[vsnet-chat 5470] (No Subject in original)

[Taichi Kato <tkato@kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp>]

  (Forwarded to vsnet-chat because the original posting to vsnet-campaign-
v838mon seems to be misdirected).

From: trw@rice.edu
Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2002 01:25:10 -0000
Subject: [vsnet-campaign-v838mon 0] Re: [AAVSO-DIS] Political Stumping
Sender: owner-vsnet-campaign-v838mon@ooruri.kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp

I would like to add a bit to the dialogue on this subject. First of all, I 
agree this is the AAVSO discussion list, and while year-around it is 
populated with observers who are sharing thoughts/data/assistance from the 
observer’s perspective, I do feel it is valuable to keep it open for other 
discussions, and what could be more important than the election of the AAVSO 
Council, or more broadly, AAVSO leadership?
 
Mike Simonsen makes a good point when he says “A better use of the forum 
might be to discuss what is important to the members, and what we would like 
to see the council actually DO. This should be done well before the ballots 
are sent out, not after most of us have already voted.” I couldn’t agree 
more, but I also disagree strongly with Mike’s sentiments “I always vote 
for "observers" first” and “I am more comfortable knowing that like-minded 
people (observers) are watching over the interests of the AAVS Observers.”
 
Having served on the Council in various roles for a number of years since 
1978 or so, I think I can add some value to the discussion at this point. The 
observer’s viewpoint needs to be represented on the Council; there can be no 
doubt about that. Observers are one of our important constituencies. However, 
we can’t ignore the fact that the professional community of users is equally 
important, and that there are other important constituencies as well. We need 
to be sure we are working on the right problems using the right techniques 
and instruments. So the council needs to be a balanced group of individuals 
who bring various scientific talents and knowledge-sets to the table. I think 
Michael Koppelman was right on target when he stated “The key to our 
leadership, IMHO, is having a good balance of professionals and amateurs who 
keenly understand how to put us to work in a way that will best benefit the 
astronomical community at large.”
 
Mike Simonsen also had it mainly right when he said: “I hear it said over and 
again, that the most important asset of the AAVSO is the data. I couldn't 
disagree more. The most important asset of the AAVSO is its observers, 
without whom there would be no data” but in this case I should point out that 
there are other assets to worry about as well. The AAVSO is a business as 
well as a scientific organization. It has assets well in excess of those 
available to any other amateur/professional scientific organization of which 
I am aware. Without sounding too apocalyptic about it, it would be possible 
to go broke by taking on too much work too rapidly. There are extant examples 
of organizations in that fix at the present time and we need to rely on the 
AAVSO Council to keep us out of that situation. We have been there before and 
don’t want to go back. We all rely on the council to manage our assets and 
the resultant cash flow of our organization so that it will continue to exist 
and serve the constituencies discussed above well into the future. Thus, the 
scientific and observational work that the Council oversees must be viewed in 
the light of what is practical from a financial perspective and activities 
prioritized in light of the available resources.
 
My point in this too lengthy discourse is that AAVSO’s interests can best be 
served by a balanced Council that has all these various skills and interests 
represented. It cannot be dominated by either observers or professionals, but 
instead must be the best mix, at any one time, of all these skills including 
some perspective on the business end of the organization. Thus, when voting, 
it would be wise to bear in mind who is on the Council already as well as who 
is to be elected as additions to the Council, and consider how best to insure 
that the Council is as balanced as possible over time. The nominating 
committee presumably bears this in mind, but an intelligent voter must recall 
these considerations as well.

For those who object to the use of the AAVSO Listserve for this type of 
dialogue, I would offer several comments. The content on the list already 
quite variable (sorry aboiut that) and includes not only a lot of good 
science but a lot of miscellany that many of us who lurk on the list but 
don't contribute actively. Thus the idea that this list is only for science 
is specious to begin with. The delete button works fine for me for that 
material so if a topic is not of interest just excise it and read on. I agree 
fully with Aaron that another list is a lot of work and likely not needed to 
avoid the occasional volume of material on an important non-scientific issue.
 
Finally, I would add a “hear, hear” for Jim Bedient’s assertion 
that “Healthy, *positive* discussion should not be discouraged.” This list 
provides just such an forum and I hope all will avail themselves of that 
opportunity. 
 
Best to all,

Tom Williams

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