alt.support.cancer -
Frequently Asked Questions
Charter
Table of Contents
The purpose of alt.support.cancer
What is strictly prohibited on this newsgroup?
Before you post to alt.support.cancer
What are considered appropriate topics on this
newsgroup?
What are considered inappropriate topics on this
newsgroup?
How to address the problem of posters violating the
FAQ
Approving or changing the alt.support.cancer FAQ
Introduction
|
Welcome
to the official FAQ for newsgroup alt.support.cancer. Please take the time to
read this document, especially if you are new to alt.support.cancer.
Disclaimer:
this FAQ is provided for educational purposes only. It cannot be used for
diagnosing or treating a disease. If you have or suspect you may have cancer,
you should consult your doctor. The external links in this FAQ are provided for
the convenience of alt.support.cancer visitors. The alt.support.cancer
newsgroup has no interest in, responsibility for, or control over the linked
sites and no responsibility is accepted for information on any linked page,
please read the linked provider's own disclaimer where appropriate. The
alt.support.cancer newsgroup makes no promises or warranties of any kind,
express or implied, including those of merchantability or fitness for a
particular purpose, as to the content of any linked site. In no event shall the
newsgroup alt.support.cancer be liable for any damages resulting from use of
these links.
About this document
|
This
FAQ is intended to provide detailed information about alt.support.cancer to the
users so that the alt.support.cancer newsgroup will be better utilized for the
purposes of supporting cancer patients and caregivers.
This
FAQ is written and maintained by the users of alt.support.cancer. The latest
alt.support.cancer FAQ can be found online at www.cancersupporters.com The FAQ will
be periodically posted by a member of the group to news:alt.support.cancer
newsgroup.
Corrections
and minor updates are permitted without a vote. The exception is the Charter,
which, cannot be changed without a group vote. Update procedures for this FAQ
can be found at the end of this section.
The purpose of alt.support.cancer
|
The
Usenet group alt.support.cancer is a resource for those whose lives are touched
by cancer. The primary purpose of alt.support.cancer is for emotional support
and discussion among patients and caregivers. It is also a place to gather and
discuss issues related to cancer and the impact it has on patients and
caregivers .
Policy
|
Appropriate
posts are welcome.
Lurkers
and newbies are always welcome in alt.support.cancer.
The
members of alt.support.cancer must be overly considerate and protective of the
newbie or the casual lurker to this NG, so that these new members to the cancer
club don't get mislead, or feel that this NG is not living up to our purpose.
Because
Usenet is susceptible to net abuses, and because alt.support.cancer is not
moderated the alt.support.cancer members in good standing deem it necessary to
self-regulate the group's content. Members in good standing follow the
guidelines outlined in this FAQ.
Who
determines what is appropriate in alt.support.cancer? With few exceptions, that
is up to the individual to decide. You might think a post is perfectly okay,
while someone else could well consider it ridiculously far off-topic or
otherwise inappropriate. If that happens, consensus of the group reigns. If
after reading the group for a while you are still unsure as to what sort of
posts are acceptable in alt.support.cancer, check out The
alt.support.cancer archives on Google Groups.
The
newsgroup will prosecute violations of the Charter or FAQ as deemed necessary
by the group.
What is strictly prohibited on this newsgroup?
|
Under
no circumstances is it appropriate to contact a member of the newsgroup at
their residence or place of employment without their prior approval. Read this
again. There are no exceptions!
Posing
as a medical professional is strictly prohibited. For example, don't use a
doctorate in finance or mineralogy to convey the impression that you are a
medical doctor qualified to recommend treatments or diagnose disease. This
includes the use of "Dr., Doc, PhD, RN, LPN, med, etc." in your name,
e-mail address, or alias. If you claim one of these titles be prepared to
provide degree, major/minor, university, year it was earned, and years
experience. You must provide substantive information if asked by any member of
the group.
If
you have been convicted of health fraud, you are not welcome in
alt.support.cancer.
Posing
as a cancer patient/caregiver for promoting products or services is strictly
prohibited.
Commercial
advertising is prohibited.
Product
posts by individuals with a financial or business interest are prohibited.
Deceptive
posts disguised to conceal other prohibited content are prohibited.
For
sale, sales, links to auction sites i.e. eBay, or selling items are prohibited.
Donation
requests are prohibited.
Soliciting
for capital funds is prohibited.
Chain
letters, mailing lists, frauds, urban legends, Multi-level Marketing, Make
Money Fast, investment schemes are prohibited.
Posting
in HTML or attachments containing binaries or images are prohibited.
Off-topic
materials, advertising, spam, excessive posting of the same material, cancel
attacks, encrypted or coded postings, and inappropriate cross-postings are
prohibited.
Opportunities,
business opportunities, job postings, resumes, announcements, flaming,
trolling, baiting, flooding, post bombing, troublemaking, or other forms of
net-abuse or abuse of alt.support.cancer newsgroup users are prohibited.
Troll
posting (cross-postings directed to a.s.c from other newsgroups with the
express purpose of disrupting the a.s.c group), flame baiting or unwarranted
flaming is prohibited.
Fraudulent
activity is prohibited.
Deceptive
information is prohibited.
Making
outrageous or unsupported claims is prohibited.
Slander
or other criminal acts are prohibited.
Hipcrime
or other inappropriate posts made via malicious scripts or programs are
prohibited.
Test
messages are prohibited use alt.test instead and
put "ignore" in the subject.
Legal notices
|
The
information provided in this FAQ is designed to support-not replace-the
relationship that exists between a patient and their health care system.
Information from this document should be used only for individual educational
purposes. If any of the information in this FAQ conflicts with professional
advice you have received, follow the professional advice.
This
newsgroup is not affiliated with any profit/nonprofit organization or
corporation.
By
posting to this group, you acknowledge having read the FAQs document, and agree
to adhere to it. You further agree that failure to abide is grounds for members
of alt.support.cancer to blacklist you and file formal complaints with your ISP
or web host. Members of alt.support.cancer hereby give notice that any failure
to abide by the FAQs will be prosecuted fully at their discretion. By posting
to this group, you agree to hold alt.support.cancer members harmless for prosecution
of those complaints.
You
must abide by your Internet Service Provider's Acceptable Use Policy to be a
member in good standing of alt.support.cancer. Violation of your ISP's AUP is a
violation of our policies and opens you to prosecution by the group.
Understand
that these are other human beings you are communicating with and that normal
legalities and proprieties that are appropriate in public are applicable in
alt.support.cancer.
Criminal
activities will not be tolerated.
Usenet/ISP
AUP commercial posting violations will be prosecuted, one occurrence will be
considered an offense.
This
is an unmoderated newsgroup by definition. Having said that, there exists a
form of user moderation. We cannot control what you post to the NG, but we can
and do hold you accountable for straying from acceptable behavior as defined in
this FAQ. This is not intended as censorship, but rather, to prevent the NG
from turning into a cesspool. Please help us keep the signal-to-noise ratio
down.
Before you post to alt.support.cancer
|
Please
read the newsgroup before posting. Lurking for at least one week prior to
posting the first time in a new newsgroup is considered standard acceptable
behavior.
Before
you post your first message, spam proof your e-mail address by setting your
From: and Reply: e-mail address to nospam@nospam.inv or adding words or numbers
that the sender can be instructed to remove.
Search
Google Groups for the answer to your question. If you cannot find the
answer there, then it is appropriate to post to the NG.
Verify
that your newsreader options for posting to a newsgroup are set to TEXT, and
not set to HTML. Plain text means it's text only, with line length under 80
(preferably under 72) characters. See Configuring Mail Clients to Send Plain
ASCII Text.
Do
not use stationery backgrounds, color backgrounds, or color text. Use plain
text on a plain background.
Posting to alt.support.cancer
|
A
post should contribute to the general discussion.
Post
in English.
Please
post links to sites that are English language.
Please
do not criticize the spelling or grammar of another person.
If
you don't understand what someone has posted ask for clarification.
Be
polite.
Do
not respond/complain on the newsgroup about inappropriate or off-topic posts.
Ignore them or put them in your kill file.
If
you don't like the content or direction of the newsgroup, feel free to killfile
or exit the group.
If
you can find a more appropriate newsgroup for your message, post to it.
In
general, if you feel the need to vent your spleen online, write the message, go
and moan about the issue to your spouse, relatives, neighbors, and friends,
then if you still feel it's appropriate, send it.
If
you cannot resist posting a cure or treatment here, post the complete treatment
description with supporting data. That would include clinical trial results and
papers published in reputable journals. Provide your connection or
affiliation-financial or otherwise-with the product, the company, board of directors,
or owners. Provide your qualifications to discuss this product, including but
not limited to degrees, positions, experience, titles, publications, and
references. If you have a record of criminal arrest, you must reveal the date,
location, circumstances, and outcome. Links to this information are acceptable.
Please
do not ask us to e-mail you for information; after all, this is a newsgroup. If
it can't be posted to the group it won't pass the smell test.
Patients
and caregivers please do not post your name, address, or telephone number on
this newsgroup. It is OK to remain anonymous. Since 1981, all posts to
newsgroups are archived by Google.
Please
use good netiquette, trim quoted material (long messages) or unnecessary cross
posting in your replies, and avoid top posting and SHOUTING. Don't assume that
your message will be read at the same time as the post you are replying to, and
don't assume that all readers will be using a threaded newsreader. By quoting
the relevant parts of the message you are replying to, it provides a context
for your reply. Your message will make more sense to readers if you reply below
quoted text. This is true if the reader has not seen the post to which you are
replying, or reads it out-of-order.
Read
The power of
negative thinking: The seven don'ts of Usenet, or how to excel without doing
anything.
Do
not have unreasonable expectations.
Just
because it is posted (multiple times) on alt.support.cancer does not make it
true.
If
you make a mistake, own up to it, we are all human; nobody will think any worse
of you.
Inquiries
about cancer medicine may be posted to sci.med.diseases.cancer. If your post is
more about medicine than cancer support, post to sci.med.diseases.cancer instead.
Please
think carefully before posting a news article. If you must, post the link not
the complete text.
Cross-posting
should be limited to other appropriate groups.
Trim
cross-post groups from your replies.
Choose
your topic/subject line carefully to obtain the best replies. Non-specifics
like "Help" or "Question" make it more difficult to search
them later (for others) in the Google archives. A well-thought out subject will
get the attention of the persons you hope to reach quicker than a
"generic" subject line.
Categorize
your post in the subject field by using the appropriate subheading abbreviation
for your topic. This would identify the topic in the thread and allow users to
filter or ignore threads that they have no interest in. Also helpful for those
only looking for posts about specific kinds of topics/cancers, and makes it
easier when searching through the archives. Absence of any subheading-the default-implies
that the content is concerning general cancer support issues.
[ADMIN] - newsgroup administration
[ALT] - alternative, or unconventional cancer therapies
[ANCMT] - events, announcements
[BMT] - aggressive chemotherapy with bone marrow transplant or stem cell rescue
[CAM] - complementary and alternative medicine
[CHEM] - chemotherapy, antineoplastics
[CHEMO] - chemotherapy
[COPE] - emotional or psychological issues
[FAQ] - frequently asked questions
[FRAUD] - health fraud
[FUN],[ JOKE], or [HUMOR] - a moment of silliness
[INT] - issues of intimacy, relationships and sex, family members
[MAMO] - imaging, mammography, radiology
[MED] - medical
[METS] - metastases, advanced cancer
[MISC] - miscellaneous (anything not listed)
[OT] - off topic
[PAIN] - pain
[PATH] - pathology, biopsies, staging
[RANT] or [VENT] - blowing off steam
[RECR] - recurrence
[SUP] - messages of support, words of encouragement
[TAMX] - tamoxifen and related drugs
All
off topic post headers should have [OT] at the beginning.
What are considered appropriate topics on this newsgroup?
|
Questions
and answers from patients and caregivers.
Emotional
support of patients and caregivers.
Sharing
of problems and solutions.
Friendly
conversations about patient and caregiver.
Discussions
of treatments for cancer.
Dignity
Friendship
Compassion
Understanding
Respect
Information
about clinical trials for cancer treatments
Information
on support products such as Miracle Mouthwash, Second Skin, etc. (only if
posted by those with no financial or business interests)
Ranting
and raving to vent frustration or a
complaint. A rant is usually off-topic, but occasionally concerns one of our
topics of discussion. There is nothing wrong with an occasional rant.
Humor.
Many believe that a positive attitude and a good laugh can improve the
effectiveness of any treatment. It certainly improves the quality of life.
Periodic
reposts of the FAQs or links to them
FAQs
business, updates, call for votes, other related issues or newsgroup business.
What are considered inappropriate topics on this newsgroup?
|
Encouraging
patients to stop or avoid conventional proven cancer treatment in favor of
unconventional and unproven treatment is inappropriate.
Encouraging
patients to accept the use of unproven diagnostic techniques including, but not
limited to self-diagnosis, diagnosis by questionnaire, diagnosis by fraudulent
machines is inappropriate.
Advocating
treatments that have been disproven scientifically or have not successfully
completed all phases of a clinical trial is inappropriate.
Impersonation
of another user is inappropriate.
Canceling
posts of another user is inappropriate.
Harassment
is inappropriate.
Threats
are inappropriate.
Cross
posting to groups outside of the cancer support community is inappropriate. Cross-posts
should be limited to other newsgroups that are part of the support community or
deal with cancer topics. Cross posting means that a message is simultaneously
posted in other groups.
Excessive
cross posting (cross-posting to four or more newsgroups) is inappropriate.
Consider posting copies to other newsgroups.
Excessive
multi-posting—defined as posting many repeat copies of a substantively
identical article (i.e. reposting spam)—is inappropriate.
Offensive
or cruel posts are inappropriate.
Off-topic
posts are inappropriate.
Political
calls to action requests are inappropriate.
Signature
files in excess of four lines or V-cards are inappropriate on the NG and are
discouraged.
Newsgroup responses
|
If
you did not get the response you expected, consider these questions:
Is
it possible that the question has already been answered?
Is
it possible that nobody has anything to add to the thread?
Is
it possible that nobody knows the answer to your question?
Is
it posted to the newsgroup best able to answer? If not, post to a more
appropriate group.
Read
your post again and see if it conveyed your message as you intended. If not,
try reposting your message with a clearer statement of what you want from the
group. Be sure to include symptoms, tumor locations, diagnosis, staging, grade,
and any other relative information that may help the group to understand your
post.
Many
people post to a NG using an archiving service like Google groups, and these
messages may not be properly propagated over Usenet. Therefore, they aren’t
read by everyone. In addition, some ISP's or their NG providers don’t propagate
well with the same result. Try posting from another source.
How to address the problem of posters violating the FAQ
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This
is probably the most difficult part of using unmoderated newsgroups on Usenet.
A
grassroots organization exists in the NG that reserves the right to determine
what is appropriate content and response. In reality there are numerous reasons
why free speech is not/cannot be censored on the Internet. Realizing that, the
best that alt.support.cancer can hope for is compliance with the rules in this
FAQ. Compliance would afford someone the ability to post here, if they must,
without irrational reaction from the group. Noncompliance by a person would
open them up to the wrath of the group. Both are forms of positive or negative
feedback intended to control the enforcement of the FAQ. That seems to be a
now-working formula.
The
alternative is to let this newsgroup decay and those who need help; support,
etc. would all end up leaving.
Approving or changing the alt.support.cancer FAQ
|
Pay
attention to any proposed changes, because they will determine how you get to
use the group.
The
first step in the process is the Call for Votes (CFV). This is the formal
request for anyone who is interested to vote on the proposal(s). The CFV will
be posted to the NG, so if you did not care about discussing the proposal but
you do want to vote, watch for the CFV.
Read
the CFV. It will contain explicit instructions on where to send e-mail to
register your vote. Note that ONLY E-mailed votes count. DO NOT post your vote
on the NG it will not count.
To
vote, send one e-mail to the vote taker's e-mail address in the CFV. In the
vote add a keyword or phrase to identify yourself if you wish to remain
anonymous, the default ID is your e-mail address. This keyword or phrase will
be posted on the NG to allow you to verify that your vote was correctly counted.
To allow everyone a chance to vote, the voting window will remain open for
seven days. One vote per person is permitted. Please vote everyone.
Once
you have voted, you should receive an acknowledgement (ACK) from the vote
taker. Read it. It may say that the vote was not understood. If so, correct the
problem and vote again.
Mail
systems are not perfect. The act of sending e-mail does not guarantee receipt
by the vote taker. The mail may disappear without a trace. You may not get a
bounce message. The only way of knowing that your vote got through is if you
get a reply saying your vote got through. Your E-mail address will be kept
private and not shared with others.
The
results of the vote are checked for duplicate or obviously bogus votes, and
then tallied. This may take several days, or longer.
Eventually,
the results will appear in alt.support.cancer.
The
next step in the process is the 5-day verification delay. The vote result
contains a list of everyone who voted and how they voted. Look for your vote
there.
If
your vote is recorded incorrectly, send mail to the vote taker and post
something to alt.support.cancer. If your vote is missing, and you have an ACK
for it, do the same. Without proof, there is nothing that can be done if your
vote is missing. You can say that your vote was not counted, but lacking proof
that it got through, it probably will not ever be counted. The responsibility
for getting the vote to the vote taker is YOURS, not theirs.
Please
remember, e-mail is not perfect, nor are vote takers. If your vote does not
show up in the final list of voters, it is probably because it was lost in the
mail, not because the vote taker is deliberately dumping votes.
For
a vote to pass it has to have at least a 51% majority of YES votes. Having not
met the prior threshold means the issue has been voted down.
©Copyright 2003 alt.support.cancer newsgroup.
All rights reserved under both Pan American and international copyright
conventions.
No reproduction of any part may be made without the prior written consent of
the copyright holder.