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Date:         Sun, 10 Jan 1993 13:52:06 EST
From:         DJKALMAN@COLOSPGS.BITNET
Subject:      CBL PART 3

Ok, well here I go again.  Now that I have time to type this, and have made a
list of the major points I wish to cover besides the obvious point of
communications problems, here we go ... (and you though the Grinch who Stole
Christmas was only a Dr. Seuss! :)

David Kalman
12/23/92


MAJOR SEDS ACTIVITIES THAT ARE OVER ONE YEAR OLD

1. ERG (Educational Resource Guide).  I have been hearing about this for the
past 2.5 years, as long as I have been in SEDS.  Yet I still have not seen even
a partial rough draft.  This semester, I have not even seen a single progress
report on it.

What is Amy working on in conjunction with Florida Spaceport?  Is this
continued work on the ERG, or is she trying to reinvent the wheel?  I have
offered on many occasions to help edit/add to the ERG, and have asked about the
rough outline.  I have yet to see a meaningful response other than 'we will
send a copy to you when it is almost done, ready for final editing'.


2. CSK (Chapter Survival Kit).  Once again I have been hearing about this for
the past 2.5 years, and yet to see results.  The same question regarding what
Amy is doing applies here.

I have personally struggled to help form/keep running a program at an
engineering school that has an anti-space bias.  I have worked with other
schools that have had to fight their bureaucracies to get a SEDS, since the
schools did not want competition with their AIAA groups.  I have been working
hard to form a chapter at U. Wyoming, which until this summer was one of only a
handful of states that did not have a Space Grant Consortium.  Finally, I am
currently work on UCCS SEDS, a predominantly business school, with minimal
space interests.   These schools vary in size from 2500 students to 18,000
students, each with their own personality and unique problems.

I have offered numerous times to help with my input on this, if I only knew
what areas to input/expand upon.  Yet again, I have been shut out.  I am sure
that I am not the only one  to have been shut out.

Pet projects are nice, and getting the credit for a project well done is also
nice.  However, when undertaking such a project, one must attempt to get the
entire SEDS community's input on these matters.  The person in charge should
collect the information and organize it, editing as he goes ... but should
should not ignore these valuable sources of information, from perspectives that
the organizer cannot have.  It is similar to the Delphi method of cost
estimation:  send out surveys, get them back, consolidate the information, and
then send out another survey covering the areas that are lacking.

So, can CalSEDS give the L an update on these two projects?  I have always
felt that MIT was not very enthusiastic about these projects, and thus they
were CalSEDS pet projects.  If these updates are not made, people will think
that no work is being done on them, and thus will attempt to start over
something that we already have, so these updates are important  (if only for
the new people on the L).


3. SEDS Non-profit Status.  This is very bad news, having let it lapse.  SEDS
hit upon another bonehead idea with this one.

Everyone agrees that we need to reinstate it as soon as possible.  However,
things are going very slowly here.  MIT appears to be unwilling to forward the
required documentation to Irwin, so that he can take care of it.  Furthermore,
MIT appears to be in a holding pattern, trying to preserve their position of
power within SEDS, until they obtain a more active membership.  Because of
this, they are afraid of anything that might damage their power.  All talk
about modifying the SEDS constitution or putting new policies on paper have met
with stiff resistance from MIT.

What SEDS is left with is a policy that does not allow us to regain our
non-profit status any time soon, nor lets us prevent future fiasco similar to
the one created at UNM from occurring again.  Furthermore, this problem is tying
SEDS hands, and not letting individual members work towards the future on any
new projects.  Thus, no new initiative, no new drive, and as the older members
graduate/drop out of school, we lose what little drive SEDS still has.  Yes,
this keeps power where it is, and nice titles behind certain individual's
names, but that is all ... and this bodes poorly on the future of SEDS.

I implore MIT and SEDS to do whatever is necessary to make getting the
non-profit status back a reality.   This means send out all of the financial
records, if need be, as well as reforming our out-dated constitution as need
be.  That means getting points of change listed immediately for discussion on
the L, and a call for a vote by the start of March.  In this, only the
co-chairs can force, but it needs to be done.

Any other actions that needs to be done to get back our non-profit status should
be undertaken immediately, before we try to expand on our other projects.  If
we are so irresponsible as to let our status end, and not try our utmost to get
it back, or we don't deserve to stay around as a space-activist group.   Once
again, we need to take care of business, and get back to the real world,
instead of ONLY concentrating on the higher, more esoteric dreams.  Dreaming is
fine, but you can't get a basketball team to win the NBA finals if they can't
even dribble the ball.  SEDS has dropped the ball here, and now we most go back
and pick it up, and take care of the BORING (yes boring) but necessary details
before we can move on ... without the basic fundamental support, all of our
later projects and goals will be compromised by this lack of willingness to do
the dirty work.

The business plan is a good step towards reinstating our status,
and I congratulate Drew Nelles
on his work on it so far (sorry about the CSM records ... couldn't get a hold of
the people in charge without going to the advisor ... if these are vital, I can
try that, and cut out the students entirely ...:(  ).  However, even this bit
does not help if the co-chairs are unwilling to take any action.   What is
called for here is strong leadership by those we chose to lead this group, to
make the hard decisions, and to force through even potentially distasteful
actions (when necessary).

I understand Jeff's reluctance to slam on MIT SEDS, since he would like to go
to grad school there and join that organization.   However, some of the rest of
us are more than fed up with MIT's tactics, lack of communication, and outright
LYING to our faces!!!  Their actions this fall are beyond incompetence and
are inexcusable, and an affront to what we are trying to attain by having a
SEDS organization.  If all they are concerned about is keeping their precious
office and equipment, and are not concerned with improving SEDS US or even SEDS
International, and are instead playing petty politics, then they should DROP
OUT of the organization.  From here, it looks like the power has corrupted
them, and that they are now too blind to see how they are harming the rest of
SEDS as a whole.  SEDS is for the students and by the students, not a few
people hob-nobbing with influential people in the business community, while
ignoring the rest of the students involved in SEDS.  Lets get back to our
student emphasis ... getting students involved, listening and responding to
other students, and doing things based on the students, not corporate America!!
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