Re: [Palindrome] A letter to the MIT hunt folk

[Eric Albert <Eric Albert alumni brown edu>]

I think this a great letter, and encourage you to send it.  I don't know 
the official address for Kappa Sig, though someone on this list probably 
does.  One of their active members is Amittai Axelrod, and I believe you 
can reach him at amittai MIT EDU.

I'd appreciate your considering an addition and a change:

1) adding a brief line saying you're not speaking for your team and, 
especially, your team captain ('cause, while I agree with and applaud most 
of your message, I feel differently about a few things),

and

2) saying our team has 50 people is maybe technically accurate, but not 
real-world accurate, and, for this Hunt, with these Hunt 
Masters/Mistresses, likely to raise hackles, so I'd prefer you use a lower 
number, or just use adjectives like "large" or "moderately large."

[Here's the argument: 1) Our team list includes people like Uncanny 
(Montana) and Debbie Hyams Walton (California) who are there for 
sentiment's sake -- they like to hear how things are going, but are no 
longer active members of the team.  2) Each year, people on the team list 
aren't able to make it to Boston for one reason or another.  Unlike other 
teams, we do *not* encourage absent team members to solve over the web and 
call in answers (despite some members' wish to do so -- sorry!).  3) Our 
team now has gobs of people over the age of, uh, 25, and such folks have 
both outside responsibilities (kids, leaking roofs) and physiological 
needs for things like sleep.  When you've got a team of 20 MIT 
undergraduates, you can pretty much count on most of them being available, 
and even reasonably alert (so long as the Jolt cola holds out), for the 
bulk of the weekend.  Only a small subset of our team can make that kind 
of commitment.  So, overall, I prefer to look at our "team size" using the 
business concept of FTEs (Full-Time Equivalents): how many "full-time" 
undergraduates is our team equivalent to?  (In 
person-awake-and-at-HQ-hours, not in solving skill.)  My very rough 
estimate: 20 - 25.  Can you tell I'm touchy about this issue?]

Again, great letter!  Send that sucker off.

-- Eric

==========

>Tom Weisswange / Al DeSuda wrote:
>[I don't know exactly how to contact the hunt organizers and other MIT
>hunt people, but maybe somebody could pass this on.  This is a bit
>long and very sappy in parts--I hope you'll indulge me.]
>
>Dear MIT Mystery hunt community,
>
>      I have been reading e-mails that have been sent around in the last
>couple of months, both by members of the MIT community and by others,
>concerning the Mystery hunt.  While I agree with some things said, and
>disagree with others, I have not yet felt that my opinion has been
>expressed, and so I decided to write this letter.  And though I don't
>claim to be a representative of all of us "outsiders," I think that
>perhaps this sentiment might be shared by a few of us.  First, though,
>a bit of background.

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