Subject: CCF-CSST Special Issue

From: "H. Tang" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 1995 00:33:48 -0500

+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==   CSS Today and CCF  ==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+==+

                            * A Special Issue *

                           Monday, April 17, 1995

                                                                       # of
Table of Contents                                             Author | Lines
===========***==========***==========**==========***==========***===========

1. Results of a Survey Conducted on China-Net .............. Jinping Shi 227
2. The Community Forum: CCF ...................................... EBCCF  55
3. Introduction to CSS Today ............................... Yungui Ding 100
===========***==========***==========**==========***==========***===========

                          -- From The Editor --

This issue is the outcome of the joint effort by the Editorial Boards of CCF
and CSS Today.

Several weeks ago, Jinping Shi of CCF ran a survey among randomly selected
subscribers of China-Net.  The survey aimed at finding out readers'
opinions of the management style and policies.  Naturally two main
publications on the list -- CSS Today and CCF would like to know their
images in readers' eyes.  Thanks to all participants, the result of the
survey becomes a valuable asset and provides a sound guidance to both
journals and the list management as to how to better serve the community.
We would like to this opportunity to say thank-you to all who participated
in the survey.

Jinping has summarized the survey results that we would like to share with
all of you in this issue.  To accompany this statistical wonder, we have
also included the overview's of both CCF and CSST in order to familiarize you
with our operations.

As always, we hope that our effort will inspire you to comment, contribute,
and participate in what we do to serve our community.

===========***==========***==========**==========***==========***===========
1. Results of a Survey Conducted on China-Net .............. Jinping Shi 227
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Editor's note: In the answer box [ ] in the following questionnaire, the
                first number refers to the number of checks on that answer,
                and it followed by the percentage the answer among all. )

                     =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

Total questionnaire sent out: 410;
Received: 70 (17%);
Invalid: 4;
Valid: 66;

SECTION I. Several periodic publications as well as non-periodic
           announcements of other Chinese student organizations are
           broadcasted through China-Net.  Please tell us:

1. Which of the following journals/postings do you read frequently through
   China-Net? (Check all that apply)
  #  %
[53, 80]  1. CCF (Chinese Community Forum);
[40, 61]  2. CSS Today (Chinese Students and Scholars Today);
[34, 52]  3. CCB (Chinese Community Bulletin);
[19, 29]  4. Dignity;
[26, 39]  5. CAL (Chinese Academic Link);
[43, 65]  6. JCS (Journal of Consultation Service);
[11, 17]  7. Non-periodic postings from other organizations;
[ 1,  2]  8. Others (please specify) [       ];

2. Is the average traffic on Chine-Net (Check only one):

  #  %
[ 6,  9]  1.  Too much?
[45, 68]  2.  Reasonable?
[ 2,  3]  3.  Not enough?
[12, 18]  4.  Do not care;

3. Which topics do you like to read more on CCF and CSS Today?
   (Check all that apply)

  #  %
[37, 56]  1. Politics/current affair;
[ 6,  9]  2. IFCSS affairs;
[45, 68]  3. Culture issues;
[35, 53]  4. Business issues;
[53, 80]  5. Discussion about our daily life, education, career, English;
[ 3,  5]  6. Other (please specify) [                     ];

SECTION II. Please tell us your opinion on CCF (Chinese Community Forum)
            by answering the following:

4. How do you read CCF? (Check only one)

  #  %
[ 8, 12]  1. I read most articles therein;
[37, 56]  2. I read some articles therein;
[13, 20]  3. I usually only scan through the issues;
[ 7, 11]  4. I usually only scan through the Table of Contents;
[ 0,  0]  5. I usually do not read it;

5. What styles of articles do you like to read on CCF? (Check all that apply)

  #  %
[16, 24]  1. Articles, theoretically inclined;
[40, 61]  2. Articles, more light-hearted;
[35, 53]  3. Articles, introduced from printed-magazines or other sources;
[27, 41]  4. Informal discussion, as in `Over a Cup of Tea' column in CCB;
[ 3,  5]  5. Other (please specify) [                     ];
[ 7, 11]  6. No opinion;

6. As a general assessment, how would you rate CCF on a scale from 1 to 10?
   (1 -- worst; 10 -- best)

   Results: Average Rating=6.77, Standard Deviation=1.38 (among 64 who
            answered this question)

SECTION III. Please tell us your opinion on CSS Today (Chinese Students and
             Scholars Today) by answering the following:

7. How do you read CSS Today? (Check only one.)

  #  %
[ 5,  8]  1. I read most articles therein;
[21, 32]  2. I read some articles therein;
[21, 32]  3. I usually only scan through the issues;
[12, 18]  4. I usually only scan through the Table of Contents;
[ 5,  8]  5. I usually do not read it;

8. Which Columns or topics do you like on CSS Today?
   (Check all that apply)

  #  %
[ 6,  9]  1. IFCSS Watch;
[ 6,  9]  2. Eddie's Column;
[18, 27]  3. In the Community;
[46, 70]  4. Eye on China;
[25, 38]  5. Humor and Puzzles;
[26, 39]  6. Entering the Workplace;
[14, 21]  7. "Special Column" generally;
[ 0,  0]  8. "Special Column" specifically (please specify) [       ];
[ 0,  0]  9. Other (please specify) [                            ];
[ 4,  6] 10. None;

9. As a general assessment, how would you grade CSS Today on a scale from
   1 to 10?   (1 -- worst; 10 -- best)

   Results: Average Rating=6.05, Standard Deviation=1.62 (among 60 who
            answered this question)

SECTION IV.  For the China-Net management policies, please tell us:

10. How long have you been subscribing China-Net (accumulatively)?
   (Check only one)

  #  %
[ 2,  3]  1. Less than three months.
[ 9, 14]  2. More than three months, less than six months.
[15, 23]  3. More than six months, less than one year.
[20, 30]  4. More than one year, less than two years.
[22, 33]  5. More than two years.

11. How did you learn about China-Net or the journals carried by the list?
    (Check all that apply)

  #  %
[23, 35]  1. Carried on from the "old" China-Net;
[18, 27]  2. Recommended by friends;
[23, 35]  3. From posts of Table of Contents of journals on other public lists;
[ 6,  9]  4. From CND/IFCSS gopher or WWW sites;
[ 3,  5]  5. Other (please specify) [            ];

12.  Do you read China-related usenet newsgroups, such as soc.culture.china,
     talk.politics.china and alt.chinese.text? (Check only one)

  #  %
[14, 21]  1. Yes, frequently;
[28, 42]  2. Yes, occasionally;
[10, 15]  3. No, I am not interested;
[ 5,  8]  4. No, I have no access to usenet newsgroups;1
[11, 17]  5. No, I have heard of them;

13. Currently there are arguments about the degree of moderation on China-Net.
    With minimum moderation, only inflammatory and personal attacks are
    deleted. With more moderation, non-periodic posting, such as the recent
    flood of IFCSS dispute related postings, will also be deleted since they
    are available in newsgroups.

    Which operation mode of China-Net do you prefer?  (Check only one)

  #  %
[ 3,  5]  1. Unmoderated free net;
[ 5,  8]  2. Less moderation than current;
[29, 44]  3. As it is currently;
[18, 27]  4. Tighter control than current;
[11, 17]  5. No opinion;

14. Are you interested in the messages from the two sides of the recent IFCSS
    dispute?

  #  %
[ 2,  3]  1. Love to read more, post them as much as possible;
[15, 23]  2. Somewhat like to read but don't have time to read all;
[18, 27]  3. Not much interested, please cut its volume;
[22, 33]  4. Have no interest in reading them;
[ 8, 12]  5. No opinion;

SECTION V.  Please tell us a little about yourself by answering the following.

15. What's your academic major? (Check only one)

  #  %
[ 8, 12]  1. Social science/humanity;
[48, 73]  2. Math/science/engineering;
[ 8, 12]  3. Medical/biological science;
[ 1,  2]  4. Fine art;
[ 2,  3]  5. Business/professional school;
[ 1,  2]  6. Other (please specify) [               ];

16. How do you think of sending your opinions and thoughts to CCF, CCB or
    CSS Today? (Check only one)

  #  %
[ 0,  0]  1. I do so frequently;
[ 6,  9]  2. I do so occasionally;
[41, 62]  3. I don't because of lack of time;
[11, 17]  4. I don't because of lack of interest in the issues;
[ 2,  3]  5. I don't because of my language skills;
[ 5,  8]  6. I don't because of other reasons --- [               ];

17. Your specific comments or suggestions would be most helpful for us to
    better serve you. Please tell us about it in the space below.

  The comments were:

  o  Please post some info about how it is run.

  o  The electronic articles should be brief to increase readability
     I usually ignore long articles even they are of my interest.

  o  For some topics, such as IFCSS internal fights, I think a periodical
     summery report is enough. In general, my opinion is the traffic volume
     is too big and most of the people don't care to read even 20% of it.

  o  I'd like to read more about culture(oriental, western), customs, and
     job hunting as well. Articles for entertainment are welcome.

  o  Please keep up with you good work in serving the CSS community!

  o  Thanks to all of your editors and contributors. You have done a
     good job.

  o  This net is helpful, thanks

  o  I enjoy CCF very much.  I think you guys did a great job to put
     everything (not just CCF) together.  People should appreciate
     what you did.

  o  In general, very interesting; wish I had time to read more of the
     mailings, but....

  o  Don't post too much trash such as arguments between some individuals
     who want to show off using this publication

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. The Community Forum: CCF .......................................EBCCF  55
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

CCF is an electronic journal published on the China-Net and dedicated to
open exchange of viewpoints and in-depth analyses of issues and ideas
concerning Chinese student and scholar, Chinese professional, and overseas
Chinese community.

Discussions are moderated by the Editorial Board of CCF (EBCCF), a group of
volunteers with aspiration to serve the community.  CCF, as has been since
its first issue which was published in September, 1993, tries to run a
weekly edition every Wednesday, with irregular weekend edition and
occasional special editions to deal with special issues and contributions,
usually in consideration of length and contents which do not fit in our
regular issues.

The regular weekly edition takes the main focus.  We try to dedicate each
issue with a particular theme or themes.  So far, we have put out columns
such as "Voices from Campuses," "China Watch," "Chinese Culture and
Tradition," "Community and Society," "Life In A Foreign Land," "Amateur
Storytellers," "Inter-Racial Dating/Marriage," "Better Your English,"
"Between Readers and Editors" and others.   Although not yet a standard
practice, our editors will from time to time invite or recommend individuals
to write on various themes or columns. However, it is our policy to give top
priorities to contributions sent in by our readers.

CCF's criteria for selection of articles to publish emphasize mostly on
relevance and informativeness, as opposed to the opinion inclination, of the
writing to the interests of the community that it caters.  No articles shall
be rejected on the basis of opinions expressed by the authors. Articles are
sometimes edited or returned for revision only when inflammatory remarks are
found.  Minimal editing is done to improve readability.

Generally, we encourage everyone to write.  Living in an English speaking
environment, we all share the experience that urges us to improve our
language skills.  This is precisely why CCF sets up the "Better Your
English" (BYE) program to reach out to everyone of you who want to do
something for the matter.  It's our sincere hope that by providing this
forum we can be of help to our community.  And you can't forget that your
suggestions and comments are vital to reach those modest goals.

It goes without saying that the articles published in CCF, with the
exception of Editorials, do not necessarily reflect the view of EBCCF.  The
author of each article is to be consulted, should any question be arised by
any concerned parties.

Finally, let us emphasize once again that CCF is a forum set up for our
community and by our community.  Needless to say that active participation
by you is the life-blood of this electronic journal, which is critical for
all of us to develop and maintain a constructive, healthy, and lively
environment when dealing with issues of our life here.  Your contributions
are not only greatly appreciated by all of us serving on the editorial
board, but also by our community at large.  Suggestions and comments on the
format, style, content and theme topics as well as operation of publication
are welcome and encouraged.

                                  Editorial Board of Chinese Community Forum
                                                      [[email-masked]]
                                         11/7/93 originated, 4/16/94 revised

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Introduction to CSS Today ........................................... 100
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
By: CSS Today Editorial Board, 12/4/94; Updated on 1/10/95; 4/12/95

CSS Today is an electronic newsletter for the CSS Community published by
the CSS Today Editorial Board, which consists of a group of volunteers that
are committed to the CSS Community for the right to know.

CSS Today started on October 10, 1994 as the IFCSS Electronic Newsletter.
In less than 2 months, CSS Today ran 14 issues which not only broadcast
IFCSS news release, but also carried voices from the community concerning
IFCSS and CSS related issues. On November 26, CSS Today was shut down by the
IFCSS Council with a resolution sponsored by Mr. XIN Ku and Mr LI Jinghong.

After some discussion, the Editorial Board decided to stop CSS Today as the
IFCSS Newsletter. The Board decided to continue the newsletter as an
independent journal for the CSS community. Since then we have continued to
publish on weekly basis with the hard work of the volunteer editors and the
warm support of our readers.

As an independent communication media, CSS Today strives to keep its readers
to be informed of activities and developments that are happening in the CSS
community and China. CSS Today is committed to the communications among CSS
and CSS community organizations.

Various columns have been designed to facilitate the information flow. The
following is a brief introduction of the regular columns. More columns will
be added as needed.

A. Overview

Community Oriented Columns:
      * In the Community
      * Entering the Work Place
      * IFCSS Watch
      * Eye on the Capitol Hill
      * For Your Information (Formerly: Information Sharing)

Invited Columns:
      * Eddie's Column
      * Humor, Anecdotes, and Puzzles

China Oriented Column:
      * Eye on China

Discussion Columns:
      * Special Topic (on various issues)
      * Open Forum
      * Letter to CSS Today  (Formerly: Between Readers and Editors)

B. Part I: Community Related Columns:

*** In the Community:
In this this column we report the activities and developments happening in
our community that concern CSS.

*** Entering the Work Place
This column is designed to share job hunting skills and experiences and real
life experience in and out the work place.

*** IFCSS Watch:
In this column We report the policy announcement, news release, and other
activities of IFCSS and other CSS organizations.

*** Eye on the Capital Hill
*** This rather new column is launched to make the CSS be aware of issues
in the US political arena that concerns our community.

*** For Your Information:
This column is for the general public to share with the readers information
that will benefit the development of a healthy community.

C. Part II: Invited Columns:

*** Eddie's Column:
Freelance writer Mr. Eddie CHENG is invited to run this column. The
columnist has written biweekly on various topics.

*** Humor, Anecdotes and Puzzle
Freelance columnist Mr. WANG Yang is invited to run this column. The
columnist is responsible for its editing and content.

D. Part III: China Oriented Column

*** Eye on China
In this column, we report China related events and CSS community activities
in the fields of exchanging with China. An example is the report on Sanxia
(Three Gorges) Project.

E. Part IV:  Discussion Columns:

*** Special Topic
Various current topics are picked up for discussion. The past samples are
Perspectives on the New Year; Violence Among CSS; etc.

*** Open Forum:
This column carries discussions on China or CSS community related issues.

*** Letter to CSS Today
Readers' letters and comment and editors' response will be carried in this
column.

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=++
+                      Executive Editor:  Jinping Shi                      +
+               Associate Editor: Yungui Ding, Huang Tang                  +
+                    Executive Moderator:  Dave Sheng                      +
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