>When I mulled over joining the ICPS, the cynics told me that it was just an
American
>society with a pretentious name, and that if I belonged to my national
society it
>would have little to offer. I am pleased to say that the latter is
definitely wrong - the
>newsletter alone is worth the subscription. However while the society has
an
>overwhelming balance of American members and officers, a favourable
subscription
>rate for Americans and an overwhelming concern for US-related CP issues, I
think
>it has some way to go to rid itself of the former jibe.
>Any flame-mails to me privately please.
Nigel,
This doesn't deserve flames at all, but a serious discussion I think. You
raise some interesting and very important points:
<An overwhelming balance of American members and officers>
Rick, did any international members offer their candidacies for ICPS office?
If not, does anybody know why not? Lack of interest, belief that distance
would
mean that their involvement wouldn't be taken seriously? I would hope that
with the advent of e-mail communication at least, that last issue
wouldn't apply. Can any international listserve participants help out with
this one?
<A favorable subscription rate for Americans> Isn't this simply a fact
of postal rates and publishing locations? As a publisher, I have to charge
international subscribers a higher rate to recoup increased shipping costs.
My assumption (please correct me if I'm wrong) is that if I were to
subscribe
to the UK, Australian or German societies, that any subscription materials
would cost me more than they would for subscribers in the home countries.
Are there any suggestions for ways to avoid this? Subscription fees paid in
international reply coupons? Some other way?
<An overwhelming concern for US-related CP issues> This may indeed be true
...
and could simply be a factor of the above issues. I do believe, however
that the ICPS (pretentious or not) can certainly work to improve this,
by broadening its efforts internationally. Rick seems to have a grand
vision for improving the organizational activities of ICPS, and it would
certainly
be important to maintain an international perspective in those efforts.
Any specific suggestions on how to improve the "internationality" of the
organization?
I promise that, if elected ICPS vice president, (and if I can find someone to
fund a
research grant for what will be a now non-profit entity) I promise to make as
many "research" <grin> trips to the UK, Continental Europe, Australia, Asia,
South Africa
and Central and South America as I can!!!!!!!! Nigel, can you put me up for
a couple nights?
Seriously, however, this issue deserves discussion, so I invite anyone and
everyone to
flame me publicly on this one.
Jay Lechtman (L235@aol.com)
Reston, Virginia, USA