Very well put Corky. I quit the MIA/POW project when they got into this
same type struggle. As much as I loved helping them out, and as hard as I
believe in that cause, I just couldn't stand by watching the powers to be
(whom are suppose to be our examples) call each other names. You condone in
private, praise in public! Let us not forget another clique: You can please
some of the people some of the time, but you can not please all of the
people all of the time.
Another thing: If you disagree, don't call names and whine about it;
suggest better solutions. If the suggestion is excepted, great. If the
suggestion isn't excepted, move on, because name calling will only hurt the
chances of your next idea being excepted.
Just my two cents. You are more then welcome to use anything I said if you
get blasted.
Paul
-----Original Message-----
From: Corky K [mailto:corkykn@imt.net]
Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2000 9:01 AM
To: MTGEN-L(a)rootsweb.com
Subject: [MTGEN-L] In the beginning.....
In the beginning a group created the GenWeb. It was without organization,
but certainly not void. And the spirit of 'helping others' abounded, and
genealogists said, "It is good!"
Then volunteers said, "Let us enlarge this effort", and it grew into all 50
states and the world. And researchers said, "It is good"
And, when the need for direction of common goals came about, the volunteers
said, "Let us take a Common name", and the USGenWeb Project was born. And,
it was good.
Great visionaries arose from the multitudes of volunteers who helped the
project develop and grow. Brian Leverich spent countless hours and $$
providing the services of Rootsweb to volunteers of the Project at no
charge. Linda Lewis became leader of the USGenWeb Archives for the purpose
of providing free data to on-line researchers. People such as Megan Z.,
Joy Fisher and many, many, many others dedicated hours of their time
improving the quality and quantity of information on-line. These people
and many others assisted other SC's and CC's with learning the
'how-to's'
of their web sites. And it was very good.
But alas, people came along over the years who said, "Surely the creators
of this Project didn't really mean, *free* access to data, or, "I can
surely create an entity of this project of which I can have personal
control as it 'surely' wasn't meant to be part of the whole".
Attitudes
began to surface like, "The current leadership did something I don't agree
with - let's crucify him". And the Negativites and the Criticalites and
the Self-promotites began to tear away at the fibre of the Project, spewing
their venom at every turn, until the beautiful Project became divided and
empty.
Corny... yes... but it's the way I see it.
I'm one of the many cc's out here who read this list, contributes things
occasionally, and spends most of my USGenWeb time just working with the
cc's and on the project. It is my opinion, (and I'm sure that I'm not
alone), that the latest ongoing squabble is just another in a 4+ year
struggle. It's always the same. Maybe an NC or the AB makes a decision
that is somewhat controversial, or unwise... or it's just a decision based
on opinions they hold regarding an aspect of the project. The issue is
discussed and the board and/or NC make a final decision. Rather than
moving on from there, however, the accusers start in. There's name
calling, postings made to every conceivable place deriding the decision and
the decision-makers, and a veritable campaign to destroy the person or
people. And in the final analysis, there are always individuals in that
vilifying group who have their own political ambitions.
What began as a fine ***volunteer*** project is being turned into a major
*political* arena and I very much resent that.
Truthfully, after reading the countless email bantering these past weeks
(or is it months!), the original issue itself is blurred and confusing.
All that I know for sure is that Tim Stowell and the AB appear to have done
their best in a difficult situation - these people are **volunteers**,
folks... they aren't on a big salary!!!! If, in fact, his decision was
faulty, the AB had the option to decide that - and apparently they did so.
It is *not* the end of this world as we know it!!!!
If these critical people don't get off of their bandwagon, however, the
project will indeed suffer.
I am really sick and tired of opening up my SC digest looking for something
relevant to my volunteer work with the project, only to find still another
letter slamming Tim, the AB, or their decisions. Some people in this
project have too much time on their hands, evidently, when they can spend
so much of it concentrating on continually reprimanding or trying to expel
an NC who was duly elected by the USGenWeb Project.
And yes, before I get slammed for it, I do agree we can express a thought
on this list against something the NC or AB is planning. Once our opinion
is expressed, however, we need to leave it to the elected officials to
handle it. Trust me, my experience with the Project has proven that there
will *never* be an NC or AB that acts 100% as each of us wishes, or who
does everything perfectly for that matter. If that happens too often
during their term of office... well, that's why we have elections.
If you want to create a "POLITICAL-L" list for those of you who desire to
edify yourselves and tear others down, fine. The rest of us can then keep
up with the latest ideas on the State Coord. list without having to be
insulted by definitions from Webster's Dictionary, et al.
I for one am going to work on my site, help my cc's with their work, and
concentrate on doing what I set out to do in July, 1996 - help others with
their genealogical research. I'll exercise my opinion at the ballot box
by voting for a positive, hard-working candidate. I'll also encourage all
of my very hard-working cc's to do the same.
Corky Knebel
Corky Knebel
MtGenWeb Project State Coordinator
http://www.imt.net/~corkykn/montana.html