EFN April 94 Population: 467 _ ____________________ ___________________ ==| |==1600 /\ \ / / /\ | | / \ +--------------\ / / / \ __| |__1400 / /\ \ \ / / / \ | | / / /\ +--------------\ / / / \ __| |__1200 / / / \ ______________\ / / / \ | | / / / /\ \ / /_____________/ /\ \ __| |__1000 / / / /\ \ / \ / / \ \ |$| / / / / / \____\__________/__________________/ / \ \ __|$|__800 \/ / / / \ /\ /\ \ \ / / |$| \ / / / \ / \ / \ \ \ / / __|$|__600 \ / / / \ / \ \ \ \/ / |$| \ \/ / /\ \ / / \ \ \ / __|$|__400 \ / / \ \/ / \ \ \ / |$| \ / / \ / \ \_____________\ / __|$|__200 \ / / \ / \ \ / |$| \/_____/________\____/ \__________________\/ __|$|__0 "We Fear Change" -- Garth, in Wayne's World :-) /$$$\ ($$$$$) NOW THE TRUTH CAN BE TOLD ! \EFN/ EUGENE FREE NET AND LANE-ONLINE MERGER SECRETS REVEALED! :-) Doubtless, many of you are wondering, "What's all this about a LOL/EFN merger?" It's probably just one vote away now, so to help raise consciousness about what this merger means for all of us, I'll give my perspective here and I'm asking other board members to also write their views for future news/fundraiser messages. I assure you that I was just as suspicious as the most suspicious of you are when the merger idea was first proposed. Unlike Clif, Bruce and Paul (who were board members for BOTH EFN and LOL), I was never involved with LOL at all. LOL was a big unknown for me. I raised my concerns and, after *much* discussion, I'm now satisfied that everything is going to be okay for the following reasons: 1. The resources. The flow of energy through a system acts to organize that system. EFN, on its own, was very short of resources-- money, volunteer energy (besides Clif), and, yes, clout. LOL brought all these kinds of resources to the table. EFN, of course, brought its computer system to the table, up-and-running. The combined organization will be much stronger as a result of both. Last month, for example, we were able to order more modems BEFORE the whole $1200 was raised because a key LOL person let Clif use her/his credit card to charge the modems and then get paid back (we're still working on the paying back, actually). The point is things are already better in *several* ways, because of committed LOL volunteers. 2. The people. Eben Dobson and Steve Barton (the LOL negotiation team) were very patient negotiators and listened carefully to Clif Cox, Paul Harrison and me (the EFN merger negotiation team) raising concerns about LOL's past problems and spouting our sometimes arrogant views of why EFN is so much better. I believe that Eben and Steve sincerely appreciate the EFN breath-of-fresh-air, just-do-it style and have communicated that to the other members of LOL very well. For their part, Eben and Steve convinced us that greater accountability to the public through a governing council would help us to be more inclusive of the larger community and fulfill our purpose as a service to the public. This was a big change from EFN's accountability which was basically "Clif and friends: trust them-- they're nice" :-) 3. The fit. EFN's strengths (no analysis paralysis, technical know-how, grass-roots support) were LOL's weaknesses. LOL's strengths (organization, planning, superior networking with organizations in the larger Eugene community, support from big-time philanthropists, a greater sense of accountability to the larger community) were EFN's weaknesses. Each organization was tremendously lop-sided. Each organization's strengths towered as high as mountain ranges and their weaknesses sank as low as oceanic trenches. To me, it was like looking at a map of the world and noticing that the coastlines of Africa and South America fit together almost perfectly. There's little overlap in the two organizations and not much falls between the cracks either. 4. The Philosophy. The Prime Directive of the combined organization (shall we call it Star Fleet Free Net?, arg :-) is to provide free, unrestricted access to everyone, including the less privileged members of society. We stand opposed to those who would turn the Internet over to commercial interests and "privatize" it. We want the Internet to be public in the sense that the highways are public and the US mail is public and the airwaves are public-- still available for commercial use, under agreements, but owned by the people. We want to educate the populace to expect freedom with regard to information resources and not tolerate attempts to confine it to use by the elite or mold it's content to corporate profit objectives. Both EFN and LOL had this purpose before the merger, so the merger makes a lot of sense from a purpose-of-life point of view. 5. Burdensome Baggage Jettisoned. Many of LOL's previous problems seem to have centered around personality conflicts with one individual who didn't get along with the rest of the group. This person left LOL months ago, but I needed to be convinced that the problems were definitely part of the past. I looked carefully and saw no indication that these problems are still part of LOL. I'm satisfied that the conflict and dis-ease that once crippled LOL has been isolated, removed and will not infect the combined organization. In closing, I'm convinced that the merger is going to benefit all of us (the Virtual community) in several ways. The system will be more reliable, more user-friendly, and more accessible as a result of this merger. There will be more Government information available on line, empowering you, we hope, to a greater level of participation in community matters. EFN and LOL are joining each other. Now it's time for you to join with us! Send in your contribution, upload data, gather information, help find answers to questions facing you as an individuals and for society as a whole. Make friends and influence public policy! We invite you to participate in our experiment and help build a Public Interest telecomputing network. A WORD ON TAX DEDUCTABILITY: Lane OnLine is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 non-profit organization, so you may now make your checks payable to "Lane OnLine" and deduct your contributions on your 1994 taxes. Once the EFN/LOL merger is complete, we are told that you'll all be able to deduct everything you donated to EFN or LOL in 1994 (all the way back to Jan. 1). We suggest $7/month (or more if possible) for individuals to enjoy priority access. However, Only the contributions you make above $7/month are deductable, unless you opt not to receive priority access-- then you can deduct the whole amount. So... Please mail a check today (payable to "Lane OnLine" or "EFN") to: EFN, Attn: Fundraising PO Box 1221 Eugene OR 97440-1221 and write your user-id (login name) on the check. Then send an e-mail message to pledge@efn.org saying how much you're mailing in so we can update the pledge thermometer and add you to the priority access list. Thanks for your support. +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | | Organization Name and e-mail Footer Under Construction..... | | | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+