While Maggie Rioux's point is undoubtedly true, the question really is
whether a) my employer has a right to monitor what I send and receive via
e-mail and b) the ethics of forwarding, distributing, etc., e-mail sent
privately to an individual, not to the list.  I think most of us would not
like to have letters addressed to us by name arrive opened; in fact, as my
department is responsible for a lot of mail sorting and opening, I know that
most people resent the idea that someone else opened their mail even
accidentally.  I can sit at a typewriter in this department and type any
sort of information I choose and put it in an envelope and mail it without
review; should the same privacy apply to messages sent e-mail?  Also, if
an individual receives a letter from another individual containing personal
information about job conditions, personalities dealt with, etc., it is
unlikely that the receiver will feel free to make multiple copies and
distribute; the same does not necessarily hold true with e-mail.  So,
users of e-mail should consider, as Maggie Rioux states, that every message
to e-mail, however intended, could become a public message.

Thomas Sanders, Auburn University, AL (tsanders@auducvax)