Here is the first draft, publicly available rules for this list. This
will be posted on the web and will become part of the material
initially sent to subscribers.
Comments are welcome. I'd prefer them to come to me directly rather
than to the list.
TG
_____
MODERATION, POLICIES, AND ETIQUETTE
As of the Spring of 2002 this list became a moderated list. Every post to the
list is approved by the moderator. This allows for more control over spam and
unruly contributors and promotes general good order. In general, the moderator
will not filter posts based on their content (except as outlined below), but
rather based on their character. Since every message must be manually
inspected,
there may be a delay between the time a message was posted to the list and the
time it actually appears on the list.
1. Posts at all times must be courteous and demonstrate a general charity and
respect. This does not mean that there cannot be disagreements or
devastating critiques of different viewpoints. However, it is possible to
disagree without being disagreeable and to have a devastating critique without
being harsh, rude or disrespectful. While not everyone agrees as to what
constitutes harsh, rude, or disrespectful behavior, there does seem to be some
consensus based on the history of this list. The moderator will not approve
messages deemed to be of this character. Ordinarily, the message will be sent
back to the person who posted the message with a request to repost the message
after eliminating the offensive language.
2. Quips, one-liners, thank you's, messages that say nothing more
than "I agree"
or "I disagree", and other "chat room" type exchanges are
discouraged. Ordinarily,
these messages will not be posted and no explanation will be given.
3. Posts that attempt to undermine the policies and character of the
ASA will not
be approved. Decisions not to approve such posts will be made in
consultation with
the ASA executive director.
4. There is no promise that all posts will be of interest to all members. You
should try to give your post an informative subject line using the suggestion
outlined above (or something similar) in order to help readers judge whether
or not a post is interesting. Users not interested in a particular
subject are encouraged to ignore and delete such messages. This should be
considered the normal way to handle posts that you are not interested in.
5. Occasionally, list participants engage in the proverbial "beating
a dead horse".
Similarly, some discussions may get to a point where only one or two
members are
interested or are participating. Any list member who feels that this
the case may
suggest that the discussion of a topic be discontinued. List members may also
request that those who are interested continue the discussion in private
correspondence. If insufficient interested in continuing the discussion is
demonstrated by the list membership, the moderator will suggest that
discussion of
the topic be discontinued. If those few members persist in
discussing the topic
against the wishes of the group as a whole, the moderator will "not
approve" messages
pertaining to that subject. This option should be used sparingly so as not to
hinder free discussion of ideas of interest to some list members.
6. People new to the list (or lurkers who have never posted before)
are encouraged
to tell the list a bit about their scientific interests and expertise
and something
about where they are spiritually (theological or church tradition,
influences, etc.).
While we don't want to get bogged down with biographical information, such
information is usefully background to understanding one another.
7. Ordinarily, the decision of the moderator not to approve a post
will be final.
If you feel that you have been unfairly "not approved", explain your reasons in
a message directly to the moderator and, if the decision was
questionable, he or
she will get an appropriate third party involved to mediate.
-- _________________ Terry M. Gray, Ph.D., Computer Support Scientist Chemistry Department, Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado 80523 grayt@lamar.colostate.edu http://www.chm.colostate.edu/~grayt/ phone: 970-491-7003 fax: 970-491-1801
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jun 25 2002 - 23:28:34 EDT