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Grex > Coop11 > #46: David Cahill Election Statement | |
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dpc
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David Cahill Election Statement
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Nov 30 15:20 UTC 1998 |
I'm running for the Grex Board because I want to see us continue
to improve services for our users and build the Grex community.
I was delighted when our new machine came on-line. However, we
should not rest on our laurels. If elected, I will push for giving our
dialin users a PPP connection to Grex. The continued drop in price for
Internet connections means that we should be able to give more services
without busting the budget.
The best way to build the Grex community is to encourage our users
to come into the conferences. We have 15,000 users, but probably less
than 500 use our conferences. The other 14,500 lack a real sense of what
Grex is and can be. I think sending e-mail a couple of times a year to
people telling them about the conferences would be a good idea.
I made the pending motion that Grex support the on-line campaign
for electronic free speech. Grex should "stand up and be counted" when
freedom of expression is threatened.
This is my first try for office on Grex. I am also "techno-
logically challenged." In real life I'm a lawyer, and I think having
someone with legal skills would be helpful for Grex.
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| 25 responses total. |
scott
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response 1 of 25:
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Nov 30 17:01 UTC 1998 |
Um, we are planning on trying out PPP. Just a matter of geting it working...
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valerie
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response 2 of 25:
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Nov 30 17:43 UTC 1998 |
This response has been erased.
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dpc
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response 3 of 25:
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Nov 30 18:52 UTC 1998 |
Oop! Darn, that should have been *25,000* users.
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jep
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response 4 of 25:
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Nov 30 21:44 UTC 1998 |
Dave, you're currently a Board member for Arbornet, as well as their
treasurer. Do you plan to continue in that capacity? Can you comment
on any problems you can foresee from holding these two positions
simultaneously, and how you will resolve them?
If someone were to ask you: "Dave, I have $10,000 to donate to a local
on-line charity. Which would you suggest, Grex or M-Net?" What would
be your answer?
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richard
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response 5 of 25:
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Nov 30 22:53 UTC 1998 |
interesting...if grex starts electing arbornet board members to its
board, this is a logical step toward a merger of the boards. I wonder
if this is what dpc has in mind.
presumably if all the sitting mnet board members are also grex members
and run as a group for the grex board, they would be effecting a
referendum on the merger question.\
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steve
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response 6 of 25:
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Dec 1 01:10 UTC 1998 |
The possibility of the two systems merging because one individual
might be on both boards is approximately that of a squadron of flying
pigs crusing over State Street--in formation--on the opening day of the
Art Fair.
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davel
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response 7 of 25:
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Dec 1 02:29 UTC 1998 |
Watch out, STeve. Suggest something like that and some artist may *do* it.
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steve
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response 8 of 25:
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Dec 1 04:22 UTC 1998 |
If I'm wrong Dave, I'll start digging around for the number to the
Porcine Air Command.
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scott
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response 9 of 25:
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Dec 1 11:48 UTC 1998 |
(Scott has an idea what to strive for next summer...)
"logical first step"? Heh. Hahahahahah! Yeah right.
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danr
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response 10 of 25:
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Dec 1 12:17 UTC 1998 |
re #8: You're starting a PAC, STeve?
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dpc
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response 11 of 25:
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Dec 1 15:07 UTC 1998 |
I plan to stay on as M-Net (Arbornet) treasurer and Board member
regardless of the outcome of the Grex election. If elected, I will
have a "duty of loyalty" to *both* systems.
I don't believe that I have a conflict of interest because
the two systems don't compete. In fact, we cooperate. I thought
long and hard about this before I accepted my nomination.
Assuming that someone asked me where to contribute that $10,000
(when pigs fly) I would give the same answer after the election that
I would right now: "Log on to both systems and see which one you
like better than the other. Consider contributing $5,000 to each."
I was surprised to be nominated, and the fact that I am
technologically challenged was apparently the reason I was nominated;
it had nothing to do with my role on M-Net.
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rcurl
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response 12 of 25:
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Dec 1 17:18 UTC 1998 |
Considering item 154 in agora - is there any connection between your
running for election in Grex and that M-Net appears to be a sinking
ship?
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janc
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response 13 of 25:
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Dec 1 21:18 UTC 1998 |
I think having overlapping board members with M-Net would be fine. I
think we've had such overlap with HVCN in the past and it never hurt a
bit.
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remmers
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response 14 of 25:
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Dec 2 12:03 UTC 1998 |
Right, Steve Weiss was the overlap. He accepted a position on the HVCN
board while serving on Grex's board. As I recall, he entered an item in
Coop soliciting opinions on it before doing so, however. I always that
it was a nice gesture on his part to consult his current constituency
before taking on a new one. I personally had no reservations about the
appropriateness of his dual membership.
So in principle, I've nothing against dual membership. Of course, that's
an independent question from whether Dave would be a good board member
for Grex. Personally, I don't think so. But that's a separate issue.
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valerie
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response 15 of 25:
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Dec 2 17:55 UTC 1998 |
This response has been erased.
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dpc
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response 16 of 25:
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Dec 2 19:30 UTC 1998 |
No, actually, there is no relation between M-Net's (repeated) financial
perils and my running for Grex. M-Net has been in much *worse* shape--
running up *huge* losses each month. Now that has stopped. M-Net's
problem is simply that we don't have any reserve.
The merger of Grex and M-Net would be a bad idea unless a *large*
majority of the conference participants/members/members & patrons
of both systems thought it would be a good idea. Each system has its
own identity within the larger conferencing culture. I think of it
as "one culture, two systems", like with China and Taiwan.
Yes, I feel like the child of a divorce and would personally
like to see a "reconciliation." I'm not betting on it, though, and
it's not part of my agenda as a candidate.
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richard
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response 17 of 25:
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Dec 2 22:42 UTC 1998 |
certainly merging the editorial content of the two systems would be a bad
idea, but if arbornet goes under, what would be wrong with grex's board
accepting the mnet hardware and lease and merging staffs so mnet could
continue operating under the auspices of cyberspace inc.? There would
still be an mnet staff but they would report to grex's board. There
would still be separate treasurers and financial operations.
The mnet terminals and modems could be moved out of the new center and \
into the pumpkin. Mnet wouldnt have phone lines, but grex would, making
each system a little more different than they have now.
why couldnt a smaller, streamlined version of mnet be run under the
auspices of grex
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jdeigert
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response 18 of 25:
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Dec 2 23:36 UTC 1998 |
An M-Net conference, or two separate party systems?
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steve
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response 19 of 25:
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Dec 3 00:14 UTC 1998 |
I think Richard is saying two seperate systems in terms of hardware,
but both living in the Pumpkin and under the control of Cyberspace
Communications Inc.
It could be done.
But I don't think either community would want to do that. On the
Grex side, there would be the usual physical hassles with getting things
installed and dealing with Ameritech problems and all that. That could
be done with the M-Net staff's help but still a pain. But that pales in
comparison to the far larger issue of the Grex board having "control" of
any sort over M-Net. Grex *isn't* M-Net, and I don't think that most of
the Grexians would feel comfortable with the idea of lording over M-Net.
On the M-Net side, they'd feel that lording, too. And resent it.
They'd not be free to do the things they wanted, would have to come to
the Grex board to do things, and the more I think about it the worse it
would get.
I just got a digital camera for a while and now have some pictures of
the Pumpkin. Bleve me when I say that space isn't freely available there
and while we *could* in theory put another system there, it wouldn't be
easy.
But all that I've said is centered around the hardware and legal stuff.
What I haven't talked of are the souls of the two machines. Grex and
M-Net can be sister entities in a sense, but not the same. Their individual
flavors are different and should remain apart.
(Sorry Dave! This shouldn't be in your election statement item!)
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scott
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response 20 of 25:
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Dec 3 01:12 UTC 1998 |
If M-Net can't afford to pay expenses, they sure won't be able to afford to
have *any* phone lines moved to a different location.
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valerie
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response 21 of 25:
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Dec 6 16:46 UTC 1998 |
This response has been erased.
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janc
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response 22 of 25:
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Dec 6 18:20 UTC 1998 |
Those are somewhat old though. I think we were still running on the
4/260 at the time.
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srw
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response 23 of 25:
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Dec 6 19:28 UTC 1998 |
I am sure we could replace older pictures with newer ones, if STeve were
willing to make them available for the pumnpkin tour web site.
I have no concern about Dave's M-Net position influencing his ability to
serve on the Grex board. I am sure that a merger is not in the best
interest of either system, and I don't expect it ever to happen. I think
non-techies are good for the Grex board in general. What I'd really
like to see is community leaders on the Grex board. We have enough
techies. I recommend voting based on one's opinion of each individual's
ability to help serve and lead Grex, not his or her mastery of the
technology (though it is a factor used in *staff* membership decisions).
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steve
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response 24 of 25:
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Dec 6 19:33 UTC 1998 |
Yes, certainly. I plan on taking several more, too.
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