On Thu, 18 May 2000 13:32:43 EDT, Lynne Seamans <[log in to unmask]>  said:
> Is there a way to require listowner approval
> for unsubscribing?  We know we can require
> owner approval for subscribing but We have
> lists for lab consultants we want to
> make sure they stay on.

"If you unsubscribe, and your failure to read something we posted to the
list causes a problem, you won't be hired next year".  That's usually
pretty effective.  Work-study students in their last semester often require
a baseball bat as a secondary motivating device. ;)

Actually, this is just a special case of the fact that in general, it is
very difficult to create a technical solution for a social problem.

The *real* issue isn't "We want to make sure they stay on the list".  What
you probably actually care about is that they actually *READ* and *COMPREHEND*
important information posted to the list.  And unfortunately, there's no
good way to handle this - the same type of people that are probably the
problem unsubscribers are the ones who will eventually figure out how to
set their Eudora/Outlook/whatever to filter unwanted mail to the bit bucket...


--
                                Valdis Kletnieks
                                Operating Systems Analyst
                                Virginia Tech