[KS] Re: Friends Network!

[Yuh Ji-Yeon]

charles armstrong is correct on all counts. the friends list has no
connection to AFSC and it was started by several folks at the university of
chicago a number of years ago. it is a closed list, by invitation and/or
sponsorship only, devoted to the discussion of korean and korean american
issues. it's members tend to be progressive and politically engaged, and
the list is a good source of information on various activities in various
korean and korean american communities, as many people post announcements
and the like. 

the post that matthew benuska forwarded to this list appears to be a
minority view, judging from the responses it generated.

take care,
ji-yeon

At 01:16 ¿ÀÈÄ 99-10-15 -0400, you wrote:
>I believe the "friends network" in question is not the AFSC listserve but 
>a Korean and Korean-American issues-oriented listserve that was started at
>the University of Chicago a number of years ago. I also suspect that the
>reference to Cumings-bashing excerpted earlier did not have the support of
>friends as a whole, which tends to take a rather critical view of US
>policy toward Korea, but I haven't seen the piece myself. Maybe someone
>out there is a member of friends network and can clear this up. 
>
>							Charles
>
> On Fri, 15 Oct 1999, Michael Goodwin wrote:
>
>> Dear Mr. McCann et al:
>> 
>> Here's a crack at answering your question! (Perhaps Mr. Benuska can correct
>> me if I'm wrong?)
>> 
>> The Friends Network is a "by invitation only" listserv associated with the
>> American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) (http://www.afsc.org/).
According
>> to their web site, the AFSC is, "a Quaker organization that includes people
>> of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace, and
>> humanitarian service." (see web site)
>> 
>> I personally have never had any dealings with AFSC!
>> 
>> However, when I first began researching my book last year, I did discover
>> the following article: Suh Hyuk-Kyo, "Korea related Information, Resources,
>> and Activism in Cyberspace" (Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars
[28:3-4]).
>> 
>> In this article, Suh (former publisher of "The Korea Report") recommends
the
>> "Friends Network" to anyone interested in accessing cyber resources on
>> Korea.  Suh then states that the Friends listserv is open to new
subscribers
>> "by invitation only", but then immediately offers "to serve as a sponsor
for
>> anyone interested in joining the list."
>> 
>> Not knowing anything about the list (other than the fact that it's tied to
>> the AFSC which has a long history of social/religious development oriented
>> work in Korea --extending back to the 1920's I think) I contacted Suh and
>> indicated that I would appreciate if he/she (sorry! ugh!) acted as a
sponsor
>> for me.
>> 
>> Suh agreed! Suh agreed to forwarded my request to the list's managers and
>> did this several times. But I never heard from the list managers. And my
>> name was never added to the listserv.
>> 
>> Frankly, I was left wondering why Suh would have extended a general
>> invitation in his article to act as a sponsor for anyone interested in
>> joining the Friends Network listeserv if he didn't have the capacity to
make
>> this happen!
>> 
>> So, if anyone out there has any further info on the "Friends Network
>> listerv" (which I believe is actually called, Friendslist) I would
>> appreciate hearing from you.  It's my understanding that you need a sponsor
>> to join the list. With that in mind, if anyone out there would be so
kind as
>> to "sponsor" my subscription, I would be grateful.
>> 
>> Clearly the remarks that were made on The Friends Network about
Mr.Cumings's
>> Nation article (and were brought to our attention by Mr.Benuska) are
nothing
>> new: Mr.Cumings suggested to me recently that he is well used to being
>> "politically and ideologically savaged."
>> 
>> But I'm inclined to remain interested in the Friends Network listserv ("one
>> bad apple doesn't necessarily  spoil the whole bunch" etc.), so if anyone
>> out there can assist ne in getting hooked up with it, I'd like to hear from
>> you.
>> 
>> Thanks
>> 
>> Mike Goodwin
>> (Greenville, NC )
>> 
>> 
>
>
>


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%