<HTML>The Erich von Daniken seminar has a limit of 80 seats and is scheduled to take place in New York on Nov. 2, 2001. The announcement for it contains this notice:
<i>ATTENTION
If by August 28th, there are less than 60 people signed up for the Seminar, the Seminar will NOT take place in which case you will receive a full refund.</i>
That is, if 75% of the proposed attendees do NOT sign up 9 weeks in advance, the event will be CANCELLED.
Now a certain other event was cancelled with 7 weeks to go when only 27 out of a needed 146 participants (or 18.5%) had signed up. On this basis, a certain professor who organized this event was put in the cyberstocks and subjected to pretty nasty public villification. Much was written about how lame the low-enrollment reason was as a basis for cancellation, and fanciful (and ridiculous) "alternative" scenarios were made up out of whole cloth. By sheer coincidence, all of these scenarios served to denigrate the professor.
I don't suppose now, with this enlightening parallel to hand, anything by way of a retraction or apology will be forthcoming from any of the "alternative" parties concerned. Or perhaps their imaginations can come up convincing conspiracy scenarios involving Von Daniken's backers ...
Sorry, but I had to point this out.
Garrett</HTML>
