Selected Articles from the
June 2001 Odyssey

Editor: Terry Hancock

• ISDC 2001 Report, Seth Potter
• OASIS Brings Science to the Last Agamemcon Convention, Steve Bartlett
• The Surf Report, Diane Rhodes

The Surf Report

Diane Rhodes

Space Activism on the Web

It's a quiet evening and you're reading the paper, say, or listening to the radio or watching the evening news....and there it is! ``They're cutting what?!'' or maybe, ``That's great! I really support that!.'' The thing is, where do you go from there, to make your wishes known to your congress-critters, on the subject of space funding or political action? You go on the Web, that's what!

First, you may have voted for Senator Fundsless or Congressman Spaceman but you don't have a current phone book handy, and you need her/his address and/or email information. There are a couple of sites you can go to.

The first is a US Government site which gives you the name and address of the your representative based on your address: http://www.house.gov/writerep/.

This site also provides some guidelines for effective communications with your congress-critter. Or you can go to http://www.congress.org/.

This site belongs to a group called Capitol Advantage, and it has a list of topics to research current legislation up for vote in the House and Senate, with an easy to use locator map.

What to write? You're on your own there, but a few simple guidelines might help.

Your Congress-critter gets a lot of mail. elctronic and otherwise! Keep it simple, and state in the first paragraph of your letter, what the subject is and your position on it. There are only so many congressional aides to read this stuff, and even if you're channeling Hemingway, they can only spend so much time on your communication. Disappointing, but true. Make your point as clearly, and quickly as possible. Expound on it on the second paragraph, and if you still have something further to say, wrap it up in the third paragraph. And don't forget to sign your letter. And if you voted for the gentleperson, be sure to point that out.

Email can be effective for an issue which is to be resolved in a couple of days and you don't have much time. A snail mail letter carries more impact, simply because it takes more effort and is a physical item which can be counted easily (and dumped theatrically on the desk, a la ``Mr. Smith goes to Washington''!) This should be reserved for when you have at least a week and a half lead time before the vote, or are making a general position known, either for or against.

What, you don't have stamps, and it's the middle of the night? (no more late-night cafe lattes for you!) Then, go back to the web, and print some out! A site which will get you up and running is: http://www.stamps.com/

If you need to find the nearest all night post office, go to the US Postal Service site: http://www.usps.gov/.

Now go out there and make space happen!

File translated from T_EX by T_TH, version 2.25.
On 19 Aug 2001, 16:07.

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