296 members

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

I noticed that the 296th member of the Forum registered this morning.

Welcome one and all!

[Ted G Campbell]

What about the rest of us dues payers?
Ted

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

What about the rest of us dues payers?

You're part of the "and all" group, I guess.  If you're not among the 296, you wouldn't be able to post here, would you?   ;)

[Alfred Hendrickson]

So if I'm not one, I'm "and all", or a dues payer, or not.

Hmmm.

Oh well. It's late.

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

So if I'm not one, I'm "and all", or a dues payer, or not.

Hmmm.

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who divide the world into two kinds of people, those who don't, and those who can't count.

[Alfred Hendrickson]

So if I'm not one, I'm "and all", or a dues payer, or not.

Hmmm.

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who divide the world into two kinds of people, those who don't, and those who can't count.

LOL!!  :D

[Ted G Campbell]

Marty,
Am I missing something?  I thought there were more then 296 TIGHAR members.
Ted Campbell

[James G. Stoveken]

Ted,
I'm not Marty but since he's gonna be gone for a few days I'll try to pinch hit for him here.  There are, I'd guess, a couple thousand TIGHAR members... people who have paid their dues to become involved in the organization.  What Marty referred to in his post was the 296 people who have registered on the forum.  You don't have to be a dues paying TIGHAR to be a part of this forum.  I think Marty would probably say that you have two choices: You can join TIGHAR, register for the forum, or do both.   :)

Hope that helps!

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

I'm not Marty but since he's gonna be gone for a few days I'll try to pinch hit for him here.  ...

Well done!

The reunion continues.  I'm just back in Buffalo for a day ...

[Ted G Campbell]

Gotshi, I was geting a little concerned.
Ted Campbell

[Alan Williams]

Hey, here is a question I've pondered a bit since reading and posting to the TIGHAR forum. Any insights/thoughts appreciated.

As has been described, total number of TIGHAR members is in the thousands, and people participating in the forum is now in the hundreds. Related to that, I've spent a bit of time here and there going back and looking over the list and descriptions of the team members of the various Niku expeditions.

Regarding the AE/FN TIGHAR work on Niku and the Earhart forums, here is my question:

Now I'm thinking, if I'm an expedition team member volunteering weeks of time, hard work, and potentially my professional expertise, don't I do that because I'm really into the whole AE/FN lost flight mystery thing? If true, why aren't some of the most active forum participants former Niku team members? Granted, there is at least one historical expedition team member who is responsible for some really thoughtful and meaningful posts, but apparently, most of the historical Niku team members don't seem to participant in the forums at all. Doesn't that seem odd? Seems to me if I'm a team member the more I hear and learn and think about it all the more I can make informed or insightful decisions or even simply enhance my intuition regarding what rock or shell to turn over in the fleeting moments I'm on the ground on Niku.

Who knows, maybe I'm missing something and most of the forum participants are historical Niku expedition members and I'm just missing it. Thoughts/comments anyone?...

[Ted G Campbell]

Alan,

I can only speak for myself – a member of TIGHAR since I think 1999.  These expeditions are not a "club med" affair.  Just the physical demands on oneself going to the island are stressful; once there the stress increases exponentially to the time allotted.

Furthermore, the scientific discipline that has to prevail rules out anyone just "flitting around with his/her nose to the ground" and demands a systematic approach to unearthing anything of value.  Value!  What is value?  What a trained expert sees as something of value would look to the novice as just a piece of junk – for example could you pick out a piece of makeup from the coral, weeds, over wash, etc. lying just below the surface of the ground?  I doubt it.

Don't get me wrong I would give anything to be there with the rest of the team but I know I would be more of a liability than an asset in the process of finding out the facts of AE/FN's last days.

Just one of the thousands of TIGHAR members that try to support the effort with donations of money.

Ted Campbell

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

... most of the historical Niku team members don't seem to participant in the forums at all. Doesn't that seem odd?  ...

I suppose they don't find the Forum in its present incarnation to be to their tastes.

I don't have any data to back up this supposition.  I'm just guessin'.

[Alan Williams]

Ted,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, we both apparently absolutely agree.

Time on Niku for expedition team members is often filled with hard labor, blazing heat, ceaseless avoidance of insects and other critters, and generally harsh conditions. No one is saying otherwise. All I'm trying to say is, with all that dedication to the cause, isn't it interesting that apparently those same people don't seem to be participating in the forum? Seems to me, if I had returned from an expedition and read a forum post asking a general question about Niku, I'd be excited to be able to reply as a former "on the ground" observer.

Also, seems to me a person following the forum is possibly going to be better equipped to make thousands of minute, immediate decisions potentially better when on the ground. Although time on Niku is spent following a strict "scientifically determined" schedule, everyone is constantly making judgment calls on things like which path to take to get to the work site, which rock or shell to turn over and which to leave untouched, which item in the mesh screen may be important and which not, and on and on.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to fault anyone. I'm just curious why historical team members seem to apparently not be interested in following the forum. Also, I'd have to guess that in any endeavor a more informed researcher might simply catch things that a less well informed person might miss. For example, recently there was a forum discussion about the "G" feature on Niku. Seems to me having read the forum posts regarding that feature that then when I'm actually there on the ground I might see it or something about it in a different way that possibly unlocks some kind of key that would lead to a meaningful discovery.

That's all I'm saying/asking. Just casually curious as to why team members that volunteer a month of their lives to travel half way around the world for hard work and harsh conditions seem apparently not so interested in the discussions on the forums about the work they've done. That's all. Thanks,

[Bill Lloyd]

It does seem rather odd that those expedition members with the exception of a few do not bother to post nor contribute to this forum. It seems that for some reason they have chosen to remain silent and let Ric Gillespie respond to most of the questions from dolts like me.  Maybe they are just tired and need a rest. Those expeditions appears to be a very taxing endeavor.

Father Moleski, perhaps you could encourage more input from these experienced and knowledgeable individuals.  Of course you have already invited one and all to join so I guess that is all you can do.