It is difficult to deal with unwanted direct mail, aka junk mail,
as you have discovered. As a member of the Yale Program on Solid Waste
Policy, this is a -- believe it or not -- a professional interest of mine,
because direct mail can be significant component of municipal solid waste
(as much as 1-3%).
The single best way to get rid of junk mail is to send your name to
what is known as the "mail preference service" of the Direct Mail
Association, asking them to remove your name from mailing lists.
Direct Mail Association
Mail Preference Service
P.O. Box 9008
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008
The DMA maintains a list of people who have made this request. Mailers who
participate in this program run a "merge-purge" with their lists and the
DMA's don't-send-anything list. The problems with this approach are
multiple: it removes you from lists that you might *want* to be on as well
as those that are annoying, and many mailers do not participate in the
program.
As far as the organizations that have annoyed you this time, I
suspect that if honest attempts to contact the company to have your name
removed have failed, then the best tactic is embarassment. Remember in
business terms, the company is making a calculation that the cost (to them)
of making it easy for you to get your name off their lists is higher than
the cost of annoying you. Write a letter to the relevant newspaper and
copy it to the local Chamber of Commerce, the DMA and the company's trade
association and especially the managers in the company's environmental
unit. Simply make the cost of responding to your complaint and if you get
lucky, of coping with the embarassment, higher than the cost of improving
their management of their direct mail advertising program.
Good Luck.
Reid Lifset
Associate Director
Yale Program on Solid Waste Policy
At 02:04 AM 11/28/96 -0900, you wrote:
>Not sure whether to post this here.. but it does relate to the
>environment..
>Is there anyone out there who cares about useless mail? I have seen an
>incredible amount of waste generated by nothing more than incompetence.
>Last year I received mailings from my two major credit cards, an AMEX and
>a Visa.. advertising for MCI and AT&T, The things is, neither I nor anyone
>in the entire state of Alaska can sign up for theses companies, period.
>The credit cards referred me to the phone companies, and vice versa,
>because the idea that the companies send all the mail out for no good
>reason, when somewhere within their twisted bureacracies, they HAD to know
>that they don't serve the state.. just dumbfounded and angered me. We
>don't have a huge population here, but IMO anything that utterly useless
>and unnecessary is a considerable waste.
>Am I wrong in thinking this affects anything but my blood pressure? How
>much of this stuff goes out yearly? I've got a few dozen companies
>convinced that I am, of all things, a professional editor, a graphic
>designer, and a business exec. I've even gotten stuff from those "who's
>who" books..and I'm just a lowly college student. I know they can't be
>that accurate, but the stuff about the phone company just burned me up..
>and surprise, surprise, nobody wanted to talk to me when I called and
>brought it to their attention. I got the usual "it's not my fault, call
>them" routine that's saved for all crazy weirdos like myself.
>
>Guess I just wanted an opinion on this. Am I nuts for being bothered by
>this. Think of stopping "little" stuff like this on a national or global
>scale.. might it not make a tad of a difference?
>
>Corinne
>
>
>From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sun Dec 1 12:49:47 1996
02 Dec 1996 08:49 +1300 (NZD)
02 Dec 1996 08:51:23 +1300
Date: Mon, 02 Dec 1996 08:50:50 +1300
From: "STEFANIE S. RIXECKER" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Call for Papers
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Organization: Lincoln University
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From: Cheryl Cline <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*********************CALL FOR PAPERS******************
CANADIAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION TEACHING COMMITTEE
Canadian Philosophical Association, Learned Societies Mtg.
Memorial University, Newfoundland
June 01-04, 1997
Proposal Deadline: January 31, 1997
******************************************************
This past summer, the Canadian Philosophical Association formed a
Teaching Committee. The mandate of the CPATC is to find ways to
facilitate communication about philosophy teaching in Canada and to
provide philosophy teachers with a professional forum in which to
explore methods, problems, and issues related to the teaching of
philosophy. As part of this mandate, CPATC will host a series of
talks on philosophy and teaching which will run parallel to the
regular CPA offerings at the annual Learneds meeting.
*Area I*
For this year's series, we invite submissions on any topic related
to philosophy teaching. Possible topic areas (in no particular
order) include:
- approaches to philosophy teaching (problems, single author,
historical texts)
- introducing students to philosophy
- teaching philosophy skills
- philosophy teaching and class, race, culture, First Nations
issues, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, etc.
- critique and development of evaluation techniques
- teaching philosophy in conjunction with other disciplines
- philosophy teaching and technology
- philosophy teaching and popular culture
- philosophy teaching and humor
- preparing graduate students to teach philosophy
- the ethics of student-teacher relations
- the relationship between research and teaching
We welcome submissions in a number of formats including formal
papers, workshops, panel discussions, poster sessions and
demonstrations.
*Area II*
This year we will be experimenting with four special sessions on the
following topics:
Teaching Introductory Philosophy
Teaching Contemporary Moral Issues
Teaching Formal Logic
Teaching Critical Thinking
These sessions are intended to provide an option for those who would
like to participate in a session on one of these topics but don't
have a full-blown presentation worked out. Depending on the number
of people who volunteer for each session, the CPATC will co-ordinate
an informal discussion in which each volunteer talks for a short
period of time (5-15 minutes). If you're interested in this
particular option, please send a letter to the address below
indicating which session you would like to participate in, and a
brief description of the content and length of your talk.
Presentation proposals for Area I should contain the following
information:
1) A cover sheet containing the title of the presentation and the
name(s) and affiliation(s) of the presenter(s). The cover sheet
should also include a description of the preferred length of your
presentation (60, 90 or 120 minutes) and the style of your
presentation (paper, workshop, panel discussion, poster session,
demonstration). When determining your presentation time, please
make sure that no more than half its duration is lecture; at least
half should involve structured or informal group discussion.
2) A summary of your presentation including its content, methods
(including references) and goal(s). This summary should be no
longer than five pages.
3) A list of handouts and materials that you plan to provide (if
applicable)
4) A short abstract (100-200 words) to be used to describe your
presentation in the conference program, if your proposal is
accepted.
The submissions that we receive will be anonymously reviewed by
faculty members at a number of Canadian universities who are
themselves active, committed teachers. We encourage submissions
from graduate students and new faculty as well as more senior
faculty.
Proposals should be sent in triplicate by January 31, 1997 to the
address below:
Cheryl Cline
Department of Philosophy
University of Toronto
215 Huron Street, 9th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1
Fax: (416) 978-8703
If you have any questions, please contact Cheryl Cline at
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
*CPA Teaching Committee*
Cheryl Cline Bruce Janz
University of Toronto Augustana University College
[EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Pamela Courtenay-Hall Steven Thompson
University of British Columbia University of Toronto
pamelach.unixg.ubc.ca [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Quebec and Maritimes representatives TBA
*********************************************
Linda Lopez McAlister, Editor, HYPATIA; Listowner SWIP-L; Chair
Dept. of Women's Studies, University of South Florida, Tampa.
Tel. 813-974-0982/FAX [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mon Dec 2 02:14:41 1996
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Mon, 02 Dec 1996 09:13:48 GMT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: Coping with Junk Mail
Don't mean to be rude, but I am having trouble coming up
with an ecofeminist perspective on Junk mail ?!?
>From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mon Dec 2 08:15:27 1996
Organization: HEADWATERS DEAL IS **NO DEAL**! DEBT FOR NATURE -- JAIL CHARLES HURWITZ!
Date: Mon, 02 Dec 1996 07:12:45 -0800
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED],
STUDIES IN WOMEN AND ENVIRONMENT <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
From: Moonshadow <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: RE: Coping with Junk Mail
At 09:13 12/2/96 GMT, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>Don't mean to be rude, but I am having trouble coming up
>with an ecofeminist perspective on Junk mail ?!?
Hmmmmmm ... I can come up with several. Junk mail is a waste of precious
forest resources--how many trees do you think are cut down to feed that
ludicrous industry? Junk mail uses tremendous amounts of energy and
chemical inputs to produce, from the dioxins needed to bleach the paper,
to the petroleum products used to process, transport, and print them.
Junk mail *can* be used to promote views that *could be* anti-feminist.
I could go on, but I think that is a good start for openers.
Junk mail roundly disgusts me--even more so because of my work to save
the ancient virgin old growth redwood forests here in California--it is
an extremely inefficient use of a very precious--yes it is renewable,
but slowly--resource. I might be just a bit happier if paper were made
from hemp or kenaf, but even then we would have to deal with the problems
of rapidly filling landfills due to people/industry not recycling more
than they do. Since I bring up recycling, I might point out that so much
more could be done than is, but for the resistance to the extra effort
(and in *some* cases ... expense).
So to answer your question, yes of course junk mail is an ecofeminist
issue!
Struggling for the trees, the environment, and justice!
.......... Moonshadow
P.s. if even more of a feminist approach to junk mail is necessary ...
try thinking of what all the pollutants released into the environment
in the production of junk mail do to a womyn's reproductive tract ...
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"When a woman seriously asks herself what it |
means to be a woman she is pulling at a | <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
thread that can unravel an entire culture." | <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
| http://www.persephone.org/
Kim Chernin - "Reinventing Eve" |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My PGP Public Key can be found at: http://www.persephone.org/PGPKEY.shtml/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mon Dec 2 10:53:51 1996
Date: Mon, 02 Dec 1996 09:50:41 -0800
From: Michael Winkler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Organization: TIW Systems
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Coping with Junk Mail
References: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> Don't mean to be rude, but I am having trouble coming up
> with an ecofeminist perspective on Junk mail ?!?An ecofeminist perspective on junk
>mail is that a large number of living
things(trees made into paper for junk mail) are treated as having no
value other than to sell even more things and use more resources.
The natural world in its place is devalued, commerce and money are
overvalued.
Michael Winkler
>From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mon Dec 2 12:32:32 1996
03 Dec 1996 08:32 +1300 (NZD)
03 Dec 1996 08:34:23 +1300
Date: Tue, 03 Dec 1996 08:34:03 +1300
From: "STEFANIE S. RIXECKER" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: FUNDING: Carl Albert Center, U of Oklahoma
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Organization: Lincoln University
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
FUNDING: Carl Albert Center, U of Oklahoma
From: Todd Kosmerick, Assistant Curator, Carl Albert Center, University
of Oklahoma, [EMAIL PROTECTED], (405) 325-6372
VISITING SCHOLARS PROGRAM
The Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center at the
University of Oklahoma seeks applicants for its Visiting Scholars Program,
which provides financial assistance to researchers working at the Center's
Congressional Archives. Awards of $500-$1000 are normally granted as
reimbursement for travel and lodging.
The archival holdings include the papers of many former members of
Congress, such as Speaker of the House Carl Albert, Robert S. Kerr, and
Fred Harris of Oklahoma, Helen Gahagan Douglas of California, Andrew
Biemiller of Wisconsin, and Sidney Clarke of Kansas. In addition to the
history of Congress, congressional leadership, national and Oklahoma
politics, and election campaigns, these materials also document government
policy affecting agriculture, Native Americans, energy, foreign affairs,
the environment, and the economy. Among the topics that can be studied
are the Great Depression, flood control and soil conservation, and tribal
affairs. At least one collection provides insight on women in American
politics. Most of these papers cover the twentieth century, although one
dates to the 1850s. More information on collections can be found at our
Web site: http://www.ou.edu/special/albertctr/
The Visiting Scholars Program is open to any applicant. Emphasis
is given to those pursuing post-doctoral research in history, political
science, and other fields. Graduate students involved in research for
publication, thesis, or dissertation are encouraged to apply. Interested
undergraduates and lay researchers are also invited to apply. The Center
carefully evaluates each research proposal. Applications are accepted
continuously; awards are made periodically throughout the year.
For more information, please e-mail Todd Kosmerick at
[EMAIL PROTECTED] or contact him at
Carl Albert Center
630 Parrington Oval, Room 101
University of Oklahoma
Norman, OK 73019
Telephone: (405) 325-6372
Fax: (405) 325-6419
>From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mon Dec 2 12:34:20 1996
03 Dec 1996 08:33 +1300 (NZD)
03 Dec 1996 08:36:05 +1300
Date: Tue, 03 Dec 1996 08:35:38 +1300
From: "STEFANIE S. RIXECKER" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: FYI: CFP: CROSSING THE BOUNDARIES V
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Organization: Lincoln University
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
------- 5th ANNUAL COUNTER-DISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE-------
SUNY Binghamton graduate students invite submissions for:
CROSSING THE BOUNDARIES V
A Counter-Disciplinary Graduate Student Conference
April 4-5, 1997
SUNY Binghamton
Binghamton, New York
This year's conference will focus on:
"Translating/Transposing Cultures"
The collective of the 5th annual Crossing the Boundaries Conference
invites members from various cultural spaces and different academic
disciplines to examine the issues of cultural translation and/or
transposition. We invite paper and panel proposals, as well as
encourage creative, non-formal, and interactive presentations (e.g.
video, performance art, installations, interactive multimedia,
etc...). Completed panel proposals are encouraged and
enthusiastically received. This conference has been established and
is run by graduate students as a site of resistance.
Some possible themes:
*issues of translation: being translated; representation outside of
one's language and culture; what gets imposed?; how is one hailed?
*pedagogy: teaching Postcolonial and Commonwealth literatures;
teaching "other" cultures and classes
*cyber-whatever: what gets "translated" through machine interface?
*high culture/pop culture transpositions
*multiculturalism and identity politics: unity, coalition forming,
marginalization, and imposition of difference
*queer work: what gets "translated" to/from feminist, gender, or
postcolonial projects?
*ideology and its pervasiveness
*activism and academia: transposing community and academy
*comparative histories (e.g. latin american, caribbean, asian, etc)
*sex, disease, vilification, power
*appropriation, imperialism, post-colonialisms
*liminal frontiers: nomadism, hybridism and territorial mapping
*the social constructions of pleasure, memory and the (un)conscious
*working class identity, labour strikes and ritual protests
*the built environment: urban planning translations/transpositions
*the inter-merger of gender, science and technology
*dressing for power, dressing for pleasure
*"the new tribalism" and heroin chic
*Website publishing: info technology, privatization and culture
*morphing cultures
Submit one-page abstracts or presentation proposals by January 31,
1997 to:
Crossing the Boundaries V
c/o English Department
SUNY Binghamton
Box 6000, NY, 13902
Or e-mail your proposal to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Abstracts should be submitted, along with a separate listing of
name, paper title, institutional and departmental affiliation,
preferred mailing address, phone, and e-mail address.
Please include your mailing address, e-mail address, and phone
number. As well, include a self-addressed stamped envelope for any
materials you would like returned to you (portfolios, discs,
slides, video tapes, etc.).
If you need more information, please feel free to contact:
Michael Ma
Department of Art History
SUNY Binghamton
Binghamton, NY, 13902
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
phone: 607-797-9567
or
Jennifer Lutzenberger
Department of English
SUNY Binghamton
Binghamton, NY, 13902
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
phone: 607-722-9493
************************************
Stefanie S. Rixecker
Department of Resource Management
Lincoln University, Canterbury
Aotearoa New Zealand
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
************************************
