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From: wmb@MITCH.ENG.SUN.COM
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: Re: Feedback to the Forth Interest Group
Message-ID: <9103191523.AA05098@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 18 Mar 91 21:07:08 GMT
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Reply-To: wmb%MITCH.ENG.SUN.COM@SCFVM.GSFC.NASA.GOV
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> JDHALL [John]                at 00:01 PST
>  This is another reason that this media (BBS) is inappropriate
>  for anything other than pure technical discussions.  I do not
>  know how discussions such as these get so out of hand.

John - Thanks very much for the detailed posting about the chapter
coordinator thing.  The information you supplied helped me a lot in
understanding the truth.  The distinctions you made between firsthand
knowledge, secondhand information, and analysis were especially helpful.

I think the reason this got out of hand is because information of this
quality and detail was not made published sooner.  My perception was
that the FIG board was trying to keep quiet about the matter, in hopes
that it would go away.  Regardless of whether or not this is true, that
is the perception that I got.

Another problem that made the situation worse is the thing about Jax
trying to run for office, and being rejected.  Admittedly, he did not
collect the required number of signatures, but I feel that he should
have been nominated by the board anyway.  It is very difficult to collect
signatures from a geographically-diverse group of people.  The fact that
he was interested enough to even try is one of the best qualifications
I can think of.  Has anyone EVER succeeded in becoming a petition
candidate for the FIG board?

I realize that smooth sailing is not to be expected when jax is aboard,
but I also think that a loud dissenting voice is one of the most valuable
assets that any organization can have.  Dissent and conflict have a most
profound tendency to keep the truth out in the open.

Mitch Bradley, wmb@Eng.Sun.COM