in the warden's power." Let us make the administration easy, and help the students get better.
>
> I am trying to get aayahs to clean rooms from 6-7.15 in the morning. any pointers where i can get help?
>
> regds
> nari

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> On 27-Mar-2012, at 6:40 AM, Sivakumar M. Srinivasan wrote:
>
>> Dear Sir:
>> As you know, I was briefly there at CLT listening to the conversation
>> that went on.  I was visibly upset by the attitude shown by some of
>> the students.  While all of us are well-meaning, the sense of general
>> discipline is wanting in many of the students...  I am not sure if it
>> is a generation gap but definitely a gap in their value system.
>>
>> There seems to have been a slip in value system the past 6 or 7 years.
>> Some sort of hippy culture seems to be repeating!!!
>>
>> Instead of adding more words to this email, I am airing my opinion here:
>> IT IS IMPORTANT TO INTRODUCE SOME STRINGENT MEASURES, EVEN IF IT MEANS
>> SHELVING HOSTEL NIGHTS AND THINNING DOWN CULTURAL FESTIVALS FOR A FEW
>> YEARS.
>>
>> More when we discuss in person.
>>
>> anbudan,
>> Siva