Internet Committee Report
June 5, 2000
The Internet Committee has gone through a number of changes since last June that have been sometimes difficult but will make the group stronger and more effective in the future.
In September the board approved a new structure for the committee creating an “Internet Committee Core Group.” The group consists of five members and serves as a steering committee for the larger Internet Committee which, like research committees, includes all members interested in committee activity.
The SABR Executive Board also appointed the following individuals to serve on the IC Core Group;
Ted Hathaway, IC Chair; Tom Shieber, IC Board Liaison; Jay Del Mah, Webmaster; Ted Turocy, SABR-L Moderator; and Mark Alvarez, Publications Director. All members of the IC Core Group were to, by definition, serve as a result of their positions in the IC infrastructure except for the Chair and the Board Liaison who are appointed by the board.
At that September meeting, the board also approved new policies governing the two electronic lists run by SABR; SABR-L and SABR-ADMIN. The SABR-L mailing list is a moderated forum which encourages and facilitates research and information exchange among SABR members. The SABR-ADMIN list has been designated as the appropriate forum for discussing only issues relating o the moderation policy on SABR-L and SABR’s presence on the Internet.
The board made an ill-fated decision at the September meeting to open SABR-ADMIN for discussion of general policy issues including those not related to the Internet. Because SABR-ADMIN is not a moderated
forum, the list developed a tendency to stray from carefully constructed and thoughtful emails on substantive policy issues, and led to fear, uncertainty and dismay among the list subscribers and among non-subscribing board members.
In January the IC Core Group voted to suspend a member whose abusive posting included repeated violations of list policy. SABR President Jim Riley determined that the group did not have the authority to issues such a suspension and unilaterally rescinded the decision, deferring any action until it could be considered at the February board meeting. Upset by this decision, IC Chair Ted Hathaway resigned. In support of Hathaway, Webmaster Jay Del Mah and Board Liaison Tom Shieber also resigned. Recognizing possible conflicts of interest because he is a contract employee of SABR, Publications Director Mark Alvarez asked to be excused from serving on the IC Core Group. SABR-L Moderator Ted Turocy remained as the only core group member.
With the committee in shambles, the board set to put it back together at the February meeting. The SABR-ADMIN list was returned to its original purpose; The IC Core Group was given the authority to govern the lists and issues suspensions in the future; Rodney Johnson was appointed as IC Board Liaison; Cliff Otto was appointed Webmaster; It was decided that an IC Chair would be appointed at the next board meeting in April and that when in place, these four members could select a fifth member to replace the Publications Director on the IC Core Group.
In April the board approved F.X. Flinn as the Internet Committee Chair. The members of the IC Core Group subsequently selected Justin Kubatko to serve as the fifth member of the group.
IC Core Group hopes to establish a useful role between the volunteer members of the IC and the SABR Board. Our intention is to keep the larger committee informed on SABR-ADMIN, seeking input on recommendations being made to the Board and actual work on individual projects. For example, SABR recently purchased the Ratzel game-score database and the discussion of that acquisition has resulted in a better plan for its deployment on the SABR website. Similarly, the present test of a multi-moderator system for managing SABR-L was facilitated by members of the IC responding to requests for volunteers.
Respectfully submitted,
F.X. Flinn
Internet Committee Chair
802-295-9362