Well said, Vinnie. It's just hard to keep the emotion out of it! j
Joyce Weems
Pathology Manager
Saint Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta


	-----Original Message-----
	From:	Vinnie Della Speranza [SMTP:dellav@musc.edu]
	Sent:	Tuesday, March 05, 2002 9:43 AM
	To:	MarkTarango@aol.com; histonet@pathology.swmed.edu;
JNOCITO@satx.rr.com
	Subject:	Re: Struck a Nerve

	I am not writing to disagree with Mark's comments about one's right
to
	express personal experiences or opinions.
	However, it is important for all of us to realize that someone with
	malicious intent could cause a great deal of ill will toward a
	particular vendor with the simple click of the "send" button.
Histonet
	has a large audience and with that comes the power to influence a
great
	many others some of whom will take the information they read here as
	fact and gospel. Think of the harm that could be done by someone
with
	less than honorable motives.

	Along with your "right" to express yourself comes the requirement
that
	we all be forthright and honorable with the information shared here
and
	if necessary prepared to back up our statements with the facts. I am
	reminded of the cliche that there are at least "three sides to a
story"


	Having said this, I agree that no vendor choosing to use strong arm
	tactics to silence this list should be tolerated. I for one am eager
to
	learn of others' experiences with the array of instrumentation
available
	to us, pro or con. I would hope that vendors would see this as an
	opportunity to learn how their equipment or service might be
improved.

	The opinions expressed above are solely my own and are not intended
to
	represent the views of anyone else, especially my employer.



	Vinnie Della Speranza
	Manager for Anatomic Pathology Services
	Medical University of South Carolina
	165 Ashley Avenue  Suite 309
	Charleston, SC 29425
	Ph: 843-792-6353
	fax: 843-792-8974

	>>>  03/04/02 08:52PM >>>
	Joe,

	I didn't see your original posting, and I haven't any idea of which
	vendor you commented upon; however, I had a similar experience. I
made a
	post about Hacker Instruments and a microwave processor that I
believe
	destroyed our tissue.  The very next day the owner of my lab had a
copy
	of my post and Hacker was threatening to sue.  They got what they
	wanted: my silence.

	Just be careful of what you say.  Some people forget that free
speech
	exists in the United States, and it seems they would like to do away
	with it.  When we comment on a particular product it must be
understood
	that it is our opinion.  Opinions by their definition cannot be
libelous
	or slanderous, but it is a FACT that this type of intimidation is
	present on the histonet.  We should all have our freedom to express
our
	opinions without fear.

	Mark Tarango