I received a message from Bill Oberdieck, VP District VII, candidate for AMA President.
Hi I am Bill Oberdieck AMA District 7 VP. I am a candidate for the Academy of Model Aeronautics Presidency. In a few days you will be getting your ballots and AMA membership renewals. Please VOTE and send your ballot to the proper address NOT WITH YOUR RENEWAL. I am asking all AMA members to visit my web site
I forwarded the following message to all the recipients on Mr. Oberdieck's message to me.
From: Red Scholefield To: All recipients of the Oberdieck mailing Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 8:20 AM Subject: [AMA_D7] Re: AMA Presidency
In a few days you will be getting your ballots and AMA membership renewals. Please VOTE and send your ballot to the proper address NOT WITH YOUR RENEWAL.
Campaign Statement of Dave Mathewson Candidate for AMA President
My name is Dave Mathewson and I'm running for the office of AMA President. I am currently the AMA District 2 Vice President, having held this position for the last four years. Prior to this I was an Associate Vice President for both John Grigg and Wes DeCou.
I have outlined a vision and a set of goals that I believe would enhance AMA 's ability to serve our members and advance model aviation. Times change, and AMA needs to make a shift in what have been our priorities.
I believe we need to focus more on promoting model aviation as a worthwhile, recreational activity. This positive exposure would pay off primarily in our efforts to acquire and retain flying sites, our top priority in District 2 during my time here. In fact, AMA's opportunity to testify before a Congressional Committee in Washington, D.C. investigating recreational uses of federally owned lands was a direct result of the work of our members in District 2. Our emphasis on acquiring flying sites led to a dialog with the Commissioner of Parks in New York State that resulted in the implementation of a pilot program to determine the compatibility of modeling activities in the New York State Parks System. Other efforts led to a meeting with the Northeast Director of the US Fish &Wildlife Service. These are the types of efforts I would like to see AMA more involved in on a national level.
We need to continue to support our members who fly competitively. They are part of our original foundation that always has been and always will be a part of AMA. Yet we need to focus more on our members who fly for fun; our largest and fastest growing segment. In 2002 I created an annual District 2 Fly In to help promote that concept. It has become a way for our sport members to come together to meet and fly with those from other clubs in a relaxed atmosphere, the ultimate goal being to enhance their modeling experience.
The average age of our members continues to rise. We need to focus more on education and attracting young people into our hobby. Our best resource to realize this goal lies with our members. For you to be able to accomplish this task we need to provide you with as much support as we can. This is why in 2001 I appointed the first AMA District 2 Education Coordinator. We need to recognize and react to the rapidly growing number of new modelers, many of them teenagers and younger, entering the hobby through "park flyer" type models. Our goal should be to help educate these new modelers concerning issues such as interference and safety. We should do this primarily as a benefit to our existing members. But we also need to recognize that these new modelers may represent both model aviation's and AMA's future. Many will soon begin to move towards a more diverse form of model aviation. Our job should then be to make them more aware of AMA, our system of chartered clubs, and invite them to become a part of the world's largest sport aviation organization.
Advancements in technology have taken model aviation to new levels. It's not realistic to expect every member of the Executive Council to be an expert in every discipline. Yet we are still charged with creating guidelines under which our members fly, a difficult task at best. To address this problem we need to include those who participate in a discipline in setting guidelines for that discipline. Seeking the input of our Special Interest Groups is a good first step. Part of AMA's mission is a commitment to scientific/technical development. We need to allow our members the latitude to experiment, to try new things, and not stifle their creative efforts. We need to embrace new technologies and encourage those that offer these new technologies to help find a way to safely incorporate them into model aviation. We need to do this without creating an underlying risk to our members' ability to enjoy model aviation. At times this won't be easy, but an effort needs to be made and solutions need to be found.
A trend has developed over the last few years where liability concerns are driving the direction of our Safety Code. I believe this is a mistake. Most of our members make an effort to fly safely. I believe a better alternative would be to tailor the Safety Code to encourage reasonable, safe flying practices without individually targeting certain styles of flying. Then we need to ask for your help to ensure that we all fly within those guidelines. It's you who can be our biggest source of help in implementing a program to reduce risks.
I believe all of these areas need increased attention, yet not at the expense of some of what we are already doing. Our efforts with regard to frequencies, and cementing relationships with government agencies to ensure your continued right to enjoy our hobby should not be overlooked.
Finally, I am a proponent of term limits. I raised the issue before the Executive Council in 2001. I think we owe a debt to the current president for his quarter century of work on behalf of AMA as a member of the Executive Council. But a member organization like ours regularly needs new people with new visions and new enthusiasm to remain a viable, thriving organization whose mission is to meet the needs of the members. I believe that I possess these qualities and I ask for your vote and the opportunity to lead AMA into the future.
Dave Mathewson AMA VP District II
Also regardless of who you vote for it is important to vote this year for the AMA presidential election. If the last US presidential election taught us anything it is that EVERY vote counts. In this case more so, considering that only about 10% of the AMA members have voted in the past. Take the 5 seconds this year and fill out the little postcard and have your vote be heard.
This is the year we can make a difference, lets not blow it!
Red Scholefield AMA 951 Dist. V Leader Member/CD
Mr. Oberdieck was unhappy.
From: "Bill Oberdieck" To: The same list as above. Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 11:12 AM Subject: Re: [AMA_D7] Re: AMA Presidency
TO ALL THAT RECEIVED A EMAIL FROM BILL OBERDIECK REGARDING THE AMA ELECTION. MY SINCERE APOLOGIES FOR ALLOWING YOUR ADDRESS TO BE PRINTED AND THEREBY SUBJECTING YOU TO INVASION OF PRIVACY BY RED SCHOENFIELD AND DAVE MATHEWSON. MY DEEPEST APOLIGIES BILL OBERDIECK
And he included the same message re: Dave Mathewson that I had posted above.
For the record - Dave Mathewson had nothing to do with my posting of his campaign material to the same addressees that received the posting from Mr. Oberdieck.
Fair and balanced reporting - You be the judge!
-- Red Scholefield AMA 951 Dist. V Leader Member/CD