Conspiracy theorists...

I received the following as a comment about a previous note:

For your information, the SA website was hacked and deleted last week, probably by someone friendly with you or one of the anti-SA Facebook groups. There was a backup of many of the files, but not of the Constitution, among others. Please cease your conspiracy theorism.

Fascinating. Since my comment about it was so brief, here's a full reprint of what I had to say about the missing Constitution:

Wednesday, November 15, 2006
SA Constitution missing from website.

This may not mean anything, but the link that normally connects you from the SA website to the online version of the SA Constitution is not working right now. For those who wish to try it: http://www.uwm.edu/StudentOrg/sa/Constitution.htm

We'll see what comes of it

To be honest, I don't see how that is expounding on a conspiracy theory. I am simply pointing out that an online tool that I use frequently is no longer available. If anyone wishes to explain what this means (I would ask the person directly but he or she has chosen to reply anonymously), please do so.

I would, however, like to address the comment directly. Beginning at the beginning, "For your information, the SA website was hacked and deleted last week, probably by someone friendly with you or one of the anti-SA Facebook groups." I'm not sure when this deletion occurred, as I don't usually monitor the SA website except when writing for an article or explaining the information to others when I happen to be near a computer. But nevertheless, it would be a simple enough matter to replace, would it not? There clearly is a previous version available that could be modified to reflect changes. If modifying a PDF is too much, it is also found as a Word document through simple searches. If all these failed, it would be a reasonable use of office time and office staff to get someone to take an electronic copy of the current Constitution (which must exist somewhere within SA) and link it into the site, or at the very least get a paper copy from somewhere (even the administration if necessary) and have someone type it in. So the idea that this information has been missing from the site for at least 36 hours shows some degree of either indifference or incompetence.

But as someone who uses the information posted on the SA websites, why would I want to see it removed? The people I have met who are fighting against SA are seeking more transparency and information from SA, not less. Such a move is detrimental to the process. Is our anonymous poster trying to say that I believe that the information is being removed specifically to prevent people like me from using it against SA? Let's just say that if that were true, there would be a lot more missing than just the Constitution.