@Omen I am not disagreeing with your comment. My issue is I am not sure that your comment and comments from other people in this case are constructive and I am pretty sure they are not particularly nice.

@tohecz to some extent it is the number of comments, but I am not sure the comments are helping the community move towards an answer. They seem to be passing judgement and opening up discussion.

@StrongBad well, you are the moderator - do as you please

@StrongBad well, in all honesty, I think the person got the best answer he can. Now the thread is a valuable reflection and space for confrontation of the teachers, students, ethics, etc. So while this is not the purpose of SE, I believe that there are exceptions allowed

and a bit of background - I don't write these things to be 'mean' or anything as superficial as that - I am writing from experience, from the other side of the story - as being a teacher and a class mate falsely accused of cheating.

The softly softly approach does not work, they cheated and must learn by accepting and enduring the consequences. Sounds harsh, but it is a fact. As @tohecz said, he has got the best answers possible in both the answers and comments - the fact that my and many of the so called 'offending' comments are getting upvoted gives a rough indication of the concensus of those reading them.

@Omen I'm glad that @StrongBad is not behaving like a dictator ;) :D

@tohecz realistically, the moderators will make the ultimate decision - I am tempted to just delete my comment, just so there would be one less headache.

@Omen ummmm ... not necessarily? But again, I'm homed at TeX.SE, and things work differently there

I am homed in other places - somehow Academia is my 'top' site

@Omen ah I see :)

I am just going to go ahead and delete my comment, seeing as it is 'offensive' , despite stating the facts

@tohecz temporarily my top site, to be honest, I am just reading lately (and occasionally editing and voting) - becoming less comfortable posting

@Omen I wouldn't remove the comment, but it's your decision

am picking up posting elsewhere

@tohecz actually am getting concerned that I might be the subject of punitive action

@Omen whom by?

@Omen I would delete your comment yet.

@tohecz a perceived violation of the 'be nice' rule

@Omen I think you misinterpret the Be Nice rule. Your comment is not offensive, it's realistic, and realistically straightforward. It's something I would tell a person in that situation straight in the eyes, if I knew they truly want to hear my honest opinion.

@Omen there were flags raised against some of the comments. I tend to agree with the flags, but don't think my views represent the community. I wanted to crowd source a little. I appreciate your input.

deleting it

@Omen I am not trying to bully you Omen and you are no where near any sort of violation of the "be nice" rule.

I wasn't singling you out and your comment is mild compared to some of the others.

its gone, hope my omission is satisfactory

@Omen Thank you.

in future, I will refrain from giving my opinion, or speaking from my experiences

The question and answers are still such a mess. It has probably the most flags of any question we have had.

@Omen I am sorry you feel that way. It was not my intent. Your opinions and experiences are really valuable for this site, especially when they help answer questions.

I seriously doubt that

But I assure you that I am in no way meaning to be offensive - but, a lot my work (volunteer ethics committee member, alongside my role as an Adjunct lecturer) means that I see things like that all the time - and every single time, we get the whining, pleading and outright threatening to give the cheats 'a break'.

We get the exact same response, so I am used to direct and indirect censorship - basically learnt to bite my tongue

I'll still participate - just by editing and flagging - unless that is problematic as well

@Omen Please do not overreact :)

not really overreacting when you think about it - I will still be participating

@Omen no problems there and when you see questions you want to answer, answer them. If you have questions, ask them. You are a valued member of the community.

@Omen well, my opinion is that your input was (and still is) valuable. It just maybe takes some more time to get to understand the nuances of how rudeness, objectivity, ... and considered here ;)

@StrongBad I have about a dozen questions to be honest

@tohecz there is no intention of being rude at all

@Omen I am not sure what that means, but ask them.

@StrongBad I have had these questions buzzing around my head for a couple of months now

but no, I won't be asking, nor answering (posted answer and comment) - just doing the mechanical side of things as time allows (have 4 jobs!).

@Omen I know there is no intention of being rude! Nevertheless, it can happen that what one writes sounds rude.

@tohecz all the more reason for me to just step back on this site

@Omen no, it's a reason to get to know the site better ;) Because frankly, we all make bad steps (and yours wasn't that bad IMHO), and I don't think anybody is angry at you for posting it

anyways, gotta go now, it's half past 11 and I haven't got out of my home :)

@tohecz to be sure of that (as I still think I am on the 'knife edge' for the perceived violation of the 'be nice' rule) I am stepping back - refocusing on other sites.

@Omen well, I roger that, sir! :) I just wanted to say that IMHO your input is appreciated here :) anyways, ES.SE needs some more attention I think ;)

Um ... Anyone online?

Okay -_-"

@VatsalManot I am around

@jakebeal Im guessing you have personal knowledge of Dr. Clark? I wanted to dive into this, and dont think comments was appriate to continue the discussion. The link you gave provides no evidence he is a PI on separate funding projects, through his bio nor cv, just that he is currently sponsored by NSF

@StrongBad I am re-evaluating my membership on this site - I feel I have been singled out