Subject: RFD: sci.bio.entomology.misc

From: [email-masked] (Maarten van Helden)
Date: 7 Mar 1995 15:36:40 -0500

REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION

This is a formal request for discussion (RFD) for the creation of a
newsgroup on general entomology and related issues.  All discussion
of the proposed new group should take place in the news.groups Usenet
newsgroup.  Interested parties unable to read news.groups should
contact the principal proponent, Maarten van Helden.

Unmoderated group sci.bio.entomology.misc

Newsgroup line:
sci.bio.entomology.misc		General entomology and related issues.

Proposer: Maarten van Helden <[email-masked]>
Co-proposers:
	Yvan Rahbe <[email-masked]>
	Lou Bjostad <[email-masked]>
	Rod Crawford <[email-masked]>
	Peter Rauch <[email-masked]>
	Christopher Majka <[email-masked]>
Mentor: Ed Bailey <[email-masked]>

This RFD is being issued in concordance with the guidelines set in
the "How to create a new usenet newsgroup" FAQ regularly posted to
news.announce.newgroups. Please refer to this article if you have any
questions about newsgroup creation.

This is not a call for votes.  Please do not vote now.

CHARTER:

Discussion, news, and queries concerning the study of insects and other
(non-marine) arthropods not covered in more specialised newsgroups.
The newsgroup is meant to cover a wide variety of entomological topics,
including postings about arachnology, myriapodology and other studies
with affinities to entomology.

Sci.bio.entomology.misc is *NOT* intended as a forum for the buying
and selling of insect specimens nor for the advertising of commercial
products and services. However, it is permissible to use the newsgroup
to post brief comments with pointers to addresses where readers can
obtain information about such products. All participants are expected
to respect the environment and the law. Efforts to encourage trespassing
or to subvert conservation laws are *NOT* welcome on this newsgroup.

Communication will be welcomed from all those interested in entomology,
including serious amateurs as well as professionals and students, since
these groups have much to contribute to one another and are in need of
better communication channels.  We hope that through interest and
involvement by participants, documents of Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQs) will in time be developed on many topics of interest to
participants and the general public.

Though intended mainly for communication among entomologists, some
queries from the general public are to be expected; those which can
be answered will be answered politely.

RATIONALE:

Entomology (the study of insects) is the focus of numerous organizations
and people, both professional and amateur, all over the world.
Entomology is a highly diversified field in which most workers, however
specialised their research, retain an interest in other entomological
topics.  It is also one of the few scientific fields in which amateurs
can still make important contributions.

The sci.bio.entomology.misc newsgroup is intended for all general
entomological postings.  There are also some specialised newsgroups
(e.g. sci.bio.entomology.lepidoptera) and entomological listservers.
The charter of sci.bio.entomology.misc includes consideration that
existing or future non-newsgroups/lists dedicated to entomological
topics may be gated to/from a suitable sci.bio.entomology subgroup.

Since sci.bio.entomology.lepidoptera passed its vote just a few months
ago, there is a pre-existing sci.bio.entomology hierarchy.  "Big 7"
standards require that the general discussion groups for hierarchies
end with .misc, so sci.bio.entomology.misc is the recommended group
name.  The proponents sympathize with those who would prefer a shorter
name, e.g. sci.bio.entomology.

The newsgroup should be unmoderated, since the subject matter of
entomology is not highly contentious in any event, and the mandate
of the newsgroup as presented in the charter is sufficiently
encompassing that moderation was not deemed necessary. We would
like to encourage wide participation in the newsgroup. It is unlikely
that inappropriate postings will be a serious problem.

If sufficient interest and volume of traffic should develop on one
taxon (e.g. Coleoptera, bees, etc.) or subfield (e.g. economic
entomology), there is provision within the sci.bio.entomology.*
structure for further newsgroup creation to accommodate more
specialized interests.  Creation of such additional newsgroups would
not change the mandate of sci.bio.entomology.misc but would merely
allow the creation of additional forums for more detailed discussions
among students of certain insect taxa or subject areas.

PROCEDURE:

Please post any responses to this message to news.groups.  If you
use the followup feature on your newsreader, this should happen
automatically but please double-check anyway.  All discussion about
the merits of this proposal should occur on news.groups.

Unless the discussion indicates a need to resubmit a new RFD, a call
for votes (CFV) will be posted approximately four weeks after the
posting of this RFD.  Please do not post any votes.  When the CFV is
posted, instructions will be given on how to mail your votes to the
independent vote counter.

DISTRIBUTION:

This RFD will be posted to news.announce.newgroups and then
cross-posted to the following:

    news.groups, sci.agriculture.beekeeping, sci.bio, sci.bio.ecology,
    sci.bio.entomology.lepidoptera, sci.bio.ethology

It is also being sent to these mailing lists:

    [email-masked]
    [email-masked]
    [email-masked]
    [email-masked]
    [email-masked]

When Call For Votes (CFV) is issued, it will also be cross-posted in
these groups and mailing lists.

A copy of this RFD can also be found via WWW at:
http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Entomology/sbemrfd.html
gopher://yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU:70/00/ON/ACADEMIC/AGSCI/ENTOMOLO/sbemrfd.txt

and on Gopher at Colorado State University (yuma.acns.colostate.edu)
under menus as follows:

On Campus> Academic> College of Agric. Sci.> Entomology> sbemrfd.txt