Thanks Brian. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brian Siano Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 8:01 AM Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [UC] "Committee meeting" on the 13th at Walnut West
Dave Axler wrote: > Sharrieff says, "Those who are interested in participating in the > committee will be > heard and have an opportunity to participate in making decisions about > where we go from here." > > Unfortunately, that's only partly true. Only those who can juggle > their schedules so that they can be physically present will actually > be heard. Those who have non-standard job schedules, lengthy commutes, > child-rearing obligations, family commitments, and the like will not > be there, and thus will be excluded from the process. > > Most "community" meetings in this area are scheduled for early weekday > mornings (e.g., the recent "First Thursday" meeting) or weeknights. > While that's convenient for some -- especially those who are attending > as a part of their day jobs -- it tends to exclude many others (most > noticeably those who are single parents). > > If you want your committee to be truly representative, you will take > steps to ensure that some of the meetings are on weekends (and NOT > first thing in the morning, either...), and that some provision will > be made for childcare. No problem: all we need is to set up a meeting on short notice that a) isn't on a weeknight when people are taking care of kids, b) isn't on a weekend when people have other things to do and are unlikely to provide good turnout, c) isn't during the weekday when people are at work, d) is in a room sized to accommodate the agoraphobic community, and d) is at a location with adequate child-care facilities, no insitutional connection to Penn, and oriented towards true north to balance the chi energies of those unempowered individuals with bio-geographical deficiencies. Maybe you people are missing something important here. Sharrieff is trying to organize a meeting of people who'd like to be on this committee. So it's going to be a small, preliminary planning meeting. This is mainly to _get things started_. It _is_ not going to be a large public meeting at which public policy is to be debated. THEN, you can niggle over whether anybody is unfairly excluded because of scheduling, child-care, travel issues and the like. ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>. ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
