[thelist] WAS Why code, POV, Clarify Standards, et. al.

[Bev Corwin]

Oh.. ok, now I follow you.... thanks,  here is my "best attempt" response to
that:

We consciously made PAL membership as low as we could so that it was
accessible to as many people as possible.  Our goal is to recruit diversity,
and so far,  we are doing so.

The Board of Directors is currently working on various classes of
memberships including student members, volunteer members, and scholarship
members.  Our goals are to try to make membership available to everyone,
regardless of whether or not they can afford membership,  we hope to offer
options, not only for membership but also for trainings, conferences, etc.

As far as accessibility is concerned, do you find that $75 / year is more
accessible than $5,000 / year or more?

$5,000 just seems very high for a non profit organization.... and when they
have exclusionary practices,  this non profit org seems a lot more like
corporate welfare than anything else.  Just on another note,  has anyone
seen this:

White House Slashes Tech Investment
----
The White House is proposing to cut the budget for the Advanced Technology
Program, which provides grants for high-tech research. The Bush
administration says that the grants are corporate welfare and could be
replaced by venture-capital efforts.

http://www.crn.com/sections/BreakingNews/breakingnews.asp?ArticleID=33094

So, why do you think this perception is out there?  I believe there are good
reasons for the criticisms and that a "smart" org would consider reflecting
on such important accessibility  issues.  Its not just me,  I think there is
a growing concern among the more "general"  WWW and IT communities.

Sincerely,
Bev

----- Original Message -----
From: <jay.blanchard at thermon.com>
To: <thelist at lists.evolt.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 10:35 AM
Subject: Re: [thelist] WAS Why code, POV, Clarify Standards, et. al.


> <snip>
>  > On exclusion; PAL is exclusive.... pot & kettle = black
>  >
>
> Huh?  Wish to clarify this... you lost me.
> </snip>
>
> The organization that you are helping to form, PAL, requires membership,
> membership (no matter the cost) by its very nature is exclusive. You
argued
> that exclusion is bad. So which is it?
>
> Regards,
>
> Jay