Re: [RC] AERC Survey question on age requirements to ride - Joe LongOn Wed, 22 Feb 2006 21:57:56 EST, Merryben@xxxxxxx wrote: You can talk about how the BOD and the Junior Committee ignore the wishes of the membership all you want, but here are the correct numbers. 570 members out of a membership of about 6,000 said they wanted an age restriction. Out of that number 188 said at least 8 years old and 165 said over 8 years old. The rest said anywhere from 5 to 8. Only about 18% of the entire membership even answered the question. And that is why the board and the junior committee decided to leave it alone. There is no majority of the AERC membership that wants to change the way things are. When you are personally opposed to something, you can always twist the numbers like that, and you will never have a majority favoring anything. No President ever really got elected because he never got a majority of the eligible voters, and no Governor or Congressman either. A survey is just that -- a survey. It is a representative sample. And in that sample, a majority DID favor change, DID favor a minimum age for riders. No amount of "cooking the numbers" alters that simple fact. There have been a few powerful people on the Junior Committee and the Board opposed to this, and that is what has prevented action. Don't try to claim that the Board was acting on the membership wishes, when it is clear that they did not. Why even have a survey if you are just going to ignore findings you don't like, because "not every member answered?" Mike Maul's figures show that there are five, six, seven-year-olds riding endurance rides every year. How long are you going to continue to claim that it is not a problem? -- Joe Long jlong@xxxxxxxx http://www.rnbw.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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