> You're still making it to the Texas Gulf, but you seem to have
 > lost some  passengers along the way.
 > Unsolicited Opinion Department: About the time you installed a
 > co-moderator, for whatever reason, it appeared the echo lost
 > some of it's free-wheeling, anything-goes-as-long-as-it-somehow-
 > relates-to- the-environment sense of orchestrated chaos.
 > It quit being fun when the echo got civilized.
For what it is worth,  I have rarely posted in here... other than when it was 
obvious that moderation was needed (and usually when James was out of 
pocket)... except for the Patrick Martin situation.  
Also, according to reports all over Fidonet,  nodes have been pulling out 
everywhere, especially those sysops who decide to go Internet with their 
systems after having dealt with running public systems for years under 
Fidonet.  The net I left (back in September, 1995) has diminished by half 
what it was then and nearly 4 times what it was 2 years ago when I was a mere 
user on those systems.  It's something that is going on everywhere (at least 
on this continent).  There was discussion in Fidonews as to what should/could 
be done to slow down the downward trend and how to encourage new folks to put 
up boards or former sysops to put their systems back online.
The internet (and cheap access all over the country) has caused Fidonet's 
demise... Most bbses can't keep up with what can be obtained or done on the 
internet with no ramifications or responsibility imposed on  the  operator.
As far as the echo becoming civilized, I don't really see where anything I 
said was any different than what James would have said (or I would have heard 
about it via netmail from James himself...) If the rules hadn't already been 
established, I wouldn't have had anything to go by (and if I hadn't already 
watched and listened on how he handled situations, I  wouldn't have "smacked" 
any hands!) 
 And FYI, I even offered to withdraw as co-moderator during the Patrick 
Martin fiasco... and  was reluctant to even come off *sabbatical*, for 
personal reasons having nothing to do with the echo.
I even asked James then, if he wanted me to help out or not... It was his 
decision... as it is his theatre...
END OF RELEVANT MESSAGE concerning Echo Administration.
Nancy Wood
Co- Moderator
Any further discussion: email nancy@broadcast.net
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