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This listserv and the related online discussion forum is provided by the Entomological Society of America (ESA) as a communication tool for members, customers, and others in the entomological community, operating under the name of Networks or ESA Networks. Each Network or community has one or more Network Organizer (NO) who functions as the leader of the constituent group, but does not govern it. The ESA Network Listservs are non-moderated. As membership in a Network is not currently restricted to membership in the Society, the lists should be considered a Public Forum. Neither ESA nor the NOs accept any responsibility for the claims or posts presented in the Networks suite of products. By joining the Networks and using the communication tools you agree that you have read, will adhere to, and to be bound by the rules and guidelines set for these peer discussion groups. You also agree to reserve list discussions for topics best suited to the medium.

Rules of Use:
It is understood that in this document the term “User” refers to any person who makes use of the ESA Networks listserv software. Both ESA and the NO, acting either on the behalf of ESA or on the behalf of the individual Network, reserves the right to remove access to any participant for any reason and–in particular–for violation of the rules set forth as follows:

• User agrees to not post commercial solicitations of any kind. General discussions about products and services are allowable, but care must be taken to not engage in conversation that could reasonably be construed as a violation of federal, state, or international law prohibiting anti-competitive activities or unfair trading practices.

• User should avoid posting any information that could be construed as anti-competitive, suggests pricing structures, or discourages any person to avoid using a particular product or service not based on a pertinence of use perspective.

• User may not use the Networks to impersonate another person. Each post should clearly identify the true author of the post.

• Unless otherwise specified, consider all content on this listserv as copyrighted by the person posting the information. As with all media, you may not republish or use this information without the owner’s permission.

• User agrees to not post any information which violates any copyright. (e.g., Do not copy text from other web sites or publications unless specifically authorized to do so by the owners of said text.) Hint: Consider using the “Links” function as described in the Network User's Manual.

• User agrees to be courteous in all posts. Rude, profane, or obnoxious behavior will not be tolerated.

• User aggress to not post information which is false, fraudulent, illegal, obscene, sexually explicit, unprofessional, or is otherwise inappropriate for this forum.

• User is responsible for the information posted to the listserv and may be held legally liable for what they write. (A good guideline is that if you would not want the information to appear in a national newspaper or the ESA Newsletter, then it should not appear here. You are responsible for any information that could be construed as slander, libel, or defamation.)

In the case of a User’s violation of the Rules of Use, ESA reserves the right to suspend or terminate membership on all Network lists. When violations of the listserv rules are brought to the attention of the Site Administrator or NO the Networks Administrator (staff member in charge of administering the software applications) will send an e-mail to the member in violation reminding him/her of the listserv rules and warning that future violation will lead to suspension from all ESA lists. Violators who have been removed from the listserv may appeal in writing to the ESA Executive Director to be reinstated. Appeals must be made within 30 days before the next regularly scheduled meeting of the committee. The Director will consider the appeal and make a recommendation regarding reinstatement to the listserv. The decision of the ESA Executive Director will be final.

Additional Guidelines for Use:

• The “Main Purpose” of each Network’s listserv is to facilitate communication among members of the Network related to the subject matter for which the Network was organized (e.g., The main purpose of a Hymenopterist Network would be to talk about Hymenoptera).

• Users should try to make reasonable attempts to keep list discussions relevant to the Main Purpose.

• Users should try to keep messages short and to the point.

• Users should use meaningful titles or subjects for posts.

• When responding to emails, users should remove extraneous information from the previous post, such as headers, footers, tags, etc. This helps participants who receive the messages as a digest.

• Users are advised to take care when responding with personal comments and ensure that the reply is only to the individual rather than the group as a whole.

• Users are not to send administrative messages such as “unsubscribe” or “remove” through the listserv. To unsubscribe, login to the ESA website and update your Network settings. If you change your email address you do not need to update your Network settings. They will follow on your membership ID number regardless of your email settings.

• Try to avoid if possible using “I agree” and “me too” and other non-contributory style messages unless specifically requested to do so (e.g., “How many people do XYZ?” and even in that instance, it is suggested to contact your NO and use the polling function)

• Be careful when posting contradictory responses to other opinions. Try to keep your comments constructive and helpful. Please keep postings relevant to the topics defined for the list. A certain amount of fun banter is expected and enjoyed by many, but the list should not be used for purely social dialogue.