From: Barbara Lamar (barbaralamar@sanmarcos.net)
Date: Mon Aug 18 2003 - 23:19:07 MDT
Greg Burch wrote:
> The
> very act of
> enforcing minimal standards of tone and style itself generates
> unpleasantness
> and ill-feelings among many.
I'm on an American Bar Association moderated list where the discussion
topics range far and wide, but there are strict rules about politeness and
topics that are not welcome -- for example, controversial political topics.
There are sublists of the main list, and the rules allow members to
introduce, say, a political topic for the purpose of letting other list
members know that the topic is up for discussion on the sublist. But if
someone responds to the initial post on the main list, that person is gently
reminded to take it to the sublist. If the person persists in ignoring the
list rules, that person loses his or her posting privileges (interestingly,
I've never seen a female lose her posting privileges; it's always males who
can't seem to back down).
Mike was incredibly rude to Natasha, and I thought she responded politely
and diplomatically on the list. I'm not sure what I would have done in her
place, I know I would have been very upset if someone had talked to me the
way Mike talked to her. But I don't think he would have been asked to leave
if it had been only a personal matter. As Greg pointed out, if one doesn't
have fairly high standards, the quality of a list suffers, and the quality
of the list reflects on ExI itself.
It's a pity that Lee and others have chosen to leave rather than approach
the situation as an opportunity to make the list, and the organization,
better.
Barbara Lamar
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