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popcorn
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Candidates' Forum
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Nov 3 17:34 UTC 1994 |
It's that time of year again. We're about to elect three people to Grex's
board of directors. This is an especially interesting election because the
people we elect now will still be in office next year when, as required by
Grex's bylaws, the people who have been on the board since the beginning
must get off the board for at least a year.
Grex always seems to be blessed with more candidates who would make great
board members than it has open slots on the board. This year is no
exception: every one of the people who has been nominated would make a
great director.
This item is intended to help voters decide how to vote. I'd like to see
candidates respond with some reasons why we should vote for them. Voters,
please ask questions you'd like the candidates to answer. Non-voters with
questions they'd like voters to take into consideration are welcome to ask
questions for the candidates, too.
Who can vote? Anybody who is a paid member of Grex for three consecutive
months, including the month of the election (November, in this case).
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| 184 responses total. |
popcorn
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response 1 of 184:
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Nov 3 18:08 UTC 1994 |
I'd like to be on Grex's board to help steer it through a future that is
likely to be filled with wildly expanding growth. As directors, I'd like
to see us do more active planning for future expansion, as opposed to being
caught by surprise when the load on some particular resource makes it go
boom. By resources I mean hardware and software, and also staffers -- a
valuable and overworked part of Grex. We've talked about training more
volunteers to do backups and other tasks. I'd like to see this happen.
I'm a long-standing fan of including Grex's users in as many decisions as
possible, and of keeping people informed about what's going on.
Except for postmaster, at one time or another I've worn every hat I
can think of on Grex. Here are the tasks I've done at one time or another:
founder, treasurer, secretary, 1993 chair of the board, cfadm (conference
administrator -- the job of adding and administering conferences), root,
party keeper, keeper of newuser, welcomer of new people, answerer of many
e-mailed questions to staff, liason with the folks at msu-gopher,
coordinator of Grex's move to the Dungeon, and organizer of JCC sales. I
don't want to be chair of the board again -- I think that job is best
rotated to a new person each year. From wearing all these different hats,
I feel I know the system very well and can make good, well-informed
decisions.
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carson
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response 2 of 184:
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Nov 4 01:13 UTC 1994 |
here's a question for the candidates:
what direction do you see Grex as moving in right now, and is
it a direction you would like to see followed?
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scg
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response 3 of 184:
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Nov 4 03:57 UTC 1994 |
Like Valerie, I think Grex needs to do a lot of planning ahead on how
to deal with growth. There have been a few times recently when we have
really been caught off guard, and although solutions came evenutally they
were after a long time of having to deal with serious problems. The
biggest example of that I can think of is last summer's disk space crunch.
It seemed that we suddenly realized we were out of disk space, and only
then was a fund raiser started for a new disk. Had the growth been
anticipated, the disk might have been able to arrive sooner, saving us
that period of frequently not even being able to enter conference
responses due to a lack of space on /home.
That said, I should point out that that may not have been a case
where advanced planning would have helped us that much. For one thing,
Grex grew much faster than anybody could have anticipated, and no matter
what we did we would have been left scrambling to catch up. We also may
not have had the user base before the growth to fund the disk. Now,
however, we have seen the growth patterns enough make better predictions
for how it would affect us. Using the patterns we can now see, the board
needs to work with the staff and the users to prepare for upcoming needs.
On the issue of Internet access, I am very uncomfortable with
limiting services only to members. Still, I recognize that there are some
bandwidth concerns that make it not a good idea to open everything up
given our current situation. Even though only allowing members to use
telnet and ftp is not the most ideal situation, I feel that it is better
to allow members to use it than to close it off completely. Our
membership rates are cheap enough that this still provides a valuable
service to people who want to be able to use the Internet and can't afford
to get access anywhere else.
While I see conferencing and party as the main parts of the Grex
community, and therefore as the most important parts of Grex, there are
other important parts as well. One thing we should not lose sight of is
that we are also a public access computer system, providing mail and
(soon) access to parts of the Internet to the general public, and also
providing Unix shell access. Even though these do not form as much of a
part of the "Grex Community," they do provide a valuable public service
and certainly play a role in leading people to conferencing.
In response to Carson's question about the direction Grex is going
in, the biggest change I'm seeing in Grex right now is that it is getting
a lot bigger. While I was a little scared of the growth at first, fearing
that Grex would lose it's rather friendly culture as it grew, I'm happy to
see that my fears have not been realized. Despite having grown at an
amazing rate, Grex is still the same Grex I've come to love, although with
far more people and therefore far more points of view. Overall, despite
the technical problems it has brought, I think the growth has been very
positive in terms of the diversity it has brought to the system. As I
said earlier, we do need to plan for the growth in order to stay
successful. I'm conviced that we can do that.
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carson
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response 4 of 184:
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Nov 4 09:18 UTC 1994 |
(I think the reason I wouldn't vote for scg is his verbosity.)
;)
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carl
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response 5 of 184:
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Nov 5 00:31 UTC 1994 |
I think of myself as being a common-sense, take care of business
person. One thing I like about the Grex community is the way it
helps people who are in the process of discovery. I have good
"people skills" and enjoy learning from the people I meet here.
What I would bring to the board is myself. I don't have a set agenda,
although I do have a vision of Grex having more stable hardware. I
would like to be a part of the evolution of the Grex community and
support the people who become involved in Grex's growth.
In response to carson's question, I see Grex moving in several
directions. 1) We are (trying) to move onto more stable hardware,
which I'd like to see continued. 2) We are also keeping a trustworthy,
specialized, and (at times) overworked staff. Staff seems to be
evolving, perhaps in part from increased work load from the internet
connection. I'd like to see staff continue to evolve and find
appropriate ways to respond to changing situations. 3) The Grex
community is becoming much more diverse. This is something I like
to see. 4) The Grex community seems to be less "centralized".
It used to be that most users knew most other users, and that a
quick poll in the conferences would give a good indication of
what the users were thinking. I see Grex moving in this direction
and feel this is something good. It requires/allows people to see
where they fit in to the community and to make connections in ways
that are comfortable.
Gee, and here I thought I wasn't going to be that loquacious. ;-)
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wh
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response 6 of 184:
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Nov 6 08:36 UTC 1994 |
Re #4. Well, Carson, we're growin' and we're growin' fast. :)
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wh
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response 7 of 184:
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Nov 6 19:29 UTC 1994 |
I believe our strength is in our conferences. That should be
our main emphasis. Email is important to many of us. Usenet and
Internet connections are nice to have.
As discussed at the September Board meeting, Merit is seriously
considering charging for access starting October 1995. If they
do, we may be deluged with new users. I would think this would
include a large number of dialin users. We should plan over the
next six months a response to the large impact this could have
on Grex.
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srw
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response 8 of 184:
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Nov 7 07:55 UTC 1994 |
During the time I have served on the board, Grex has changed and grown
and experienced some difficult times. We are stilll experiencing
technical difficulties that can be traced to our rapid growth. Despite
that, I am an advocate for further growth. I want to see Grex able to
fulfill a vision of providing access for anyone to the computer
technology which permits sharing ideas both within our community and
worldwide.
I want to see the local access improved, and this means more telephone
lines. Faster modems would be desirable, too, but are less important to
me than providing access for a greater number of local people.
I want to see global access improved. The network link we are using is
quite inadequate to meet the needs of those using it. This is not quite
as important as the local access, because it provides access to a
potentially infinite demand. Nevertheless, I am pleased with the degree
to which Grex has gotten away from being a prochial BBS in a small town
in Michigan. I think it is important to maintain a god percentage of
usage from outside.
I want to see reliability improved. Getting the SCSI disk problem fixed
will be a major start, but there are other items. I have attended staff
meetings where we discussed some of the ways to get a handle on some of
these reliablity problems, and I am optimistic that we will see progress
soon. I want to see news restored to functionality as part of this
effort.
I want to see ease-of-use improved. We have come a long way, but there is
more to do. This is important as we attempt to get less computer-savvy
users to use the system and participate.
All of this costs money, and maintaining a high level of memberships is
the primary way we can assure that we have the money we need.
Despite the culture of openness, which I largely support, I will fight
against the further elimination of incentives to contribute to Grex. I
do not believe it is wise open the system to nonpaying users any further
than we will have done, once we implement in full the new policy voted
on by the members.
I believe that it is important to use common sense and to avoid the
pitfalls of being too pragmatic or too idealistic. In my opinion it would be
too idealistic to open everything up to non-members, and it would be too
pragmatic to let these money matters allow us to lose sight of what we
want Grex to be. I think I have shown a track record which is consistent
with this philosophy.
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chelsea
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response 9 of 184:
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Nov 7 14:23 UTC 1994 |
Part of the "new policy" was to allow full Usenet acess without
regard to membership status once our resources would tolerate
the load. Is this something you'd still support?
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srw
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response 10 of 184:
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Nov 7 15:58 UTC 1994 |
Yes. I support what the members have agreed to in their vote.
I am concerned that the members also voted a general intention to further relax
access to internet services if the internet link became wider. I feel that
this area is a potential disaster for us.
I do not believe that posting to Usenet represents that much of a carrot,
any more. I do not think it will hurt Grex's finances to permit this.
I am against opening up the internet for telnet and ftp to verified users
who are not members. This is the next logical step in the progression
we are on, and I realize that the members indicated in their vote that
they wanted to do this but felt that the internet link was not wide enough.
My worry is that we will be inundated by hordes of people from all over the
globe who cannot get this service for free anywhere else. The things we are
currently offering or planning to offer for free are available from freenets.
I am advocating a common sense midground here.
I do not think it makes sense to ignore the possible influence on Grex's
finances as we continue to liberalize our policy, because Grex needs those
funds to become a better system.
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robh
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response 11 of 184:
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Nov 9 00:26 UTC 1994 |
Now that U*Con is over, I can finally devote my time to the other
things I love, like Grex. >8)
I've tried to do as much as I could to help Grex be a better,
friendlier system. My two biggest claims to fame her are
(1) asking for the "write help" command to be activated,
and being nominally put in charge of it; and (2) working on
the Lynx Activities Pages, a menu system which has made
using Grex a little easier for the new people.
As far as "what direction would (I) like to see Grex move in,"
I think that the users should have at least as much say in that
as the Board should. (Guess who voted Libertarian today?)
What I *would* like to see is a more open Internet access policy
as soon as our equipment can handle it. Once, I thought this
would be a bad idea, but after seeing how many people from all
over the world use our system now, and how the Internet can
expand everyone's horizons, I've changed my mind. Particularly
when I see how restrictive other Internet providers are. Of course,
I would still want a verification requirement for the
potentially destructive ones, like Usenet posting.
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srw
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response 12 of 184:
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Nov 9 01:03 UTC 1994 |
Does that mean that you would favor permitting outgoing telnet and/or
ftp available to people without requiring membership?
Here is a clear differentiator between us, because I don't think you
can ever put bandwidth problems aside. There is a tremendous amount of
demand in net-land for a free service that does this. More than any
pipeline to the internet can handle. It is also a non-growth strategy
for Grex's membership. With less money, we are less likely to ever be able
to afford the things we want.
On the other hand, I totally agree that the internet can expand horizons,
and I'm anxious to open up the other protocols to everyone. I have handled
requests from users who want their accounts deleted because they no longer
want to use Grex. One of the most common reasons is lag. I think letting
people come into Grex is a better use to put our internet connection to
than to let them go out. If we had more internet resources I would not want
to use them that way. I believe we will achieve this by implementing
the policy the members voted on as far as it went, but not by continuing
to liberalize after that.
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robh
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response 13 of 184:
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Nov 9 01:35 UTC 1994 |
Please note my caveat, "as soon as our resources can handle it."
If our resources can never handle it, then I don't think we should
try to implement it. Sadly, I don't know enough technical stuff to
know what that break-point would be.
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srw
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response 14 of 184:
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Nov 9 05:59 UTC 1994 |
OK, rob. I was afraid after I posted that that I might have put words in
your mouth. This was not my intention. Other people have advocated that
we relax access to telnet and ftp when (if) more bandwidth becomes available.
I do not agree with those people.
I want the best for Grex. I want it be open, but I want it to have a lot
of members. We are a non-profit organization. That does not mean a
no-income organization.
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remmers
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response 15 of 184:
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Dec 1 05:00 UTC 1994 |
***NOTICE***
The polls are now open for voting in the current board election. To
get more information about the election, or to cast a ballot, type
vote at a Unix shell prompt, or !vote at a Picospan prompt.
The polls are normally open until the end of the day (Eastern Standard
Time) on December 15. This closing date will be extended as necessary
to compensate for system and internet downtime.
If you cast a ballot and change your mind later, you can change your
vote by running the vote program again. Your previous vote will be
erased and replaced by the new one. Therefore, it makes sense for
people to continue to discuss issues during the election period.
Any user of Grex can run the vote program and cast a ballot, but only
the votes of eligible voters will be counted in determining the outcome
of the election. An eligible voter is a current member of Grex who has
paid for at least three months' membership.
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davel
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response 16 of 184:
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Dec 1 10:48 UTC 1994 |
Vote early and often!
(Grex is one of the few places where that's really appropriate!)
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headdoc
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response 17 of 184:
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Dec 2 22:58 UTC 1994 |
Can I vote and vote again?
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davel
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response 18 of 184:
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Dec 3 02:16 UTC 1994 |
You can. Your *last* vote is the only one that will be there to be counted
when the polls have closed.
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popcorn
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response 19 of 184:
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Dec 3 03:53 UTC 1994 |
You can vote for up to three candidates.
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davel
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response 20 of 184:
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Dec 3 19:13 UTC 1994 |
Um, yes. That might well have been what the question referred to. Only
your last ballot - state of affairs after you last went through marking
votes - counts, but there are 3 positions open.
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popcorn
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response 21 of 184:
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Dec 4 03:19 UTC 1994 |
If you choose option 2 in the vote program, it tells you who you're on
record as having voted for.
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tsty
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response 22 of 184:
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Dec 5 10:43 UTC 1994 |
Just as a side question - is the balloting concealed, or can
someone view how everyone has voted?
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remmers
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response 23 of 184:
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Dec 5 11:21 UTC 1994 |
It's concealed.
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tsty
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response 24 of 184:
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Dec 6 09:28 UTC 1994 |
EXCELLANT! Can you pursuade the other system to implement this
valuable upgrade - or at least let them know that there
is an improvement their membership can appreciate?
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