The purpose of this group

[Diane Stothard]

Dear Friends,
     I am somewhat new to this group and had the impression upon subscribing 
that this group was formed as a way for women in our field to "meet" other 
women in the biologies, networking, swapping ideas, i.e., support and 
reinforcement. The last few weeks, this net has been filled with a lot of 
messages that are contrary to this concept. Women are still a minority in 
science and we need to support one another not harrass or degrade. I agree with
Ms. Rodriguez, personal comments should be kept to personal mail. But I would 
hope that a fellow women and a fellow scientist would not stoop to such base 
levels as personal insults. I'm sure there must be other newsgroups out there 
that handle such garbage. Let's keep this one focused on the issue: Women in 
Science--how to keep us here and how to get us here.
     As for men on this group, I have only had a few instances of inappropriate
mail from men, and one of those was a misunderstanding between me and the 
sender. Why should we exclude men? That would say that all men have nothing to
contribute toward fostering a healthy environment for women in science. If that
is the truth, then we as women and a minority in science are in big trouble. I
say if a man has something constructive to contribute, please do! His insight
and help will be much appreciated by this netter.

Sincerely,
Diane Stothard
PhD student in Genetics