This was one of the issues that arose during the
recent litigation concerned with valuation of the Nixon
tapes. Nixon's appraiser valued all audio
minutes equally. The Government's appraiser created a chart
for a couple of the long tapes, assigning a value of 10 down to
1 (Mario, please get me the brown briefcase) for each topic
discussed, multiplying that value by the number of minutes the topic was
discussed and coming up with a numerical weight. This was multiplied by
the value per minute as if they were all of cosmic
import.
There were many other factors as well, too
involved and intricate to go into here.
The negotiated figure was very much closer
to that related to the second process than the first.
The Government's appraiser for this purpose was
the undersigned.
=========================
Steven
Smolian 301-694-5134
Smolian Sound
Studios
---------------------------------------------------
CDs made
from old recordings,
Five or one or lifetime hoardings,
Made at home or
concert hall,
Text and pics explain it all.
at www.soundsaver.com
=========================
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2001 2:12
PM
Subject: Re: Nixon tape
-----Original Message-----
From:
Kurilecz, Peter [mailto:peter.kurilecz@WOODSIDESUMMITGROUP.COM]
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2001 5:09 AM
To: RECMGMT-L@LISTS.UFL.EDU
Subject: RAIN 5/25: Missing Nixon tape found, CD longevity
and Kaiser
Bill
Denver Post 5/24/01
Lost Nixon
fitness tape found by Springs dealer
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,53%257E37526,00.html
by Cara DeGette
COLORADO SPRINGS - A
Colorado Springs man has stumbled upon a 44-year-old
reel-to-reel audio tape of Richard Nixon chairing a Council on Youth
Fitness
strategy session on what to do with an
out-of-shape and spiritually lacking
young
America. Neither the National Archives nor the Nixon or Eisenhower
libraries has a
copy of the Sept. 10, 1957, tape.
Neither do they have a transcript of what
was said
during the session.
<more snips>
Holiday said he
wants the tape preserved and made part of the public record. But as an
avowed Democrat - as well as a businessman - Holiday wants someone else to
buy it from him and make the donation.
. . . Holiday, meanwhile, laments the lack of interest in a
slice of the country's past. "I can't instill the importance of history on
the bureaucrats who are charged with preserving the nation's history," he
said. "They (didn't) even ask for a copy of it."
<end article>
Does anyone know any more about this? Mr. Holiday is
in business and clearly wants to make money from his find, which is fair
enough. (However, I don't quite understand why he claims that being a
Democrat prevents him from donating the tape.) But it raises my
hackles when he accuses the "bureaucrats" (i.e., government archivists) of
not understanding "the importance of history" and of not being interested in
the country's past because they won't buy the tape from him.
The conclusion I draw from this article is that his asking
price is probably too high for something that is relatively insignificant in
the overall scheme of Nixon's legacy, and he's using publicity to try to
shame the National Archives into buying the tape from him. But perhaps
I'm being unfair. Anyone with more facts want to weigh in?
Julie Kerssen
King County, WA