Leland, I just went to your website a couple of minutes ago and found your latest posting.  Your recommendations show the depth of knowledge and years of experience that you have with chess and chess organizing.  In addition, I thank you for recommending me to the HofF. I have a few observations about your recommendations. Im not sure that the level of disclosure you asked for is going to be supported.  I dont even think you would want all of that stuff about you (credit ref, police report, degrees) listed in a public forum.  I agree that biographical profiles are reasonable requests and should be on the website.  Maybe each officer could post a resume? (Had we taken the precaution of doing this in the past, at least one administration would not have existed. Accordingly, a committee would be formed to "privately" review the credentials of any prospective candidate. All of the criteria which I listed, including credit reference and police report are standard requirements for any school in Mecklenburg County, public or private where I have instructed for years) Lets step back and look at this from a objective distance.  The NCCA has 135+ members paying $5 annually.  That amounts to $675 per year.  Practically speaking what initiatives and programs could one put into place with that amount of capital?  The other source of income is iffy, a tax on the participants of the NC Scholastic Championship.  The revenue is based on the number of players in the NCCA approved Scholastic Championship; which has been near 500 the past few years.  The tax is $7 or $9 per kid.  That is earmarked in the following manner: $2 per kid goes to the Denker Representative, $2 goes to the Polgar Representative and $1,500 goes to the High School Champion as a scholarship.  So in our example, 500 kids brings in $3,500 and $3,500 is earmarked for the specific programs outlined above.  If the tax is $9, then the NCCA will have $1,000 for the general fund, provided there are 500 kids in the tournament.  The financial break-even point at $9 per kid is 389 participants in the State Scholastic Championship. Having said all that, it is apparent that the Scholastic success is of paramount importance to the NCCA.  Scholastics brings in nearly 60% of the annual operating monies of the NCCA.  That is a lot different than when we were running the NCCA. So, what can one do with $1,675 per year?  The invitational typically takes about $600 of that and I believe that people are pushing for more money for the invitational.  What initiatives could the NCCA do that would fit inside of that $1,000 annual revenue amount?  And, how much risk should the NCCA board take in terms of losses?  You have consistently spoken out about needing a Closed NC Championship.  I agree that would be ideal.  Unfortunately, the NCCA lost far too much money when they attempted to play a Closed NC Championship.  I also noted that you did not participate in that one Closed Championship.  I did play and it was a disappointment that we only had 5 guys in the U2000 section.  The rest of the sections were also poorly attended.  That experience has tainted anyones effort to close the state championship again.  I really wish you had attended because it would make your efforts more credible to the skeptics. (Uh, you will have to be more specific. Of what year are you speaking? Check the printout... I may have been the Director!?) We, the NCCA, is fortunate that Neal and Randy did not squander the meager savings that have accumulated.  But there is not enough money available to take a big risk, like funding a closed championship.  How many people would attend if the event were Closed with only trophies and titles and minimal entry fee?  I bet very few.  We all seem to be motivated by money, to one degree or another.  That is why so many show up for the World Open, but not the US Open.  If they made the NC Closed prize fund based on entries, would anyone attend?  Consequently, how can we call the winner of a low attendance tournament, the State Champion? (Mr. Baxter, I strongly defend your right to voice your  opinion, however, in this case your opinion is wrong!?? The original Constitution of the NCCA required that an annual tournament be CLOSED to all but North Carolina residents, college students and military personnel. We already have many other major events in N.C. which are open to all. As I have indicated many times in the past, if you work a good deal with a hotel, the expenses would be negligible. Furthermore, since the NCCA has allowed an out of state Organizer to take full charge for the past 10 years, no balance sheet of expenses or profits has ever been published. So, how can any conclusions be drawn?) Also, I wish you would stop harping on Gerben.  He has been one of the few people that have stuck with the job through more than one administration.  And, people trust him.  You might recall, in our day, that we sent a Gambit to every USCF adult member in the state, trying to encourage them to join the NCCA.  It did about as well as any other direct mail program.  Which is to say, I wouldnt do it again.  Having all those names on the list with expiration dates does no one any harm and it might remind someone to rejoin.  Think about it, one player sees that his friend has expired and calls on him to rejoin.  If the names are purged then no one would have that little tiny reminder sitting there on the website.  I say it is no big deal; like in basketball, no harm, no foul! (Come on, Ken. Those expired names have been there for years, and apparantly the friends didn't call their friends reminding them to rejoin or they would already have done so!!? What they should be saying is "I didn't see your name on the list. You should rejoin" - as if they really care?!!") The NCCA holds an annual business meeting and it often runs over the time allowed.  Even when the meeting is scheduled for 9:00am, people dont show.  Even when the meeting fell on the weekend that was the Daylight Savings time change so 9:00am should have felt like 10am, people dont show up.  We could say the meeting is at 10am and the round start is 10:30.  That way, people might show up because of the habit that rounds start at 10:00.  None of us have ever had much success in getting members to show up for the annual meetings.  Maybe more would, if the agenda and issues were listed on the website so people could see what they needed to vote on.  I suspect if you said you were going to raise the NCCA membership rate, you would get some people to attend the meeting.  But, barring any controversy, few attend business meetings.   (I believe the meetings are important. The pre-round 4 design which I suggested is legitimate and would include almost everyone. If it takes a little extra time, so be it. Furthermore, it would not hurt to increase the annual membership fee to $10. Compared to other organizations, that fee is low!) I think we all should support Tom Hales in his efforts to resurrect the Gambit.  It was eliminated due to printing and mailing costs; which, allowed the NCCA to lower the dues to $5.  However, I think most of us miss the Gambit and we would gladly accept an on-line version.  I gave Tom dozens of pictures from this years LOTS Speed tournament.  I hope he finds some worthy of publishing. Lets do whatever we can to support and build up the NCCA; that includes using its website for political and chess discussions. (Kenneth, my friend, you always come to our rescue.  All of these issues need to be discussed and resolved. Thank you for your valuable input. LF) Sincerely, Ken Baxter