CFV(2): sci.bio.[botany,misc,systematics]

[Una Smith]

Attached is the second and last call for votes (CFV) for the creation
of two new Usenet newsgroups, and the renaming of a third.  If you
have an interest in any of these, and care to vote, please send your
completed ballot to VOTING at SYRA.NET, *not* to me or the list.  Thanks!

        Una Smith

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                          LAST CALL FOR VOTES (of 2)
                       unmoderated group sci.bio.botany
                    unmoderated group sci.bio.systematics
              unmoderated group sci.bio.misc (replaces sci.bio)

Newsgroups line:
sci.bio.botany          The scientific study of plants.
sci.bio.misc            Biology and related sciences.
sci.bio.systematics     Systematics, taxonomy, and the tree of life.

Votes must be received by 23:59:59 UTC, 2 June 1995.

This vote is being conducted by a neutral third party.  For voting
questions only contact Warren Lavallee <warren at Syra.NET>.  For
questions about the proposed group contact Una Smith <una.smith at yale.edu>.

DISTRIBUTION
This CFV has been cross posted to:

  news.announce.newgroups, news.groups, rec.gardens, sci.bio,
  sci.bio.ecology, sci.bio.evolution, bionet.plants, bionet.molbio.evolution

and EMailed to:
        iopi, care of listserv at life.anu.edu.au
        class-l, care of listserv at ccvm.sunysb.edu
        mollusca, care of listserv at ucmp1.berkeley.edu
        paleonet, care of majordomo at nhm.ac.uk
        plant-taxonomy, care of mailbase at mailbase.ac.uk
        taxacom, care of listserv at cmsa.berkeley.edu
        vrtpaleo, care of listserv at vm.usc.edu

CHARTER

sci.bio.botany
For discussion of the scientific study of plants:  vascular, nonvascular,
and unicellular photosynthetic, autotrophic organisms, and other taxa
traditionally considered to be plants.  It is anticipated that, at some
future time, this newsgroup will be reorganized to provide subsidiary
newsgroups focused on particular higher taxa (classes or orders, e.g.,
angiosperms, gymnosperms, etc.) or other groups of special interest to
a large number of readers.  Discussion of gardening, popular cultivars,
houseplants, etc., should be directed to rec.gardens.*, where they will
be seen by a large and active readership of experienced gardeners, both
amateur and professional.

sci.bio.misc
One of the oldest, most widely read, and most lively newsgroups in the
sci.* hierarchy, sci.bio.misc (formerly sci.bio) welcomes discussion of
all topics having to do with biology.  Especially welcome are topics of
interest to the general public, and sub-fields of biology not covered
by other Usenet newsgroups.

sci.bio.systematics
For discussion of the science of taxonomy and systematics, and both
practical and theoretical issues pertaining to:  hierarchical information
systems;  biological nomenclature;  cladistics;  phylogenetics;  species
concepts;  comparative analysis and integration of morphological,
anatomical, molecular, and other data;  and the documentation and study
of large-scale and long-term patterns of evolution and biodiversity.

RATIONALE

The TAXACOM mailing list, for discussion of taxonomy and systematics,
has nearly 1000 subscribers and it has been necessary for some time
now to refrain from posting too much, to keep subscribers' mailboxes
from overflowing.  Over the past year, reorganization discussions in
rec.gardens have included talk of a newsgroup for botany, and recent
threads in bionet.plants have contained similar comments.  It is hoped
that, by creating these two newsgroups, some of the traffic in these
forums will be more finely and more usefully categorized.  Numerous
TAXACOM subscribers also read Usenet newsgroups, and the presence of
Usenet newsgroups relevant to their research interests should help to
unite the very large and diverse botany and systematics communities
already distributed among numerous other newsgroups and mailing lists.

In 1987, when sci.bio.technology was created, Usenet was very small
and had a mostly flat "namespace".  As a side-effect of the creation
of sci.bio.technology, the string "sci.bio" became the name of both
a hierarchy and a newsgroup.  This has several negative consequences
for many Usenet administrators and now, due to the increasing number
of menu-based Usenet readers and newsgroup archives on the Internet,
for many Usenet readers as well.  In the past 5 years, it has become
common to repair duplicate-name problems by renaming the relictual
newsgroup to bring it within the hierarchy of the same name.  In
keeping with this practice, sci.bio will be renamed to sci.bio.misc.
Sci.bio will be otherwise not affected by any part of this proposal.


HOW TO VOTE
Erase everything above the top "-=-=-=-" line and erase everything
below the bottom "-=-=-=-" line. Do not erase anything between these
lines and do not change the group name. Basically, remove everything
except the ballot - we have to save them all on disk.

Give your name on the line that asks for it. Place a YES or NO in the
brackets next to the group name to vote for or against it. Don't
worry about spacing of the columns or any quote characters (">") that
your reply inserts.

Send MAIL to:   voting at Syra.NET
Just Replying should work if you are not reading this on a mailing list.

-=-=-=-=-=- Don't Delete Anything Between These Lines =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
sci.bio.misc Ballot    <SBM-0002> (Don't remove this marker)

Give your real name here:
If you do not give a real name your vote may be rejected.

[Your Vote]  Group
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
[         ]  sci.bio.botany
[         ]  sci.bio.misc (replaces sci.bio)
[         ]  sci.bio.systematics
-=-=-=-=-=- Don't Delete Anything Between These Lines =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

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