-=> On 04-17-06  07:54,  Ward Dossche <=-
 -=> spoke to Dale Shipp about Re: none <=-
 
 > What was the vote?   I thought someone posted it and the majority of
 > those voting prefered a switch?


 WD> That is the eternally unanswerable question of "What is a
majority?".

  Usually a well defined term.   What is often fuzzy is when you put "of
  what" at the end of that sentence.   I said "majority of those
  voting".   Your response implies that it is accurate to say that the
  majority of those voting prefered a switch, albeit by a slim margin.

 WD> In the specific case the army of voters was somewhere 
 WD> around 4-5,000 people at the time the referendum was 
 WD> launched. Of these 615, replied to the poll. Of these some 
 WD> 55%, i.e. 300-310 answered, in an affirmative manner "one 
 WD> way or the other", but not in a conclusive way.

    Hmm, 55% of 615 sounds like the vote was about 337 to 278 in favor
    of moving.

    [added later:  In another message you stated that 561 responded.
    55% of 561 would be 308, in line with the rest of what you said.
    Did your fingers get twisted?  ]
 WD> So how can 310 people out of a group of 5,000 constitute a majority?

  I've seen 33 out of 10,000 be called a unanimous vote (i.e. in take
  over of FN_SYSOP).

 WD> In which manner were the 4,000+ sysops contacted? Were they 
 WD> all contacted? Did the poll reach them all? Did the 
 WD> majority vote with their feet?

  Those are important questions -- the answers to which be relevant in
  any such situation.  What are the answers in this situation?  I'd
  think that is something the IC would like to hear.

 WD> My view on this? The poll seems to have been conducted in a 
 WD> less than thorough manner.

  Could be -- I have no way of knowing, and it is not something that I
  have any great concern with.  I only said something because what
  xxCarol was saying did not quite fit with what I had seen posted here.

  If the two of you require a majority of *all* sysops to express a
  desire to move, then you know that will never happen.   It would be
  harder than getting a majority of all RCs to say anything, and you and
  I have had experience with how hard that was to make happen (in
  another context -- at another time).

  With all of that said, I shall retreat back into the shadows and leave
  the discussion to the two of you and the IC.

                               Dale Shipp
                  fido_261_1466 (at) comcast (dot) net
                              (1:261/1466)


... Shipwrecked on Hesperus in Columbia, Maryland. 22:41:09, 17 Apr 2006
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