

Greetings, from another place and another time.

Where to start?

I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to those in the GRASS
community who have continuously supported the GRASSHopper-based
monthly periodical called Chirp! even after it became clear that our
production schedule would not hold up if we couldn't find more
writers.

If you take a quick peek at my new .signature below, you'll notice
that I am no longer posting from Open Pathways in Bellingham,
Washington, but from USACERL in Champaign, IL. Due to the nature of my
new day job here at CERL, I will no longer be able to play exactly the
same role in the Chirp! enterprise as before -- both due to time
constraints and due to the potential for conflict-of-interest
complaints. Although numerous details still have to be hammered out,
Marina Schneider will continue to maintain Open Pathways as a going
concern. For the time being, she can be reached by phone or fax at
+1-217-359-5782.

For the production of Chirp! to get underway again, two things need to
happen: (a) the LegalExperts need to sort out the ways and means of
avoiding conflict-of-interest problems; and (b) more members of the
GRASS community need to offer to do part of the GRASSHopper-based
writing (analyzing message traffic on certain subjects and writing
fresh review articles covering this material -- at regular intervals
or as the volume of traffic dictates), since 60 pages/month is way too
much for just two or three de facto volunteers who all have day jobs.

Marina will inform these lists of the new situation as soon as (a) has
happened. After that, she will entertain offers concerning (b). I'll
ask her to post something here as soon as she has Internet access.

I hope that this solution meets with the approval of our long-standing
supporters as well as the GRASS community at large. I know that the
team so far involved with the production of Chirp! is very much
looking forward to getting this show on the road.

I'm sorry for the awkwardness these changes engender during the
transition.


-- Mark

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Mark P. Line
Control Data Systems, Inc.

GRASS Development Project Manager   phone +1-217-352-6511 ext. 6600
USACERL                               fax +1-217-373-6724
P.O. Box 9005		            email Mark.Line@cdc.com
Champaign, IL 61826-9005                  line@ginko.cecer.army.mil
USA
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