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Listfriends: The discussion stimulated by Jeanne's diatribe brings to mind the discussion that occurred around David Boots leaving the List. David had been an active listmember since before I joined the list in May 1995 so I accept his criticism with much less resistance than I do Jeanne's. The same with Sand Rodent. I think they point out an inherent problem in al list of this size. Different people use it for different things and an in-group forms which unintentionally makes the less active people feel resentful. The volume of messages this group produces is overwhelming and I think most of us read them selectively. Unless one receives their list mail in digest form non-list e-mail can easily be overlooked. It should be noted that the size of the list has remained constant over the past few months in spite of the growth of the internet. I have talked to many people who have been so overwhelmed by the volume that they have left the list. Here are a few suggestions for decreased volume. It is so easy to answer a personal question by hitting the reply button on the browser that many of us forget that a reply is posted for everyone even if it has relevance only to 1 person. Try to send replies that you think do not have general interest directly to the individual(s). Try to combine short messages- especially on the same topic into fewer posts. Also as suggested by others label in the subject line the content of the post. I think the last time we went through this the volume decreased considerably for a time and then drifted upward again. I plead guilty to most if not all of the faults I have mentioned and will be trying my damnedest to follow my own advice. Charlie -- ********************************************************** CHARLES T. MEYER, M.D. MADISON, WISCONSIN **********************************************************