Director Jarvis, please don't confuse hostility with grand disappointment. Many of us are old enough to remember when Hansen opened it's doors, and that it was a much more freindly and open environment than Clark, or the final phases of Hansen. Could be that much of that atmosphere had to do with the style(s) of the staff at the time. The older staff apparently thought of themselves first and foremost as educators in a role of public outreach, administrators and government employees very much second, to the betterment of the community, IMO. I certainly felt that any tax dollars of mine going into the old institution were much better spent. I'm not naive enough to think that good teachers are a substitute for the bottom line, in the eyes of those who hold the purse-strings however. Pity. Any county rules that on the surface seem to forbid an association between an astronomical society and the planetarium can be undone, they are just words on paper and not physical barriers. Clearly other planetariums owned by a branch of governement in this state have thriving relationships with amateur astronomical clubs. It's not impossible, but it does require enthusiastic backing at top leadership levels and a desire by that leadership to make sure there are no policy barriers in the way. Also remember that SLAS was originally founded by Hansen Planetarium staff, who gradually turned over club administration to the membership as the roles grew and the workload increased. For the planetarium to now shrug it's shoulders, point to questionable polices and rental fees, and grin sheepishly seems like a cop-out to many of us. Remember that we are not "tin-foil hat" types standing around looking at the night sky hoping for UFOs to land. Some of us contribute to professional research, are serious astro-imagers, comet seekers, have been published, repeatedly, in Sky and Telescope. We put on star-parties for thousands of people yearly, all over the stated and intermountain area at large. Guy stated it well; it's the planetarium who stands to benefit the most from any partnership with SLAS or any other serious club. The current SLAS president has pointed out in this forum that it may be too late at this point due to history and the momentum of official disinterest at the planetarium. The horse has already escaped the corral and closing the gate now probably accomplishes nothing. It's pretty much up to you, sir, to change the environment at this point. Hopefully enough club members wouldn't hold a grudge and would be willing to come back but that remains to be seen. It really could be too late and perhaps a partnership with Leonardo is the best way to go. We shall see. Thanks for your time. Chuck Hards __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com