Hello,
I was born the eldest of four into a prosperous WASP familyin southern Cali. I squandered pretty much every opportunity given tome, a West Point appointment, a scholarship to Virginia Tech, those sortsof things. We moved a lot so I never really developed any long termfriendships. I received many "citations” during my four years inthe military. However, those where not the kind you wear on youruniform, they were Article 15's of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.I wasn't at the "appointed place at the appointed time". I chafe atauthority.
Upon my honorable discharge from the military I returned toCali and pretty much lived as a 1%'er for a few years. In 1980 SiliconValley called and I went to work as a design engineer to VP of Engineeringfor a number of tech firms in the valley. They included TeledyneMEC, M/A-COM, ThermoFisher Scientific and MBARI among others.
During that time I became a pillar in the community, whoknew, and was, and still am, involved with non-profits, all501(c)(3) orgs. Additionally, my wife, MBA in Non-Profit Management fromthe Anderson School of UCLA, has been intimately involved in all aspectsof non-profits. She is currently assisting Burning Man in its transitionfrom a LLC to a 501(c)(3). This has been a difficult process fraughtwith politics and leadership issues. Hmmm.
Now, about Amsat: Amsat is not a corporation. It has nocompensated senior management, it doesn't issue stock and it can't besold, taken over or merged. What Amsat is; a club chartered/incorporated underthe articles of 501(c) paragraph 3 which stipulates that it can be aneducational org. Donations can be deducted from the donor’s taxes. A(7) is a social club and donations may not be deducted. You've no doubtheard of political non-profits, the donations to them may not be deductedbut they are used to shield where their money that they distributecomes from.
Amsat was chartered in 1969 and IMHO the by-laws are out ofdate. The mission statement and by-laws need to be revamped. Thereneeds to be more members on the BOD. The served terms should be 3 years.There should be term limits so current members rotate off. Thisinsures there is no entrenchment of an "old guard" and thereis an infusion of new ideas and talent.
Is Amateur Radio growing? I have no idea, nor does anyoneelse. Is Amsat growing? Same. The satellite biz has changed dramatically.It has become VERY commercialized. I posted an email from a knowledgeable outsideobserver a while back that discussed this.
Is there anyone on the BOD or within the GM, who can pick upa phone and make a personal call to Jeff Bezos, Dmitry Rogozin,Richard Branson, Elon Musk, Hiroshi Yamakawa, Jim Bridenstine, orZhang Kejian? I hesitate to guess that the answer is "No",though I threw a ringer in there. These are all young people who wereprobably born after 1969.
How does Amsat move forward? Amsat needs to have a dynamicBOD who operates in a fair, honest and open manner and is willing to revampthe mission statement and by-laws to reflect an exciting organizationfocused on education. The GM needs to be invited to BOD meetings and seethe results of said meetings. By meeting with any/all of the aboveindividuals, Amsat can show them that the club is providing the interestand educational directions for young people to become the newengineers/scientists that these space organizations are going to requireto be viable in the future.
BTW, status quo, anger, personal attacks and/or the airing ofdirty laundry is the antithesis to Amsat moving forward.
Just sayin’…..
--- Ciao baby, catch you on the flip side 73 de W3AB/GEO
You can say "over", you can say "out", you just can't say "over and out".
AMSAT, formally known as the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, is a nonprofit corporation, pursuant to the District of Columbia Non-profit Corporation Act. AMSAT was organized as an exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, exclusively for scientific purposes. It was not organized as nor does it operate as a club or an educational organization. Furthermore, there is no legal requirement for a nonprofit corporation to issue shares or have compensated management. To say otherwise is completely false! AMSAT does have a dynamic Board of Directors, and it does operate in a fair, honest, and open manner. The few members who state otherwise are being disengenuous for their own political purpose. The few others are only parroting what they have been told. You are correct that the space industry has changed dramatically, due in part to AMSAT's success with smallsats. These changes have brought both regulatory and economic challenges for AMSAT. Our Directors are well aware of this and have not only been steadfastly working to keep amateur radio in space, but, also, push the envelope of scientific discovery. AMSAT is on the right path. Through it's GOLF Program, they are working to allow us to return to HEO. Yes, we have been there before, but not under the current regulatory environment. In addition, GOLF satellites will include SDR technologies and microwave experimentation. I am excited about AMSAT's future, and, judging by our steady growth in membership, so is everyone else.
Robert Bankston, KE4AL
Robert Bankston says no. But IARU says yes! From https://www.iaru.org/on-the-air/satellites/ "AMSAT: The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation was first formed in the USA in 1969 as an educational organisation".
Hmm. Is there anything to that?
The bylaws submitted with the articles of incorporation of AMSAT say "exclusively for scientific purposes", but right after that, they say "B. Encouraging development of skills and the advancement of specialized knowledge in the art and practice of amateur radio communications and space science."
That is very definitely an educational mission.
What AMSAT is _not_ is an accredited institution of higher learning, or any other form of school that would require licensing, certification, or accreditation. But it is educational. Surprise :-)
The rest of your message, Robert, is more denial than argument. I will address it if you can muster a cogent argument.
Thanks
Bruce
Bruce,
When people get together to start a club, let's say for woodworking or any other craft, they likely have some gear, have some outreach taking place, are up to doing some good and probably end up doing it because people ask them to set up a charity so they can donate to it (for $ reasons). That, and maybe because it is easier to rent space, get insurance, for activities, etc... When most groups go to set up an entity like this, the Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, and all the legal documents are usually drafted quickly, just to get it going, without a serious amount of thought given to the problems that can occur. Because, at the time, it's usually a group of people that are already working really well together, getting along and they just want to spend the minimum amount of $ to get it done. That's what I imagine at least. Unlike, say, what lots of companies do, putting up a ton of capital in to make sure every i is dotted and t is crossed and every path of the corporate/social decision tree of chaos is accounted for (like having codes of conduct and anti-discrimination rules written up that noone ever actually reads but are just there to be used to defend the business in-the-event-of-some-issue). Because unfortunately in the business world there are people out there, on a mission to explicitly screw everyone over. I do not see what cherry-picking on all this really matters in AMSATs case. Does it somehow?
I think it's an entirely scientific practice to share your experiences and findings with others. It's above my pay grade to determine whether that's education out of Websters dictionary or the proper noun of Education out of the wizard-of-smart dictionary or defined term in some legal document.
Joseph Armbruster
KJ4JIO
On Sun, Aug 9, 2020 at 1:18 AM Bruce Perens via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
Robert Bankston says no. But IARU says yes! From https://www.iaru.org/on-the-air/satellites/ "AMSAT: The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation was first formed in the USA in 1969 as an educational organisation".
Hmm. Is there anything to that?
The bylaws submitted with the articles of incorporation of AMSAT say "exclusively for scientific purposes", but right after that, they say "B. Encouraging development of skills and the advancement of specialized knowledge in the art and practice of amateur radio communications and space science."
That is very definitely an educational mission.
What AMSAT is _not_ is an accredited institution of higher learning, or any other form of school that would require licensing, certification, or accreditation. But it is educational. Surprise :-)
The rest of your message, Robert, is more denial than argument. I will address it if you can muster a cogent argument.
Thanks
Bruce _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
At a glance, AMSAT should have three legs:
1) Education Outreach 2) Industrial Technology 3) Member Services
Perhaps the Board should be stacked in this proportion with advocates from each of these three legs.
The phrase "exclusively for scientific purposes" is hopefully intended to aim for noble purposes that exclude for-profit monetization of technology and patent trolling.
73
BTW, patience is a virtue. Personal attacks are not. Better to debate ideas - not personalities.
Robert MacHale . KE6BLR FCC Licensed Radio Operator . http://www.aprsat.com/predict . http://www.spaceCommunicator.club%C2%A0 . Supporting Boy Scout Merit Badges in Radio, Robotics, and Space Exploration Silly Joke: What did the little mountain say to the bigger mountain? Hi Cliff! He who dares not offend cannot be honest. -- THOMAS PAINE
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self. -- ERNEST HEMINGWAY
On Saturday, August 8, 2020, 10:18:47 PM PDT, Bruce Perens via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
Robert Bankston says no. But IARU says yes! From https://www.iaru.org/on-the-air/satellites/ "AMSAT: The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation was first formed in the USA in 1969 as an educational organisation".
Hmm. Is there anything to that?
The bylaws submitted with the articles of incorporation of AMSAT say "exclusively for scientific purposes", but right after that, they say "B. Encouraging development of skills and the advancement of specialized knowledge in the art and practice of amateur radio communications and space science."
That is very definitely an educational mission.
What AMSAT is _not_ is an accredited institution of higher learning, or any other form of school that would require licensing, certification, or accreditation. But it is educational. Surprise :-)
The rest of your message, Robert, is more denial than argument. I will address it if you can muster a cogent argument.
Thanks
Bruce
_______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
participants (5)
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Bruce Perens -
GEO Badger -
Joseph Armbruster -
Robert Bankston -
Robert MacHale