<CORSA Chapters> Comments Concerns - Student Membership policy

[Vairtec at optonline.net]

I cannot say that this proposal has captivated my imagination.

Many organizations offer "junior" memberships, which are generally 
limited to persons under the upper age range of this proposal.  I can 
understand the reasons for terming it a "student" membership -- what 
young person wants to be labeled as "junior" -- but I am surprised to 
find it encompassing persons older than age 18.

Personally, I think that such a membership should be limited to 
persons under age 18, but making the assumption that it is students 
we wish to target, not just younger people, how 'bout we define 
eligibility based on student status instead of age?  How 'bout 
defining student as those younger than age 18, enrolled in primary or 
secondary schools (elementary, middle, and high school), and those 
age above age 18 enrolled full-time in two-year or four-year 
undergraduate colleges.  No grad students, no doctoral candidates, 
but some flexibility on age.

Next, I am really perplexed by the notion of providing with this 
membership every-other issue of the Communique.  That's like getting 
a student ticket to a show but you have to leave at intermission.  If 
the object is, as stated, "to employ a strategy to acquire a deeper 
membership base for the future - but also provide a mechanism to 
allow the mentorship of grandparents, parents, aunts & uncles, 
brother & sisters, guardians etc.," then it should not and cannot be 
a "half" membership.  Half-price, sure -- that's what student 
discounts are all about -- but not half of the product.

Obviously, this every-other issue scheme is intended to save costs, 
but it defeats the purpose of the program.  If you want to save costs 
on student membership, develop a real way of delivering Communique 
content electronically and do that for student memberships.

But in sum, I don't like it.  It is deck-chair re-arranging.  Yes, I 
think that we ought to develop some kind of junior membership for 
minors, but what we have to offers to those juniors at present is a 
pretty stale organization.  And, to judge by this proposal, half of a 
pretty stale organization.

--Bob Marlow