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Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seds-l
Date:         Sun, 10 Jan 1993 13:53:04 EST
From:         DJKALMAN@COLOSPGS.BITNET
Subject:      CBL PART 8

MISC SEDS TOPICS ... MORE ESOTERIC.


1. Leadership.  On many occasions this fall, the national board has waited for
the co-chairs to take charge of the situation, and lead SEDS in an orderly
manner towards obtaining its goals.  On many occasions, the co-chairs have come
up lacking in this regard.

I have already talked about the problems with the mailings, and the lack of
response from MIT to student requests.  I have also talked about the UNM
fiasco, and how taking charge does not mean all is taken care of .... that the
results must also be communicated to the rest of the board.

I was greatly disheartened by the first tcon .... here was a clear case of the
co-chairs needing to take control, and refusing to do so.  People were yelling
back and forth, no productive discussion was taking place, flame wars were
starting up again, etc.   I was conducting a /p war with John, Lisa, and
Dennis, trying to get them to shut up, sit down, quit yelling,  and to review
their facts.  Finally, out of all of this havoc, it takes Ben McCall (not even
a board member!) to restore order!!

Quite simply, things should not have come close to progressing to this point,
and even if they did, the co-chairs should have restored order.  At least the
tcons in the spring were run orderly, despite the differences in opinions
(remember the Int. SEDS debate?).  Anyway, the fact is that the rest of the
board voted for the co-chairs to help run and manage things for them, and thus
it is the co-chair's DUTY to fulfill this role for the rest of the board.  You
have the titles and the authority, you must also take the RESPONSIBILITY!

I have mentioned ways to help clean up the tcons, so hopefully this will help
there ... but the responsibility for coordinating SEDS US activities lies in
your hands.  You must coordinate and control all of the separate pet projects,
and give each their due time.  You must make sure that every board member is
fulfilling his duties, or ask them to step down.  Yes, this means you will have
less time for your own pet projects, but you ran for the office, and now must
take the consequences.   Coordinating all of SEDS into one smoothly running,
cohesive organization will ultimately provide much more benefit for SEDS than
any one individual pet project.


2.  Unresponsiveness of the co-chairs to the board.  I personally have felt
slighted on many occasions this semester by BOTH co-chairs.  As stated above, I
feel that in many respects, they are not fulfilling their duties.   The prime
duty for the co-chairs, as I see it, is administrative:  to coordinate and run
SEDS US.

Starting with Jeff:  I think I work well with you.  However, the refusal to
take charge of the tcon (the co-HQ chair's job), the lack of structure for the
tcons, and the unwillingness to openly and harshly criticize MIT and Lisa for
their lack of response, are all major problem.  The refusal to push through the
refund policy, or forcing MIT to give up the info needed for the non-profit
status, are also major problem.   Yes, you are an equal with Lisa ... but even
if you do not have the support of the other HQ, sometimes you must push
programs anyways.

The IDM debate was good, and your forcing of votes despite Lisa's stalling and
non-appearances was very good (I commend you on these).  Your drive to fill the
vacant board seat was also admirable (even if I disagree on the Const. set up
for filling the seats).  Jeff, you are doing a remarkably good job (the best
that I have seen by any co-chair I have know).  My only complaint is that if
MIT is unwilling or unable to take up the call of duty, you must try to take
that up upon yourself, even if it will hurt MIT's feelings.  Simply put, Jeff:
make sure everything that needs to be getting done is being worked on, despite
whatever MIT may complain about.

It is not that
CalSEDS is power hungry, it is that this work is vital and must get done.  If
other chapters object to CalSEDS take over these projects, then they should
volunteer to do it, to distribute the workload!!!  UAH, since you have a strong
and thriving group with three national board members, why don't you take some
of the 'grudge work' and help out the rest of us?   Or are you too good for the
rest of us, and will only do hardware projects?

Now onto Lisa:  My gripes with her are by now quite obvious ... and I feel are
quite justified ... I have tried to talk to her personally about them, but she
has ignored me, so I have given up being polite, and will put blame where it
belongs.  (I guess this means all chances of a date are off :)

Lisa, I have no problems with most of what you have done, BECAUSE I HAVE SEEN
NOTHING DONE!!!  Simply put, MIT and you have failed to uphold any of the basic
jobs you said that you would do.  Mail is not being answered, starter kits and
billing statements are not being sent (or are sent way way late), email is not
answered, etc. etc.   Not a single financial statement on the SEDS account is
posted.  No responses to vote calls or debate issues are posted.

Lisa, if John's personality is so distressing to you, just tell him to ****
OFF!!  If he continues to bug you or do personal attacks on you, simply mail
bomb him with old copies of the SEDS-L logs, until his mailer crashes!  :)  One
trouble maker is not sufficient reason to totally isolate yourself from the
rest of the board.

Even if we disagree with you, we are willing to listen to your point of view,
and logically debate its merits.  I do not feel that Jeff has done anything
hostile towards you, and I feel that Jeff has done everything within his power
to support you.  Why can't you give the rest of the board a chance?

Only talking to select board members via phone is an APPALLING POLICY!!!  This
implies that the rest of the board is not worth your time, that WE ARE BENEATH
CONTEMPT, and that our input in valueless!!!  This is a terribly bad attitude
to take.  You have reinforced that message by personal slams at the tcons and
in mail messages.  Finally, the outright LIE about having paid off the
scholarship in November was a final straw ... it show the total lack of HONOR
in your dealings with SEDS this year.

We don't expect you to drop everything and respond to our mail or requests for
info that only the HQ has.  What we DO expect is for you to respond within the
week telling us when you can post the info ... and not for you to wait over a
month to tell us you are busy with tests, and will post it in still another few
weeks.  I'm sorry, but even my test waves don't last that long!!  We also
expect you to fulfill the basic day-to-day duties of the HQ before embarking on
any glamorous pet project, or doing more esoteric things like trying to
establish a SEDS endowment.  We have responsibilities now, and these are the
first projects and needs that should be met.

I guess this is the third year of you being a co-chair, and you are getting
burned out.  If so, I IMPLORE YOU TO STEP DOWN.  Right now, you are causing
more harm than good.  If the senior schedule is too much to handle, then drops
SEDS and get them grades together!!  We will remember you for all the good work
you have performed for SEDS in the past ... and all of the dedicated effort
you provided.  There are other who can take up the heavy mantle of this
responsibility, or we could even leave the MIT chair unfilled for a semester.

Any way you put it, I am unwilling to watch SEDS US disintegrate because MIT is
stalling for time.  The only action out of MIT was a desperate attempt to kept
as much power at the national headquarters as possible, despite the fact that
the work was not getting done.  I am in Colorado, and hate to see the political
and power struggles between MIT and CalSEDS.  However, I am a realist, and I
see when things are not occurring, and how this is hurting SEDS.  I personally
we cannot worry about SEDS 10 years from now, because if we continue on our
present course, there will be no SEDS!!  We must confront RIGHT NOW the major
problems that confront SEDS, before we can move on to the future.  The petty
politics of the power behind SEDS is meaningless, as is who has the HQ ... the
only was SEDS is meaningful is if we have dedicated students doing the work,
and everyone pulling their own weight.  People don't care where the
headquarters of SEDS is, they care that is a group comprised of and run
entirely by students.  That is SEDS strong point.

A final word on duty and responsibility, and this is to the rest of the
national board.  In most of the essays, people promised to undertake certain
projects.  Others have been assigned these project.  You too share the
responsibility of posting updates, proceeding on your projects, and attending
tcons/votes.  If you cannot handle this, step down ... now more than ever, we
need people who will do the work.   If you need help on your project, say so
... many other might see something that you have missed, or have different
insights on the fundamental nature of the problem.  If you do not have a pet
project, I have listed many that SEDS had said would be undertaken, but
currently has no one to lead them.  Please, everyone, rededicate yourself this
semester to making a better SEDS US.


2. Current SEDS power struggle.  I currently see a power struggle forming
in this way:  MIT & UAH vs. CalSEDS.
MIT and UAH tend to favor the more conservative approach, and favor leaving
power where it now resided.  CalSEDS has a large number of 'eager beavers'
(some may say too eager), and are very big on expanding SEDS projects and
goals, and with new ways of accomplishing these goals.  Supposedly, UAH harbors
some subliminal resentment towards Caltech, since UAH wanted to host the second
HQ, and it had been a tradition of moving it each year.

I personally would have supported either Jeff or Dennis for co-chair, and would
have been glad to see the HQ at either school ... both have quality SEDS groups
and outstanding programs.  However, this power struggle has gone too far.  The
majority of the US SEDS voted on having a co-HQ at CalTech, said and done.  Now
lets make it work.

New ideas are not necessarily bad ... and debate on the issues will put logic
and reason into anything SEDS does.  Just because a trend is for these new
programs, we are more than willing to debate the issues, and the accept your
input.  Do not pout and refuse to post to the L!!!  Currently, with the votes
on project being decided by just one vote, there are enough non-aligned members
(myself, Alvin, Amy, Bill Blum) to sway any vote that may be proceeding on
ideological groups.  Convince us, and we will hold CalSEDS in check.  The SEDS
constitution, by its limits on members by regions, has provided us with this
safeguard, so use it!  Please do not just block out the rest of SEDS based on
idealogical differences.


When we ran for the national board, we implicitly agreed to leave behind our own
personal preferences and bickering, as well as our own school's viewpoints, and
work based on what is best for SEDS US, regardless of our own pet
projects/desires.  Let's do this!!  These power struggles and person gripes
should not stop us from doing what is right;  we are all adults, and should
take responsibility for our actions.  It is time to take a very close and hard
look at ourselves and SEDS, to bite the bullet and to do what is right and
just.  We must re-dedicate ourselves to this cause (SEDS) we have sworn to
upheld, and do everything we can to better this organization, so that it can
help other students in the future, and so it can help all of mankind in its
goal to get off of this tiny rocket and into the entire galaxy.  God Bless, and
Ad Astra for a revitalized SEDS!!