SEELANGS Administrivia - Message from the List Owner

[Alex Rudd]

Dear SEELANGers,

Once again I find myself posting a ridiculously long
message to this list and asking you to read it to the end.

One of our list members, Daniel Rancour-Laferriere, has taken
it upon himself to contact several of you off-list seeking
"support" for his position that I have wrongly "blocked" 
several of his messages.  As most of you (who have been
subscribers for any appreciable amount of time) know, I am 
rarely a hands-on list owner.  I stay largely in the shadows,
coming out only when necessary.  For the most part, SEELANGS
has always run itself pretty well, though I have always
appreciated the various acknowledgements over the years that
I have played a role in that success as well.  So, although
I can assure you that I have better things to be doing with
my afternoon, Prof. Rancour-Laferriere's actions have forced
me to address this issue on the list, and so that is what I 
will do.

First, the context.

Several days ago, someone called Solange Leibovici sent a 
message entitled "russian psychoanalysts."  The message
contained a question.  She sought only to confirm the 
number of psychoanalysts in Russia and wanted to know 
whether anyone could provide the number.  I do not know
where she sent it.  However, someone else called Murray
Schwartz took that message and forwarded it to the PSYART
list, which is a discussion list hosted at the University
of Florida.  At least two SEELANGS list members are also
members of PSYART, Daniel Rancour-Laferriere and Inna Caron.

After the message posted to PSYART went unanswered for some
period of time, Ms. Caron decided to forward Ms. Leibovici's
message yet again, this time to SEELANGS, where it appeared
on the list on July 22, 2006.  Ms. Caron prefaced the 
forwarded message with this:

--- Begin ---

I figured Daniel Rancour-Laferriere would have answered this 
already, so I'm guessing he is on a vacation. If anyone knows 
the answer, please respond to (or at least CC) either PSYART 
list, or Solange Leibovici directly, because she most likely 
doesn't subscribe to SEELANGS. 

--- End ---

To summarize then, at this point in the history of events:

 - someone asked a question having nothing to do with the
purpose of this list (and no matter which way you slice it,
the current number of psychoanalysts in Russia has nothing
to do with languages or literatures, Slavic or otherwise)

 - someone else forwarded the question to this list, but
specifically directed that replies be sent back to the
original author or to the PSYART list

Next, Prof. Rancour-Laferriere (who was apparently not on
vacation) sent an answer to Ms. Leibovici's question.  He
sent this answer to the PSYART list and/or Ms. Leibovici
directly.  As far as I'm concerned, that should have been 
the end of it, at least on SEELANGS.

But it was not the end.  Prof. Rancour-Laferriere then 
decided that he should post his answer to SEELANGS.  So
he submitted it for distribution.  Although I do not 
moderate the SEELANGS list, I did intercept that message.
As I explained to Prof. Rancour-Laferriere in an off-list
e-mail, the information in his answer to Ms. Leibovici's
question is not germane to the purpose of the SEELANGS
list.

Now, stop right there and please put yourself in Prof.
Rancour-Laferriere's shoes.  You have been advised by the
list owner of a discussion list to which you are subscribed
that a message you would like to post on that list does
not belong on that list.  What do you do?  Do you write
back to the list owner, politely acknowledging his point 
of view, perhaps reiterating your own, and leave it at
that, knowing that the only person who actively sought
your answer has received it already?  Personally, that's
what I would have done.

But what would you do?  Would you grouse about it to 
anyone?  Would you try again and again and again to post
the same message to the list, already knowing that the
list's owner has informed you it does not belong on the
list?  Would you grow ever more incensed at being denied
the privilege of posting the number of psychoanalysts in
Russia to the Slavic and East European Languages and 
Literatures list and would you compose a message, which 
you would then send to 50 or 60 colleagues whom you 
believed also to be subscribed to the list, bemoaning the
injustice of it all?  That is what Prof. Rancour-Laferriere
decided to do.  (Of course, when he did it, he gave his
message the Subject line: "Censorship on SEELANGS" and 
mischaracterized the issue, neglecting to mention that
all he was trying to do was post the number of 
psychoanalysts currently in Russia.)  

And some recipients of his protest bought into his outrage.  
Without attribution, these are some of the replies he received 
(and passed along to me).  I follow each with commentary of my
own.

--- Begin Comment #1 ---

what are the rules and procedures for participating.
Are these subject to debate and modification? Are
some elected officers of our major professional association(s)
in final judgment?  

--- End Comment #1 ---

The rules and procedures for participating on SEELANGS can
be found in the Welcome message sent to all new subscribers.
The Welcome message is also conveniently found on the 
SEELANGS Web site, the address for which is included in every
post to the list.

Why would elected officers of your major professional
association(s) sit in final judgment of anything having to do
with the SEELANGS list?  That's a rhetorical question.  
SEELANGS is not affiliated with any such association.  The
list's guidelines are certainly subject to modification, and
they have been modified very slightly over the years, but 
they are really not open to debate.  They are open to 
persuasive opinions and suggestions, made on-list or off,
but ultimately it is the list owner's call whether to make
any change.  Generally speaking, all changes made in the past
have reflected the will of the subscribers.

--- Begin Comment #2 ---

I for one am shocked by the moderator's decision.  I very much
hope he will reconsider.

--- End Comment #2 ---

I for one am shocked that you are shocked.  If anyone would
like to learn the exact number of psychoanalysts in Russia, I
suggest you ask Prof. Rancour-Laferriere off-list or go check
the archives of the PSYART list.  

--- Begin Comment #3 ---

Considering the stature of [Prof. Rancour-Laferriere's] work 
on psychoanalysis and Russian culture, it seems clear that 
the moderators are woefully ignorant of the field and 
therefore unqualified for the task of evaluating what is and 
is not "germane" to Slavic studies.

--- End Comment #3 ---

My task is not to evaluate what is and is not germane to Slavic
studies.  I run a discussion list on the Internet with a much
more narrow focus: Slavic and East European Languages and 
Literatures.  I have run that discussion list for more than 13 
years.  Sitting proudly on a shelf above my desk is the award 
I was presented with five years ago by AATSEEL for 
Distinguished Contribution to the Profession.  

And by the way, I am not ignorant of Prof. Rancour-Laferriere's
work on psychoanalysis.  You will note that he has posted to
SEELANGS many times in the past, quite uninterrupted, on topics
having to do with psychoanalysis as it relates to Russian
literature.  But I repeat: the actual, precise, number(!) of
psychoanalysts currently in Russia has nothing to do with the
purpose of this list.

--- Begin Comment #4 ---

I am happy to contribute my opinion that messages from a 
contributor of your status should not be subject to the whims 
of whoever is the manager of SEELANGS. [Comment #1, above] 
indicates that the identity of such person/s is unknown, which 
is also suspect. Finally, I for one am very interested in your 
subject matter, and I can't imagine that the number of other 
interested readers would be small.

--- End Comment #4 ---

With all due respect, this comment surprises me greatly.  I 
will not divulge this person's identity, but I have a distinct
recollection of writing to him/her about four years ago to
personally invite him/her to join the list.  My identity as
list owner of the SEELANGS list is well known.  Anyone who is
a subscriber of SEELANGS and does not know that I am the list
owner has either consistently ignored my "SEELANGS Administrivia"
messages or never taken a look at the SEELANGS Web site.

Furthermore, when it comes to posting to SEELANGS, one's "status"
is immaterial.  All list members are expected to make appropriate
use of the list, to treat each other (and me) with respect, and to 
keep our list guidelines in mind while posting.  As for the 
"subject matter" at issue here, if you did not know that it 
consisted purely and solely of the number of psychoanalysts 
currently in Russia, then you were misinformed.

--- Begin Comment #5 ---

would not put your notice on is kind of outrageous.
Perhaps there  is something else going on that I'm not aware of.  
Why would they not put it on?  In any case I hope they rectify 
the error.

--- End Comment #5 ---

No error was made and if, after reading this entire message, 
you still do not understand why the message in question was not
distributed on SEELANGS, then I have failed to make it clear.

--- Begin Comment #6 ---

Hmmm. Is this Russians behaving in the traditional autocratic 
way?  Like Putin?

--- End Comment #6 ---

Given that I am American and not Russian, I would tend to doubt
it.  Still, please make no mistake, this is not a democracy.
The SEELANGS list does not belong to you (in the literal sense)
and you contribute no hardware, software or money to support it.
For the last 13 years, every new subscriber to SEELANGS has 
received a Welcome message upon joining the list, and that 
Welcome message begins with the following paragraph.  Pay close 
attention to the last sentence:

--- Begin Welcome message excerpt ---

SEELANGS exists to facilitate discussion of topics of interest 
to teachers and students of Russian and other Slavic and East 
European languages and literature.  Use the list in furtherance 
of that general goal.  But please, do not treat SEELANGS or its 
members with disrespect. Profanity is not welcome, nor is 
language which demeans or belittles other people or groups of 
people.  It is further expected that list members will conduct 
themselves in a mature and polite manner towards fellow list 
members.  "Flames" will not be tolerated.  The list owner 
reserves the right to take any action he feels appropriate to 
ensure the smooth operation of the list. 

--- End Welcome message excerpt ---

In other words, you were on notice when you joined this list
that I have the right and the ability to ensure the smooth 
operation of the list.  Prof. Rancour-Laferriere was on notice.

Now put yourself in my shoes.  A subscriber to a list you
administer has submitted a message for distribution that does
not conform to the purpose of the list.  You inform him of 
that non-conformance.  Rather than accept the news, the list
member lashes out at you.  He labels you a censor.  He 
questions your authority.  He writes and tells all his friends 
and colleagues that you have done this horrible thing, without 
telling them exactly what it is you have done because he fails 
to mention the non-conforming nature of his rejected 
submission.  What would you do?

I'll tell you what I did.  I spent 2 hours of my day composing
this message so everyone would have the facts.  It's time I
didn't have to spend, spent because I care about this list.  

I will suggest to you that any further discussion of this on
SEELANGS would be a distraction.  Off-list comments are
welcome.

Thanks.

- Alex, list owner of SEELANGS                                        
--                                                                    
Alex Rudd                                                             
List owner e-mail: seelangs-request at listserv.cuny.edu                 
Personal e-mail: arudd at jjay.cuny.edu                               
http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/                                     
Any opinion expressed above is not necessarily shared by my employers.

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