I have heard lawyers say they don't ask a witness in court a question unless they already know what the answer is. The same might be said about opinion polling, whether the sample is statisically valid or self-selected. If you aren't sure that the answer is going to what you believe is the right thing to do, maybe it's better not to ask the question.

Asking members for their input on our web page is one thing if most Directors have not made up their minds about the code requirement and want to factor popular opinion into their thought process, but it's something else again if most Directors already have a firm position, however they may have arrived at it.

Why go through the motions of asking for input if there's no intention of paying any mind to it? It won't make the members feel good that they were asked, if we create an expectation and then don't fulfill it. That will only make a sticky wicket stickier. If the majority of members says, "Keep the code," but the Board votes to drop it (or the other way around), then we've not only done something controversial, we've done something controversial *and* ignored the will of the membership, to boot.

Does it feel right to say to the membership, in effect, "Tell us if you believe there should be a code requirement. P.S., We don't care, we just want you to *think* we do."

Here's an idea to play with : What if the 5 wpm code requirement were dropped for General but retained for Extra?

73 - Kay N3KN