Frequently Asked Questions:

• "I can't "unsubscribe" from the list..."
  Managing your account requires that the "From:" field of any e-mail messages you send to the list server (LISTSERV@lists.wayne.edu) must identically match the address under which you are subscribed to the list. Over the past few years, many college and university e-mail systems have changed to shorter e-mail addresses:

  Example:
    from:   JDOE99@SOMETHING.SOMEWHERE.EDU
    to:   JDOE99@SOMEWHERE.EDU

  If this has happened at your institution, and you are subscribed under the longer address, then, because the addresses do match exactly, you will not be able issue any commands to the list server -- including SIGNOFF or UNSUBSCRIBE . In this case, send a message requesting assistance to the list manager.

  • Where should you send such a message?
    Simply add "-REQUEST" to the address of the list to which you are subscribed; most list server software will forward such messages to whomever is the current list manager.

    Example:
      For:   ATHECALL@lists.wayne.edu
      Send to:   ATHECALL-REQUEST@lists.wayne.edu
    

• "I am receiving list messages, but when I try to POST to the list, my posts are rejected."
  Again, the problem is almost certainly the same as the "unsubscribe" problem described above. Follow the same recommended steps to resolve the problem.
  

• "My post to the list was rejected because it was not 'plain text.' "
  Although more and more e-mail programs are supporting HTML messages, such messages are somewhat difficult to read in e-mail programs that do not support such formatting.
  
  Thus, to ensure universal readability, at this time all posts to moderated ATHE lists must be in "plain text" -- also known as "ASCII" or "text-only" format.
  
  Relatedly, although many e-mail programs enable the sending the attachments (e.g. Microsoft Word files), at this time messages with such attachments will not be approved on moderated ATHE lists. This is for two reasons:

• To ensure platform-independence -- e.g. to eliminate Mac vs. PC confilicts;
  
  
• Because computer viruses can lurk in such attachments. All major e-mail programs (e.g. Outlook, Eudora, Netscape) support the sending of "plain text" messages.

 

• "I have received the same message multiple times."
  This is called "bouncing." It can be caused by a variety of specific conditions, but, in general, this is caused by a temporary communication difficulty between the list server and your mail server. Although such instances of "bouncing" can be annoying, they are usually temporary.

• "I accidentally replied to the whole list instead of just to the author of post. Can I stop the message?"
  In the case of the moderated ATHE lists, the list moderator will catch this error.

• What's the difference between LISTSERV@lists.wayne.edu and ATHECALL@lists.wayne.edu ?
  The second is the official address for the ATHECALL list. The first address is for the computer that manages the e-mail lists -- i.e. the "list server." You use the second address to post to the ATHECALL list. You use the first to manage your subscriptions, requests files from the archive, etc.

• Why wasn't my e-mail petition approved for distribution?
  Because it's a chain letter. Such letters are one of the major nuisances of e-mail servers around the world. Most of them are hoaxes, and, worse, they are a favorite way for those who send "spam" e-mail to round up e-mail addresses. If you send such e-mail, you are only increasing the likelihood that you -- and your friends to whom you forward the e-mail! -- will receive even more junk e-mail. A valid e-mail address is as "good as gold" to spam perpetrators: in general, you should be very reluctant to give out your e-mail address.
  
  Moreove, e-mail petitions are at the very least a complete waste of time and computer resources: because there is no way to authenticate a list of "signatures" generated via e-mail, such lists cannot be regarded with any credibility and, thus, are likely to be completely unpersuasive.