Replies to posts

[Wendy Wagner <NY932263@PACEVM.DAC.PACE.EDU>]

Once again, thank you David Beard for saying so well what I wish to say. And
thanks also to Beth Rapp-Young for her thoughtful compromises, which make a lot
of sense to me. But like David, I feel I must rebuke Stephen Newmann.

Stephen, I wish it were as easy as you think to just complain to the
administration and get a new mailer program. I don't know if "msmary" has bags
of money in a vault underneath its campus, but here at Pace we are seriously
wondering whether our budget will carry us through the spring semester.
I don;t think it's very fair or very understanding of you to simply assume we
can just ask for anything we want and Pace will give it to us. Not all of us
are that lucky. Your attitude smacks of the "Let them eat cake" variety.
Once again, I repeat my contention that technology is catching up with this
list. Your volume is increasing because more people have access to the Net.
You will have to decide whether you want to serve as a resource for writing
center personnel across the world, or whether you want to maintain a "folksy"
"spontaneous" atmosphere that benefits only a few oldtimers but may turn away
new people who desperately need a resource such as this one.

I also want to make it clear that my real beef is with those who post
"Me too" comments and "Please send me a syllabus" posts. The humorous posts,
which I do enjoy (though I am sure some of you think I have a SUMA), are not a
problem to me personally, though I think you should begin to consider whether
this tone can be maintained if the list expands further.

And finally, 2 more technical notes: I am on a list (for a hobby) for which the
listprocessor is set so that hitting the reply key sends notes to the
individual, not the list. This set-up _in no way_ limits the discourse on the
list--believe me! Sometimes I _wish_ it did!

And for those who hate to bother to write in the entire WCENTER address every
time you post: well, I may have an antiquated mailer, but we _do_ have a
feature called "Netnames." When I created this post, all I did was type in
"mail wc," and the address popped right up. I don't think that those of you
who are saying we complainers should just get a new mailer are being fair. Why
are you not asking those who are too lazy to type in the whole address to learn
how to use netnames? I have been trying (though it's difficult for me) to be
nice and not to flame, but some of the attitudes of the oldtimers seem to
suggest that they think of this issue as an "us/them" issue--the "fun" list
veterans versus the "humorless" newbies. I'm not sure how this jibes with the
list's perception of itself as a friendly place. Some of the posts are
starting to make me feel less and less welcome.
                                               Wendy