Attention E-Mailers

The Star is always pleased to receive correspondence from readers, but, as most are aware, it does not print anonymous letters, even those that are not of a scurrilous nature. This has been our policy for many years.

Now, with the advent of E-mail, and its increasing use as a supplement to or even substitute for conventional postal correspondence, we are faced with a dilemma. E-mailed letters often bear no indication of their author or origin other than an alias, to wit BLUBOY4 or SBSNY.

That may be fine in cyberspace, but it is not so fine for The Star's letters pages. This week, for example, a letter arrived by E-mail inquiring why no police news appears on our Website (http://www.easthamptonstar.com). A legitimate question, but, alas, one that cannot be answered unless and until we can verify the identity of the asker. Mail is mail is mail, and the rule ought not to be waived just because it originates in Cyberia.

Sharp-eyed readers who turn this page over will note a new line in the instructions to letter-writers. It says:

Unsigned E-mail will be treated as anonymous.