Harold, Thanks for sharing the target groups for the new statement about RC. This is excellent. Concerning the statement in the current ARRL Letter, it and the new statement do not seen to read as though they refer to the same RC letter. This may simply be the way I'm interpreting the two, but expressions of concern in this week's Letter seem to be much less vivid than they are in the new statement. I believe a prudent reader of the two items would come away with two separate impressions of the situation. Regarding the item that had previously been locked at the top of the web site: My preference is to delete it. This item simply is "inadequate" in its disclosure of our true interpretation of the contents of the RC letter. In my opinion, the web item so completely glosses over the issues that remain from the letter so much that the item is misleading. I'd think we ought to stand up "after further review" and write a web item that accurately discusses where we actually find ourselves with RC. I am very pleased that the new statement will serve as the basis for an item in next week's Letter. It is much better that we move quickly to correct erroneous impressions that have been given in the initial glow of the new letter than to let things drag on. If we let things drag and suddenly find we remain at an impasse with RC, we will be in between the proverbial rock and a hard spot. We will either need to sign a defective SOU or will look rather silly (or worse) if a few months from now we have to admit that blooms on the RC rose were not red after all. 73, Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: <mailto:k8je@arrl.org> k8je@arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is! _____ From: Kramer, Harold, WJ1B [mailto:wj1b@arrl.org] Sent: Friday, May 23, 2008 4:25 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16785] RE: [arrl-odv:16782] Red Cross Statement Jim, To answer your question: We sent it to you folks on ODV, the SMs and SECs as well as the customer contact staff here at HQ. This week's letter has the new statement. The original story is no longer locked on the top of the Web Site and it has sunken way down (second to the bottom) on the crawlie list. Harold Kramer, WJ1B Chief Operating Officer ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio 860 594 0220 hkramer@arrl.org <http://www.arrl.org/> _____ From: K8JE [mailto:K8JE@arrl.org] Sent: Friday, May 23, 2008 4:03 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: RE: [arrl-odv:16782] Red Cross Statement Immediately after I sent my prior message, I received the statement written by Dennis and Allen. Wow! With this new statement being so different from those that were issued prior to it, are we withdrawing the post on the web and also sending the expanded explanation of our position to the SMs and our members? The impressions I receive from the prior statements and this most recent statement differ greatly. Thanks for the corrected statement of the situation to everyone involved in developing it. It says clearly what I believe Casey Stengel (I think it was Casey) would have said: It ain't over 'til it's over" or to translate to the present situation, "The RC and we ain't resolved our differences 'til they're resolved." Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director ARRL Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 E-mail: <mailto:k8je@arrl.org> k8je@arrl.org; Tel.: 513-459-0142 ARRL - The Reason Amateur Radio Is! Members - The Reason ARRL Is! _____ From: Kramer, Harold, WJ1B [mailto:wj1b@arrl.org] Sent: Friday, May 23, 2008 3:07 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16782] Red Cross Statement Hi, FYI, here is the official approved statement about the status of the American Red Cross and the ARRL. We have sent this to our staff here at HQ and the SM list. A slight variation of this statement will appear in this week's ARRL Letter. We are using this as a consistent response to the emails and phone calls that we are receiving. Thank you for your email (or telephone call) concerning the American Red Cross' background check policy. While we believe that the Red Cross is implementing some changes that will address some of the concerns expressed to them by ARRL, at this point, it is work in process. There are many questions yet to be answered, but we believe that the Red Cross is progressing in good faith to complete the changes to their policy and their background check consent form, which was the primary concern expressed to the Red Cross by ARRL. There will be more clarifications and information in the near future. Please keep an eye on the ARRL web site for updates as we know them. We are very much aware of your concerns and have conveyed them to the Red Cross. We expect the Red Cross to address these and other concerns on subject of their background check policy in the near future. (Dennis Dura and Allen Pitts originally drafted this statement. It was edited by Chris Imlay and approved by Joel Harrison, Chris Imlay and myself) 73, Harold Harold Kramer, WJ1B Chief Operating Officer ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 Telephone: 860 594 0220 email: hkramer@arrl.org web: <http://www.arrl.org/> www.arrl.org/