CZ:Start Article

In defense of the moral relativist and to reassure my liberal friends that I am still on their side, and with the acquiescence of Opinion Editor Williams, I feel compelled to add the following footnote to his occasional provocative and thoughtful editorial reviling the evident upsurge in sex crimes. No doubt perpetrator Hansen needs some sort of counseling, but a life sentence for possessing a computer file? (Child pornography case goes to jury Feb. 8)

Concerning ethical relativity no adult with an IQ of 70 or better should contradict Williams’ editorial stance on matters of obvious turpitude such as terrorism, rape, torture, and murder. But in quarrels more controversial (so-called “victimless crimes” by the community of the far Left) I have recently noted astounding diversity of opinion, especially in matters of consensual relations involving minors. In Utah until just a few years ago, for example, polygamy entailing such conduct was considered quite ok, even when the (female) “victim” was only 13. And there have been not a small number of teacher-student liaisons throughout the country, which on the basis of differences regional or even purely of judicial interpretation, have been denounced as heinous on one hand, entailing lengthy prison terms, or on the other, as a trifling lapse of judgment with a mere slap-on-the-wrist.

Especially notable is a comparison of two cases from several years ago: In an AP story reporting Teacher receives six months’ jail time.... for a tryst with her 15-year-old male student, “...a tearful Hadden [the perp] apologized...,” while the Las Vegas District Judge [yelled] ‘How dare you? How dare you? [pointing his finger] at the wretched teacher and condemning her to [carry the conviction] like a scarlet letter,’” while “...the boy’s mother said Hadden had ruined his life.”

At the other extreme, Pamela Diehl-Moore, a 43-year-old former public-middle-school teacher, was let off on five years' probation in a New Jersey Superior Court for the "lapse in judgment" (her words) that led her to carry on with a 13-year-old male student. However, the contrast is more vividly underscored by the Judge’s statement in handing down the sentence: "I really don't see the harm that was done here and certainly society doesn't need to be worried," he said. "I do not believe she is a sexual predator. It's just something between two people that clicked beyond the teacher-student relationship."

Note that I am only reporting facts. The reader who is shocked by the evident disparity may be further upset to learn that in 20 states, no crime is even charged where the “victim” is 16. (The literate reader is invited to read at least the closing scene in Tea and Sympathy).

In the first case cited above, might the reader not wonder whether the mother’s reaction to the matter of her 15-year-old boy might have been slightly exaggerated? The age of consent in Delaware and Mississippi, by the way, was until just recently, 12. In the notorious case of Mary Kay Letourneau, a married, 35-year-old elementary school teacher shocked the people of Seattle in 1997 when she admitted in court that she had had a liaison with 13-year-old student Vili Fualaau and was sentenced to a 7-year prison term. They later married. Her consequent serial pregnancies notwithstanding, an independent psyche study nevertheless concluded that the effect of this relationship on the boy not only was not only harmless but probably would have a positive effect on his sense of esteem throughout the rest of his life.

Again, remember, I've only recapped various media reports. Of course even the most liberal reader will admit that Mary Kay's part in the affair certainly constituted unprofessional conduct. But would it be entirely unreasonable of me to question which party in this incident was the perpetrator and which the victim? Thus The conservatively-inclined reader should draw back a step or two and consider whether the tenets of moral absolutism ought not be altogether abandoned, especially in cases where no significant trauma is apparent and where individual reaction is colored by upbringing, tradition, ideology, regional custom, or religion.

Dale Hileman Apple Valley, CA

Letter to the Editor of Victorville, CA Daily Press

Let's begin with the mechanical procedure of making a new page, for folks who haven't used the software before. If you want to follow along, open a new window or print out a copy of this page first.

1. Let's make a test article, not a real article. Start in the Sandbox. Notice the "edit" tab near the top of the page? You can click that. Go ahead and click it. That big text box that pops up is where you can edit the page, about as easily as you edit an e-mail.
2. To create a new article, all you have to do is type "test article" (or the name of the article you want to create), but place [[ and ]] around it, so you get something like this: [[test article]] That will create a link. (For pointers on article naming, see Topic Choice and Naming Conventions.)
3. Next, look (or scroll) down below the text box you're writing in. Look for the "Save page" button. Press it. Voila, you have edited the Sandbox! You have also created a link to an as-yet nonexistent article. On the Sandbox page, look for the text you added. It should be there as a red link.
4. Click on the red link. This pulls up another text box, just like the one you saw before, except that it is completely empty. So now you can go to town writing your new article. Then press "Save page."
5. Add the checklist. (If you're brand new to the Citizendium, you can skip this--someone else will help, and we don't want to overwhelm you.) Add The Article Checklist to the talk page.

When you start new pages, please make a habit of doing it from other pages, just as the above demonstrates. For example, if I wanted to start an article about a famous philosopher, I might add a link to the (as-yet nonexistent) page from the philosophy article. Then, to start the page, I click on the link I just added. Of course, a link to the page I want might already exist.

Using Subpages

For the hard way--which you'll learn eventually, but don't have to learn right away--see Start article with subpages. Or you can just get started with them--see Using the Subpages template or go right to the instructions.

Markup basics

When you work on your article, you'll be typing pretty much as if you were writing an e-mail. But to make text bold or italicized, or to create links, you'll be using wiki "markup." If you've never used this before, don't worry--it's not complicated!

There are just a few bits of code you need to learn, which you'll be using over and over again:

• To start a new paragraph, simply skip down two lines. Skipping down one line has no effect on presentation.
• To make text bold, put three single quotation marks around the text: '''bold'''
• To italicize text, use two single quotes: ''italicize''
• To link to a page, surround the text to be linked with left and right double brackets: [[link]]
• To make a link that points to an article that is different from the text of the link, you use a "pipe," like this: [[Biology|link]]
• To start a new section, surround the section title on both sides by two equals signs (flush left): == My New Section ==
• To make a bulleted list, precede a list item with * and make sure it's flush left: * My bullet point
• To make a numbered list, do the same but with #, like this: # My numbered point

Here's a handy hint: if you see some bit of formatting you'd like to replicate, click the "edit" button and look to see how it's done. This is how many of us learned the code--which, again, isn't hard!

See How to edit an article for a more complete list.

What's a good article like?

Here are some basics about content and formatting of articles. There are many small issues here, but here are a few important ones you should know about.

A good article satisfies many standards. It is an encyclopedia article, first of all, and it is accurate, neutral, coherent, comprehensive, well-written, pitched at the university student level, not original research, family-friendly, and legal and responsible.

Here are some essential points:

• The article title should be uppercase for the first word, then lowercase for the following words unless it is typically written uppercase when used in a regular sentence. So: Computational complexity theory; but American Chemical Society. Unless there is a compelling reason not to, articles about people should begin with the person's first name first, e.g., Albert Einstein.
• Copy and paste the following text onto the bottom of any new articles: [[Category:CZ Live]]. This adds the article to the "live articles" category (which you can view by clicking "Live articles" on the left). This helps mark articles we've actively worked on.
• The first use of the title word, phrase, or name should be bold. For example: "Biology is the science of life."
• Start the article with a definition, if it concerns a concept or general category, or else an explanation of what the person, place, event, etc., is best known for. For example: "Achillea is a genus of flowering plants, commonly referred to as yarrow, that are frequently used in garden borders and beds in ornamental horticulture."
• Link words and phrases (by surrounding the phrases with left and right double brackets: [[ ]]) where, and only where, the links are relevant to the point being made in a sentence, and where following a link will shed important light on the subject of the article.
• Remember that we employ a Neutrality Policy. The policy requires that we include all significant viewpoints on a subject, stated as fairly and sympathetically as possible. It does not mean that we take a mainstream, scientific, skeptical, or "intermediate/compromise" point of view; it means we write neutrally. So we "take a step back" if necessary, and describe any controversies fairly, rather than trying to settle them in any way at all.

For other tips, see Dozen Essentials, Approval Standards, and Article Mechanics.