A Parable for Bill Cook

Wed Sep 26 15:26:19 MDT 2007

 Maybe it is not for students. Maybe the students need to become the staff and receive benefits equal to their contribution and/or sweat equity.

I think the organization needs to think outside of the box to solve real and perceived problems.

Teresa Trujillo
Book Workshop/Mighty Designs
1501 E. Orangethorpe Avenue
Suite 130
Fullerton, California 92831
Phone (714) 525-0882
Fax (714) 879-7156
Cell (714) 926-8343

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanda Heuring <VandaH at nova-tech-eng.com>
To: stc-ac <stc-ac at lists.stc.org>
Sent: Wed, 26 Sep 2007 10:50 am
Subject: [stc-ac] RE: A Parable for Bill Cook

If you don’t have money, don’t eat out. Does
that mean that STC is not for students who wait their way through school with
hope for a well-paying job after graduation?

Vanda Heuring

From:
bounce-stc-ac-345517 at lists.stc.org [mailto:bounce-stc-ac-345517 at lists.stc.org] On Behalf Of tashuff at aol.com

Sent: Wednesday, September 26,
2007 12:47 PM

To: stc-ac

Subject: [stc-ac] A Parable for
Bill Cook

My father has a parable about a group of 12 men who meet
weekly for lunch.

When they first start meeting, the group decides that each of the men will pay
the the same $10 for lunch. Everybody is happy with this arrangement and the
group meets for several years for their weekly lunch. They were all equals.

After several years of equally paying for their own lunches a few of the
members look around the table and realize that the group's lives have changed
and evolved. While three of the group have become successful, another three
have had families, setbacks and hardships. Still, all are seemingly happy that
the lunch contribution is even. Then one member wishing to do something special
offers a payment system for lunch that subsidizes the lunches for the three
neediest members of the group. The neediest member gets a free lunch, the next
neediest pays $5, and the third neediest pays $6. The three wealthiest members
will split the $21 difference in contribution. After all, they can afford
it--right? 

The group takes a vote. The three members who would be subsidized all vote yes.
The man who proposed the nice gesture voted yes and was joined by three others
who thought a nice gesture was in order. All of the men who were going to pick
up the additional $7 and now pay $17 for the lunch that only last week cost
them $10 voted no, and they were joined by two members who also voted no. The
vote was 7 to 5 in favor of changing how them group paid for it's meals. And,
all was fine for a while.

One of the 12 men paying $10 was transfered to a new job and left the group,
and one of the members paying $17 drifted away. The group was now 10 strong,
but the contributions for lunch were only $95 dollars. The members were now
over budget and needed to rethink how they would find the additional $5. 

All members received the same lunch and the same service. 

The discussion was heated and the vote was close, but the group decided that
the $5 was to be split between the third and fourth most affluent members of
the group. Now one member would continue to get a free lunch. Two lunches would
be subsidized at $5 and $6 respectively. Three members would continue to pay
the traditional $10. Two would pay $12.50, and the final two would pay $17.
After all, this was th right thing to do. They continued their weekly lunch.

Then, one of the members paying $17 died, and one of the members paying $12.50
was promoted and transfered out of the area. Their were eight remaining members
attending the weekly lunch. The weekly contribution was now $70.50 for their
$80 bill. 

Minimum wage increases were passed and the prices at the restaurant went up so
lunch was now going to cost another $1.25 per person with tax, and tip. Lunch
was now cost $11.25 per member. Total cost for lunch would now be $90, but
contributions were only going to be $70.50.

The debate was more heated than before. Two of the member contributing $10 just
could not pay anything more than $10 per week. They had families and tuition to
pay. The three subsidized members were still financially strapped. The
remaining three members who were more secure would just have to pick up the
$19.50 deficit if the group was to continue. Each of those members would be
assessed another $6.50 for their lunch. 

Now one member was paying $23.50

Another was paying $19.00

A third member was paying $16.50

Two members were paying $10

One $5

One $6

One paid nothing.

Still, they all got the same meal, and the same service. 

The member paying $23.50 became bitter and left the group. He retired out of
state. Instead of raising the group's rate by $4 across the board, they decided
the split his contribution three ways and have the three more affluent members
pay the additional monies. They added $8 to each of their bills. Again, the
majority was in favor of this.

Now one member was paying $27

Another member was paying $24.50

One member paid $18

One member paid $10

One $5

One $6

One paid nothing.

The three highest contributors to the group decided to leave the lunch circle.
Their interests had changed from the remaining member and they joined other
community groups.

Now four members were responsible for $46, but were only contributing $21
between them. The group of friends disbanded after many years of shared
lunches.

The moral of the story--

There is no such thing as a free lunch.

Teresa Trujillo

Book Workshop/Mighty Designs

1501 E. Orangethorpe Avenue

Suite 130

Fullerton, California 92831

Phone (714) 525-0882

Fax (714) 879-7156

Cell (714) 926-8343

-----Original
Message-----

From: William Cook <billcook50 at hotmail.com>

To: stc-ac <stc-ac at lists.stc.org>

Sent: Tue, 25 Sep 2007 5:13 pm

Subject: [stc-ac] RE: New Dues Structure for 2008

As I just scan this academic section, I am
pleased to see I am not the only one who thinks charity should begin at home.
Some talk of lower costs to foreign members for the sake of morality. But, when
we have given away the parts for our country we haven’t sold, who is going to
offer the same morality to us?

It should be plain through current events
that, as Paul Harvey says, “It’s not one world.”

Do I believe in charity? Several times a
year, I need be concerned for the size of our modest grocery bill. Yet, rain or
shine I give more than $6,000 annually to charitable organizations—more at
Christmas and Thanksgiving. I give freely and thankfully and for the right
reasons. Still, it seems that some look at Americans as a bottomless pit of
money, and that it is our responsibility to subsidize the rest of the world in
any number of arenas. But, how did we inherit that honor. More importantly, who
will take over when we are finally bankrupt as a nation? I do not see any other
nations waiting in the wings just now.

I would like any number of things from any
number of countries that I can’t afford. Because I can’t afford them . . . I
don’t have them. That is called reality. It is what makes people stretch, work
harder, think smarter, plan better. 

No, I don’t think I’m cold. I just think we
need to learn that trying to have our cake and eat it too is foolish. On one
hand, we want to give of our finances to subsidize members abroad. On the other
hand we want to bellyache about how those members abroad are taking our jobs
1-2-3, with certain members seeing nothing wrong with that scenario. 

Here in the shadow of Microsoft and Boeing,
it’s credentials that get you through the door of HR, regardless of what you
really know or can do. I would love to get my masters in TC from Texas Tech.
BUT, not only would I have to take care of a family, work a more than full-time
job, commute 80 miles a day and still find time to perform masters level work
to get the degree, I really have no option; I don’t have the money for out of
state tuition—even though the program is offered over the internet. My family
has been American since 1689 and my family paid taxes in Texas for six years. That, of course,
doesn’t matter. 

Yet, were I fortunate enough to be here
illegally, I could, without ever paying taxes anywhere, qualify for In State
tuition for any number of colleges. 

I’m either more of a moron than I think, or
there is something dreadfully wrong with this picture.

Cheers,

Bill Cook

Gear up for Halo® 3 and get a $25 Best Buy gift card. It’s our way of
saying thanks for using Windows Live™. Get
it now! ---

You are currently subscribed to STC Academic Community as: TAShuff at aol.com. To make changes in your
subscription via the web, or to search the list archives, browse to http://lists.stc.org/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=stc-ac

Use the link above to remove an existing subscription and create a new
subscription with a new email address. 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-stc-ac-345517B at lists.stc.org

 size=2
width="100%" align=center>

Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out
free AOL Mail!

--- You are currently subscribed to STC Academic
Community as: vandah at nova-tech-eng.com. To make changes in your subscription
via the web, or to search the list archives, browse to
http://lists.stc.org/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=stc-ac Use the link above to remove
an existing subscription and create a new subscription with a new email
address. To unsubscribe send a blank email to
leave-stc-ac-319838K at lists.stc.org

---

You are currently subscribed to STC Academic Community as: TAShuff at aol.com. To make changes in your subscription via the web, or to search the list archives, browse to http://lists.stc.org/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=stc-ac

Use the link above to remove an existing subscription and create a new subscription with a new email address.  

To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-stc-ac-319838K at lists.stc.org

________________________________________________________________________
Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - http://mail.aol.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.stc.org/pipermail/stc-ac/attachments/20070926/4443d35e/attachment.html 