Fri 13 Jan 2006
Every few months someone removes the link to EphBlog in the Williams College entry in Wikipedia.
Who and why?
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January 13th, 2006 at 3:51 pm
Many people on campus often say they are upset that Ephblog, at first glance to an outsider, appears to be officially affiliated with Williams College, which it is not.
Besides, every other external link on the Williams College Wikipedia entry is linked to a site officially affiliated with the college.
January 13th, 2006 at 4:17 pm
1) Untrue. The Williams Record is a separate legal entity from the College. If you think that the Record belongs on Wikipedia than why not EphBlog?
2) How many “outsiders” actually believe that EphBlog is affiliated with Williams? We have a clear and prominent disclaimer. I think only a very naive person would spend more than a few minutes here without concluding that we are not an official publication of Williams College.
January 13th, 2006 at 4:47 pm
Aha, you got me there on that #1.
I know Ephblog is separate, but conversations I have with people on campus lead me to believe that this fear-that-outsiders-think-ephblog-is-affiliated-with -Williams is somewhat common, justifiably or not. And that’s where you probably get the people that are removing your link.
January 13th, 2006 at 5:45 pm
For what it’s worth, the Record is financially independent of College Council, but it is not legally independent from the College. Indeed, the Record has no legal status whatsoever.
January 13th, 2006 at 6:44 pm
Steven,
To say that the Record has no legal status whatsoever would be going a little far.
If it is now financially independent of the CC, then its declarations as “the independent student newspaper of record at Williams College” and its assertions of copyright should certainly make it some kind of corporation under the common law. Technically, it should need a business license to operate as it does. Etc. It clearly has a relationship to the College– an intimate one– but I’d guess that if it were sued for libel, Williams would not be on the line.
An LLC would not be a bad idea to minimize such risk, but that is another issue.
The Record hardly has a history of alignment with the College– there is a volume in Sawyer from one of the editors in the 30s, which chronicles the history of the Record as an institution opposed to Adminstrative positions. (And as the historically right party in most issues). Williams– in all senses from Adminstration to faculty to Student Body to campus, is, of course, free to develop its relationship to ephBlog; the Blog is generally open to anyone’s participation.