unitex@sci.ccny.cuny.edu (08/12/89)
Prepared by: Dr. James Waldron, Director UNITEX Network
Initially we are planning to have a moderated conference with Patt Haring
acting as our UNITEX moderator. We may decide in a few months not to
moderate this newsgroup if we can set up the proper protocols and
conference conduct & etiquette in the beginning. Most sites that receive
this newsgroup can post or enter a message directly causing the
readnews software to automatically route your posting to the moderator's
email address. If this is not the case then you can send your postings
directly to her at patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu or patth@ccnysci.BITNET.
Since this newsgroup falls directly into a classification where moderation
*may* be required, we will begin that way.
As suggested by Gene Spafford in his April 9th posting to NEWS.GROUPS,
in terms of what types of groups are usually moderated:
"In general, moderated groups fall into one of five categories.....
Groups with postings of an informative nature not suited to discussion
and always originating for the same (very small) group of posters
include groups such as news.lists, news.announce, ....etc and
"Groups which are gatewayed into the Usenet from an ARPA Internet
mailing list.......". etc. etc.
From the above descriptions, it appears that UNITEX falls
into both of the two categories highlighted above.
We believe that the interactive nature of this newsgroup is
a definite plus and it has the capability of being an interactive
news & information media. Several UNITEX readers are themselves
journalists, scientists, government officials and ambassadors to
the UN, teachers, politcal leaders, etc. When the first posting
announcing UNITEX was made, the use of certain words, such as,
'diplomacy', 'judgement' and the 'tactful use of language' bothered
several people. It was never meant to be a critical form
of censorship.
If you want to communicate with people who are involved in creating
the information that is posted here, there are certain protocols and
verbal rules of conduct that are used by mostly any organization that
employs people, especially a multi- national or international organization.
We certainly *want* to encourage reader replies that may have meaningful
impact on the issues discussed or on the people directly involved with
those issues (who, in some instances) may be reading this newsgroup!
* * *
For those who did not receive or read our earlier postings, a brief
summary and description of UNITEX follows:
MISC.HEADLINES.UNITEX: A SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
KEY WORDS: United Nations, Environment, Disarmament, Human Rights,
UNISPACE, World Health, Developing Nations
UNITEX distributes and disseminates current International News and
United Nations News, UN Press Releases and other UN related information
obtained from specific UN agencies and departments, such as the UN Department
of Public Information (DPI), UNICEF, World Health Organization and various
UN databases in New York, Vienna and Geneva. UNITEX also focuses on timely
news and information gathered from 'other' sources, such as, governmental
and scientific databases (NASA, Dep't of Energy, etc), various newsletters
(Nicarauga News, South Africa On-Line, as well as environmental and
ecological information vis a vis the UN Environmental Programme). We also
report on the UN Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Committee (UNISPACE),
International Treaties and Boundary Issues, International Health and
Medical Issues, Laws of the Sea and other information that effects our
universe and reality and that can help foster global understanding.
The news and information sources for much of the material that UNITEX
distributes are direct transcriptions from UN delegates as well as
senior members of the respective international embassies addressing
the General Assembly or discussions from UN Special Sessions. This serves
as a 'real' interactive news media when the user replies or responses are
made by governemnet officials, UN delegates, International political
leaders, scientists, etc, as they sometimes do on this system or
other remote systems which are linked to this newsgroup/conference.
Currently, the readers of UNITEX are concerned scientists, activists,
network and teleconferencing 'types', educators, teachers, students,
government officials, UN delegates and news journalists. Although
this newsgroup is *not* a read only group, we tend to get only
a few replies and inquires since the information we deliver is
of the factual variety as opposed to open-ended user discussions and
talk-oriented newsgroups. We do, however, encourage useful and
thoughtful comments and information relating to the articles that
are posted via replies, inquires and postings.
We feel the issues and topics that UNITEX addresses are interesting and
important. UNITEX received sanction by the Tibet-Government-In-Exile
vis a vis the Tibet Office in New York to be an 'official' press and
information source for the dissemination of news from and about TIBET.
Because UNITEX addresses Human Rights issues, this has become a lively area
lately due to the current situation in China, etc. We have also worked
closey with Amnesty International for the past 2 years in posting timely
Action Alerts on our host network system in Hoboken, NJ, which
can be reached independently at (201) 795-0733. The parameters for
that system are 1200/2400/9600 PEP/8,N 1. Give your 'real' name and
address, pick a password (4 or more characters) and you are then
a registered user and can use the system at the local host level.
We will soon post a message that will give, in more detail, the history,
goals and concerns of UNITEX...
Thank you all for making the UNITEX Newsgroup a truly international
information exchange.
---------------------------------------
Dr. James Waldron
Director, UNITEX
waldron@newport.rutgers.edu
---------------------------------------
Patt Haring
UseNet UNITEX Moderator
patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu or patth@ccnysci.BITNET
---------------------------------------
Michael Keyles
UNITEX Mailing List Administrator
Michael.Keyles@rubbs.uucp or keyles@newport.rutgers.edu
------------------------------
Ported to USENET from UNITEX NETWORK via
UNITEX BBS: 201-795-0733
We want ** your ** news bulletins:
(FAX: 212-787-1726 : Attention: James Waldron)
or ...!uunet!rutgers!rubbs!unitex