The following resolutions and sense of the house motions were passed at the CCCC Annual Business Meeting held on Saturday, April 5, 2008, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Resolution 1
Whereas open source software is freely distributed software with open, accessible code that can be readily improved upon by communities; and
Whereas open source software has the potential to control spiraling technology costs because software and upgrades are often free; and
Whereas open source software allows teachers, students, and institutions to participate in customizing software according to the specific, situated needs of a program or institution; and
Whereas open source software development permits collaboration with other institutions and organizations in its creation and maintenance; and
Whereas investment in open source software can prevent vendor lock dependence, that is, dependence upon one software company because it controls maintenance, development, and support; and
Whereas the open source development model parallels the academic model of knowledge creation and distribution; and
Whereas open source embodies a set of principles in which collaboration, peer review, and public knowledge are highly valued; and
Whereas investment in open source software development by institutions results in software which can be freely shared with all of education with the benefits described above;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Conference on College Composition and Communication support consideration of and strategic use of open source software whenever possible; will explore the use of open source software within its own organization and recommend that educators, institutions, and other educational organizations do the same; will educate CCCC’s members about the results of CCCC initiatives to use open source software; and will inform CCCC’s members about the associated costs of any open source implementation by CCCC.
Resolution 2
Whereas T.R. Johnson and the local arrangements committee invited us to “take the boat to the land of dreams” and “steam down the river down to New Orleans” and made sure that the band was “there to meet us/Old friends to greet us”;
Whereas they opened to us “Basin Street—Where black and white meet/In New Orleans, the land of dreams,” a city now dear to all of us, a home revived and reviving, soon to be thriving, where we celebrate our common bonds;
Whereas we acknowledge that providing local arrangements for several thousand writing teachers and rhetoricians is not an easy task, even in the Big Easy; and
Whereas T.R. Johnson and the Local Arrangements Committee gave us incomparable recommendations on local food, music, art, museums, and tourist attractions, making our stay in New Orleans truly one to be remembered;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the 2008 Conference on College Composition and Communication applaud T. R. Johnson and the Local Arrangements Committee for their hard work and generous hospitality. Laissez les bon temps rouler!
Resolution 3
Whereas Charles Bazerman has over the last thirty years been Involved in Constructing Experience, Shaping Written Knowledge, creating Informed Readers of All of Us, Side-by-Side, examining What Writing Does and How It Does It, and leading us as we strive toward Writing Selves, and Writing Societies;
Whereas he has in the 2008 Conference on College Composition and Communication asked us to (re)examine “Writing Realities, Changing Realities,” challenging us both to write and change our own and others’ realities in the midst of a city whose reality is written on, by, and through its people, its traditions, and its geographies and whose realities are indeed changing; and
Whereas, we all strive to meet his challenge and embrace his vision by emulating his humanity, civic responsibility, intellectual acuity, fancy footwork, and commitment to the profession;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the 59th CCCC Annual Convention Conference on College Composition and Communication warmly and respectfully thank Charles Bazerman for his leadership and service to the profession.
