And we care because.....?
----------
> From: Bryan Rabeler <brabeler@ISD.INGHAM.K12.MI.US>
> To: CALC-TI@LISTS.PPP.TI.COM
> Subject: DIsmissal from ticalc.org - some clarifications
> Date: 07 March 1999 19:44
>
> Chris Dornfeld e-mailed about my recent comments on the dismissal situation.
> He had some clarifications and corrections to make and signaled that I should
> post them.
>
> > I checked my non-ticalc.org e-mail and discovered two e-mails, one from
> > Magnus and one from Chris. Magnus had sent me the carefully crafted dismissal
> > letter which the four coordinators wrote. Chris sent me a ZIP file which
> > contained the files in my home directory, and said that my mail was coming soon.
> > I still haven't gotten my mail, I suspect every piece is being read to get
> > missing information for the people who are going to takeover my sections.
>
> Chris has told me they are looking for passwords in my mail. A legimate reason.
> But nonetheless, they will be looking for other things as well.
>
> > The first incident that I can remember is the so-called "TI-Files hack"
> > incident, which occurred in early November, 1998. What happened was I got the
> > FTP password to the TI-Files from a member who was resigning, I logged in using
> > that password, and deleted about 15 files in the main directory. I knew TI-
> > Files made backups once a week and that doing this wouldn't cause any unfixable
> > damage, it was more or less a joke. But nevertheless, nothing can take away
> > from how unprofessional and disrespectful this act was, and I am sorry for it.
> > I made a public apology on November 10, 1998 in the form of a news article on
> > ticalc.org.
>
> I was reluctant to make an apology on the front page of ticalc.org and thought
> it was unnecessary at the time. Only after pressure from the rest of the staff
> did I post the apology. However now that I look back on it, I feel it was the
> right thing to do.
>
> > appreciate me at all. Then after I voiced my concerns about that, Chris
> > e-mailed me with a metaphor saying I was like the cook in a restaurant and they
> > were the owners. That made be feel *SO* much better.
>
> Chris said I didn't understand that analogy.
>
> > I know what a lot of you must be thinking, "Why go through all this
> > trouble to stop this new policy?" Well, the way the staff worked up until that
> > point was good. We were able to talk about things as a team and work through
> > our disagreements. Now the coordinators would run things and have the final
> > say. If we didn't like their decision, then too bad. Does the book "Animal
> > Farm" ring any bells here? I even changed my nickname on IRC to "Snowball"
> > because of this. Now the nickname fits perfectly.
>
> Chris said I idealized the old staff situation too much, that my style
> demands constraints, and that my decisions must be overridden some of the time.
>
> > In the end, I was the only one who strongly disagreed with the new
> > proposal. Only after Chris told me that I could be a coordinator after the next
> > election did I reluctantly vote for the proposal. Now that I look back on it, I
>
> Chris told me that I would have a chance to be a coordinator after the next
> election, and that maybe six months down the road, it would be highly probable
> that my past experience with TI-Files would be water under the bridge. I
> misrepresented the facts there and I just wanted to make that part clear.
>
> > At the end of January, it came time for the first coordinator elections
> > after the proposal had been agreed to. Each staff member e-mailed their vote to
> > the staff mailing list. I don't remember exactly how everyone voted on the
> > second question, but this is pretty close. I voted no along with Ahmed, and
> > Kirk voted yes. None of the others voted. It could have been different, but I
> > know the vote was 2-1 in favor of new coordinators. However, after Chris
> > "talked" to Ahmed, Ahmed changed his vote to undecided, so the vote was tied at
> > 1-1, which isn't a majority. Chris said that Ahmed didn't even understand what
> > he was voting for, and therefore his first vote was not valid. I do question,
> > however, Chris' motive for initially contacting Ahmed about his vote.
>
> Chris and I agree here that Ahmed probably didn't know what he was voting for.
> However where we disagree is on the motive of Chris contacting Ahmed about his
> vote. Chris admits his motive was to keep the current coordinators, however he
> maintains he approached Ahmed in an impartial way. Believe what you want.
>
> > added them one by one, so Kirk could not mess up my work. This entire situation
> > came about because the coordinators felt that they could tell me how to run my
> > section, something they told me they wouldn't do when I opposed the staff
> > structure.
>
> Chris contends he didn't tell Kirk to work on the archives at the same time as
> me. However, Magnus clearly told me that, as I stated in my previous mailing.
> Chris also confirms that he was telling me how to run my section but somehow
> this didn't go against the guidelines. How that can be is still a mystery to me.
>
> > which I was "unwilling to compromise". Perhaps I fail to understand why I, as
> > the veteran file archiver here, know less about doing file archives than the
> > rest of the staff. Why doesn't the "expert's" opinion count here?
>
> Basically, Chris said that I don't always make the right decisions about the
> file archives.
>
> > staff structure, it is much easier to dismiss someone than it was before. Plus,
> > I believe that one of the main reasons Chris told me to write up documentation
> > on how I handle the file archives was so someone else would know how to do it
> > after they "disposed" of me. The thought of such a thing makes me sick.
>
> Chris admits this one, however at least he wasn't going to fire me the second he
> got the document.
>
> > conspiracies and cover-ups. I believe this new staff structure and coordinator
> > thing will eventually ruin ticalc.org. The coordinators discuss everything in
> > secret and don't have to explain everything to the entire staff.
>
> Chris says I'm not a coordinator and I shouldn't be talking about what I don't
> know. That's probably true, but I do know that the coordinators talk among
> themselves in secret.
>
>
> --
> Bryan Rabeler <brabeler@isd.ingham.k12.mi.us>
> Former maintainer of The Fargo Archive
> Former ticalc.org staff member