OFF TOPIC: RE: Cheap tix to DC/Baltimore debate

Dear all,

Not wanting to prolong this strand, but it does bring up a couple of 
general points:

As this list is predominantly North American (or seems to be) one might 
reasonably expect it to be a sounding board for US-based opinion and 
discussion in the theory of World Systems Analysis and related 
topics/disciplines. Those of us from outside the US surly do not expect it 
to revolve around a European (for example) perspective?

A good deal of my research is conducted over the Internet and hence, I 
already endure an unreasonable burden from e-mail, as I expect many others 
on this list do. So whilst this is NOT directed at Mine (whom generally 
posts on-topic and interesting mails), might I make a couple of suggestions?

1. If people could write OFF-TOPIC in their headers, it would save time 
unnecessarily opening mails that are potentially of no interest to the 
reader (although one still has to download the things!)

2. That people not respond on-list to off-topic e-mails unless they have a 
specific point, but rather, e-mail the author direct and off-list.

3. I am on a good number of e-mail lists, some of them with very heavy 
traffic. What has worked for some of these lists in the past is the setting 
up an off-topic mailing list. This generally seems to work very well for 
large list-memberships (e.g. a couple of hundred and up), though it does of 
course mean that we have another mailing list to deal with.

Although I'm over in Blighty and don't participate that much in WSN 
discussions much at the moment, I do read the majority of postings and feel 
I have added to my own knowledge of theories of development and 
underdevelopment by the postings on this list. I for one would appreciate 
it though, if postings were kept on topic to save adding to my e-mail load.

Regards, Paul.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~    An Apple a day            ~~
~~ keeps Bill Gates away!!   ~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paul Broome
PhD Student
Centre for Developing Areas Research
Department of Geography
Royal Holloway College
University of London

Tel: 0178 444 3574
Fax & Voice Mail: +44 (0)207 681 2867
Mob: 07976 946137
http://www.cedarweb.rhbnc.ac.uk/pab/