Policies & Participation Guidelines

I have learned silence from the talkative, tolerance from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I an ungrateful to these teachers.

          -- Kahil Gibran

These are the general policies and participation guidelines which govern the TAG Project mailing lists. In addition, each individual list has its own Welcome File containing the posting guidelines specific to that list. Please note that each of our mailing lists exists for a specific purpose and has a specific structure.

We hope that you will find our community to be one that is helpful, supportive, and provides information that is worth your time and effort. We also hope that you will take the time to participate in the life of the community rather than lurking in the background.

Guidelines for Participation

Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear. Honorifics and formal politeness provide lubrication where people rub together.

Often the very young, the untraveled, the naive, the unsophisticated deplore these formalities as "empty," "meaningless," or "dishonest," and scorn to use them.

No matter how pure their motives, they thereby throw sand into machinery that does not work too well at best.

          --Robert Heinlein in "The Notebooks of Lazarus Long"

1. Our mailing lists are open to individuals who would like to participate in a civilized community where courtesy is the rule of the day. We are an artificially polite society and request that each member practice self restraint and personally maintain a high level of courtesy, forebearance and charity towards the other members of our community both on and off list.
   
   
2. While discussion is a normal part of day to day discourse and healthy social interaction our mailing lists are not general purpose chat-rooms. Please do not use them as such.
   
   
3. Flaming is not a part of our culture.
   
   
4. If you did not write the message then do not post it or cross post it without first asking the approval of a list administrator or the listowner. TAG related announcements are almost always approved for posting.
   
   
5. Subscribers are responsible for anything and everything posted to the list from their EMail address unless there is incontrovertible proof that the message in question was forged or spoofed.
   
   
6. Don't start arguments over "All children are gifted" or similar "let's fight" comments.
   
   
7. If you are asked to take further discussion to private EMail then please do so. Continuing a disruptive thread on-list after a list administrator has made this request may result in suspension or revocation of your posting privileges.
   
   
8. Restrict your "me too" and private replies to PRIVATE Email. Do not send them to the list.
   
   
9. If you post third party information cite the reference for the book or journal article it came from. Our mailing lists are not venues for passing along folklore as fact.
   
   
10. Don't hassle the list administrators. Our list administrators are volunteers whose families and jobs are their primary responsibilities.

Policies

Democracy is based on the assumption that a million men are wiser than one man. How's that again? I missed something.

Autocracy is based on the assumption that one man is wiser than a million men. Let's play that over again, too. Who decides?

          -- from "The Notebooks of Lazarus Long" by Robert Heinlein.

At our host site, setting and enforcing posting guidelines and mailing list policies is left up to the discretion of the individual listowner(s).

Our posting guidelines are what have made the TAG mailing lists a warm and accepting community where individuals can bring their questions and concerns. The posting guidelines cannot cover every possible situation or unacceptable behavior. In the event that there is a disagreement with regards to what the guidelines state, intend, or otherwise cover, the decision of the listowner is final. Individuals who consistently refuse to abide by the decisions of the listowners, harass the list administrators, or otherwise cause disruptions in the community after being asked to abide by the posting guidelines may have their posting privileges suspended or revoked. In extreme cases, the listowner may remove a subscriber from any or all of our mailing lists.

Additional information regarding our policies:

1. Our mailing lists are governed by the acceptable use policies of the host site.
   
   
2. Participation is a privilege not a right.
   
   
3. Our host site's policy with regards to complaints is as follows:
   
   

   Each listowner is responsible for and has authority over his or her mailing list(s). If you don't like how the mailing list is being run you are welcome to submit a proposal to the Listmaster for a new mailing list with yourself as listowner. The postmaster and the listmaster do not involve themselves in the internal politics of mailing lists hosted at their site.
   
   

4. Posting private EMail to any of our mailing lists, either in whole or in part, with the intent or apparent intent to embarrass or otherwise cause harm is grounds for immediate removal from all TAG Project mailing lists.
   
   
5. Posting inappropriate material, including but not limited to profanity, racial slurs, invasions of privacy, slander or libelous remarks, and/or sexually explicit wording or information is grounds for immediate removal from all TAG project mailing lists. If you have a legitimate need to discuss medical histories or sexual development there are other mailing lists at ICORS which are more likely to be of help to you.
   
   

Last Updated: 10/29/99
This webpage is maintained by Kit Finn (director@tagfam.org)