There's a lot in your proposal that makes sense to me, R.D. Many cavers wonder what it is that the TSA does for them as a member of the organization, aside from receiving a TxCvr, which for a long time was infrequent at best. That said, I think we all need to support the TSA as one of it's principal functions is to bring cavers from all parts of the state together in venues such as conventions, projects, workshops, etc... It's very easy for separate grottos to become isolated and out of touch with each other, sometimes even to the point of ugly rivalries. There are few opportunities for inter-grotto socialism and information sharing outside of planned statewide affairs that either TSA, TSS, TCMA, TCC, or TCR coordinate. Of those organizations, the TSA focuses most of their energies toward communication functions. It's true that individuals can coordinate their own projects, but we've seen precious few people come forward on a volunteer basis to offer large scale and continuing cave projects that were not aided, encouraged, or coordinated by the TSA. It's a huge effort and many people soon burn out. It usually takes a larger group to keep the momentum going. We could use another state cave project right about now. We just need volunteers and caves to make it happen. Jerry. In a message dated 1/16/2008 10:36:51 P.M. Central Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
OK, you are right. I seem to remeber a grant the TSA land fund made to TCMA when the down payment for Deep/Punkin was being put together. But the primary purpose of the TSA is not to buy caves, ostensibly not even a secondary one since they have never bought one. There are two organizations in the state dedicated to doing that though, each in their own unique ways. I would argue that if cave acquisition is your goal (and a worthy goal in my estimation) then get involved and donate to TCMA or TCC. I think the TSA meeting was this previous Saturday at CBSP. My take. TSA was traditionally a social gathering mechanism for cavers is a vast geographic area. The Texas Caver was an invaluable source for information. That was before the internet. I asked at a grotto meeting tonight that the president designate a caver, preferably a TSA member, to act as TSA liaison, to announce TSA activities to the meeting attendees. Couldn't find a TSA member in the room. Why? Too much money; well more like not getting anything for the dues. Several people cited the , um, infrequest publication schedules of the past. I still feel that twenty bucks is way out of line for what you get. And this is not to take anything away from Mark, the editor, he does a great job, and this from a grotto editor. But in a weird sort of way the TC editor is in direct competition with grotto editors for material. The UT Grotto effectively uses the Texas Caver as their grotto newsletter. Pretty slick, getting a guy from Dallas to edit your Austin cave news. In the era of instant communication the TSA seems like something of an achronism, an unneeded layer in the caving cake. My proposal. Someone in Austin get the UT grotto newsletter going. Use the Texas Caver as a DIGEST for the best articles, maps, trip reports, cave poetry, technical reports, art work, photography, etc. and publish quarterly. Go online as was previously suggested, and start back the Activities Newsletter, again online. Lower online membership to $10 bucks. Raise the dues for hard copy to $25 or whatever it takes to cover printing and postage costs plus a little for the bank acount, let the folks needing paper for paper. The $10 from online subscribers is pure gravy, no costs incurred to produce it. More people join, membership swells, everyone contributes to their grotto newletter hoping the TC editor or editorial board chooses their work for statewide publication; cavers all over the state camp out by their mailbox waiting to see what wondrous stuff is happening in other parts of the state. Uh... well maybe not. In summary, I fully appreciate that the leaders of the TSA and members who have stuck with it have done so for what they genuinely feel are good reasons. I think some of the old timers have a sentimental attachment to the "way we used to do things" and have not allowed things to move along into the future, er... present. I have expressed these ideas to several TSA leaders in the past and was scolded in most cases for not being onboard. A few (who were not elected) agreed with some or all of what I expressed. I basically posited this same scheme tonight, and several grotto members who were once TSA members or had never joined stated they would seriously consider joining/rejoining. That includes me. You know, joining a group of like-minded people seems to be a natural response, unless the group makes it to difficult to do so, or can't show a reasonable set of benefits for doing so. **************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489
