[ RadSafe ] did everyone get this email?

[Stabin, Michael]

>When a member's conduct was judged to be inappropriate by the
moderator, the moderator warned the individual, if it occurred a second
time, he suspended the individual from the list for one month.  If
inappropriate conduct occurred again, the individual was suspended for
two months, and so on.  

I have been of course staying right out of this, as I didn't feel the
need to weigh in as an individual and as I am no longer moderator. But
just to give some historical perspective, what Gerald cites was pretty
much my policy for the last four years. I think Melissa was a bit more
forceful than I was, and each moderator has his/her own style. During my
tenure, there were a number of individuals (not just one) who had some
chronic trouble with tempers, personal comments, etc. Almost always
(unless clarification of an element of list policy was needed for
everyone), I immediately emailed the individuals involved, but only
privately, and requested that things be toned down or taken off line.
This almost invariably worked. Sometimes a followup email or two was
needed, but I rarely felt the need to broadcast disciplinary messages
regarding individuals to the entire list. In the single case where
disciplinary action was taken (temporary suspension of list privileges
followed by permanent suspension some weeks later after further
aggravating behavior), this, too was handled privately. During the early
parts of the Iraq war and the US political campaigns, with all of the
emotions running high, I would fire off a message to the list at the
first hint of purely political messages getting started, just to try to
shut down the natural tendency to respond.

I agree with most of the sentiments posted today - I think the exchange
on "something about nuclear" was very unfortunate on both sides. Marcel
is doing a very nice job, and needs to develop his own policies for
managing our conversations. I don't mean at all to interfere, just offer
some perspective as former moderator. 



Mike

Michael G. Stabin, PhD, CHP
Assistant Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences 
Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences 
Vanderbilt University 
1161 21st Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37232-2675 
Phone (615) 343-0068
Fax   (615) 322-3764
Pager (615) 835-5153
e-mail     michael.g.stabin at vanderbilt.edu 
internet   www.doseinfo-radar.com