Conference 7.286::dcu

Dear DCU Shareholders:

On Tuesday, February 18, 1992, I filed 840 signatures and petition
paperwork for the Board of Directors election at the DCU Headquarters
in Maynard.  The paperwork was received by Patti D'Addieco, and I am in
possesion of a receipt acknowledging my filing.  If 500 of these 
signatures are successfully validated, I will appear on the ballot 
for the DCU Board of Directors elections which begin in March.

Thanks to all of you who signed petitions on my behalf.  Thanks also
to the many volunteers who worked for all the petition candidates at
many sites around the corporation.

Please be sure to take some time to review the ballot material when it
arrives in the mail.  The most important person in the election
process is you.  Your vote counts, and I urge everyone to carefully
examine each and every candidate and vote your conscience.

Sincerely,

Christopher Gillett
Petition Candidate for DCU Board of Directors"

More News:

Patti D'Addieco from DCU called me late afternoon on Friday,
the 21st to inform me that she has successfully validated
my petition request, and that I will be placed on the ballot
for the election.

150 word statements and (get this) black and white photographs
are due at DCU soon.  The process of determining the wording
of the statements is iterative and subject to approval by the
nominating committee.  If it is within the scope of the P&P,
I'll post a note here later this week showing what I submitted
and how it wound up being published.  I sure wish they would
have used that space for pictures to let everyone have another
50 words!

Many other petition candidates have been certified as well.
Please be sure to review all the candidates when you receive
your ballot and vote your conscience.  And please remind others
to vote as well.

Thanks again to all who signed petitions on my behalf.

Sincerely,
Christopher Gillett
Petition Candidate for DCU Board of Directors

    In the photograph, be sure to wear a suit so you will look like all the
    banker types.
    
    :-)

    
    ... hold a sign under your chin that says "Vote to Reform DCU!"
    

re: last 2

Well, I whimped out and wore a businessman's diguise
for the picture.  I had it taken Saturday when we had
our engagement formals taken -- good timing, eh?

As for the picture - now why didn't I think of that?

:-),
./chris

I wonder if publishing pictures could be considered discriminatory?  Often,
such as in job applications or college applications, pictures are
explicitly avoided.

I agree that the space could be better used for more text.

	Paul

    
    I'm not quite sure what purpose they serve either.  Maybe to show the
    youth of the petition candidates vs. the elder (pure speculation here!)
    nominated candidates?  What else could the picture show?  Bad haircuts?
    ;-)
    
    DCU placed a 150 word limit on writeups for candidates for supposed 
    cost reasons.  I don't see that including graphics in the material
    makes it any cheaper.
    

	Were pictures part of previous ballot information? (Shows how much
	impact they had on me if they were there. :-) )

			Alfred

    
    RE: .8
    
    They were not present in the last 4 years.  I have copies of the
    election materials sent out.
    
    Maybe DCU will now send out the pictures of the nominated candidates to
    the membership since they excluded this valuable info in their previous
    mailing...  8-)  8-)
    
    Not back to the original topic.  Welcome to the ballot Chris!  Looks
    like '92 is shaping up to be a big year in your life.

    Re: .9

    Let's see if I have this straight:

    	1. The statements can only be 150 words in order to save money.

    	2. Pictures are being added this year, but they haven't been
    	included in at least the last four years.

    Should I then conclude that the pictures are also being added to save
    money?  Or is that logic just too tortuous?  Perhaps it is felt that
    one picture is worth a thousand words?
    
    Has anybody asked the DCU why pictures are being added when there is a
    word limitation in effect in order to save money?  It would be very
    interesting to get an answer to that.

	RE: .10 Someone at lunch made the suggestion that perhaps they expect
	us engineers to looks scruffy and untrustworthy. If so I think they're
	wrong.

			Alfred

    Chris, instead of including your picture, how about including a book of
    stamps?  ;^)

    
    I'm just going to send them a picture of Kevin Costner or the Hunk de
    Jour...  ;-)
    

I play in a band, and we recently had pictures taken
for the purposes of marketing ourselves.  So I've seen
the prices for photolith reproduction on glossy paper.
It's my belief that, even at the huge volume that DCU
will be printing, the cost is enormously high compared
to simply putting text to paper.  

I'd wager that for the 21 candidates (or thereabouts)
candidates that are on the ballot, each could have
an entire 1/4 page of text for the same price.

Note that I have no real data from DCU to confirm this,
just the experience of pricing similar materials from
various companies.

It has occured to me that perhaps the request for a
B&W photograph (which is usually done professionally
by a studio) on such short notice (1 week) might be
some attempt to get "those dang engineers" looking
pretty unwashed and unprofessional.  If this really
is what they're up to (which sounds entirely too
paranoid to me, btw), methinks they've tactically
blundered (again).

Sometimes there's just no predicting what they'll
do next.  It's clear to, though, that this "150 words
or less saves big bucks" argument doesn't hold water.

/chris

    When it comes to voting, some folks will pay just as much (or more) 
    attention to the pictures as they will to the 150-words.  The
    successful candidates in this election will do likewise, IMO.
    
    Steve

    re .14
    
    I doubt they will go to that extreme.  They will probably just dither
    the pictures (like a newspaper) and print them.  No real expense, most
    desktop scanners can do it.

re: .16

Don't be too sure...last thing I heard was that they were preferring
negatives to prints.  That kinda implies something more sophisticated
than scanning it in with a Macintosh.

But, I hope you're right!

./chris

    I've put together programs for sporting and theatrical events. 
    Printing pictures is no big deal.

    "worth a thousand words" was probably the cost-justification.

    Are you in favor of pictures in place of words?

Re: .20

I would prefer to have additional words rather than a photo.
It's not important to me what somebody looks like, but rather
how & what they think.  If it were up to me, I'd say go for
additional words.

./chris

    What I don't understand is the benefit of pictures in this case.
    Does how I look effect the kind of job I can do on the BoD? I don't
    think so. Are people going to vote for/against people because they
    are pretty/ugly? I don't think so. What is this for?

    		Alfred

    I don't think the picture would be an issue if the word limitation
    weren't so small.  So this discussion is really against the word
    limitation, not against the pictures themselves.

�Are people going to vote for/against people because they
�    are pretty/ugly? 
    
    Some have alleged that this has been the case in local and national
    elections.
    
    At the very least, people do like to be able to associate a face with a
    name.

re: .23

I think the issue is a couple things:

1.  Stinky rules about word counts
2.  Need for pictures
3.  DCU's explanations

We've been up and down the road with (1), and I'll risk 
flames by saying that it's a safe bet that nearly 
everybody who notes here would  like to see a higher 
word count.

DCU has said that it is limiting word counts to save money.
But at the same time, they are using space (at whatever it 
costs) to print pictures.  Now, if we assume that it doesn't
matter whether you're laying down pictures or text and the
cost is the same, then there exists an inconsistency between
what DCU says and what it does (surprise surprise).

Personally, I could care less about an individual's 
appearance (or lack thereof).  Whether or not they are
either attractive or not matters not in issues of competency.
To this same end, I don't care about a person's gender,
race, religion, or anything else.  When I look at a candidate,
I want to know what they stand for, what they believe in,
and what they will do.  I'd also like to know what their
credentials are, and maybe what inspired them to run.
A picture just doesn't say anything to me, and I certainly
hope that someone's photo would not count as a determining
factor in any election! 

Given that it's hard to pack all that data into 150 words
(having just finished my version 1 of the writeup, I have
some appreciation for "economy of verbosity"), it just 
seems logical to lose the notion of pictures and allow
candidates to say more.

So, I'm left considering that there is no real reason for
a photo, and that it's a waste of time.  I've already 
commented on the short notice, and implications thereof,
but I really think that's a bit conspiratorial.  I think
it's just someone's realization of a dumb idea.

./chris

Anybody have a picture of Elvis I can borrow? :-)

Requiring a picture smells like discrimination to me.
I can't believe that something that is not ok for a job application is 
ok for BOD candidate applications.  
Possible discriminations re: age, race, etc.

I am concerned about that and did let the DCU know.  Patty D'??? is supposed 
to call me back tomorrow to discuss...

    
    I see no valid reason to include pictures and several valid arguments
    against them (ie discrimination possibilities).  Particularly since
    there is so much that needs to be SAID by the candidates.  A waste of
    valuable space and money IMO.
    
    I think there will be many people who won't read the statements (21)
    but may scan the pictures.  Now we have been told that they will be
    GROUPED TOGETHER.  Does anybody think that people will scan the
    pictures and try to determine who or which group LOOKS LIKE A DIRECTOR?
    Everybody has pre-conceived notions of what certain people look like, 
    right?  Besides, given all that has transpired, I have to believe that 
    DCU will do NOTHING that works to its disadvantage.
    

> Does anybody think that people will scan the
>    pictures and try to determine who or which group LOOKS LIKE A DIRECTOR?
>    Everybody has pre-conceived notions of what certain people look like, 
>    right?  Besides, given all that has transpired, I have to believe that 
>    DCU will do NOTHING that works to its disadvantage.
 

	But Phil you look like such a reasonable guy in person. The wild eyed
	raving lunatic some would have people believe you are will not show
	up in print. This may in fact work to the disadvantage of the incumbents
	who have other ideas of what you should look like.

				Alfred   

    Look at proxy statements that come to corporate shareholders.  At least
    half of them that I've seen print pictures of all the directors and
    director nominees.  So what's the big deal.
    
    My personal preference is to associate a face with a name in _all_
    dealings, even down to looking at the dust cover pictures in novels. 
    Reply .23 has it right on, though -- the pictures wouldn't be an issue
    with a reasonable word limit in candidate statements.
    
    Wes

       Just make sure you have that nice suitcoat on Phil. They won't know
    you're wearing shorts though!
                                       Denny 8^)

>	But Phil you look like such a reasonable guy in person. The wild eyed
>	raving lunatic some would have people believe you are will not show
>	up in print. This may in fact work to the disadvantage of the incumbents
>	who have other ideas of what you should look like.
    
	Why thank you Alfred.  I think...
    

>                                      <<< Note 437.26 by PLOUGH::KINZELMAN "Paul Kinzelman" >>>
>                                                     -< Short notice, but ... >-
>
>Anybody have a picture of Elvis I can borrow? :-)

    You mean that was not Elvis in the airplane?!?!?!!!  I could have
    sworn.....
    
    :-)
    
    	- mark
    

    I hope that DCU isn't paying for or otherwise assisting in obtaining 
    pictures for the Nomination Committee choices.  If that were the case
    I think a formal complaint would be in order.  Politicians have long
    recognized the advantage in having a professional picture out there to
    help win votes.  You can be that a lot of people will pick the
    candidate that has a snazzy photo over one that had somebody shoot and
    picture of them with a Polaroid and a bland background.  
    
    Steve

Well, I think we've worn the 'picture thread' fairly thin.

'Nuff said gang....howzabout we let this picture issue RIP?
They're doing it, some of us don't like it, and some of
us do.  

There's a lot more important issues to worry about now 
than this.

./chris

The following, minus one "redaction" for the P&P (it would be against
the P&P to ask for votes), is what I submitted to DCU this morning 
for my 150 word statement.  Mr. Moderator, I trust that you will be
in contact if this somehow violates any Digital Policies.

=====================================================================
                  
I'm a REAL CHOICES candidate supporting conservative fiscal policy,
common sense management, and open communication.   Credit unions
should be managed by professionals,  with strategic supervision from a
truly representative Board. I support increasing member involvement in
oversight committees.   Emphasis must be returned to helping members,
with equitable profit sharing.

My degree (Central Michigan University, 1986) is Computer Science,
with a business oriented minor.  After working for small firms, and
founding a company, I joined Digital in 1989 as a software engineer.
After board attempts to impose fees on basic services, I worked on the
Special Meeting petition drive, and helped spread the word about the
participation loan situation which has cost so much money.

DCU resources must benefit members, not Cape Cod developers.
Voting for me is voting AGAINST past failed policies, and FOR a DCU
which serves the membership.

    Solid statement! - thanks for all your work for the membership over
    the last six months.  I hope we'll have you on the BoD in April.
    
    Jack