Re: RC: AERC/UAE sponsorship

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated Mon, 26 Mar 2001  3:15:59 PM Eastern Standard Time, SandyDSA@aol.com writes:

<< I am glad they didn't because not everyone in AERC apparently had the   
option of choosing, nor does everyone in AERC want to either support that   
type of thing or compete in it. I rather think more of AERC for having   
patience in the best interests of its ownership/constituency -whatever one   
wants to call it. Call me naive, but bigger, more or fancier is not   
necessarily better. I don't care to have part of our families'' AERC dues,   
etc, channeled into an activity or venue that, A., none of our family are   
interested in, and B., are not even convinced AERC should be delving into. >>

This sounds like a contradiction to me.  The very reason to ACCEPT sponsorship money to add an FEI division seems to me to be precisely so the dues and fees from riders who are NOT interested in that type of competition are NOT spent to support it!  

Furthermore, I find it interesting to note that just a few threads ago, Bob Morris was suggesting that we need corporate sponsorships to elevate this sport to a higher level--but then he writes a scathing post about how degrading it is to be offered sponsorship by someone in the UAE to try to get an FEI division at our so-called National Championship ride.  I'm confused here--why are we TURNING DOWN this money, if it is the very sort of thing we should be seeking?  Major contradiction here.  To be so alarmed by the source seems to me to be the ultimate in bigotry.  Yes, Truman has his history right--but we are talking about sponsoring a division at an endurance ride with no strings attached, not about buying off the American Dream here!

And Randy--you were one of the biggest proponents of finding outside funding during your presidency, and to your credit, you did a good job of it.  Look at the Sundowner membership sponsorship and the sponsorship of some of our award categories.  So why are YOU of all people so opposed to some outside funding??  Is an individual from the UAE any more likely to dictate policy to AERC than a corporate US sponsor??  What, you're not afraid that Sundowner might do some awful thing to our sport, like <gasp> color covers on EN or something equally radical??

Wake up and smell the coffee here, folks!  There is international interest in our sport, and all that was offered here was funding for an international division at a ride--not some takeover scheme of our AERC championship.  This is a case of the funding for the extra expenses for such a division coming directly out of the pockets of people who are interested in seeing endurance succeed on an international level.  When we put on the Pan-American in Bend in 1997, the UAE sent us a donation.  So did a whole lot of American folks--the UAE money was only about 5% of our total budget.  They did not alter the way we ran our ride one iota.  When a great many of us attended the WEC in the UAE, the Arabs were gracious hosts, as I understand they have been for other events.  Lord knows we do enough international business with these people--why are a few folks so allergic to a little contribution back to help our favorite sport?

Yes, folks, I am damned proud to be an American.  I believe strongly in the ideals on which this nation was based.  But I'd be a fool to think that this is the only place on earth, and that other folks on this globe don't share interests in many of the things that we do.  Cultures differ, but as long as we choose to be holier-than-thou bigots, we can expect there to be less than a harmonious relationship with our global neighbors.  It is wonderful that Larry and Jerry stepped up to the plate with funds for an optional FEI division at our championship, but that is no reason to be so rude toward a helping hand that has been extended.  I hope the rank and file membership remembers this sad turn-down every time their dues and fees are spent for something that does not affect the entire membership.  AERC is the loser here...

Heidi