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December 1995 Board Candidate Survey (long: 466 lines)
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Dec 1 13:53 UTC 1995 |
This is an 18-question survey e-mailed to the board candidates on
Wednesday, November 22, 1995, around 8AM. Responses were collated
for easy reading, and are presented below. Typos may be mine or the
candidates'. Answers had different space limits for each question;
to see the limits, and survey instructions not listed here, see the
file /u/ajax/survey_form. The survey is privately, independently run,
with no official sanction.
Answers are listed by login id of the candidates:
aruba: Mark Congery
mta: Misti Anslin
rcurl: Rane Curl
robh: Rob Henderson
scott: Scott Helmke
sidhe: Christopher Cloyd
Candidates: Please try to answer with your personal opinions, even
though you might vote otherwise on an issue if your constituents
expressed different opinions.
Personal Stuff
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1. Please say a bit about yourself (some ideas: interests, career,
education, age, family, politics, or whatever you want to share).
aruba: I have a B.A. in Math from Williams College, and an M.A. in Math from
The U. of Michigan. Nowadays I work as a Windows C++ programmer at
Supply Tech, in Ann Arbor (where I also live). I'm 28, and I've been
a Grexer since March of '94.
mta: I'm a technical writer, specializing in software documentation. That
makes me a non-techie with some understanding of technical issues.
I've been associated with GREX since its very early days and have
devoted myself to publicizing GREX and to paper documentation. I
recently volunteered to be one of the editors for the GREX newsletter.
rcurl: I'm a prof of chem engineering at UM, since 1964. Am 66 years old and
live with my wife and daughter in Ann Arbor. I'm a cavers, sailor,
skier, hiker - in season - and a radio amateur, clock collector, wood
gadgeteer, and reader. I am of "liberal" persuasion and a freethinker.
I have served on boards or as an officer of some dozen organizations.
robh: I just turned 27. I have a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from
way way back in 1990, and the only useful thing I've done with it is
work as a staffer for Grex. That may change very soon. My family
and politics are beyond comprehension. (I'm not married, despite what
everyone on Grex seems to think.)
scott: Well, I'm a computer programmer, living in Ann Arbor, MI. I joined
about a year ago, and use Grex daily. My interests include music,
bicycling, food, etc.
sidhe: I am an editor/freelance writer in the Role-Playing Game industry, as
well as working at a local Kinko's for "bread and butter" between
jobs. My interests are wide-ranging, including technology, the study
of history and legend for clues into how Magick, if real, would
2. How would you describe your personality?
aruba: I am introverted. I am not an idealogue. I listen more than I talk.
mta: I'm generally soft-spoken and a peacemaker and consensus seeker.
rcurl: Shy, but have mostly outgrown it. I'm assertive on things I know about.
robh: Quiet, introspective, but tenacious when solving problems.
scott: I'm the type that likes to do a professional job, quietly.
sidhe: Inquisitive, challenging, humorous, and occasionally ego-tainted.
3. What Grex activities do you enjoy the most (e.g. specific conferences,
party, write sessions, e-mail, walks, etc.)?
aruba: I enjoy Grexwalks, Agora, Iq, Jellyware, and I spend a lot of time
with e-mail. I especially like puzzle items, math items, and items
with substantive, thoughtful debate.
mta: I enjoy the conferences and the pot-luck and walks. My favorite
conferences are co-op, women's, kid's, and agora.
rcurl: I read a slew of conferences - first getting "hooked" by the Mystery
Quote. Besides agora, I'm active in books, consumer, hardware, info,
coop, hardware..and wherever I have an opinion. I seldom use party.
robh: The World Wide Web, PicoSpan (SciFi, Synthesis, and Coop mainly),
party, e-mail, providing help for confused users, and the
occasional real-life event.
scott: I go on the Saturday walks almost always, and participate in pot-lucks
and other Grex events. On-line, I do a lot of conferencing and some
e-mail, and occasionally show up in party.
sidhe: Party is my favorite activity, and I am active in coop. I enjoy the
diversion of Fuz Court, and every season I attempt agora, even if I
typically leave from dismay at the bloat. I do enjoy mail.
Board Stuff
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4. Would you accept a nomination to serve as Secretary, Treasurer,
and/or President? (Srw, danr, or popcorn can give info on workload).
aruba: I would accept a nom. to be Treasurer, but I don't think I write fast
enough for Secretary. IMO President should be a veteran board member.
mta: Yes.
rcurl: I've been chair, secretary and treasurer in other groups, but may not
have time for more responsibility. My talent is mostly organizational.
robh: Yes for President or Secretary, no for Treasurer. I don't want
to inflict my bookkeeping skills on Grex.
scott: I would, but I don't have much (if any) board-type experience.
sidhe: Given that I have no proper concept of the demands of these positions,
I would seek the wisdom of the incumbents before answering that.
5. Do you have any particular feelings concerning Robert's Rules of
Orders (RRO) as they might be applied to Grex's board meetings?
(Coop item 116, from responses 52 onward, approximately)
aruba: I don't think we need them.
mta: RRO may be a good fall back position but I think strict adherence
is unnecessary and restrictive in a cohesive, cooperative group.
rcurl: Grex should adopt RRO as our "parliamentary authority". They provide
a fair, orderly, and efficient means to order the conduct of business.
robh: In general I consider them useful, though I have seen them abused by
folks who knew the rules better than others.
scott: RRO might be useful, but right now I believe that they are not
necessary. The meetings I have attended did not need RRO.
sidhe: I think RRO are a fine tool, given need. However, if there is no need
for such restrictiveness, then I prefer open discussion.
6. Would you prefer board meetings in a private room with no food for
sale nearby, or in a restaurant? (*Generally* speaking.)
aruba: Based on the board meetings I've attended, the most important thing to
me is to be in a place that is *quiet*. So I prefer a priivate room.
mta: I can go either way with a mild preference for the private room
because I'm hard of hearing and restaurants tend to be noisy.
rcurl: I prefer board meetings in a private room, such as the recent ones
at ITI. I don't mind people bringing food, if they chew quietly :).
robh: I'd prefer a private room, because they're generally quieter,
and people can always (well, usually) bring food with them.
scott: A private setting is best, mainly because a quiet room is much better
for hearing everybody talk.
sidhe: Given that I'll be coming from a ways off, I'd appreciate the chance
to eat, as my work hours would give me no time at home for that.
7. If you find yourself too busy to be involved much with Grex in a year,
but have a year left on the board, would you resign or continue serving?
aruba: I would resign or change my priorities.
mta: If I'm on the board, GREX becomes a major priority, so it isn't likely.
But if [I can't] give GREX the time it deserves, I will step aside.
rcurl: The responsibility of a board member is to be knowledgeable about the
issues, and attend and participate in all board meeting. I'd resign.
robh: If I were too busy to serve to the best of my abilities, I
would resign. I don't want to be dead weight.
scott: Depends on how much I have been doing already.
sidhe: I would graciously and apologetically resign.. no need to tie up a
useful Board seat with deadweight!
General stuff
-------------
8. What do you see as some of Grex's best attributes and major strengths?
aruba: Its freedom from censorship. Its relative lack of rules. Its lack
of grandiosity. I like the fact that Grex is a home-grown, grass-roots
system, not a massive behemoth. We have a lot of genuinely kind
people, as well as a lot of thoughtful and competent people. That's a
good combination.
mta: I think GREXs greatest strengths are its openness and its public
ownership. The open system concept means that we keep cycling new
people and new ideas in. Public ownership keeps us strong because
each of us realizes that to some extent GREXs problems are our own,
and we cant wait for someone else to solve them.
rcurl: Grex has many very talented, dedicated and hard working members and
supporters. It has a (usually!) no-nonsense way of conducting its
activities, and has amazingly few antagonisms. The staff are very
professional, and the users are (or learn to be) moderately polite
and cooperative. It's a pleasant and knowledgable community.
robh: We have people on our system who are talented beyond words, and
donate their time and effort (and money) to keeping this system
running, and making it better. They are our greatest strength.
I also consider our open-registration policy a strength.
scott: Grex's best attribute is the community that has formed. There does
tend to be some churn in the user base, but most people see Grex as
a place to "know" people who are also regular users. The other best
thing is (biased comment!) the staff. Some of the people on staff
are top-notch pros, working on Grex only because they *want* to.
sidhe: "If you seek a pleasant penninsula, look around you".. It's the People
who make this "place" what it is. Honestly, Grex is not the most
radical/alternative net-stop anymore, and it's certainly not the most
advanced.. but none of that matters, because of the wonderful variety
of people you have here.
9. What do you see as some of Grex's weaknesses?
aruba: It's slow. The signal to noise ratio in Agora sometimes dips pretty
low (but always comes back up again). Some abuses of the system cause
Staff a lot of grief, but (speaking as someone who hasn't been stuck
dealing with them), I think that they are a price worth paying for
having an open system.
mta: Actually our weaknesses are the same as our strengths. The very
openness that brings exciting new people and ideas our way also
makes it hard to protect ourselves from the trolls who would crash
our system just because it's here.
rcurl: I think the greatest weakness is a difficulty in implementing many
good ideas that are put forward by members and users. This is partly
due to the limited resources available, partly due to the essentially.
volunteer nature of Grex, and partly due to not sufficiently
prioritizing and planning.
robh: The hardware, of course! And the lack of paying members, which
is probably a result of our poor hardware. I'd like to see us
get more fundraisers going - and follow through on the ones we
have discussed already - to improve the hardware and get the
ball rolling.
scott: Not a lot of money to spend on new equipment. I hope that the Sun-4
can help that by encouraging more people to join as members.
sidhe: It would seem, though, that there is an inflexibility, a general
unwillingness to experiment, to try the new things that some of
these wonderful people propose. Whether or not this perception will
change as I become familiar with grex's administration has yet to
be seen.
10. How do your personal feelings on Grex's spending priorities differ
from the current spending priorities described in coop item 104?
aruba: I want to see how fast the Sun 4 is and then re-assess the viability
of Usenet. With Grex as it is today, I think reading Usenet would be
too slow to be useful. Otherwise I agree completely with item 104.
mta: I think we're more or less on the right track.
rcurl: I support the proposed spending priorities, in the main. They are
devoted to the hardware and connections we need to imnprove functions.
I would like, eventually, to devote more to programs and activities.
robh: I would consider the extra memory (item 6) more important than the
additional phone lines (item 5), other than that I agree with these
priorities.
scott: No significant difference.
sidhe: In general, I think the current list of priorities is fine.. I would
prefer that net connectivity upgrades were a little higher on the
list..
11. Do you have any ideas to suggest for discussion to improve Grex's
finances? (Fundraisers, changes in services, dues, policies).
aruba: I think we'll get more members if we speed the system up. STeve said
at the November board meeting that many more people in Ann Arbor have
heard of M-Net than have heard of Grex; I think we should work on that.
mta: One possibility is concerted effort toward bringing in more
local users (historically our strongest source of new members).
rcurl: There are some 8000 "users". If more would become members, we would
not be short of funds. Although a donation is not required, it should
be more aggressively solicited (in a friendly fashion).
robh: I'd like to focus on fundraisers, and possibly some inexpensive
advertising in the Washtenaw County area.
scott: Not a lot of ideas. I'd like to see how the faster hardware affects
income.
sidhe: I suggest we get active in finding out what happened to wolfmage,
and his proposed show! I thought that sounded good, and I would like
to see more grex publicity in print.
Coop Issues
-----------
12. Do you think accounts should be disabled as a last resort for
disruptive users (after reasoning fails)? (Coop items 57-58)
aruba: I think Staff acted apropriately in the avi/ryan1/blob matter.
mta: No. It's impossible to keep them from creating a new account within
10 minutes of the disabling of their original accounts. At least if we
let them keep the original we know who to watch.
rcurl: There needs to be moderately clear guidelines for "acceptable
behavior", and a procedure for a fair review of unacceptable behavior.
Reasoning should not fail, but if it does totally, ZAP 'em! B=P
robh: If all other attempts fail, yes, accounts should be disabled.
Hopefully this won't happen often.
scott: I'm not sure. In some cases it may help, in others it may hurt.
sidhe: I dislike the whole idea entirely. We shouldn't be in a position of
account-disrupting, especially not without full board consideration.
13. Would you favor bylaw modification (clarification?) to allow non-members
to nominate board candidates? (Coop items 2 (bylaws), 112 & 116)
aruba: I really don't think it's a big deal. If a non-member wants somebody
nominated, they have but to ask and any number of members will do it.
mta: If it's necessary to be a member to nominate candidates, yes, I would.
rcurl: No. By both law and common sense, it is the members that must have
the authority and responsibility to conduct the business of Grex.
robh: I think non-members should be allowed to nominate, and that
the by-laws should explicitly state this.
scott: No. Membership isn't *that* expensive.
sidhe: Most certainly. Again, this is where I believe we need to open our
ears to the people who contribute _themselves_ to grex, if not money.
14. How would you suggest handling Grex's recent landlord problems?
(Coop item 39)
aruba: I think we *have* to sit down with Beth and find out what's really
bugging her. I'm not sure how to make that happen; maybe a letter is
the best way. We need more info before we decide to move or not.
mta: I think it's probably worth seeking the services of a legal mediator.
We need to find out what the real problems are and we won't until we can
sit down with Beth. That doesn't look likely unless we press the issue.
rcurl: The problems are not so different from those tenants have with many
landlords. Friendly appeal and discussion is the first approach, but
maintenance of the rights, by law if necessary, is the last.
robh: We need to talk to a lawyer about this. We've invested a lot of
time and money (and blood, sweat, and tears) in our current
location, and I don't want to just pack up and run.
scott: This is a tough one, since I have never met them. I think the best we
can do right now (11/22/95) is try to talk to Beth and otherwise just
see what develops. I am for legal action, if things don't improve.
sidhe: I would avoid lawsuit, and also damage to the equipment, and find
ourselves a better home base.
15. What do you think about limiting the number of incoming Internet
connections to make Grex faster? (Coop item 22, responses 156-259.)
aruba: I think Grex is often so slow as to be unusable. Unless the Sun 4 com-
pletely fixes that, I think limiting connections is reasonable.
mta: I think it's a good idea. Unfortunate that we need to, but if GREX
is stressed to its limits it does no one any good.
rcurl: I think it is reasonable and fair to impose more limiting than we do
now. It is not the end of the world to try again later.
robh: I don't like it. We did this once before, and users were lucky
to get on once every two or three days. I don't think it's needed.
scott: I don't think we are going to solve any real problems that way, but
it might be useful to try it once.
sidhe: I think it ignores our strength, to make our hardware deficiency look
only slightly better. We should not lock people out for trivial gains.
16. Do you have leanings on whether or how to change Agora from being
the automatic default conference for new users? (Coop item 125)
aruba: I'm on the fence with this one. I do believe that Agora as it is now
is not the best introduction to Grex. Particularly Item 1 - a lot of
newbies take hours to read all the way to the bottom and then think
Grex is all fluff. Not sure an Intro conference would be best, though.
mta: If a program existed to match interests from the .plan with
conferences, it would be nice select a first conference of
interest to each user. The idea of a new default conference
just for newusers....well, the idea leaves me cold.
rcurl: Yes, and I've posted them in coop. I support an "intro" cf into which
all newusers are placed, substituting mostly for newuser, where they
learn about the system, Grex, and conferencing, simultaneously. We
talk about "community", but it is too easy to avoid it completely.
robh: I definitely have leanings on this one. >8) I don't think the
Agora conference is the ideal place for new users to learn about
using PicoSpan, and I'd like to try out a new conference to
help users better understand the program and how to use it.
scott: Agora is fine as a newuser conf., except that I'd like to see the FW
freeze the first item at just a few responses so that newusers don't
have to hit that monster first item. I wouldn't want the board to
demand that, however. Just my own preference.
sidhe: The way it currently is is well out-of-hand. I would like to see a
script that asks people their interests, when they first run PicoSpan.
It then would attempt to match a good starting conference for them.
If this is infeasible, then an "Intro" conference is all right.
Wrap-up
-------
17. Any suggestions for producing a better survey in the future?
aruba: I think this was a fine survey. One line isn't much space to describe
a personality in, though! But I'm really glad you've done this, Rob.
mta: Seems good to me.
rcurl: Include a question about talents or knowledge that a member would
bring to the board, in business, finance, technologies, organizational
skills, publishing, fund raising, etc.
robh: I like this one a lot better than last year's. And thanks for
providing the templates this time!
scott: Nope, this one is fine. Lots of good questions. Thanks Rob!
sidhe: Well, the box-format is rather annoying.. I'll have to get back to you
with more concrete solutions to this problem.
18. Lacking adequate investigative resources, we have to rely on your word:
Have you ever not paid proper social security for a nanny you employed?
(Feel free to lie on this one; it's a political tradition.)
aruba: No, I fear the IRS too much for that!
mta: Nope. Couldn't afford a nanny (legal or otherwise) when my tots
were little.
rcurl: I have never employed a nanny (don't ask about cleaning persons).
robh: Well, there was this one nanny I hired, I tried to pay her for
her services but she just opened her umbrella and floated away.
Since I never did pay her, I never paid her SS taxes either.
scott: I don't have any kids, and my cat isn't talking.
sidhe: Well, seeing as the Social Security system seems to be a risky, if
mandatory, investment, I have never paid it for any of my nannies.
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