January 2002 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

on secrecy
by Walton Stinson, W0CP 22 Jan '02

22 Jan '02

I think some of you will be interested in this exchange with our senior SM. While it is true that this is the way the system works, we probably should discuss the system sometime soon and decide if there's any way to make it work better. Joe, I hope you don't mind me posting my reply to everybody. You raised an important point. ----- Original Message ----- From: W5PDY(a)cs.com <mailto:W5PDY@cs.com> To: wstinson(a)listenup.com <mailto:wstinson@listenup.com> Sent: Monday, January 21, 2002 9:12 PM Subject: Re: enhancements to the Web site Walt, Tnx for ur reply...My only comment is "why didn't we know about it in November rather than in January"? We could have had our comments in to you much sooner and not have to hear about it with a "leak." Why was it kept so secret? Joe Knight, W5PDY That's a great question and I'm glad you asked it. The impression that information was kept "secret" is due to an intentional aspect of the process by which most boards conduct their work. The committee system that the board uses is based upon Robert's Rules, and has been in place at ARRL as long as anyone can remember. The committees are arms of the board but have very limited authority on their own. Part of their job is to study issues that are too complex or detailed to be considered in open session and then make a report and recommendation back to the board. Unless specifically instructed otherwise, they don't have any authority to disseminate their work prior to its being received by the board. The board often takes the report and recommendation and goes off in a completely different direction. It's not unusual for the conclusions of the report to be rejected and the recommendation ignored. Sometimes, as in this case, the board will decide to table the item pending public comment. So, when you think about it, it makes good sense to go public only after the board has deliberated on the topic and decided how to handle it. It the committees were to do otherwise, they could stir up issues before the board possessed any information, turning an orderly governance process into a totally chaotic one - which is precisely what happened. The system usually works just fine, except when a controversial issue arises. Then, there is almost always the claim that somebody was trying to pull a fast one. The truth is, it's just the way the system works. All budget proposals have issues controversial to someone in them. This report was handled no differently from any other committee report. The complaints about "keeping things behind closed doors" fails to recognize an elemental part of the ordinary board process. Because aspects of this budget report were leaked before the report was even read by all the directors, it's impossible to know how the directors would have chosen to handle the situation if there had been no leak. I trust that this board would made a good choice. Unfortunately, it never had the chance. 73, Walt W0CP

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ca$h
by Tom Frenaye 22 Jan '02

22 Jan '02

Five people put cash in the ARRL Foundation envelope but didn't identify themselves. I found three of them at the meeting but not the last two. Will anyone admit they stuffed the envelope with small bills (at least one or two?). -- Tom ===== e-mail: k1ki(a)arrl.org ARRL New England Division Director http://www.arrl.org/ Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box J, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444

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Alternative Email Addresses
by W5JBP＠aol.com 22 Jan '02

22 Jan '02

Good afternoon! Attached is a Word document that provides to you the alternative email addresses for the ODV members. Please review this document for accuracy and let me know if there are any changes to your personal email addresses. If you are unable to download this document, please let me know and I will drop you a copy in the mail. Thanks, Stacy

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[Fwd: Fw: [CQ-Contest] DID WE BUY SOME TIME?]
by jmax＠attglobal.net 22 Jan '02

22 Jan '02

The attached was forwarded to me by VDirector Vallio. The email reminds us that the Board received a letter from Jim Edelson, K1IR. Is someone going to reply to him? If so, who, and what will it say? I think they're trying to be responsible, and we should give them a cautious "yes," and then follow with some explanation of the League's problems, plus questions of them 73. Jim, W6CF

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Re: Alternative Email Addresses
by dick＠pobox.com 21 Jan '02

21 Jan '02

21 JAN, 2002 - 1655 CST Hello Stacy... In order to assure maximum compatibility with all the various computer systems on the Internet, I suggest you make sure that our alternate email addresses are set up with all lowercase characters. 99.99 percent of the time, an email address with uppercase characters in it will go through with no problem. But there could be times when an "ancient" server running on "original" UNIX might mess up the routing, or fail to forward, due to the presence of uppercase characters in the address(es). This should not happen today. But eliminating uppercase characters insures that it won't. - Dick, W9GIG

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(no subject)
by W5JBP＠aol.com 21 Jan '02

21 Jan '02

Upper case or lower case. Addresses are not case sensitive. Jim H.

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QST changes - new version
by Walton Stinson, W0CP 21 Jan '02

21 Jan '02

Here's a new version, less the grammatical errors that Coy caught. 73, Walt W0CP ********************************* January 20, 2002 Dear Fellow League Members, A proposal to change the way we publish section news and contest line lists was presented by K1RO, QST publisher, and K1ZZ, Executive Vice President of the League, eight weeks ago at a meeting of the Administration and Finance Committee, which I chaired. The committee was persuaded by the rationale behind this proposal and voted to recommend its adoption at the January board meeting. The proposed changes will improve section news and contest coverage, free up editorial space in QST for items of greater general interest, and save money that can be spent on more pressing matters, like protecting our frequencies and our right to put up antennas. There are many more compelling reasons to support the proposal. However, due to the nature of the changes, the way the information got out ahead of the explanation, and the concerns expressed by some members, the board decided to wait until July to act on the recommendation. Perhaps by then, people will have a chance to cool down, get the information they need, and maybe even feel comfortable that this is actually a good thing. In the meantime, in a gesture of leadership and commitment, the board voted to relocate its meeting minutes from QST to the Web. Our editors are asking to publish "special interest" information on the Web site so that QST can be a better general interest magazine and be published more economically. Section News and contest line listings consume 176 pages per year, enough to fill an entire issue. The marginal cost of publishing this information in QST is about $100,000 a year (not including mailing). There's no doubt that section news has readers (I am one of them- and I read line scores, too!). That's not at issue. The problem is that few people, if any, read the entire section news. Just 27% read it at all. Most read just one or two of the 71 section reports. For example, we print 1.7 million copies of the Colorado Section News each year for about 5,000 members (as well as 1.7 million copies of the Virgin Island Section News for 77 members!). We print 30 million pages a year lines scores and Section News. That's a monumental waste of League resources. Contest line listings are also of large interest to a small group. There are those who argue that a call listing in QST is the primary means of recruiting new contesters. I agree with the QST editorial staff that general interest coverage of contest events is a better way to promote activity. Moreover, contesters as a group are already heavy users of the Web. The board and its management team have set some big goals for the League: 1. Attract young people to amateur radio. 2. Protect our frequencies from commercial interests. 3. Make it easier for us to put up antennas. We need your support and encouragement to improve our efficiency so that we can do a better job of funding these pressing issues. We are asking you to accept a few changes along the way to help us address the priorities of the organization. Let me to set the record straight. No one is arguing that section news or contest line scores are no longer important, or that these activities will no longer be covered in QST. Board level support of these activities is as strong as ever. We simply have a better, cheaper and faster way to deliver targeted section information and contest score lists than we had 30 years ago. To get a taste of it, go to the Web, click on your section in the upper right, and check out what has already been done by your section manager. To see a bit of the great potential of this new service, check the Santa Clara Valley section. Section Managers now have virtually unlimited space to upload timely information as well as photos and data tables. Also, check out our contest results in PDF (with searchable data files on the way). Whether you feel strongly or not, one way or the other, drop a note or an e-mail to your division director and let him know your views. 73, Walt Stinson, W0CP ARRL Director (RM)

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Re: [ARRL-ODV:6853] Re: going wide
by Walton Stinson, W0CP 21 Jan '02

21 Jan '02

Several people, including George, have sent e-mails asking for permission to use the letter I sent out in newsletters, etc. That's fine with me. 73, Walt W0CP ----- Original Message ----- From: George Race To: arrl-odv(a)p1k.arrl.org Sent: Monday, January 21, 2002 6:07 AM Subject: [ARRL-ODV:6853] Re: going wide Morning Walt: That is so well put I would like to cut and paste "large" segments of it to use in our Division, with your permission. Great to see you all in Dallas! 73...George

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Re:Public Service
by Stephen Mendelsohn 21 Jan '02

21 Jan '02

Spreaking from the back bench for the front line troops: "Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ" wrote: > > At another place in the meeting agenda, without its being heralded as such, > the Board dealt with the issue of "How do I get my call sign in QST?" > That was when the Public Service Honor Roll criteria were revised. I have sent emails to the communications coordinators of the Boston, Pittsburgh Marathons about this and as the Board loves statistics, I can say that 100% of them agreed that this was a VERY positive change. Yes, people DO want to see their callsigns in QST as a way of showing fellow Amateurs that they do significant things. But not all of those things are contests. There are other significant events that include more than just the individual...they are teams of people who come together to serve the public inshort duration events...the so-called "athons" and races. The revised PSHR listings will give a whole new group the ability to be recognized by their peers as doing something significant for the hobby. -73- Steve, W2ML

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RE: [ARRL-ODV:6853] Re: going wide
by Dennis Bodson 21 Jan '02

21 Jan '02

Walt: Great explanation. Dennis -----Original Message----- From: George Race [mailto:wb8bgy@arrl.org] Sent: Monday, January 21, 2002 8:07 AM To: arrl-odv(a)p1k.arrl.org Subject: [ARRL-ODV:6853] Re: going wide Morning Walt: That is so well put I would like to cut and paste "large" segments of it to use in our Division, with your permission. Great to see you all in Dallas! 73...George -----Original Message----- From: Walton Stinson [mailto:wstinson@listenup.com] Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2002 10:59 PM To: arrl-odv(a)p1k.arrl.org Subject: [ARRL-ODV:6852] going wide Howdy, Rod and I shared a nice smooth flight back to Denver this morning. Hope y'all's were just as nice. I composed the message below as my stock reply on the section news/ contest matter. Unless I hear from you, I will reply to any message I receive, including reflectors that might broadcast into your domain. So, let me know if you have an objection. 73, Walt W0CP **************** January 20, 2002 Dear Fellow League Members, A proposal to change the way we publish section news and contest line lists was presented by K1RO, QST publisher, and K1ZZ, Executive Vice President of the League, eight weeks ago at a meeting of the Administration and Finance Committee, which I chaired. The committee was persuaded by the rationale behind this proposal and voted to recommend its adoption at the January board meeting. The proposed changes will improve section news and contest coverage, free up editorial space in QST for items of greater general interest, and save money that can be spent on more pressing matters, like protecting our frequencies and our right to put up antennas. There are many more compelling reasons to support the proposal. However, due to the nature of the changes, the way the information got out ahead of the explanation, and the concerns expressed by some members, the board decided to wait until July to act on the recommendation. Perhaps by then, people will have a chance to cool down, get the information they need, and maybe even feel comfortable that this is actually a good thing. In the meantime, in a gesture of leadership and commitment, the board voted to relocate its meeting minutes from QST to the Web. Our editors are asking to publish "special interest" information on the Web site so that QST can be a better general interest magazine and be published more economically. Section News and contest line listings consume 176 pages per year, enough to fill an entire issue. The marginal cost of publishing this information in QST is about $100,000 a year (not including mailing). There's no doubt that section news has readers (I am one of them- and I read line scores, too!). Thats not at issue. The problem is that few people, if any, read the entire section news. Just 27% read it at all. Most read just one or two of the 71 section reports. For example, we print 1.7 million copies of the Colorado Section News each year for about 5,000 members (as well as 1.7 million copies of the Virgin Island Section News for 77 members!). We print 30 million pages a year lines scores and Section News. That's a monumental waste of League resources. Contest line listings are also of large interest to a small group. There are those who argue that a call listing in QST is the primary means of recruiting new contesters. I agree with the QST editorial staff that general interest coverage of contest events is a better way to promote activity. Moreover, contesters as a group are already heavy users of the Web. The board and its management team have set some big goals for the League: 1.. Attract young people to amateur radio. 2.. Protect our frequencies from commercial interests. 3.. Make it easier for us to put up antennas. We need your support and encouragement to improve our efficiency so that we can do a better job of funding these pressing issues. We are asking you to accept a few changes along the way to help us address the priorities of the organization. Let me to set the record straight. No one is arguing that section news or contest line scores are no longer important, or that these activities will no longer be covered in QST. Board level support of these activities is as strong as ever. We simply have a better, cheaper and faster way to deliver targeted section information and contest score lists than we had 30 years ago. To get a taste it, go to the Web, click on your section in the upper right, and check out what has already been done already by your section manager. To see a bit of the great potential of this new service, check the Santa Clara Valley section. Section Managers now have virtually unlimited space to upload timely information as well as photos and data tables. Also, check out our contest results in PDF (with searchable data files on the way). Whether you feel strongly or not, one way or the other, drop a note or an e-mail to your division director and let him know your views. 73, Walt Stinson, W0CP ARRL Director (RM)

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