drLaser
Member
In a recent thread titled "North American access to drLaser", I noted that access within North America to the technical drLaser articles would once again be restricted to only ILCA-NA members. I noted that "this policy change was not requested by ILCA-NA and is necessitated by a planned publication."
Yes, the rationale above was noted as a courtesy to our new NA leadership, to prevent any public misperceptions at the wake of the recent NA elections. But it is also true that drLaser intended to publish an article that only ILCA Membership should have access to.
For the past month, I have been working on an article about a new, experimental Laser fixture designed and developed by an ILCA member (not me). The design was previously brought to the attention of ILCA, tested, and was then completely re-engineered. It was recently submitted for the review of the ILCA World Council and the ILCA Technical and Measurement Committee. The designer had hoped that coverage on drLaser would inform the Laserites world-wide and offer an objective, class-independent, sailors' view to ILCA.
Preparing the article, drLaser also wanted to reflect the past and current views of the World Council, the Advisory Committee and some Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) on this new Laser fitting. During this correspondence, it became evident that some members of the ILCA World Council had such negative views of the drLaser web site that they did not want to share their views with the Lasering public via the drLaser web site.
Now, I had an ethical obligation to inform the designer that publication on drLaser may not be viewed as something positive by certain members of the World Council. After consulting with sponsoring institutions, the designer decided that we would all be better off if we did not present this design to the Lasering world right now via drLaser.
So... you're not going to read about this new fixture on drLaser in the near future.
In retrospect, what we have here is a few individuals within the World Council who are (perceived to be) so powerful that an independent hardware designer and an OEM company can not overlook the possibility of antagonizing them merely by their choice of publication medium (or rather, since drLaser is unfortunately the only available medium of its kind, scope and reach -- by their decision to publicize). That's a loss for independent Lasering media. That's a loss for our Class. That's a loss for the Laser sailors.
What's more agonizing is the completely dumbfounding rationale offered by these World Council members for viewing the drLaser web site as something negative. IMHO, their views were untenable back in March 2003, and they have not educated themselves one bit since then. Yes, drLaser web site can be dangerous, but to such persons as individuals, not to the Class. We have seen numerous examples of that since 1996.
Even more dumbfounding is that some of these World Council members can act based on their blind convictions in totally unethical and unprofessional manners, exercising their heavy, autocratic hands to prevent the Lasering public from benefiting from the content offered by the drLaser web site.
It looks like the elections that have surgically removed the cancer within ILCA-NA have failed to clarify what is intolerable. The ILCA World Council may need a good clean-up, too!
Sincerely,
Shevy Gunter
Editor, drLaser
http://www.drLaser.org
Member, ILCA
Yes, the rationale above was noted as a courtesy to our new NA leadership, to prevent any public misperceptions at the wake of the recent NA elections. But it is also true that drLaser intended to publish an article that only ILCA Membership should have access to.
For the past month, I have been working on an article about a new, experimental Laser fixture designed and developed by an ILCA member (not me). The design was previously brought to the attention of ILCA, tested, and was then completely re-engineered. It was recently submitted for the review of the ILCA World Council and the ILCA Technical and Measurement Committee. The designer had hoped that coverage on drLaser would inform the Laserites world-wide and offer an objective, class-independent, sailors' view to ILCA.
Preparing the article, drLaser also wanted to reflect the past and current views of the World Council, the Advisory Committee and some Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) on this new Laser fitting. During this correspondence, it became evident that some members of the ILCA World Council had such negative views of the drLaser web site that they did not want to share their views with the Lasering public via the drLaser web site.
Now, I had an ethical obligation to inform the designer that publication on drLaser may not be viewed as something positive by certain members of the World Council. After consulting with sponsoring institutions, the designer decided that we would all be better off if we did not present this design to the Lasering world right now via drLaser.
So... you're not going to read about this new fixture on drLaser in the near future.
In retrospect, what we have here is a few individuals within the World Council who are (perceived to be) so powerful that an independent hardware designer and an OEM company can not overlook the possibility of antagonizing them merely by their choice of publication medium (or rather, since drLaser is unfortunately the only available medium of its kind, scope and reach -- by their decision to publicize). That's a loss for independent Lasering media. That's a loss for our Class. That's a loss for the Laser sailors.
What's more agonizing is the completely dumbfounding rationale offered by these World Council members for viewing the drLaser web site as something negative. IMHO, their views were untenable back in March 2003, and they have not educated themselves one bit since then. Yes, drLaser web site can be dangerous, but to such persons as individuals, not to the Class. We have seen numerous examples of that since 1996.
Even more dumbfounding is that some of these World Council members can act based on their blind convictions in totally unethical and unprofessional manners, exercising their heavy, autocratic hands to prevent the Lasering public from benefiting from the content offered by the drLaser web site.
It looks like the elections that have surgically removed the cancer within ILCA-NA have failed to clarify what is intolerable. The ILCA World Council may need a good clean-up, too!
Sincerely,
Shevy Gunter
Editor, drLaser
http://www.drLaser.org
Member, ILCA