7.0440 TLL Response from Ted Brunner (1/112)
Elaine Brennan (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Tue, 25 Jan 1994 19:17:55 EST
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 7, No. 0440. Tuesday, 25 Jan 1994.
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 1994 11:32:16 -0800
From: tbrunner@orion.oac.uci.edu (Theodore F. Brunner)
Subject: Re: Answer
Since (as I am told) Professor Tombeur's comments about the recent TLL/TLG
conference were posted on the Humanist server, I take the liberty of
posting a response here also.
Ted Brunner
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Dear Paul (if I may):
Good to hear from you, even though your message seems somewhat spirited.
Let me address your concerns paragraph by paragraph:
>> I have examined the electronic message, as it was sent by
>>Professor Theodore F. Brunner to all participants of the
>>"Classics" study group on Friday, January 14th, regarding the
>>conference held on December 17th-18th on the campus of the
>>University of California at Irvine (UCI) on "Thesaurus Linguae
>>Latinae and Thesaurus Linguae Graecae: New Directions for
>>Electronic Lexicography in Latin and Greek."
>>
>> I was appalled to read the report by Theodore F. Brunner
>>and am compelled to issue a categorical denial to its main
>>points.
>
>COMMENT: The report was not written by me but by Patrick Sinclair. It may
>have been the case that my e-mail address showed up on the bottom of the
>report; that was simply owing to the fact that Patrick happened to use my
>machine to dispatch the report.
>>
>>1. Indeed, Theodore F. Brunner did present at our latest
>>session a TENTATIVE motion.
>
>COMMENT: Not quite right. Since it was I who did the presenting, I know very
>well WHAT it was I presented. Namely a motion. Not a tentative motion, but a
>motion.
>>
>>2. Yet, the participants DID NOT endorse the project or pledge
>>their support by ratifying a motion.
>
>COMMENT: I don't know how parliamentary procedure works in Belgium, but here
>is how it works in America: (1) Somebody presents a motion. I did that. (2)
>Somebody seconds the motion. Richard Tarrant did that. (3) The motion is
>voted on. That's what we did. (4) After we had done it, I announced that I
>heard not nay. YOU may have been opposed to the motion, but you did not offer
>a nay during the voting. True, in discussion AFTER the vote had been cast you
>made it quite clear that you didn't very much like what was happening. But
>that was YOU, Paul, and you alone. And I'm afraid that one single dissenting
>voice can't just simply negate the will and the decisions of a relatively
>large deliberative body. Not even YOUR voice which (and I say this with great
>admiration, Paul) makes itself heard indeed.
>
>>3. The motion WAS NOT "ratified by a positive vote of all the
>>participants." There was NO VOTE.
>
>COMMENT: Paul I am sitting here, scratching my head. I know I'm getting older,
>and I've heard it say that--as one gets older--one's memory starts to slip.
>But I really can't believe that my brain has deteriorated to the point where
>my memory is so befuddled that I am making it all up. There was no vote, you
>say? Sorry, Paul. There WAS a vote.
>>
>>4. The text of the motion was NOT EVEN MADE AVAILABLE to the
>>participants, and so NO SIGNATURE whatsoever was appended to
>>any text.
>
>COMMENT: Again, I don't know how things work in Belgium. But here in America
>there is no need to make the text of a motion available to the participants,
>or to get a formal signature on a piece of paper.
>>
>>5. Nobody was entrusted with a mandate for the production of
>>TLL in a machine-readable format, and the general editor of
>>the TLL confined himself to general expectations.
>
>COMMNENT: Here you are correct. Nobody was entrusted with a mandate. But
>then nobody really needs a mandate to do what they want to do.
>>
>>6. The session was adjourned leaving the discussion open and
>>NOT having made ANY DECISION.
>
>COMMENT: Quot homines, Paul, tot sententiae. I really have no quarrel with
>your perception of how the conference adjourned. My perception is different,
>as are the perceptions of all of the other conference participants with whom I
>have had subsequent contact.
>>
>> I deeply regret having to set things straight in such a
>>categorical way. This can only be confirmed by all the
>>participants mentioned in the message.
>>
>> Prof. Paul TOMBEUR
>> Director of the CETEDOC
>> Louvain-la-Neuve
>
>COMMENT: Categorical indeed, Paul But please don't feel a need to apologize.
>As I said above: Quot homines, tot sententiae. But who are the "participants
>mentioned in the message?" Is a portion of this e-mail message missing?
>
>Anyway: I hope you will accept this response in the positive and amiable
>spirit in which it s offered. I should add that it was a real pleasure to see
>you again in December--quite some time had passed since our Lille meeting. I
>look forward to continued contact with you, and remain
>
>with all best wishes for 1994
>
>Ted
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Theodore F. Brunner, Director Phone: (714) 856-6404
Thesaurus Linguae Graecae FAX: (714) 856-8434
University of California Irvine
Irvine, CA 92717-5550 USA E-Mail: TLG@UCI.EDU
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