I am running for Division Director and some might be able to make the same argument about me regarding my ham radio credentials and activity.  I am not a DXer and I do not enjoy spending hours sitting at a radio operating.  As I stated in a recent candidate forum, the things I enjoy most in ham radio are things where I’m out and about with other people doing things – public service events, ARES SETs, transmitter hunts, etc.  Oregon hams don’t care and I expect to have a lot of support even from the DXers in Oregon because of my years as section manager.  They appreciated me in that role because I used my platform to get the word out about their events and get people involved in the 7QP contest each year.  They even talked me into going mobile for the event one year because I can be in four counties within 10 miles of my home.  I have their respect even though I don’t enjoy the same activities they do in ham radio.

As far as Howard being a President of IEEE instead of a CEO.  IEEE is a larger membership organization than the ARRL and likely addresses many of the same issues.  I know that my professional associations (AHIMA, HIMSS) offer the same benefits to me in my profession, as the ARRL offers to ham radio operators.  When I’m presenting to clubs, I often refer to the ARRL as our “professional association” as ham radio operators, at a much lower cost than the professional associations for my profession.  The President of these boards works closely with the CEO to make sure that the policy decisions of the board are implemented and are likely to be fully informed about operational issues that arise.  I can see an intelligent, experienced professional making that transition well.

Rate my professor:  I have no respect for this site.  Fortunately none of my students have rated me, even though I have been teaching for ten years.  The full-time instructor I work with has ratings there.  They all think she is awesome because it’s easy to get an A without doing much work.  I’ve seen her classes and you only have to do the work and submit it to get full credit.  Her final is generally about 10% of the grade.  Schools with competitive admissions are more likely to get students who appreciate a challenge.  When there are not competitive admissions, especially, there is a growing problem with undergraduate students expecting that they can work full time, go to school full time and take care of a family, while expecting the faculty to accommodate their needs.  I’ve had plenty of students who love me and lots of students who hate me. There is no way I would EVER use that site to evaluate a potential faculty member and I would not want to work for a school that did.

My understanding is that the directors were able to view the candidate applications and make comments.  I’m not certain how much time they had for that, but I hope they took advantage of the opportunity.

As a vice-director, I have not seen the specifics of the offer but the things I am hearing directors question seem reasonable to me for a CEO job contract.

I believe that a greater level of concern should have been raised at the board meeting, rather than voting to negotiate an offer, if the board truly was concerned about hiring Howard as the CEO.  I hope that anyone who votes no at the meeting tonight, also voted no to negotiate the offer at the last board meeting.

Bonnie AB7ZQ

Bonnie Altus, AB7ZQ

Northwestern Division

Vice Director

ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio™ 

Grid Square: CN85gb

Polk County, Oregon