Continued from previous message.

    Treatment of the six theft victims is an other achievement of the 
club's 75th year. They are left in the dark for timely substantial 
competent news and advice from O'Gara. He so far hasn't given the 
victims (or the club!) a bona fide written account of the meetings he 
had with the building managers. The victims have only hearsay and 
rumors to live with. 
    President O'Gara hasn't even obtained for the victims copies of 
the police report of the theft. Victims NEED this document to properly 
treat their loss for 2003 income tax, work with their personal 
insurance carrier, and interact with the club's and landlord's legal 
and insurance representatives. 
    O'Gara declared that the Board's vote at its 2003 November 19 
meeting to establish a donation fund for the victims was premature. He 
did this with no Board's review and study of his reasons, no showing of 
substantial verifiable evidence, no requesting a reversal or revote, 
no offer of a substitute plan to care for the victims. It is likely 
that some seatholders remain unaware of this overthrow of their vote; 
Mike noted his action only in his message in Eyepiece, 2004 January. 
    It looks increasingly likely that the victims will have to fend 
for themselfs and give up on an association of amateur astronomers. 

NYSkies
 -----
    Astronomers are exploiting NYSkies as a quick, handy, friendly, and
potent source of astronomy news relating to the City. And there is
LOTS of astronomy stuff going on around New York! Since it revived on
28 September 2001 (it was interrupted by World Trade Center) NYSkies
became the definitive forum and public record for matters bearing on
home astronomy in and around New York.
    Granted, some of the banter relates particularly to the Amateur
Astronomers Association. It's the major astronomy union in town and
every home astronomer around here eventually runs up against it. It
pays to listen to those discussions (rants? blusters? tirades?), even
if you opt out of playing in them. At the least, you take into account
the words of the senior members before joining the Association. Or you
can let NYSkies dialog modulate your choice to renew AAA membership.
    NYSkies is the soapbox the AAA Board and rank-&-file had to speak
out on various Association problems. They turned to NYSkies simply
because the AAA as yet does not have a good faith sincere forum for
its own members within itself.
    Joining NYSkies is easy. Send an empty email to this Yahoo
maillist at 'nysky-subscribe{at}yahoogroups.com'. Its posts are sent to
you in your email and you post to it by email. It's that simple!
    Or you may go to 'groups.yahoo.com/group/nysky'. If you are already
signed up with Yahoo, you go and sign in and then 'join' NYSkies. If
not, you have to go thru a silly 'registration' that's a oneshot
chore, valid for all groups you may eventually join. The files and
calendar area of NYSkies are accessible only thru the website.


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