RE: RE: Re: [Enduranceriders] NEED HELP

["Bob Morris" <bobmorris@rmci.net>]

This is very, very interesting. Steph, I have had several other messages
condemning me for my views and stating my opposition to the position of
specific Veterinarians.

Please refer back to my posting. I have not mentioned any person, I have not
mentioned any country, I have not mentioned any profession, I have not
mentioned the gender and I have not been singular in my direction. And I did
not mention any "conflict of interest"!

I have made a statement of position, on a subject of interest and of
discussion. I am aware of the advantages of our technological advances in
communication, I am aware that certain persons are the subject of criticism
and I am aware that this is a hotly debated subject. But I am also aware
that there are always two sides of a controversy, that unless both sides are
explored there is no satisfaction in the final out come.


Now let me make a far out but not impossible comparison that has not yet
occurred but could. A person is elected as a Director for Region A as that
is where they reside. At the end of the first year they move to Region B and
decline to resign from their Directorship. After all they are not all that
far away from the membership considering the modern methods of
communication, they are not out of touch, think of the experience they have.
Now, before you bring forth the Rule 8.7 about moving to a different region,
I will assure you that applies only to the point keeping system. So, as a
member of the AERC in Region A should you be represented by a person
residing in Region B?

To conclude this missal, I am not pointing the finger at any person (and
there is more than one person involved), I an providing a point of
discussion on the subject not voiced prior to my posting. Please do not read
into what I write, things I do not write.

Bob Morris


-----Original Message-----
From: Steph Teeter [mailto:steph@endurance.net]
Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2000 8:53 AM
To: Bob Morris; renegade12@juno.com; Enduranceriders@egroups.com
Cc: PNER@onelist.com; ridecamp@endurance.net
Subject: RE: RE: Re: [Enduranceriders] NEED HELP


Bob says - >> In the AERC arena, how can a person portend to
represent a population of a region when they do not reside there-in for the
major portion of the year.>>

In the case of the veterinarians who are currently employed
overseas, they have been very active AERC members, ride
vets, competitors, board members, etc. for a *long* time! It's
ridiculous to imply that because at this point in their life
they are living elsewhere, working for another country,
that they are no longer of value to AERC and to the membership.
They still have the knowlege base gained from all of their
years of experience, this doesn't go away. They have in fact
increased their base of knowlege by seeing their sport from
another perspective, and seeing how the sport is run in
another country. Bob - your statement seems narrow minded
at best. Plus you must realize that email/internet communication
means that you don't have to have your foot on the soil to
stay in touch with the membership.

Conflict of interest ??? Yes, there is the potential for this. But
I think if you looked closely at most of the BOD you could find
a similar potential for conflict of interest. Because there is the
potential, does NOT mean that there is also ill intent.

>>This is bad enough when it concerns a Director-at-Large but consider the
same in the case of a Regional Director.

Ok, I get your point. Do you really think that residing a few months
in a different region, for a specific purpose and goal, makes a
person unfit to represent their 'native' region? There are good
things to be learned from seeing how the rest of the country,
or the rest of the world does things. Plus, I hate to tell you this,
but of the 800 or 900 AERC members in the NW, there are
probably 800 or 900 different views of how things should be
done. And some of these NW members probably originally came from
different regions themselves. 'Representing' your region means
understanding that there are always going to be different opinions,
different experiences, different agendas, etc, etc - and trying to find
the best overall solution for the region, (or organization) as a whole.
In my opinion this requires a certain degree of perspective.

Steph
AERC NorthWest Regional Director
Currently Camping in North Carolina