Date: Mon, 8 Dec 1997 19:21:06 -0600

From: "Timothy C. Frazer" mftcf[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UXA.ECN.BGU.EDU

Subject: Re: Posts from non-professionals



I like the idea that you need to pay your dues if you want the list.



On Mon, 8 Dec 1997, Beverly Flanigan wrote:



I part company with Bethany to some degree; I'd like to encourage

serious students to join the list (three or four of my own are on it),

as long as they do the basic library dig first before asking questions,

and as long as their comments are relevant and non-flaming. Steve

Nolden, for example, should not be urged off the list; his comments on

Black English were honestly motivated and relevant to the (sadly)

recurring debate here about accurate and non-stereotyped

representations of that dialect (if a bit too passionately expressed).

He at least knows that invariant "be" is not applied willy-nilly but is

rule-governed, and that Black English does indeed mark tense.



As one who has of late been flamed by some of the most uninformed and

non-researching participants on the list, I heartily second Tom Clark's

suggestions for changing the list. About a year ago Dennis Preston

suggested closing the list to dues-paying members of ADS only and was

shot down for being "elitist." Perhaps two lists would be a reasonable

compromise, with people welcome to join the moderated list if they

(like Greg) are serious about learning from each other instead of

simply putting out monologues.

Beverly Flanigan

Ohio University