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Dear Colleagues, I have quietly refrained from participating in the two recent brawls on the SDS and DS-HUM listservs, but it has been tiring and upsetting to read dozens to hundreds of angry posts by the same people who have appointed themselves as spokespersons for the field. While I have very much appreciated the lively debates on Disability Studies LISTSERVS over the past decade (compared to my home field, where everyone agrees or self-censors), these recent threads are undermining the scholarly integrity that our predecessors worked so hard to establish. The argumentation has been rigid and poorly executed with little to no attempt to appreciate valid opposition. Many posts have been rude, disrespectful, and unprofessional by any measure. The exchange has been embarrassing and unproductive, the worst type of academic polemic. This is all happening at a time in DSQ's history when good news is abundant (i.e., new editorial leadership) and we should be celebrating the prospects of our future rather than destroying ourselves. To the LISTSERV moderators: please consider implementing the unwritten "pizza" rule to terminate threads when they become ugly and personal, and when one or two people decide to dominate the conversation and represent the entire readership or field of Disability Studies. I do not support censorship, but that should never be an excuse to defame people and make our field look terrible. It has gotten way out of hand. To the few people appointing yourselves as representatives of SDS, DSQ, Disability Studies, and so forth: please stop. Try to be more prudent, particularly in extremely sensitive cases where there are multiple, valid sides to an argument (or, perhaps, no valid sides), and please do not promote your narrow-minded viewpoints as consensus. Sincerely, John Derby Assistant Professor, The University of Kansas Proud SDS member, proud author of several DSQ articles, and proud DSQ editorial review board former member . I'd like to keep it that way ________________End of message________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page.