Re: [802SEC] Request for WG Strawpolls / Update to 'WG Membership and Meetings' P&P Revision
Mat,
802.16 passed the following motion:
"That the WG not conduct a straw poll on the P&P
changes on the grounds that the changes are
ambiguous".
[We still wanted to provide feedback on the
issue, so we took a straw poll on the question of
whether to support a change tightening the rules
for retention of membership, making it more
difficult to retain membership. 7 were in favor,
38 against.]
That's the 802.16 view. Now, here is mine:
This language is broken! We are on the verge of
making mincemeat of our membership rules.
Let me be as explicit as possible. The sentence
we have been asked to review can be parsed at
least two ways. Here is the sentence with two
different bracket sets:
(a) "Membership is lost if a person fails to
[meet the participation requirements of the
Working Group at two out of the last four Plenary
sessions].
(b) "Membership is lost if a person [fails to
meet the participation requirements of the
Working Group] at two out of the last four
Plenary sessions]".
Let's assume I have participated in exactly two of the last four plenaries.
I DID [meet the participation requirements of the
Working Group at two out of the last four Plenary
sessions]. There, I did NOT fail to [do the thing
in brackets in parsing (a)]. Therefore, I would
not lose membership under parsing (a).
However, it's also true that I did [fail to meet
the participation requirements of the Working
Group], at one Plenary, and at another. I failed
twice. So, I [did the thing in brackets in
parsing (b)] at two out of the last four
plenaries. Therefore, I do lose membership.
I think it is a bad idea to write rules based on
negatives. This language say what happens when
someone doesn't do something. The right way to
get a clear rule is to say what happens when
someone DOES do something.
The existing rules, while ultimately unambiguous, are very hard to decipher.
I would like to propose that, if we are going to
tamper with this rule, we start by simplifying
it. My suggestion is to start with the
interpretation that I wrote for 802.16
<http://ieee802.org/16/membership.html>. I think
it is clear and simple:
"Membership is granted at each 802.16 LMSC
Plenary Session to those in attendance who have
participated in at least two recent 802.16
Sessions, one of which was an 802.16 LMSC Plenary
Session. At that time, full membership rights
begin immediately upon the request of the
qualifying potential member. Following each 802
LMSC Plenary Session, membership is retained only
by those who have participated in at least two
recent 802 Sessions, one of which was an 802 LMSC
Plenary Session."
This is followed by definitions of the terms
"participated", "802.16 LMSC Plenary Session",
and "recent 802.16 Session." There is no need for
language like the awkward "Membership starts at
the beginning of the third plenary session
attended by the participant", or the ambiguous
"One interim session of a Working Group or
subgroup may be substituted for a Working Group
Plenary sessions (sic)."
I'll admit that I have not stayed up to date on
the language of this P&P ballot. However, having
studied it yesterday, I find that I have several
objections. I do not think it is ready.
Roger
At 12:38 AM -0500 05/11/14, Sherman, Matthew J. (US SSA) wrote:
>Folks
>
>For the 'WG Membership and Meetings' revision, the requirement for a WG
>P&P was removed which should increase the approval level. The changes
>in the WG membership gain / loss remain. However a number of 802
>members have expressed concern. The request from the Chair of 802 and
>myself is that:
>
>ALL WG POLL THEIR MEMBERSHIP concerning the following issue:
>
>For the first line of the 'Loss' clause do the membership prefer:
>
> "Membership is lost if a person fails to meet the participation
>requirements of the Working Group at two out of the last THREE Plenary
>sessions."
>
>Or,
>
> "Membership is lost if a person fails to meet the participation
>requirements of the Working Group at two out of the last FOUR Plenary
>sessions."
>
>Please provide feedback to me by end of day Wednesday on the result of
>the straw polls. The current revision of the change is attached.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Mat
>
>
>Matthew Sherman, Ph.D.
>Senior Member Technical Staff
>BAE SYSTEMS, CNIR
>Office: +1 973.633.6344
>email: matthew.sherman@baesystems.com
>
>
>
>
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