Readers Reflect on RAIN rain's simple graphic design:"Black and white is unique, and it speaks to what RAIN and its readers are all about," according to one reader. Others simply stated that color was unnecessary and expensive. Several of you expressed your dislike for the newsprint paper that we currently use inside the magazine. Since many of you collect back issues for future reference, you'd prefer that we use more durable paper stock. We agree, and we're looking into the cost of better paper. We asked you about your reactions to changing What do you want from RAIN? I like longer articles, feiver book reviews. I prefer access information rather than so many long articles. Don't change your name. Change the magazine to match the subtitle. Quality advertising is extremely useful to your readers. Expand your geographic range. Keep the main focus of each issue on the Northwest region. I admire your work and appreciate your sacrifices. Please: more punch, less herbal tea journalism. I don't like to see you in poverty. Market yourself. I'll be willing to pay $25 for RAIN. RAIN is suffering from a softening ofperspective. There seems to be less critical thinking on the conceptual level about A.T. We like RAIN so much that we are no longer objective. RAIN'S subtitle. Some of you thought RAIN needs no subtitle—that such an identifier would act as a limiting factor. Others suggested subtitles containing the words sustainable, community, bioregion, and self-reliance. By far the largest group, however, advised us to retain Journal of Appropriate Technology. In fact. Journal of Appropriate Technology hasn't appeared on our cover for several years now. We have always been a resource guide to A.T., but we have focused on the use, effects, and potential of technology (which is what A.T. has come to connote to long-time RAIN devotees) rather than the nuts and bolts. (Frankly, our staff is divided on the subtitle issue. Some of us feel we need a more descriptive title on the cover to reach out to potential subscribers who don't understand the term appropriate technology. Other staff members feel that a subtitle would clutter our simple cover and that our statement on page 2 describes what we do better than any subtitle could. For now, we've dropped the subtitle [it last appeared inside the June/ July 1983 issue].) The topics and concerns we have emphasized in RAIN over the years, and for which our readers have shown continued enthusiasm, still lack the broad-based support that we sought nine years ago when RAIN began. Although we usually don't follow the same course as mainstream culture, we must continue to evolve in these rapidly changing times. We conducted this survey to learn who you are and what you expect from us. What we learned is that many of you were once involved in the network that RAIN represents, but now find yourselves in the mainstream—losing touch with an alternative network that is still important to you. Reading RAIN is a practical way for you to remain informed of and affiliated with the people and ideas that Cont-
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