[EAS] ipawsnonweather question

[Adrienne Abbott]

Sean asks: Why does so much of the nation's emergency alerting and public
warning system rely on unfunded volunteers?

While I find the question a little patronizing, my answer is: ...because
that's who we are, that's what we do, that's how we're made. From the
"Minute Men" of the Revolutionary war to the Cold War era "Civil Defense
Volunteers", to the Volunteer Firefighters, Ham radio operators and Red
Cross volunteers on the lines of the wildland fires here in the West, it's
what we do. It's who we are. It's how we're made. It's in our genetics. I
can't explain it because I don't know how I could stand by and just assume
that the government is going to do a better job of running EAS than I am. 

Don't make the mistake of assuming that, just because the "gummint" doesn't
fund us, that there's any less validity or value to what we do. We didn't
fall off the last turnip truck that rolled through town. We bring a lot of
knowledge and institutional information to the party. 

That said, "funding", government, NGO or corporate, would be nice. I'd like
some $$$ to defray the cost of printing and distributing updated EAS plans,
some $$$ to pay travel costs for EAS SECC members to attend meetings, some
$$$ for training broadcasters and originators on the use of EAS, even a few
bucks for a new laptop for a certain volunteer. But not having that $$$
doesn't mean CAP EAS/WEA won't happen here. It's just not how we're made...

Anyone else with an answer to Sean's question???

Adrienne Abbott
Nevada EAS Chair