I for one am offended by the tone this discussion has taken. Chad has expressed his opinion and his view on how he believes Interex should be run. Whether I agree or disagree with him is not relevant. I appreciate him expressing his opinion. Cortlandt seems to have taken Chad's position statement personally. It would seem to me that a more appropriate response from Cortlandt would be for her to issue her own vision statement for her candidacy. By the tenor of her response, "As a well educated [sic], white, American male perhaps I should thank you for this direct experience of raw, naked prejudice," she diminishes her argument. This is INTEREX for gosh sake not US Politics! Can we keep the discussion professional!? I do respect everyone willing to run for an Interex position. It requires additional work for anyone elected. > -----Original Message----- > From: Cortlandt Wilson [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 1997 4:59 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Warning: INTEREX Board Candidate > > Chad Gilles <[log in to unmask]> wrote in article > <[log in to unmask]>... > > > > I will try to keep this short, > > > > I am running for the INTEREX Board of Directors. > > > A short note about why I am running, > > <snip> > > Most importantly, I feel users groups (including INTEREX) should be > run > > by users, not consultants or HP. (I have nothing against HP or > > consultants, but I feel they should not have a dominance in running > an > > indpendent users group) > <snip> > > Chad, > > You seem to assume that running a user group is equivalent to > 'dominance'. > As INTEREX is dominated by 'ordinary' users rather than by > consultants and > all leadership positions are democratically elected how is such > dominance > achieved? > > How is 'dominance' by consultants worse that dominance by any other > special > interest group or individual with a agenda? What evidence can you > point > to that this is a particular problem? To the contrary, a number of > the > SIG leaders are consultants and to my knowledge they do a fine job. > > How do you define a 'user'? As a consultant or contract programmer > how > am I less a HP computer user than anyone else? If my consulting > company > owns a HP computer am I a user? A great many INTEREX members are not > the > owners of the HP computer that they use. What ensures that such > members > speak for the interests of the equipment owners? > > As a IT staff member I received a paycheck directly from my employer. > As > a consultant I now invoice my client and legally am paid by my > company. > How does this difference in the legal method of payment for my > services > make my opinion less valuable? > > Gee, can SIG Consult be run by consultants? > ------------------------------------------------ > > As a well educated, white, American male perhaps I should thank you > for > this direct experience of raw, naked prejudice. > > - Cortlandt Wilson > Cortlandt Software