I am just getting around to dealing with emails from several weeks ago. In response to the emails from Matthew Zotter:
>Does USMA have or sponsor a Political Action Committee (PAC)? There are a few reasons we don't and won't sponsor a PAC: It takes a lot of money, which would not be very easy to raise. The kind of money it would take to even get a candidate's attention could be better used in other USMA activities. It would take a lot of candidates in office to make much difference, and if the public was against their policies anyway they would have an uphill battle once they were elected. That's why we are focusing on working with the elected officials we have and with the public and organizations. We would basically have a single issue PAC. There are so many other issues that would divide us that we would never agree on who to support. A metrication PAC would not get enough support to make a big difference, since most people don't care about measurement. In effect, we would be removing our influence on the main parties by separating ourselves from the mainstream of politics. >Does the USMA get any altruistic grants from philanthropic institutions like the Rockefeller Foundation? Organizations that give grants don't like to just support operating expenses. They like to sponsor specific projects. It is really the basic activities of USMA that need funding and expansion right now. To my knowledge we haven't had success in getting grants because most people don't care that much about metrication. We are competing against charities, too. The thing that USMA needs is more members, so if you aren't a member yet, I encourage you to join. The newsletter alone is worth the effort. It is a lot more informative than just the email list. >Where did Centigrade come from? Why was it changed to Celsius? I don't really have sources for this, but this is what I assume. Centigrade was defined in terms of the freezing and boiling points of water. Celsius is (at least currently) defined in terms of Kelvin (which uses the triple point). Thus, Celsius is tied to SI and centigrade is not, if this is correct. In practical terms the difference negligible, but Celsius is the term to use. >Do you think that the USMA would be interested in sponsoring and developing some kind of SI or Metrication merit badge? I like this idea. Maybe it should be a part of a different merit badge, since there may be a limit to how much they want to actually promote conversion. As part of a different badge, the focus would be more on learning units and things than on promotion (which could be a part of it). Carl
