I found this an insulting and crazy making post
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-Original Message-
From: Anthony West anthony_w...@earthlink.net
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:11:04
To: UnivCity@list.purple.com UnivCity listservunivcity@list.purple.com
Subject: [UC] why community activists avoid this list (Was: Re: FOCP response)
Mary,
I have been on this list since ~2001. I can name about about two dozen
different community groups in the University City area, and I suspect
I'm missing a few. Surely, during this time, a few of their leaders have
lurked on UC-list.
But I don't recall seeing any group that utilizes UC-list as a posting
mechanism. Therefore, it is not really a source of much local
information. Most activists I've talked to regard it more as a source
of local misinformation. UC-list has become a talking shop dominated by
people who know little and do nothing, but criticize big. Most activists
say it's a waste of their unpaid volunteer time to read this list.
I was an outlier. During my presidency of Friends of Clark Park
(2003-05), I found great value in Purple and I militantly pushed my
organization to use Purple as an outreach medium. As everybody knows,
I'm a dedicated Purple loyalist. But I found no imitators and, in fact,
wound up wading through all sorts of muck as a result of standing by
Purple. My effort was a waste of time, I say now in sorrow.
The core problem is that UC-list is unmoderated. As a result, in
practice, it's a poor source of information -- an unsafe place in which
to exchange information. It's a newspaper without an editor, a street
without a cop.
Now there's a better product to serve the neighborhood. So that's where
the better traffic is shifting. And that leaves even less to learn from
UC-list.
FYI: Mr. Chance does not head a civic association but a park support
group. FoCP's mission is to communicate with park users. If you are
curious about anything he does, and you authentically care about the
park ... shouldn't you show up at his next public meeting? FoCP has a
listserve of its own, which represents this community quite well in its
own way. It's not his job to come to your list, if you want to learn
something from him. Community is a two-way street.
-- Tony West
Does anyone know why Mr. Chance does not subscribe to this listserve?
I would expect the leader of a local civic association to be connected
to as many sources of local information and activities as possible.
What about our other civic leaders (e.g. at the Spruce Hill Community
Association, the UC Historical Society and Cedar Park Neighbors) and
our local politicians (Mrs. Blackwell, for instance and ward leaders
and committee members)?
Mary
