Please welcome Screen-L's new moderator, Xiaolei Hao. Xiaolei is a graduate student in Telecommunication and Film here at the University of Alabama. She'll be in charge during the current school year of filtering out spam and other inappropriate messages to Screen-L. We here at Screen-L Central feel that the list should be moderated as little as possible. In fact, when we began Screen-L it was completely unmoderated, but then the amount of spam substantially increased in the mid-1990s and we had to switch to a moderated system. Xiaolei's charge has been to filter as little as possible, but she will be looking for the following inappropriate messages: 1. Personal attacks on individuals. Healthy disagreement and differing opinions are welcome, but when that disagreement turns into venomous insults and hateful verbal assaults it will not be tolerated. 2. Comments that have absolutely, totally, fundamentally nothing to do with the study of film or television. Screen-L messages should somehow relate to the study of film and TV, not just the casual enjoyment of these media. This is interpreted rather broadly. Postings to Screen-L need not be dry, didactic treatises from which all joy has been crushed. But also, they should not noodle on about, say, the poster's penchant for full-lipped actors. 3. Personal notes to individual Screen-L subscribers. 4. Posts that duplicate information that has already appeared on Screen-L. If someone asks what "rosebud" was in CITIZEN KANE, only one reply will be distributed. 5. Messages that quote many lines from a previous Screen-L message and then add a short comment (e.g., "I agree!"). 6. Discussion about Screen-L itself. There are exceptions to this--such as when new Screen-L policies are being debated. But, in general, comments about the list should be directed to its moderator rather than to the group as a whole. 7. Requests for jobs in film/video production. Very few persons who do the hiring for film/video jobs read Screen-L. There are better, more professionally oriented forums for this sort of post. 8. Inordinately long posts--say, over 200 lines. Screen-L is designed for the interchange of messages. Longer essays are generally not appropriate. 9. Messages with files attached to them. File attachments are the most common way viruses and Internet worms are distributed. Incidentally, should you ever become interested in the history of Screen-L since its first message on "Fri, 15 Mar 91 19:42:11 CST," you may find an archive of all of its messages at: http://bama.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html Regards, ---- Jeremy Butler Screen-L Coordinator [log in to unmask] ScreenSite http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite Telecommunication & Film/University of Alabama/Tuscaloosa ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu