“There must be a better use, a higher purpose for e-mail.”

“There must be a better use, a higher purpose for e-mail.”

February 19, 2005

“Cornell, why do you do what you do -- or why do you want to do that?” my wife Jane will occasionally ask. Some recipients of this unsolicited communiqué are probably asking the same question and wondering why you’re included in these mailings (see last paragraph in this letter). How presumptuous can Cornell be? I offer four reasons for this e-mail correspondence endeavor. If after reading this you don’t want to be included, I refer you to the disclaimer above. If you are receiving this mail in a business address, but prefer a personal address please advise.

This communication (call it what you will: maybe a slow moving blog) has evolved from a conscientious obligation I felt to answer false information being sent on the Internet. The beginning of what has unfolded was not planned. About the first part to mid last year I began getting many e-mails of which many I recognized obviously to be outright lies. Others seemed to have a small content of truth; some were half-truths; over the years I have received many hoaxes. Ignorant of one or two of these I was innocently taken in. If it’s on the Internet it must be true! NO. Too many of us are so gullible, as the same hoax continues to be forwarded year after year, some now going for 5 years or more. I began to answer some of these replying to all in original e-mail and adding a few contacts as time progressed.

Why should I concern myself or be bothered by all this?

· There is the ninth (9th) commandment: “You must not tell lies about your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:14)
In Rotary we have the 4-Way Test as a guide for our ethics. Of the things we think, speak and do, we are admonished to affirmatively answer these questions before acting:
o Is it the TRUTH?
o Is it FAIR to all concerned?
o Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIP?
o Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

For me, there is nothing more detestable or egregious than the perpetration of a lie (I don’t even like to use the word.) about a person, either knowingly or by causal association allowing same. Of course we all become guilty on some level in our lives. But we have a moral responsibility for this unbridled transgression, I believe exist in most all walks of life. Regardless of what direction it’s coming from – I want to know the truth, and at times that may seem almost impossible. However, with some work, many times we can get closer to the truth. God’s greatest gifts to us: “Faith, Hope and Love, but the greatest of these is Love.” (Corinthians 13:13) But LOVE is formidable where TRUTH does not abide.

Resources to search for truth/fiction or hoax e-mails: TruthOrFiction.com http://www.truthorfiction.com/ and Snopes.com http://www.snopes.com/ To sort out the issues Pro and Con: http://www.factcheck.org/ and http://www.balancedpolitics.org/ There are probably others, you let me know.

· My interest in various topics and the value I put on sharing ideas, thoughts, and opinions with others has always been important to me. First, I like people; I can’t remember ever meeting anyone I really didn’t like, at least on some level. I believe every person has something to offer that I can learn and grow from. Always while attending a seminar, trade show, or manager’s meeting if I could pick up just one useful idea I considered it well worthwhile. In some circles or situations some people feel uncomfortable to share their thoughts, because of the possibility of being exposed or misunderstood. Over the years I have experienced such but I am still willing to take that risk, even at the peril of showing some ignorance. Currently, I have no one to answer to except Jane and my God. (Unfortunately some people are uncomfortable when politics may be perceived in the dialogue. In the disclaimer-header I use, in this content, it’s moreover recognition of the issues that invariably revolve around political debate. It should be clear I am not running for any office or pushing any political agenda, but this is not to say I will not make mention of a politician in one party or another. As of recent years, it’s my belief, many have become too politically sensitized; many a person has fallen into an emotional-political trap causing a shut out of any debate that may border the political realm. That’s sad!)

· Communication is one of the most important tools we have to use for life’s greater purpose. In management I would tell my employees, “it’s the first tool you will use, simple, forthright everyday language, but it may become a liability to our goals if the tool is not efficiently and properly used.” When I was market manager with five stores, not being able to communicate directly with all the employees as often as needed, I mailed a newsletter to their homes, addressing various issues of the workplace. It was a message to accentuate the positive, to elevate one’s outlook on how he or she might better apply himself more productively in the workforce. Additionally, for several years I had a mailing, “Builders Service,” to as many as 3,000 contract builders, which addressed issues of propane and related appliance business. I attribute these efforts in my last year as market manager, not in the least, for the market attaining number-one ranking company wide for “Best Performing Market”, runner up “Customer Satisfaction,” and three other 1st places in region. As proof of it now, my wife lets me hang the plaques in my woodshop. With 6.4 billion people on this planet and only 5.61% of them speaking English as a first language, we best us this tool to the betterment of human relations and mankind. http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/xx.html#People

· There must be a better use for e-mail. In the last year of my employment, traveling from deep south to high-north U. S., I used e-mail very effectively for business communication. But after retiring my e-mail experience degraded to a flood of jokes, mini-stories, or caricatures forwarded by friends and associates. I say degraded because my vision for the use of e-mail is for a more practical and serious purpose. For example, I get 15 to 20 pieces weekly from a friend – I just delete when I see the name. (I’m sure many do the same with mine.) My wife gets the same mail, and she will forward to me any that she thinks I just can’t live without. There is life after retirement; blessed with good health and any God-given gifts I am called to fulfill my Christian faith, by word and deed, in some small way to bring peace and a better understanding to local and world community. The field of benevolent need is expansive and unlimited; e-mail is an essential and convenient tool for communication in my volunteer involvement in church missions, Rotary club leadership, The Salvation Army, and other areas where timely communication makes for more efficient pursuits. Example: In one mass group mailing, in an invitation for anyone to join in tsunami relief, I received a response from Debra Westbrook of Four Oaks Middle School. In working with the Beta Club, Debra and her group made 453 health kits for Tsunami relief. By this e-mail invitation to expand the efforts of Centenary UMC Mission’s, my wife and I, have never been so proud as when we picked up these kits and delivered them to the MERCI Center in Goldsboro. Thanks Debra!

Why are you on this recipient’s list? From many friends, associates, or acquaintances with people I have grown to appreciate and/or had some influenced in my life, I want to share ideas and viewpoints. Yes, I want to know what you think about different issues, if you care to share. If levelheaded, even-tempered people of rational mind can’t offer, share, and participate in a civil debate, who will it be: the spin masters who continue to build political-emotional ire? As citizens – we owe much more to society. I may (will) at times be wrong, but the search for truth will always be my higher goal. Foremost, I always respect your beliefs, for when I respect another’s view with open mind, I may learn something new to cause me to change my own view. If you share your thoughts, I promise anonymity unless you agree otherwise. I might add, if you know of others who may appreciate a better use of e-mail, please provide their addresses.