> we have just been notified that one of our list owners is overseas for 3
> years.... no one knows when he left .... and the list is fully moderated
> because of the nature of the information.....

I had hoped this phenomenon of the disappearing listowner had disappeared
itself.  Used to be, while not common, not unusual.  In the late '80s
and early '90s there were lots of lists started just because the
university had signed on to BITNET/EARN.  Then the listowners lost
interest and the site administrators weren't any better.  I used
to help people get off such orphan lists by forging mail, but haven't
been asked to do it for a while.  I really had hoped that this was a
thing of the past.          Douglas