S0 S " 0 " Wedesay Dcebe 2 .209 -hMiignDd Magazine Editor Jessica Vosgerchian Editor in Chief: Gary Graca Managing Editor. Courtney Ratkowiak Photo Editor: Sam Wolson The Junk Drawer: Brian Tengel Center spread design: Corey DeFever Cover photo: Sam Wolson new rules rule 230: Who- ever turned the TV on gets to control what the rest of the house watches unless something is on that is obviously much better. rule 231: After the fifth time your roommate calls you to come home and open the door, you can start charging a lock- out fee. rule 232: You're never really obligated to bring something you baked yourself to a potluck. - E-mail rule submissions to TheStatement@umich.edu Do you want the Daily to put on another kind of cor petition.? E-mail suggestions to TheStatement@umich.edu FOLLOW THE DAILY ON ,..,,... FACEBOOK. 7:7f 7 By Veronica Menaldi / Daily Statement Writer Illustration by Laura Garavoglia The Statement is The Michigan Daily's news magazine, distributed every Wednesday during the academic year (fhitMhi i an ail PRESENTS n the days before e-mail, if your classmate had a question on punctuation, you were unlikely to hear about it. But now, you, your profes- sor, and your entire department could easily be the recipients of an extended e-mail thread on the matter. Almost every student at the University is part of at least one e-mail listserv. Listservs are usually used to send event notices and distribute general information to its mem- bers - but this isn't the only use students have found for them. One of the most recent examples involved the School of Information listserv on N ov. 19. The original sender asked if there should be one or two spaces after a period, and went on to inquire if paragraph indentations have become "old-school thinking." In the six replies, a few students, a pro- fessor and an administrator attempted to answer the questions while conveying per- sonal accounts of their experiences with the period-spacing rule. "I too had heard that the standard had changed, but it feels weird to me," one stu- dent wrote. "I haven't come up against any problems for using 2 so I can't see it being worth the trouble to slow down my typing by remembering to only hit the space bar once." John King, the vice provost of Academic Information, said the reason the two-space rule - a holdover from the typewriter era that became unnecessary with more sophis- ticated spacing in modern word processors - remained the norm until recently was because "nobody asked, nobody told." He went on to explain that this began to change at the same time the "convention against split infinitives started to erode," throwing in Star Trek references to make his point. "Recall that the original Star Trek in the '60s "boldly went" to the split infinitive, and generations of grammar teachers were phasered in the process (phasers not set on "stun" either)," he wrote. "It's now common wisdom that the '60s changed everything." Suzanne Shuon, assistant director of the doctoral program, then chimed in, remi- niscing about her typing experiences in high school in the'60s. "Those were the days," she wrote. "(No white out, manual typewriters only, cute little wheel shaped erasers with a little brush attached!)" The thread of e-mails concluded with a reply from a student of just one sentence. "Idi dnot take tipyng in high sckool and I turn ed out fien," the e-mail said. Not all extracurricular use of e-mail groups is focused on trivial matters. On Oct. 29, Brittany Galisdorfer, a master's student in Public Policy, sent out an e-mail to the Public Policy listserv. "The Mayo Clinic recentlydenied myaunt's request for an appointment," she wrote. "For the past two years my aunthas seen countless doctors for numbness in her feet and hands and special disorientation. She also had an MRI that showed severe brain degeneration for her age, 44. My aunt can still walk and climb stairs with assistance but fears she will be in a wheelchair soon. Other than these specific and severe problems, my aunt is per- fectly healthy. If anyone has any connections at Mayo that might help her get an appoint- ment, my family and I would really appreci- ate it if you could send them my way. Thank you!" The e-mail concluded with her contact information. Galisdorfer said she received about 20 pos- itive responses that helped her understand the process at the clinic and gave her ideas on how to get her aunt around the process. "As a student in the Public Policy school, I realized that my classmates and professors are generally well-connected people and have direct work experiences that could help me out," she said. Galisdorfer said this was the first personal e-mail of this sort that she sent to a listserv, thoughshe has used theminthe past for event notices and to clarify questions in classes. ENTIRE GROUP TO BE REMOVED. Seri- "Usually I think (listservs are) a better way ously learn some email etiquette." of asking questions because there's always The studentwhowrotereplyNo. 73 offered someone else that shares your concern," she a link to a YouTube video titled "Prank War said. She added that she has only had positive experience with listservs, even when she "'IsWerthat ifany one receives irrelevant e-mails because students accidentally click "reply all." else repheS0to all I Will hunt "It doesn't bother me too much," Galisdor- fer said. "It's just so easy to just click delete. yOuddwn On the umich You kind of feel more embarrassed for the person than it really bothers you, since usu- directory and disable every ally they didn't realize they were responding to all." electronic device that (you) However, some "reply all" situations can get undeniably out of hand. For example, a OWR " request to fill out a seminar group research project survey was sent to two listservs. The - Response to a runaway e-mail e-mail said the survey would take just 30 sec- thread started by a research survey onds to fill out. The first e-mail was sent on April 8 at 4:25 p.m. By 7:33 p.m. of the same 6: The Infamous Yankee Prankee," explain- day, the thread had 79 replies, many within ing that if "people feel obliged to continue seconds of each other. sending emails," they "might as well have Over just a three-hour span, a flood of some fun with it." people responded to the e-mail with com- Once the thread count hit 74, one student's ments like, "Take me off the mailing list" or frustration boiled over into an attack on the "Don't click reply all." Some pointed out how original sender. "obnoxious" the replies were or questioned "You people who started this are abso- whether the thread was a joke. lutely IDIOT freshman who should not be By the time the reply count hit the fifties, allowed access to mass email," the e-mail some users were driven to threats. read. "You're extremely irresponsible and "If I get one more email I will murder obviously unintelligent and need to learn a someone. I'm officially declaring my email to few things about conducting surveys. Maybe be the last one. The end," reply No. 53 read. when you turn 19 you'll actually have accu- It wasn't, of course, the end. Later on, mulated some intelligence." the 65th response took frustration to a new Interspersed between these longer e-mails level. there were also many short contributions, "I swear that if any one else replies to all I such as, "Whoever started this I actually hate will hunt you down on the umich directory you," "I actually love you," "Hey spud," and "I and disable every electronic device that they really like apricots." own.," it read. "I will convert your keyboard Professor of Information Paul Resnick layout to Swahili. / The person who sent out said people may feel comfortable sharing the original e-mail spammed a group that she questions and information with large groups does not control. SHE CANT TAKE YOUOFF through listservs because it's easy, quick and THE MAILING LIST. 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