family fees

["navion" <navion@lightspeed.net>]

Regarding the fees I state the following.

   Fees should be based on cost with some preference given to goals or ideals the organization is trying to promote.

For membership in AERC the cost of an adult member should be the actual cost of of handling that person with the overhead included. Obviously two members in one household only get one magazine and therefore deserve a reduced rate. Also all other mailings etc cost less. Whether that rate is what it is currently set at or not I don't know. Probably not since 55.00 for EN seems high, but as someone who worked in publishing a little a long time ago I don't think 45.00 is when you consider the office time to produce each magazine.  And I think you are asking too much when you start to want to split a magazine between friends who live in different places. The staff only has so much time to deal with varying issues.

  Then of course the BOD and membership has to decide if they want to encourage families over single riders with a reduced rate for families. I would say this is not fair but I'll let the BOD decide.

   The convention cost should be the same idea, if it costs less then the charge should be less. But it sounds like this year us families are getting a heck of a deal. I think we will all attend this one.

   Kids are another issue, you single people who are complaining about this one are going against tradition. And you benefitted from this tradition when you were a kid. Unless you claim you never were. And guess what, with no kids the human race dies out. So those complaining about subsidizing kids in schools because they don't have any must not like our species very much.

 

   So I only ask that adults be treated fairly and continue to give kids a break.

 

Jim Mitchell, a riding family of four.