<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2>In a message dated 2/1/2002 11:34:57 AM Eastern Standard Time, Thorgrimm@aol.com writes:
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<BR><BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">That seems like an awfully large amount of power for a small group of people with only themselves to answer to. </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0"></BLOCKQUOTE>
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<BR>Forgive me if I do not fully understand the issues at hand here, whilst I have played in the Society for almost two decades, I do not play politics. However, my understanding of the Corpora and governing documents of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc is fairly good. The Board of Directors was never meant to be a dictatorial body, at least no more so than the Government of the United States (or Canada, for that matter). The BoD **does not** answer only to themselves. They answer to the membership, in the same way that the President and Congress answer to the people of the United States. There are roughly 25,000 paid members in the Society for Creative Anachronism. The BoD routinely asks for comments about Corpora changes, they hold public meetings quarterly (moving around the country to make the meetings more accessible to the membership), and they are always available by phone or letter to air grievances. Why is it then that they only get responses from less than one-tenth of the membership? It seems to me, as an observer, that the Board of Directors has made the best decision possible given the facts at hand, and the input from the membership. If you haven't voiced your opinion directly to the Board of Directors, if you don't care enough about the Society for Creative Anachronism to want to have a say in the way it's run, then you don't have any room to complain about their decisions. In the mundane world, if you don't vote, you don't have any room to complain about who gets elected.
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<BR>If you want the Board to hear you, it helps if you speak to them.
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<BR>In Service,
<BR>Baroness Olwen de Montgomery
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