Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 20:07:53 -0700
To: corps@west-point.org
From: Dempsey Darrow <outrider@west-point.org>
Subject: WP-ORG: Hey! Who the Heck Are You?

Recent events and the addition of a multitude of new users has again brought to light the necessity for us to define who we are.

WP-ORG, The West Point Connection (popularly known as "West Point 'org'"), is an electronic entity comprised of West Point graduates, parents, cadets, and others, who are members of the extended West Point community. The services offered by WP-ORG are myriad and include Web sites for organizations, classes and societies; email discussion lists; permanent email addresses for our members; virtual domain hosting; and reserved space for a personal Web site for each graduate. In the spirit of academy sisterhood, WP-ORG also provides services to the parents of Navy midshipmen (though there is no truth to the rumor that we send them viruses during the Army/Navy game).

While we work in concert with the Military Academy, WP-ORG is not affiliated with West Point, nor are we an arm of the Association of Graduates, USMA, with the exception that we have an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) in effect with that organization.

If you have an email address on file with WP-ORG - if you belong to a discussion list for your class or the West Point Forum, or to an information dissemination list for your society - then you will receive this message. As you may imagine, there are costs to running an organization of this nature despite the fact that the majority of our horsepower comes from volunteer effort. The services we provide are free to you, however, we reserve the right to shamelessly write to you on a semi-annual basis in an effort to raise operating funds.

Inevitably, for each fund-raising message we send, we receive responses from individuals stating they have already given to the AOG or to West Point. Hopefully this message more clearly defines the separation of WP-ORG from both of these entities and will dispel the notion that we receive funding from either.

Another type of response we receive as regularly as Army Football wins of the late '60s is the outraged user who is aghast that we would deign spam them. With due apologies to the Hormel company, our fund raising messages are not spam. As I have explained, those receiving them are using WP-ORG's services. The messages may be freely ignored, though we hope that you will at least consider their intended purpose. Those whose outrage boils as hotly as unwatched soup and who request to be removed from our "system" will, of course, have their requests honored. This does mean, however, that they will be dropped from any discussion or informational list(s) to which they belong.

This past weekend AOL (America On Line) saw fit to block any traffic originating from WP-ORG's servers. While we have gotten AOL to restore service, we have yet to receive a clear answer as to the reason for the blockage. We suspect, however, that it was due to "spam" complaints from some of our users with AOL email addresses regarding fund-raising messages. Let me clearly state that anyone wishing to continue to use WP-ORG's services may do so without contributing as much as a penny. Furthermore, if the effort to delete the handful of semi-annual fund drive messages is prohibitive, a request to be removed from WP-ORG sent to <feedback@west-point.org> will be acted upon with armchair quarterback speed.

WP-ORG is, however, in the midst of a fund drive. Those of you who have already donated, thank you very much for your support, it's greatly appreciated. Feel free to explore the services we provide; start here: <http://www.west-point.org>. If you have any questions, let us know at <feedback@west-point.org>.

If you find the services that WP-ORG provides useful, we ask that you please consider a donation. You may do so securely online at: <https://www-secure.west-point.org/donate>. Or, you may donate by check made payable to WP-ORG and sent to:

WP-ORG
PO Box 595
Floyd, VA 24091-0595

You may read more about WP-ORG and its founding at: <http://www.west-point.org/about.html>

Here are some other links which may be of interest:

FD14 Budget..........: <http://www.west-point.org/budget>
FD14 Donation Report.: <https://www-secure.west-point.org/donate/report>
Why Donate...........: <http://www.west-point.org/why_donate>
WP-ORG Privacy Policy: <http://www.west-point.org/privacy_policy>
501(c)3 Information..: <http://www.west-point.org/publications/501SUMMARY.PDF>

WP-ORG gratefully recognizes the Army Air Force Mutual Aid Association (AAFMAA) as sponsor of Fund Drive 14. Please take a moment to visit their home page: <http://www.aafmaa.com>.

Dempsey Darrow
USMA 1975
WP-ORG