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by Jenny Coyle
Forget Blue Chips: Buy sierraclub.org
Don't invest in wobbly dot-coms. Instead, put your hard-earned cash into the dot-orgs.
That's the tongue-in-cheek advice in a New York Times commentary by Andy Borowitz,
author of "The Trillionaire Next Door: The Greedy Investor's Guide to Day
Trading." And he makes some salient points.
Borowitz praises the predictability of dot-orgs. "The nonprofit organizations
promise no profits and consistently deliver on that promise," he says. "If
people ask when the dot-orgs will turn a profit, there's a simple answer: 'When pigs
fly.'"
He quotes Buster H., a full-time day trader, saying, "Dot-orgs may earn nothing,
but when you've lost as much money as I have, nothing starts to look like something."
Sierraclub.org awaits his investment.
This Dot-Org Has a New Board
At its May 19 meeting in San Francisco, the Sierra Club Board of Directors welcomed
newly elected members and chose a slate of officers for 2000.
Re-elected by the Club's general membership in April were directors Phil Berry of
Lafayette, Calif.; Michael Dorsey of Ann Arbor, Mich.; and Chad
Hanson of Sierra Madre, Calif. New directors are Robbie Cox of
Chapel Hill, N.C., and Lisa Renstrom of Charlotte, N.C.
Cox was chosen to serve as board president. Cox, a board member from 1993 to 1999,
served as president twice. He's also a past recipient of one of the Club's highest awards,
the William Colby Award for outstanding leadership, and helped develop the Club's Project
ACT and the Sierra Club Training Academy.
Other officers are Nick Aumen of Lake Park, Fla., vice president; Chuck
McGrady of Flat Rock, N.C., treasurer; Charlie Ogle of Eugene,
Ore., secretary; and Jennifer Ferenstein of Missoula,
Mont., fifth officer. Continuing on the board are Anne Ehrlich of Stanford, Calif.; Rene
Voss of Washington, D.C.; Larry Fahn of Mill Valley, Calif.; Kim
Mowery of Providence, R.I.; and Michele Perrault of Lafayette,
Calif.
During the week of the board elections, director David Brower, a Club
member for nearly 70 years and a former executive director, tendered his resignation,
which was accepted by the board with regrets. No replacement was selected by press time.
Club Could Make A Millionaire
Dan Lavery, program assistant with the Club's lands team in
Washington, D.C., wasn't the only one who caught the following item, but he was the first
to admit in writing that he was watching television on June 6. That's when the $64,000
question on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" was:
What organization did John Muir found in San Francisco in 1892?
(a) Boy Scouts of America
(b) Audubon Society
(c) Sierra Club
(d) YMCA
The contestant had to think a while, but he got it right.
Not a Millionaire, But a Chapter Chair
Okay, so you're not a millionaire. But.... "Who Wants to be a Chapter Chair?"
That was the name of the game for chapter chairs at their annual training meeting in San
Francisco in May.
Wannabe game-show host Kevin Kosik, the Club's director of member
services, emceed their version of the hit television show. What stumped every team was the
tie-breaking round in which they had to put in chronological order four Sierra Club
achievements, starting with the earliest:
(a) The Club plays a leading role in the passage of legislation designating 6.8 million
acres of wilderness in 18 states.
(b) The Club collects 1.2 million signatures on the Environmental Bill of Rights and
successfully defeats congressional proposals to dismantle the Clean Water Act and the
Endangered Species Act.
(c) The Club plays a leading role in passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands
Conservation Act, protecting 103 million acres.
(d) The Club gathers 1.1 million signatures in support of ousting Interior Secretary James
Watt.
(Answers)
He Makes James Watt Look Good
"Wise-use" advocates are gleefully quoting passages from "Hard Green: A
Conservative Manifesto," a new book by Peter Huber, a Manhattan Institute fellow and
Forbes magazine columnist.
Turns out Sierra Club members can quote him, too, as an example of why we work so hard
to protect the environment. Says Huber in his new book: "Cut down the last redwoods
for chopsticks, harpoon the last blue whale for sushi, and the additional mouths fed will
nourish additional human brains which will soon invent ways to replace blubber with
olestra and pine with plastic. Humanity can survive just fine in a planet-covering crypt
of concrete and computers."
Unfortunately, he's serious.
Take Note
Vicky Husband, conservation chair of the Sierra Club of British
Columbia, will receive the prestigious Order of BC Award from Premier Ujjal Dosanjh in
June. Husband is known for her tireless efforts to protect ancient temperate forests and
wildlife areas.
The Maine Chapter will host Women's Summer Encampment 2000 on August 25 through 27 at
Camp Vega. Workshops, speeches, rallies and campfire talks will serve to inspire women of
all ages to work for a healthy environment. Singer and songwriter Libby Roderick will
perform. Deadline for registration is Aug. 1. Check out www.sierraclub.org/chapters/me or
contact Catherine Corkery at mesierra@juno.com.
Oh yeah - the answer to the "Who Wants to Be a Chapter
Chair?" quiz: (c),(d),(a),(b).
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