Date: Fri, 20 Sep 1996 16:07:17 PDT
Reply-To: TWB2%Rates%FAR@GO50.COMP.PGE.COM
Sender: "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
From: TWB2%Rates%FAR@GO50.COMP.PGE.COM
Subject: Re: Rules for Subject Line
Several people have recently allowed the original subject line used to request
advice on defining a new news group (totally off-topic if one were to get stuffy
about it) to migrate into a discussion of rules for subject lines. I think
those who propose such rules while not updating their subject lines have proven
that any such rules are a waste of thought--the very people who propose them
cannot be bothered to follow them.
I routinely delete unread messages without subjects or with over-used subjects.
I can often delete 1/3 of the sas-l traffic without reading it. Since I use a
reader which allows some control over the subject line when replying, I update
the subject line when I am trying to redirect the subject. I also attempt to
use subject lines which will meaningful whether the browser reveals 20
characters or 80 characters of them. In these ways I attempt to direct by
example, rather than control through power.
If someone feels strongly that subject lines should be descriptive, they might
lead by example and use descriptive subject lines in the future. They might
also subscribe to the cat fanciers list I subscribe to, to see that sas-l does
an amazingly good job of using descriptive subject lines.
Tim Berryhill - Contract Programmer and General Wizard
TWB2@PGE.COM
Frequently at Pacific Gas & Electric Co., San Francisco
The correlation coefficient between their views and
my postings is slightly less than 0
