You have been given much excellent advice on how to set up the list
paramaters to control the worst offenders, however I think it is imperative
that you post the list rules to the entire list. I own the Flyfish list, we
only have two rules, 1: No Flames, 2: No advertising. The list welcome msg
states that we have members of both sexes and all ages and that language
should be approprate. We seldom have any problems, and when we do it is
usually caused by one person. I have had to write a few people and remind
them of the rules and ask them to apologize to the list for their behavior.
Most have done so, the others left the list of their own accord. I have
never removed anyone for mis-behavior yet, but they all know I will if
forced to. You must establish order on your list, you must lead by example,
do not answer, either publically or privatly, nastygrams in kind, just be
cool. If someone keeps sending them to you, simply ignore his msgs, he will
quit eventually if you fail to respond. State very specifically what
constitutes unacceptable behavior on your list and then stick by your guns,
remove a few if you have to. You will find that the list will be the better
for it. Those who will rail the loudest will be the least missed if you have
to remove them. I think everyone else will applaud you for your stance and
guidence. Good luck.
 
  Danny
 
Danny Walls
Systems Analyst              Owner Flyfish List
Dept. of Agronomy
University of Kentucky       [log in to unmask]
606-257-5524 (work)          flyfish web page url is
606-887-4803 (home) http://www.uky.edu/~agrdanny/flyfish/main.htm