Policies and Procedures

Only residents of the area designated as West Urbana are eligible to join the list. If you have lived in the neighborhood but move away, you may stay on the list. If you are on the Urbana City Council and represent a portion of West Urbana, you may join the list. Your full name must be associated with your email address so that it appears with your post.

WUNA-Main is moderated by a group of three moderators, appointed by the Steering Group/Committee for one-year terms, starting January 1, with an option to renew at the end of each one-year term. Moderators can be removed by a majority vote of the Steering Group. The management and moderation approach is framed by the following statements, leading principles with examples.

Values and Principles

Values for WUNA-Main include the following:

  • We value the wide diversity of perspectives in our neighborhood.
  • We wish the list to be a respite from nastiness and open hostility.
  • We welcome all viewpoints, but discourage heated conversations.
  • We value our members’ time and wish to avoid overload on any one topic.

In support of these values, management and moderation policies are guided by these principles:

  • Discourse should be civil (i.e., intended to enhance understanding).
  • Posts should be on topics relevant to the residents of the neighborhood.
  • Posters should not label others or groups of others or make personal attacks.
  • Prolonged discussions that devolve into debate among a few are discouraged.

The list should not be dominated by any one topic for an extended period.

Examples

To clarify the intent and interpretation of these values and principles, we offer these examples, which are neither complete nor binding, but are instead meant to provide guidance on how moderators are likely to interpret the principles in similar cases.

Examples of posts welcomed (nearly) without limitation on WUNA-Main:

  • Information about local events, resources, and neighborhood happenings.
  • Plants and other things on offer to those in the neighborhood.
  • Information on local services, including discussions of individual experiences.
  • Information about polling places, local candidate forum dates, city council meetings, road closures, etc.
  • Reports and information from City of Urbana boards and commissions, and public input provided to city officials.
  • Business, church, restaurants, services, etc., openings, closings, and changes in services.
  • Houses and apartments for sale or rent in the neighborhood.
  • People looking to buy or rent in the neighborhood.

Examples of posts permitted in limited volume:

An incomplete list of posts welcomed within reasonable limits on posting frequency, relevance, civiltone, and fairness. These posts are permitted in limited volume; if and when they become extended discussions, moderators may step in to encourage people to post on WUNA-TownSquare listserv.

  • University or other events not open to the public.
  • Local health information, including testing locations, wait times, significant local news.
  • Information about local crime, protests, police policies, etc.
  • Posts critical of the actions of local public figures (mayor, city council members, etc.).
  • “What was that loud noise?”
  • “Is your power (or internet) out, too?”
  • Items for sale, local crafters, etc.: “XYZ Farms has fresh goat milk again!”

Examples of posts not welcome on WUNA-Main:

  • National news and politics not relevant to our neighborhood.
  • Partisan politics or debates about religion.
  • Put-downs, name calling orpersonal attacks on the character of anyone, including public figures.
  • Discussions of WUNA-Main rule-breaking behavior (contact the moderators via private email or post onWUNA-TownSquare).
  • Profanity, vulgar, or explicit content, sexism, racism, or insults to the character of any group based on their group identity.
  • Commercial email/spam/advertising of non-local products: “Buy my product!”
  • Chain letters.

Policies and Procedures

WUNA-Main will be managed and moderated in a limited way. There may be some delay in the assessment of your post, since our volunteer moderators are not monitoring the listserv constantly.

  • The broadest possible latitude will be afforded, especially to first-time posts on subjects that fall outside the WUNA-Main posting policies.
  • Posts will not, in general, be reviewed before posting.
  • Fair and friendly warning will be sent by email to any member who is in danger of falling outside the values and principles governing welcome and unwelcome posts.
  • Repeat violations will lead to pre-review of posts. In the event of an egregious violation of the values and principles governing list content, or repeated rule-bending, the moderators will begin reviewing the offending member’s posts before they are posted. If the member’s further posts are judged to be in conformity with the rules, they will be allowed to post. If not, they will be returned to the sender with a note to the effect that they have been judged to be not in compliance with the values and principles.
  • Members whose posts are being screened will be permitted to receive list email.
  • Moderators reserve the right to ignore repeated posting attempts by members who become abusive, in effect, preventing them from posting until their posts are compliant with the values and principles of the WUNA-Main listserv.
  • Anyone convicted of illegal activity on the listserv will be permanently removed from WUNA-Main.
  • The judgements of the moderators are final and shall not be reviewed or reversed by the Steering Group/Committee.

The current moderators are Tina Gunsalus, Theodore Gray, and David Dorman.