Aug 1-8 1999

From merope@Radix.Net Sun Aug 1 21:44:57 1999

Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1999 21:44:56 -0400 (EDT)

From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

Reply-To: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

To: usgw_all@listbot.com

Subject: Daily Board Show

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Water under the bridge...its Your Daily Board show!

*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!

Friday 30 July 1999:

Board member Jim Powell forwards a post from a CC suggesting that USGW

have Root$web add a USGW banner to its noncommercial rotation. [The person

who sent in this suggestion, which would be me, originally forwarded it a

week previously to all three of her reps _and_ the NC, and received no

acknowledgement whatsoever from any of them.]

Board member [and RW employee] Betsy Mill notes that there is a USGW

banner currently in rotation on Root$web and thanks RW enthusiastically.

Election Update: Voting closed last night. According to an announcement

by Election Committee Chair Jim Powell, the results of the election will

be announced Monday night, Aug 2, at 10pm EDT.

"In no direction that we turn do we find ease or comfort. If we are honest

and if we have the will to win we find only danger, hard work and iron

resolution."

---Wendell L. Willkie

This has been your Daily Board Show.

-Teresa Lindquist

merope@radix.net

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From merope@Radix.Net Mon Aug 2 19:08:23 1999

Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 19:08:21 -0400 (EDT)

From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

Reply-To: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

To: usgw_all@listbot.com

Subject: Daily Board Show

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Collect the set!...its Your Daily Board Show!

*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!

Saturday 30 july 1999:

There is no Board-L traffic on this date.

Election Update: As inadvertently announced earlier today by Board

Secretary and NC Candidate Bill Oliver, there will apparently be a run-off

election for the NC race. No clue yet on which of the three contestants

gets the lovely parting gift, but the early skinny on the elections

results is that they are not pretty. [You may, of course, interpret that

based on your own feelings about the candidates. I can say no more.]

"I calculated the odds of this succeeding versus the odds I was doing

something incredibly stupid ... and I went ahead anyway."

-- Crow T. Robot, MST3K

This has been your Daily Board Show.

-Teresa Lindquist

merope@radix.net

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From merope@Radix.Net Tue Aug 3 19:03:44 1999

Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 19:03:43 -0400 (EDT)

From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

Reply-To: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

To: usgw_all@listbot.com

Subject: Daily Board Show

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You win some, you lose some...its Your Daily Board Show!

*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!

Sunday 31 July 1999:

There is no Board-L traffic on this date.

Election update: Results were announced last night and are as follows:

At-Large--Holly Fee Timm

NE/NC SC rep--Ginger Hayes

NE/NC CC rep--Tina Vickery

NW/P SC rep--Joy Fisher

NW/P CC rep--Maggie Stewart-Zimmerman

SE/MA CC rep--Teri Pettit

SW/SC CC rep (2 yr)--Barbara Dore

SW/SC CC rep (1 yr)--Gloria Mayfield

Congrats to all the winners!

Runoff elections will be held for the NC position (between Tim Stowell and

Fred Smoot) and for SE/MA SC rep (between Shari Handley and Leigh

Compton). Runoffs will start Wed Aug 4 and end Aug 18. Vote.

Defeated board members include: Bill Oliver, David Young, and Lynn

Waterman. Thanks to these folks and other departing Board members for

their service to the project, and better luck next time!

Election Analysis: The big winner in this election was Census I, which

picked up at least three dependable votes to add to the handful of

supporters they already have on the Board. Is it enough to tip a vote in

their favor? Only time will tell, but I bet one of the first orders of

business for the new Board will be to "resolve" the census mess. The

small portion of the electorate that cast ballots appeared to want

"business as usual", and that's what they'll probably get. Predictions for

the coming year include more of the same. Board meetings will continue to

be cloaked in secrecy and Root$web's shadow management of the Project will

remain unchallenged. Also predicted by those "in the know" is a renewed

attempt to pass a so-called "standards and ethics" policy, which ought to

be good for pages and pages of rhetoric before it blows over like the last

time. The DBS looks forward to another interesting year!

"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and

deserve to get it good and hard."

---H.L. Mencken

This has been your Daily Board Show.

-Teresa Lindquist

merope@radix.net

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From merope@Radix.Net Wed Aug 4 19:34:14 1999

Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 19:34:11 -0400 (EDT)

From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

Reply-To: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

To: usgw_all@listbot.com

Subject: Daily Board Show

Message-ID: <Pine.SV4.3.96.990804062158.7549A-100000@saltmine.radix.net>

MIME-Version: 1.0

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Paved with good intentions...its Your Daily Board Show!

*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!

Sunday 1 Aug 1999: [our fact checker admits to searching the wrong date

yesterday!]

The board is asked for guidance on the the election results for some

races. Specifically, since no candidate received a majority of the votes

for NC a run-off is assumed. The Board is asked for procedures on a

tie-breaker should the SE/MA runoff election result in another tie.

Finally, regarding the SW/SC election, the EC chair says "Problem, we

received 136 ballots (272 potential votes, majority would be 68) so a lot

of people only voted for one candidate. We suggest that you use actual

votes to determine a majority. Total votes 201, one quarter of 201 round

to 51, 2 candidates have a majority." The Chair also asks, "Do you want

us to run the run off elections? On the run off elections, what is the

time period? We would like to see a two week time period. A month seems

too long. We would suggest holding this runoff from Wednesday, August 4th

through Wednesday, August 18th." He reminds the Board that the EC would

like to announce the results on their original announced schedule.

The EC chair again writes to the Board and says, "We will follow your

lead, if has been decided that the top two in the 4 way race are elected,

we will drop that one from our list of "help needed". On your other

point, I would assume that in a two way race if you use "votes cast" to

determine a majority only a tie could prevent one of the two from

acquiring a majority."

Monday 2 August 1999:

Bill Oliver congratulates the new Board members.

Regarding the SW/SC race, a David Young says that in his opinion, "In

this last election, in my opinion, A wins the two year term. B, C, & D

have to run off for the one year term office." In response, Megan

Zurawicz says "on this race I believe we specified before the election

that with two candidates to be elected it would be the top two vote

getters; on that basis I see no justification for a runoff. If #2 and #3

had gotten the same # of votes (instead of #3 and #4), then I'd be able to

see it."

Megan also suggests a runoff for the NC race and the SE/MA race, stating

she has no idea what to do if a second runoff is needed. She also thinks

the SW/SC race should go to the top two vote getters. She asks the group

for consensus so they get it off to the EC as soon as possible.

Ginger Csiweski agrees with her, stating "This sounds like a good plan to

me! <g> As for the SE/MA, I think the Bylaws would require us to keep

trying until a definite majority is reached, so hopefully it won't come

to that!" Lynn Waterman, Joe Zsedeny and Bill Oliver post agreeing with

Megan's suggestions.

The NC weighs in with "no comment" on the issue of the NC race <g>, the

suggestion to "tell both candidates, see if they can agree on a tie

breaking procedure", and the observations that "I was under the

impression that the Board had already said that the top two vote getters

would be the Reps for this area."

The NC sends the Board's consensus to Jim Powell, EC Chair, "The consensus

of the Board appears to be to hold a runoff for the top two candidates for

NC, a runoff for the SE/MA SC race, and that for the SW/SC race: Top two

vote getters win; top person gets the two year term, second person gets

the one year term."

"A paranoid is a man who knows a little of what's going on."

--- William Burroughs

This has been your Daily Board Show.

-Teresa Lindquist

merope@radix.net

---------------

From merope@Radix.Net Thu Aug 5 10:40:55 1999

Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1999 10:40:53 -0400 (EDT)

From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

Reply-To: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

To: usgw_all@listbot.com

Subject: Daily Board Show

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Get a load of THIS...its Your Daily Board Show!

*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!

Tuesday 3 August 1999:

Megan Zurawicz posts the following suggestion: "Last year, about a week

after the election results were in, we invited the new members onto the

board list so that they'd have a chance to ask questions, etc., before we

left. There's no etched-in-stone policy on it of course, but it's

something to consider doing...."

Trey Holt posts that he agrees with Megan and notes that "We brought the

new folks onto the list to observe and ask questions so that they could

hit the floor running on Sept 1st. Unfortunatley last year it seemed that

no one ask questions and ther was very little discussion during the

transition period." Thus, the board spent its first few months dealing

with procedural issues [and resignations]. He suggests getting to know

the new members "so that the board can have a productive year." He also

thanks the EC for the job it has done with the elections this year.

Election Update: As posted earlier by EC Chair Jim Powell, ballots will

not be received by mail. Rather, you must go to this URL to place

your vote: http://vote.rootsweb.com/usgw-nc.html [NC race only,

presumably the folks in SE/MA got a similar one for their SC rep race.]

In a message posted to the SC list, but not shared with rest of the

project, it is quite clear that this new system is being beta tested

during the run-off and may return numerous errors. According to a Board

member who has written me privately, the Board was not informed of this

change in procedure and they [personally, not the Board in general] view

it as a "great way for RW to hand pick the new NC of their choice". [and

yes, RW does have a horse in this race.]

I don't know about that, but it will be interesting to see how much lower

the voter turnout is under this new system. First, voter participation in

run-off elections tends to be lower anyways. Second, this new system

requires them to take the extra step of visiting a web page rather than

just hitting "return". Third, if an error message is generated, they are

required to contact their SC in order to get the error resolved, and then

[I presume, its not clear from the SC list message] go back and vote

again. Fourth, after you have successfully voted, you get a confirmation

number which you will then need to do something with in order to verify

your vote. At which point, I wonder, will people just give up?

Voting started last night and runs through Aug 18, midnight. Make the

extra effort and vote!

Ban Me, Ban My List Corner: We hear from a recently banned former

Root$web listowner that if her list members want their posts removed from

RW's archives [and she claims 100% of them do] they will NEVER be allowed

to use RW's mailing lists again. According to Robert Tillman, CEO of

Root$web, "You and others requesting archive removal will be restricted

from using ALL mailing lists at RootsWeb for life. Removing posts is a

terrible resource drain for us. We will not accept any new mailing list

posts from an individual requesting removal for the life of that

individual." [This is an interesting philosophy. RW claims that posters

retain copyright to their posts, but will not remove posts at the

copyright owner's request. If the owner pushes the issue they are told

their posts will be removed but only at the cost of being prevented from

ever using RW's resources again. Seems a steep price to pay for asking

them to honor your copyright.]

On an interesting side-note, in response to numerous historical quotes

describing earlier promises made to listowners and RW users from Brian

Leverich and Karen Isaacson and various RW staffers that were forwarded to

Mr. Tillman, Mr. Tillman has this to say: "As CEO I have the power to make

policy and have done so in this instance. RootsWeb did many things in the

past with which I disagree and which I have changed."

Changing Times Corner: New slogan seen on a Root$web ad banner:

"RootsWeb--Not Just Genealogy".

Look Again Corner: New ad spotted on Root$web for "Third Age", some fad

diet company. The banner has the slogan "Learn how to undress a woman in

10 easy steps" and has a picture of a little red car with women's

underwear flying out of it. [Now wouldn't you like to see _that_

appearing over your grandfather's obituary?]

A Little Light Reading Corner: In the advertisement-filled RootsWeb

Review this week is revealed the following: Root$web has joined the

"venture capitalists" [Brian Leverich's words, not mine] at Ancestry.com

in their "affiliate program" and is now avidly encouraging Root$web users

to --you guessed it-- sign up for an Ancestry subscription. Under this

program if you subscribe to Ancestry as a RW affliate, Root$web will get

its thirty pieces of silver. [My, how the times have changed. Seems like

only a few months ago that Brian was telling us if we gave money to

Ancestry we were destroying genealogy.]

Also in the New Zoo Review this week, Root$web announces "GenSeeker",

apparently its answer to Broderbund's Family Finder Index. GenSeeker is

described as "a new search engine that accesses almost all sites at

RootsWeb and many genealogical sites elsewhere on the Web" and is

described as being better and faster than ever before [and it almost

certainly returns an ad banner with every hit].

And last but not least, Root$web is sponsoring an ad banner contest.

Users are encouraged to "design a banner (468x60 pixels) urging

contributions to RootsWeb" The one with the highest click-thru rate in

September will be treated to a $200 dinner paid for by RW CEO Robert

Tillman. According to the notice, RW "will run all banners that are not

outright offensive. Hint: Bob has a quirky sense of humor." [guess he's

not offended by "tips" on how get women to take off their clothes and

pictures of flying underwear.]

"A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry; but money

answereth all things"

---Ecclesiastes 10:19

This has been your Daily Board Show.

-Teresa Lindquist

merope@radix.net

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From merope@Radix.Net Sat Aug 7 10:08:34 1999

Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1999 10:08:33 -0400 (EDT)

From: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

Reply-To: merope <merope@Radix.Net>

To: usgw_all@listbot.com

Subject: Daily Board Show

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Its a cruel, cruel summer....its Your Daily Board Show!

*warning* contains editorial content. Read at your own risk!

Wednesday 4 August 1999:

Election Committee Chair Jim Powell posts the notice on the procedural

change for the run-off election for NC. He says "Due to recently forseen

Circumstances, you will not be receiving Run Off Elections Ballots this

evening. The Run Off Election has not been postponed. To see the reason

for this contradictory message please got to

http://vote.rootsweb.com/usgw-nc.html and follow the directions and

PROCEED TO VOTE."

Thursday 5 August 1999:

Pam Reid asks EC Chair Jim Powell if the other run-off election will be

handled in the same way as the NC election. Jim tells her he'll be

answering that question shortly.

Jim Powell posts a mesage that says the EC made a mistake. According to

Jim, "we had added a voter, that was not an SC or ASC in that Region, to

the list for that race during one of our missing ballot additions. We

also discovered that this voter voted. We have checked with both

Candidates and they would like us to reveal the New Board member using the

previous vote minus the ineligible voter." Shari Handley is announced as

the new SE/MA State Coordinator representative.

Election Update: I had someone vote for me yesterday, using the new

procedure, and I am pleased to report it went quite smoothly. Here's what

you do: go to http://vote.rootsweb.com/usgw-nc.html; enter your email

address in the space for it; check the box for the candidate of your

choice, click the "submit" button, wait for the "confirmation email"

[takes a few seconds, apparently] and go to the web page to confirm your

vote. Note: Per Tim Pierce, if you have an older browser you may get a

"404" error; I think in that case you need to contact the EC, as Tim

appears to have set up a work-around for this. Also, if you enter an

email address it doesn't recognize, you will be notified to contact your

SC before you can vote. Incidentally, the notice at the top of the page

where you vote says the run-off election extends to August 23. So, go vote

already!

Correction Corner: Current Root$web ad sponsor ThirdAge.com is not a fad

diet company, as previously reported here. Instead, it appears to be a

community website for people who were born before 1970. Its got jokes,

advice columns, forums, chat rooms, and yes, a fad diet <g> [this is the

sponsor running the "learn how to undress a woman in 10 easy steps

banner]. The DBS apologizes for any confusion.

"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty

when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are

naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers.

The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of

zeal, well-meaning but without understanding."

--Justice Louis D. Brandeis, dissenting Olmstead v. United States,

This has been your Daily Board Show.

-Teresa Lindquist

merope@radix.net

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