Thank you Andrew.

On Mon, 30 Oct 2000 20:47:58 +0000 Andrew Zurcher 
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> 
> Dear Spenserians,
> 
> For those of you with enough stamina left to be reading this message,
> please accept my apologies for the developments that have brought us to
> this pass. Over the course of the past month, a small number of parties
> have made the Spenser Discussion List the forum for their own personal
> crusades, and have, I think, compromised the character of the list in a
> serious, if subtle way. This is evidenced by a number of statistics:
> 
> * Unsubscriptions from the list, which among committed Spenserians have in
> the past been unheard of, have been increasing steadily of late. We have in
> the last few days lost colleagues from the UC schools, from Yale, from
> Ohio, and from Oxford and Cambridge. Many of these list members had in the
> past been valuable and generous contributors, and they regretted their
> departure.
> 
> * The number of messages posted to the list in October has skyrocketed.
> Check the archives to sample the most recent numbers. There's healthy
> growth, and then there's cancer.
> 
> * The number of list members who are currently on 'suspend' mode has been
> increasing daily. In fact, very few of the list's most active past members
> are currently listening in.
> 
> In addition to these indicators, my own sense--and that of many concerned
> members who have written to me lately--is that the nature of the list is
> being corrupted and debased. Once we had a forum for open, serious
> exchanges of ideas, for recommendations and counsel for students, and for
> the fostering of a scholarly community; we have now encountered The
> Hobbyhorse.
> 
> In order to promote a sense of calm, I am now going to call for a return to
> a few important first principles. Failure to observe these principles will
> lead to swift action from me. I apologize for my blunt approach, but I am
> the manager and have no time or energy at present to be subtle.
> 
> * For the time being, in order to establish some breathing space, I request
> that we discontinue discussing the Marlowe authorship question and that we
> leave aside further promotion of our passionate convictions. As I have said
> above, the content of these threads has not been offensive. What we are
> facing on the list is rather what I am sad to say we are facing  on the
> ground in the UK at the moment: flooding.
> 
> *The Spenser list is intended for exchange of ideas, and not for the
> relentless (and after a certain limit, pointless) promotion of particular
> points of view, academic or otherwise. This is a subtle distinction and, I
> acknowledge, one difficult to maintain. On the other hand, I feel everyone
> will understand me quite easily.
> 
> * Above all else, please remember that nearly 300 people receive every
> message you send. Courtesy and respect for your audience demands more
> self-control than we have been seeing lately.
> 
> 
> With thanks, and best wishes for a speedy recovery.
> 
> Andrew Zurcher
> List Manager

----------------------
Marshall Grossman
[log in to unmask]



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