Re: Restraint and Mass Refusal

["George N. Schmidt" <Csubstance@AOL.COM>]

In a message dated 2/1/01 5:54:19 PM, monty@FAIRTEST.ORG writes:

<< One problem: we have spent a lot of money to pay someone to enter the
names. It can be done on volunteer basis, but thousands eats up huge
amounts of time. Of course, money too is limited. >>

February 2, 2001,

In our experience, where there are volunteers to do this the main thing is
ongoing supervision (quality control, collaborative activities, whatever you
want to call it). Data entry can be done at any point where there is a
computer, but the final compilations have to be carefully done. Otherwise you
get those data bases we all recognize where my name is spelled (honest, it's
happened a number of times) SCHIDT or SMITT or SCHITT.

This kind of lack of professionalism tends to undermine the credibility of
our work.

So no matter how the data entry is done (volunteer or paid) or where (as long
as it's not some data entry sweatshop in Tijuana or Juarez), the key is to
review the data regularly.

When I resumed editing Substance again in 1996, I said that I'd rather not
produce the paper for a few months if it meant we could maintain our systems
better once we did get started. It took a few extra weeks to get some things
set up right, but it was worth it. (Back then, I was teaching full-time, and
we had to be even more efficient because Paul Vallas hadn't yet come up with
the idea of firing me and making me work here full-time while I litigated his
perverted version of the Bill of Rights...). A simple data base mailing
program like Bulk Mailer for the Macintosh can serve as well as something
more elaborate but possibly dysfunctional. And there should always be disk
and hard copy backups.

Someone asked me what would happen if we didn't process our mail and Email
here at Substance for a week. I think the answer is that we'd fall behind and
never catch up. It's that intense. But it's also important to do it carefully
and well.

But the payoff in communications, organization, and the ability to promote
what's best for children makes it worth it.

Any time we think it's difficult to process these data in 2001, however, we
should go back to the days when our data bases were 3 x 5 file cards, or
those old metal label plates from the ADDRESSOGRAPH MULTIGRAPH.

Last week, Danny and I were storing some archives in the Substance office
annex. I handed up a metal box filled with hand written 3x5 cards and he
asked what it was. I told him it was our original mailing list from 1976 to
1977, a "data base" from a decade before he was born. I remember how we
discovered that the majority of Chicago substitute teachers were African
Americans ("black" back in those days, by the way). We stacked the 3x5 cards
on the floor by ZIP CODE. Chicago is so segregated that the stacks told the
story. Some of the white people in Substance at the time were surprised, but
I just told them to take one of the larger stacks and do a phone poll if they
didn't believe me that most of the people in 60628 or 60649 were not white.
Nobody ever took me up on the suggestion.

I'm glad we've got computers to do some of these jobs now. We just need to do
careful data entry, regular quality control, and backup. Pat Buchanan, Sandy
Feldman and George W. Bush shouldn't be the only ones with cool data bases to
share things with.

George Schmidt
Editor, Substance
5132 W. Berteau
Chicago, IL 60641

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