Page 14 RAIN November 1978 For a long time I've been having mixed feelings about a new trend starting (where else?) in California and perhaps moving its way across a.t. land. It's something that appears to be a mixed blessing, but the dues paid seem to be more than the benefits in this particular tradeoff. When an a.t. expo is presented in a completely fluorescentlit, artificially aired, enclosed, gargantuan space, something is wrong. When the scale of it is so huge that you can't take half of it in, no less deal with the mobs, something is wrong. When solar cigarette lighters to laser light shows are presented to It's often called something like Great Western "Hole" Earth Expo Extravaganza. Publicity appears for it well in advance in very slick looking packages. The names of the people organizing it are somehow strikingly familiar to those of us who've been involved in the arts/crafts fair circuit. The entrepreneurs of that burned-out realm are seeking (and seemingly finding) the newly initiated masses, the understanding of a. t. is going to be completely off keel. There is something inherently different in the process when entrepreneurs come in to sell self-reliance. In fact there is no difference in the process of selling a. t. than in selling at a car show, boat show, arts/crafts show. a new way to accumulate groovy American dollars. That is the problem: there are no differences. The context is selling: they charge at both ends- the door, the exhibitorsand even in the middle, by operating the food ~oncessions, not to mention trucking in the curtain dividers. ECONOMICS Cooperative Housing: A Handbook for Effective Operations, Midwest Association of Housing Cooperatives and Organization for Applied Science in Society, 1977, 260 pp., $16.25 from: MAHC 343 South Main St., Suite 208 Ann Arbor, MI 48104 This is a comprehensive how-to manual for running a housing co-op, written by veteran co-op directors and members. It includes chapter on organization, management, finances, budget, purchase, resale and membership plus sample legal and financial forms. Though the handbook is specifically oriented to the concerns of governmentinsured co-ops, it also focuses on aspects of multifamily housing operations that are of equal importance to privately A big part of the problem is that the people organizing (i.e. profiting) from these "fairs" are not people from within the community (whether it be the a.t. community, the arts/ crafts community, whatever). Perhaps there are good intentions of getting a.t. to the masses-but it's because a.t. is beginning to be the thing that sells now and their primary goal is profit, not education. So what happens is a lot is lost in the process. It happened with arts and crafts in a similar way. Eventually all that began to be at these fairs were attempts at art and craft. But the entrepreneurs made their entry fees, their percentag~s, and their space fees. To them the quality of life propagated was of little significance. The dollar was the motivating force. IEXll)O • financed co-ops. As an alternative to the inflated prices of single-family dwellings, housing co-ops provide not only economic advantages but can offer the shared values and supportive environment needed to retrofit an apartment building with appropriate technologies. - PC Sudbury 2001/Alternative Development Paradigm Box 1313 Sudbury, Ontario P3E 4S7 CANADA 705/674-2001 Sudbury may soon become a buzzword for the many communities and regions across North American which have been exploited by "foreign" capital for their resources and labor, and inevitably deserted for greener acres and greener backs. Massive lay-offs by Sudbury's copper mining industries have forced the city into a desperate recognition of expose the need to diversify economically. A uniquely diverse coalition of government, labor, business, citizen and ethnic groups has formed Sudbury 2001, a self-help, R&D and community development fund-raising group to find jobs for its thousands of disemployed citizens. More unique is the fact that appropriate technology as a strategy figures strongly to this group and its federal backers: they are looking for leads on decentralized industries and other small-scale enterprises that can carry them into a sustainable future. They need hard economic data on the a.t. alternative- capital investments, job creation and the like. To promote idea-sharing they've formed an Alternative Development Paradigm network. If you can contribute something, drop them a line. We'll keep you posted on Sudbury's success. (Thanks to George McRobie) -SA
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