| Table of Contents |
| Date & Time | By | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 0103 15 December 2006 | daa | Add a vote regarding food in the refrigerators. |
| 1928 19 October 2006 | daa | Add a vote regarding snow removal. |
| Add a vote regarding remote access to clubhouse computers. | ||
| Add a vote regarding donating books in John M Ford's memory. | ||
| 2225 1 October 2006 | daa | Update the item regarding using the Regular Members mailing list to provide required notice and move it to the candidates for updates to the By-Laws section. |
| Update the item regarding the President's ruling on Skylark voting. | ||
| Update the item regarding making the appointment of the Skylark Administrator conform to current practice. | ||
| 2325 3 May 2006 | daa | Add a vote regarding using the Regular Members mailing list to provide required notice to the candidates for updates to the Standing Rules. |
| More on the issue of division of responsibility between the Web and Computer committees, see also this extract from IM #736. | ||
| 0038 9 February 2006 | daa | Add the MCFI donation to the candidates for updates to the Standing Rules. |
| Add dumpster rental to the candidates for updates to the Standing Rules. | ||
| Add requirements for free Boskone memberships for volunteers to the candidates for updates to the Standing Rules. | ||
| Add the President's ruling on Skylark voting to the candidates for By-Laws updates. | ||
| Add making the appointment of the Skylark Administrator conform to current practice to the candidates for ByLaws updates. | ||
| 1257 6 October 2005 | daa | Add the appointments to the Oxford University Press advisory board to the candidates for updates to the Standing Rules. |
| 0117 15 September 2005 | daa | Add the Oxford University Press motion from the 11 September meeting to the candidates for updates to the Standing Rules. |
| Fix the motion concerning the Finance Committee recommendations. | ||
| 1815 12 September 2005 | daa | Add the Finance Committee recommendations from the 11 September meeting to the candidates for updates to the Standing Rules. |
| 1202 12 September 2005 | daa | Move the items reported to the September 11th Business Meeting (all those marked "Ready") to the "Approved changes not yet integrated" section, and purge any related change log entries. |
| 0126 21 July 2005 | daa | In the item from IM 736, add a bit more information about the division of responsibility between the Computer Committee and the Web Committee. |
| 2200 7 July 2005 | daa | In the item from IM 736, clarify (a bit) what we remember about the division of responsibility between the Computer Committee and the Web Committee. |
| 2330 17 June 2005 | daa | Implement change log |
Candidate items marked "(Ready)" are ready to be reported to a Business Meeting. Those marked "(Active)" are being discussed by the Rules Committee (and perhaps by other interested parties) and will be changed to "(Ready)" when the Rules Committee comes to agreement on them. Unmarked items are waiting for the Rules Committee to begin considering them. Anyone who has constructive comments on any of the "candidate" items should deliver them to the Rules Committee.
[None]
MSP: The membership deems that posting to the Nesfa Regular List to which all Regular Members subscribe to constitute adequate notice in this case.
["This case" is notice of a vote to transfer someone to Regular Membership.]
While this specific motion is about notice (as required by By-Laws section 1.2A) of a vote to transfer a member to Regular Membership there are many other requirements to give notice to members throughout the ByLaws. Since there is no good reason that this case should be handled differently from all of the others, any change should be to the definition of "giving notice" at By-Laws section 10.2(g).
The ByLaws require giving notice to members in By-Laws sections 1.2(c), 1.2A, 1.6, 1.8, 2.4, 3.8, 4.4, 5.7(c), 8.3(c), 8.3(d), 8.4(b), 8.4(d), 8.5, 9.3, and 9.5. Of these 15 instances, 9 are clearly to all members, 2 are to all officers, 2 are to specific affected members, 1 is an implicit reference to other sections, and only 1.2A is unclear (but is evidently intended to refer to all members, and should be fixed to explicitly do so).
Since 1.2A requires notice to all members, the original motion conflicts with the By-Laws and therefore has no effect – notice to only Regular Members is not sufficient. It is still a good idea to explicitly allow electronic notification by adding it to the list in 10.2(g) (it can be useful for notification to individual members, to the E-Board, etc.) though this is not required since 10.2(g) already allows "any other means .... calculated to reach them within a reasonable period of time" – but none of the existing email lists is suitable for general notification since none of them reaches all members.
Modify By-Laws section 10.2(g) with insertions and insertions as marked:
Written notice or notification is
"given" to persons when it is published in the newsletter of the
Corporation or sent in a notice to Members, or is left
with them in person or with persons living with them, or is mailed to them at
their last and usual address as listed in NESFA's records, or is sent via electronic mail
to their email address as listed in NESFA'a records, or if and when it
is sent by telegraph or other carrier, or if and when it is sent to them by
any other means. Any means enumerated in this subsection and used to give
any notice to any person must be calculated to reach them within a reasonable
period of time.
[Shortened 3/81, omitting "left at their residence or usual
place of work". Then in 1/87 the "published in the newsletter ...
sent in a notice" clause was added: cf. Section 1.10. 11/06: added electronic mail to the list of
specifically-allowed techniques.]
Modify By-Laws section 1.2A with insertions and insertions as marked:
Admission to membership, or transfer
from one class of membership to another, is accomplished by vote of the
Membership, except as provided in Sections
1.8 and 1.9. One week's
written notice of such a vote will be given
to all members.
[First sentence added 9/75 (the "vote of the
Membership" requirement was previously in an introductory clause to Section
1.3), revised 4/82 (passage of Section 1.9).
A requirement of two weeks' written notice was added in 9/82, reduced to one
week in 4/83. 11/06: clarify wording – notice must be given to all
members.]
The President ruled that the By-Laws governing voting on the Skylark Award which require that the administrator set the deadline at least one month after the ballot is distributed do not restrict the Membership if it chooses to override the administrator. [Note that this action was not reported in Instant Message.]
The second sentence of By-Laws section 11.5(a) already allows the Membership to change the time limits in any way it sees fit (by a 2/3 vote) before the administrator sets the dates, but there is no provision in the By-Laws allowing the Membership to override the administrator.
We should add a general provision allowing the Membership to override any Committee or the holder of any appointed position, similar to the existing one (section 5.3) allowing the Membership to override the EBoard and allowing the Membership or EBoard to override any Officer.
Also, the text of 11.5(a) does not clearly state whether the change is temporary or permanent; since a permanent change would be the equivalent of a By-Laws amendment, only a temporary change is presumably intended – but this should be made explicit.
Add to By-Laws section 11.5(c) the annotation See also 11.5(a) regarding the length of time nominations must remain open.
Add to By-Laws section 11.5(e) the annotation See also 11.5(a) regarding the length of time voting must remain open.
Add new By-Laws section 6.9:
6.9 Each committee, appointee, or agency created under the authority of By-Laws sections 6.1 or 6.6 or named elsewhere in these By-Laws:
(a) If it reports on its activities at a meeting of the Membership, may have any matter contained in that report voted on by the Membership.
(b) Is bound by any decision voted by the Membership.
(c) May have any decision it has already taken overruled by a majority vote of the Membership.
[11/06: Provide for overrides by the Membership of committees, holders of appointed positions, etc. (Based on the provision for overriding the E-Board or an Officer in By-Laws section 5.3.)]
Modify By-Laws section 11.5(a) with insertions and insertions as marked:
The Administrator
shall fix the deadline for the closing of nominations and for the return of
ballots within the time limits set forth in this section. The
Membership may change the nominating or
voting time limits for the current year by two-thirds vote.
[Second sentence added as escape clause in 12/91. Here and in
later subsections, "Administrator" replaced "Boskone
Committee" when subsection (h) was added in 6/81. 11/06: clarify that
any changes by the Membership are temporary.]
The Rules Committee was requested to propose a amendment to make the ByLaws on appointing the Skylark Award administrator conform to current practice – which is that it is always a Presidential appointment.
Modify By-Laws section 11.5(h) by
insertions and deletions as shown:
A Skylark Award shall be presented at
each Boskone convention unless the Membership
shall vote to omit it. If a Skylark is presented at a Boskone, the Award's
Administrator shall be the Boskone Committee Chairman (or the Chairman's
delegate). The Membership may vote to
present the Skylark Award at other times, but not more often than annually;
the Administrator shall then be appointed by the President
with the approval of the Membership.
[Added 6/81 to take care of various contingencies; previously it
was taken for granted that the Skylark would be given at Boskone, with the
Chairman responsible for administration. 11/06: Move specification of the
administrator to 11.5(i).]
Add a new By-Laws section 11.5(i):
The Skylark Administrator shall be appointed by the President
with the approval of the Membership.
[11/06: Separate from 11.5(h) and change to conform to
long-standing practice.]
[None]
MSP to amend the Clubhouse Committee fiat "no food in the refrigerator overnight" to be the following: Any food stored in the refrigerator must have a date of placement, an owner, and a use or disposal date of no more than 5 calendar days after placement written on it or it will be thrown out. In any case it may be thrown out if found on a calendar date after its use / disposal date. This motion expires at the January Business Meeting.
Since this rule applies only for a short test period, it does not belong in the Standing Rules. However, if it is not renewed in January the previous Clubhouse Committee fiat should be added.
TBD
MSP to authorize snow removal at rates comparable to the reported discussion recognizing that this is a WAG. For the purposes of this motion, we are estimating $700/year. [This is to pay for snow removal from both the parking lot and the sidewalk.]
TBD.
TBD
MSP that the club try remote access on two computers (Sales and one TBD) using a free trial of GoToMyPC.com. After a suitable period of time of 1 to 2 months, the Computer Committee will evaluate the trial. If it is acceptable they are authorized to spend up to $400 per year to continue with GoToMyPC.com. If it is not acceptable they are authorized to spend up to $400 to try a hardware VPN / router solution which may also involve software licenses.
TBD.
TBD
MSP to ... add the Minneapolis Library to the review copy list for future books with ... the books being sent specifically in the memory of John M. Ford.
TBD.
TBD
The following issue was raised but not voted on and no one objected to it. The Web Committee's responsibility is to maintain the contents of the web pages, working ot maintain an image the club as a whole decides to present to the world. Everything having to do with infrastructure, including all network protocols, hardware, servers, and services are in the purview of the computer committee. That was why we called the two "web" (i.e. visual design) and "computer" (i.e. technology) instead of "internal" and "external".
TBD.
TBD
The issue of the MCFI donation to NESFA was raised again. No one could remember what we had changed it to. Deb said that the new amount was $150. No one disagreed with her.
TBD
TBD
Somerville has tripled the cost of trash removal from the clubhouse. No change in service; just in price. The cost of renting a dumpster for monthly pickups will be cheaper and this also means that no-one will have to show up Tuesday evenings to take out the trash for Wednesday delivery.
MSP to allocate up to $1300/year to rent a dumpster for trash removal (note that the cost will likely be less than that), more than 2/3s in favor.
TBD
TBD
MSP 16 hours of help at Boskone gets you a free membership in the next Boskone. Double credit for hours helped before 3 pm Friday of the Con and after 3 pm Sunday of the Con. [Note that the motion as stated at the Business Meeting explicitly specified that this applied not just to Boskone 44 but to all future Boskones.]
TBD
TBD
Tony and Mark have been appointed to the Oxford University post. This is not necessarily the only appointments.
TBD
TBD
MSP Moved that the Membership approve of this report in principle and direct that the Rules and Finance Committees put it into proper language.
The job of the Treasurer has grown over the years so that it is more than one person can handle by themselves. It is therefore a recommendation of the Finance Committee that there be a fundamental change in the Committee's responsibilities. We believe that the Finance Committee should take a more active role in assisting the Treasurers of NESFA and Boskone. Accordingly we propose the following changes:
TBD
TBD
MSP Moved that the Oxford University Press (OUP) project be done under the following rules:
TBD
TBD
MSP to set 16 hours as the amount of volunteer time to qualify for a rollover membership to the next year's Boskone. Time worked at the hotel during setup or teardown counts double. 8 hours qualifies for a T-shirt.
[Should we establish a section to keep track of this information? Use the annotations to 1.9(18)? What about pre-reg and at-door rates, too?]
MSH to accept from MCFI the large-format printer in lieu of one month's donation for clubhouse usage.
[Add this information to the annotation to SR 5.2(5).]
Mike Benveniste announced that after three years of handling the business and technical sides of the e-commerce site, he would like someone else to take this over. He proposes that whoever does this job should be under the same review as the Treasurer. There are three separable functions:
[Put store.nesfa.org website administration under the Web Committee?]
[Establish a two new positions (within the eCommerce Committee?)
MCFI is pleased to increase its monthly donation from $350 to $1000 for a three-month period around N4.
[Add this information to the annotation to SR 5.2(5).]
The Immortal Storm by Sam Moskowitz is now discountable -- just like all of our other books.
[Fold this into the needed general rewrite of the discount rules.]
Gay Ellen said that once a new ISP is established the Web Committee will manage it.
[I remember a decision to move responsibility for our interactions with the outside world from the Computer Committee to the Web Committee, leaving the Computer Committee responsible only for equipment at the clubhouse or loaned to members, and for services to members (e.g., VPNs to members' systems), but the only traces I've found in IM so far are this and, in the Computer Committee report in IM 718 (5/7/2003) "... the Computer Committee was formed to take care of issues with internal systems first, with other duties such as Web, email, and e-commerce added as time went on ... I am going to recommend that the Computer Committee look at the various jobs currently assigned to it, and determine if some of these duties are best handled by another committee." (Checking has gotten back as far as IM #710 excluding IMs #730-728, and may need to go back to IM #607 which documents the establishment of the Web Committee.)]
It was decided to leave the current text of section 5.2(5) as is but to add the history of what MCFI has chosen to donate as an annotation to that section.
[Research that history, and add it to the annotation to SR 5.2(5).]
MSP to increase MCFI's donation for the use of NESFA's facilities from
$175 to $350 per month.
This change was requested by MCFI.
[During the run-up to Noreascon 3 the Membership authorized an ad-hoc joint NESFA-MCFI committee to be created from time to time to set a fair monthly donation, and that at least some of the NESFA-appointed members were to be non-MCFI members. The calculation should include at least these factors: the fraction of the CH's time used by MCFI, the fraction of the CH's space used by MCFI, the fraction of the CH's equipment and software owned by NESFA and by MCFI (and who uses it), and other services donated from one organization to the other because it's not worth keeping track. (E.g., credit card fees paid by on MCFI charges which are too small to track or which are constant and most easily dealt with by sweeping them into the donation.) Find this motion and add a new section (probably 5.2(6)) to document it. IMs 400-466 checked (except that the file copy of #412 is missing page 3 and the file copies of 455, 458, and 459 are missing); it appears that this was done but quickly changed to the current text of SR 5.2(5). See IM 406 (9/7/86) p11 ($170/month), IM 408 (10/5/86) p2 (first meeting of joint committee was 8/19/86), IM 418 (?/??/??) p3 (E-Board approval, with no details), IM 420 (5/10/87) p5 (change to donation).]
[[reorganization of Boskone chart of accounts, etc, referred to Finance committee -- never reported on?]]
[Get the info and add it to section 2.7? Better, add it to the new Treasury/ section of the website.]
"Priscilla appointed Sharon to head the Ministry of Truth"
[This refers to the subset of the Web Committee responsible for maintaining the history of NESFA and Boskone. Dave Grubbs was the first to suggest this name, which was instantly appropriated by the President. Ref. Orwell, "1984".]
Short Story contest (Suford Lewis): I am preparing a few minor changes to our rules,
tightening and modernizing them and publicizing that we send out readers comments.
1 -- Eligibility: an amateur is a writer who has received less than $100 cumulative
total for fiction of any length or genre.
2 -- Requirements: eliminate references to non-proportional fonts and A4 paper.
3 -- Submission: to explicitly allow, even encourage, email submission.
4 -- Privileges: to eliminate publication in PB as part of the winner's privilege
since PB has not been published in a while and if PB becomes a webzine it could
endanger a story's salability.
5 -- Benefits of Entry: to publicize the returned comments of the first readers
as a benefit of entry and to require more strongly that the first readers produce
them, as unbiased critique is both one of our contributions to improving the
writers and the hardest thing for them to find.
[See 1.29(2).]
The President said we will create a new committee, the Web Committee, to maintain the consolidated web site.
[Find the origins of the "on-line liaison" and codify it too.]
E-Board (2/27): Borders has ordered 25 of our small remaining supply of Yolen books. Our policy has been to not sell books at discount if less than 100 remain. Mark recommended and the E-Board approved continuing to sell the Yolen book at discount until the number remaining goes down to 50.
None [But include this limit in the rewritten discount policy and add the discount-until-only-50-left info to the price list in 4.2(7)?]
Moved to amend the By-Laws by suspending section 11.5 for the September
1996 Business Meeting.
MSP (George Flynn) to go into Executive Session.
Minutes of the Executive Session
[This is all intended to be a surprise for Hal Clement who, as a
formerly-active and currently-honorary member of NESFA, receives and reads
IM. Please do not distribute or discuss this in any way that he might hear
of before the award is presented at Boskone.]
[Section 11.5 of the NESFA By-Laws is the section which controls the
awarding of the Skylark.]
Joe Rico yielded the floor to Mark Olson.
Mark Olson said at the last meeting that he proposed to award the Skylark a
second time to Hal Clement. The Skylark is normally only awarded once but
there is nothing in the rules to prohibit doing it a second time. A 2/3
vote will suspend section 11.5 and then a majority vote will be sufficient.
I ask for a simple show of hands to state if you are comfortable with doing
this. If 5 or more are uncomfortable with it I will drop this and place
Hal's name on the Skylark ballot and hope enough members will vote him
first.
Hands were raised, with fewer than 5 against.
MSP (Mark Olson) to award this year's Skylark to Hal Clement.
Priscilla added that the Skylark Administrator, Deb Geisler, knows about
this and approves.
MSP (George Flynn) that no other Skylark be awarded this year.
George also noted that the Clerk be directed to send a separate page in IM
to Regular Members only informing them of what occurred in Executive
Session and requesting them not to discuss this as we want it to be a
surprise for Hal.
MSP (Tim Szczesuil) to leave Executive Session.
[This should be recorded for posterity someplace, but doesn't seem appropriate for Appendix A. George suggests that a brief account be added as an annotation to section 11.5 of the By-Laws.]
MSP that the Paula rule applies to Tony. For those who came late, you are allowed to make as many puns at a Business Meeting as your wallet can stand. $.10 for the first and $.25 thereafter. One day Paula denied that her statement was a pun and the Membership passed the rule that if you deny making a pun and the membership disagrees with you, you pay double.
[I think I remember the original incident with Paula but can't find any mention of it in the Standing Rules. We should add a section (probably 3.4(8)) for the referenced rule. While most pun-related material belongs in Appendix A, this is an actual rule of ongoing effect.]
MSP to authorize the E-Board in consultation with the Sales Committee to establish special Commercial discounts as needed.
[The entire discount policy needs to be consolidated and brought up to date, probably by rewriting the first half of 4.2(12) and combining 4.2(2), 4.2(3), 4.2(4), 4.2(9)(c) and 4.2(14) into it.]
MSP (Priscilla) to name the 5325 "Mr. Gestetner"
????
A committee was established on behalf of Mr. Gestetner to find Ms. Gestetner.
????
MSP to declare this meeting a virtual Codclave. (The Clerk notes that Codclave was originally scheduled to draw the snowstorms away from Boskone.) We had our first nasty snowstorm the Saturday before the BM.
????
The Membership bypassed the Membership Committee to consider a new person for Subscribing
membership. It was noted that he reads IM before even most Regular members see it. While he
cannot afford dues, the membership noted that it could waive the dues for services rendered.
Joe Ross then made some racist remark the Clerk did not like. Believing in free speech, the
Clerk will never-the-less censor it. Pam noted that he attends all meetings, is clearly
recognized as a hard-working person who has never shirked his duty, and has an interest in
the Club. Suford noted that he never speaks at meetings.
MSP to approve Mr. Gestetner as a subscribing member.
????
Fan Production (?) Redux: Kenneth Knabbe announced that Mr. Gestetner wants to be serviced really soon. The Clerk as head of the Press Gang should do something about this. Unfortunately the Clerk was laughing too hard at all the resulting ribald remarks and puns, but the President asked Ted as head of Procurement to make an appointment for Mr. G.
????
George Flynn announced that he felt it was time to create a theological argument.
MS (George Flynn) that we use Arabic numerals rather than Roman numerals
to refer to all future Boskones.
Pam Fremon said, while preparing the history exhibit for Boskone, she
observed inconsistency in using Roman and Arabic numerals.
MS (Priscilla Olson) that we use Arabic numerals up through Boskone 49
and then reconsider (as "Boskone L" would be cool). Accepted by George as
a friendly amendment.
MS (Tony Lewis) to refer to committee.
Mark Olson asked to which committee did Tony refer? The Computer
Committee would urge the use of binary numbers, the Finance Committee would
use dollar signs, the Building Committee would advocate fractions. Suford
thought the Esthetics Committee, already encumbered with the thorny problem
of deciding a paint color for the main room, was the proper group to take
on George's theological argument.
MSP (Rick Katze) to postpone debate on the motion to refer to committee
until the next meeting.
MSP (Gay Ellen Dennett) to postpone all discussion of Boskone numbering
to another moment in time.
Moved (Mark Olson) to bring the matter up now as this was another moment
in time.
The President ruled Mark's motion out of order; the issue will be
discussed next month.
????
At 10:07 on Wednesday, September 24, 1997 at the clubhouse the Clerk convened the E-Board with Gay Ellen and Mark to recommend the appointment of Mark and Lisa Hertel, who would be in Montreal next weekend to attend a con, as our official bounty hunters to collect the pun fines owed by Teddy Harvia, temporarily working in Montreal. The Board approved the appointment and adjourned at 10:08.
????
MS (Tony Lewis) to establish a committee to figure out each month what
Mr. Harter's middle name will be, and that Tony Lewis is not on this
committee.
MSP (Mark Olson) to amend by striking the second part. Tony said that he
regarded this amendment as unfriendly.
MSP (Mark Olson) to further amend that only Tony be on the committee.
The motion as amended was enthusiastically passed, and Tony announced
that Mr. Harter's middle name for the month of November 1997 would be
"Winthrop".
????
Paula Lieberman mentioned that the arrangement of chairs in the main
meeting room makes it difficult to get to the books behind them.
Moved, no second (Priscilla) to overthrow the chairs.
????
Question for the Rules Committee --
What is the legal effect on a vote where the proxy votes cause a motion to be passed
(or defeated) where the issuers of the proxies have died before the vote is taken. These
deaths were unknown to the assembly at the time of the vote.
Ted Atwood, Rules Committee chairman, was called in from the Blue Room. His answer to
Tony's query: there is a legal effect only if the death reported before the proxy is read.
????
Name Committee: Suford read an e-mail message to Tony from Mr. Harter [Hi, June!]:
To: Anthony Lewis <arl@digilab.com> From: Richard Harter <cri@tiac.net> Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 03:52:00 -0500 Subject: Re: Middle Name At 08:50 AM 11/10/97 -0500, you wrote: >Sir, >at the 9 November Business Meeting of the New >England Science Fiction Association, Inc., it was >voted that Mr. Harter's middle name shall be set at >each NESFA Business Meeting to last until the next >Business Meeting. In addition, a committee, >consisting of Tony Lewis, was established to select >the name. For your convenience, your mensual >middle name will be published in Instant Message. >Be advised that, until the 14 December 1997 >Business Meeting, your middle name is Winthrop. >Your suggestions will be welcomed. >Sincerely, >Anthony Lewis >Mr. Harter's Middle Name Committee >NESFA Dear Sir, I wish hereby to formally express those thanks which your efforts deserve. If I am to have a middle name (and apparently I have no choice in the matter) then "Winthrop" is indeed a happy choice, one that reflects what I like to think of as my maturity and solidity of character. (The fact that no one else has detected these attributes in my character is irrelevant.) I have no specific suggestions. It may be presumptuous of me to do so but I would like to suggest a few general guidelines. I would prefer not to see names which are often used in derision, e.g. Herkimer, or names regularly associated with people with distinct character faults, e.g. Ebeneezer or Adolf. Then again names with exaggeratedly medievalist connotations are not quite my thing, e.g. Peregrine of Ethelbert. While it is true that I have a rural background I should not like sobriquets of persons often found loafing in front of the Courthouse, e.g. Bert and Clem. Due account should be taken of the claims of euphony. The names "Richard" and "Harter" are both trochees; due consideration should be made that the chosen name scans properly. Thus the name "Theodore" should not be used, although it would be quite good if my last name were "McElsee". At this point in reading the message, Mark Olson seconded the implicit motion to change Mr. Harter's name to Mr. Richard Theodore McElsee. Needless to say (but I shall say it anyway) an utterly ordinary name will not do - I am not commonplace even if it would be an improvement if I were. Upon reflection I have to assign some small blame to my parents in this matter. If they had thought the matter out carefully they would have given me the first name of "Mister" and I would be quite properly named as "Mister Richard Harter". Perhaps it is too late to make this change formally - the name "Richard Harter" is on so many documents, e.g. arrest warrants - but it occurs to me that NESFA is not so constrained. May I suggest that the organization take the view that I have always had a middle name, to wit "Richard", and that I have unfortunately been missing a first name all of these years - my middle name having merely been used in lieu of a non-existent first name. Since I have some small attachment to it and since there is precedent for its use by the best elements of society, I request that the club hereby establish "Mister" as my first name. Respectfully submitted, (Mister) Richard Harter
Since there was already a motion on the floor, Mr. Harter's explicit
motion would normally be considered out of order. To avoid this unfairness,
it was instead treated as a motion to amend by replacement. Rick Katze
objected to consideration on the grounds that this was a slanderous attack
on Mr. Harter's mother [a NESFA member!]; this objection prevailed 14 to 6,
after which Mark Olson noted that Rick's objection was out of order since
it cannot be applied to an amendment. Deb Geisler asked that Mr. Olson be
suspended. The Chair ruled Mark's objection to be out of order.
The amendment having been disposed of, the implied motion was passed.
Mr. Harter's name is Mr. Richard Theodore McElsee until the January Business Meeting.
Priscilla requested that his IM label use his correct-for-the-next-month name.
????
[After a long discussion on humanely removing the resident skunk:]
Moved (and failed to get a second but did get the biggest laugh of the meeting) by Rich Ferree
to budget $500 to trap the lawyers in the clubhouse.
Priscilla chanted "Save the skunk! Save the skunk!"
The President declared just about everybody to be out of order.
Rick Katze' motion failed.
"Point of odor" said the Clerk, and was punfined.
????
MSP (Joyce Carroll Grace) to appropriate $95 to purchase a Magic Maze for
Space Cadets.
MSP (Gay Ellen) to name the maze "The Skunkworks".
????
MSP (Davey Snyder) to appoint Dave Cantor as the official NESFA woodchuck.
Both Davey and Dave assert that "woodchuck" was never mentioned; the correct word is "groundhog".
????
Clerk (Claire Anderson): To answer inquiries from IM subscribers who are unable to smell
the evidence in person -- yes, the skunk is still in residence, favoring us with a low-key
blast every few days. [And, no, I don't know whether the skunk had a successful mating season.]
MSP (Davey Snyder) to appoint a committee to investigate the possibility of scratch 'n
sniff IMs. Nomi helpfully advised that she's seen scratch 'n sniff skunk stickers for
sale. Gay Ellen said the committee will be headed by Davey Snyder assisted by Michael Burstein.
????
STILL MORE NEW BUSINESS: George said that inasmuch as we have an "interlocking directorate" at SFWA, we should undertake a covert operation to take over sf publishing. A stunned Michael Burstein asked for a point of personal privilege. Deb G. informed him that that could be used only if his ass was on fire. MLO proposed a friendly amendment (which was accepted by George) to specify the takeover as _publishing_ (in general). The motion was seconded, and passed, to much merriment (and one SFWA officer's dissent).
????
Clerk: Also, we received another postcard from Teddy Harvia protesting our
levied punfines. At our Readercon sales table Irene Harrison proposed a diabolical
idea for dealing with Teddy's punfines at Boskone. I promised her I'd personally
implement her plan with the cooperation of the Art Show and perhaps some construction
mavens. The President said Irene had also talked to her. Chair Deb Geisler said she knew about it.
MSP (Michael Burstein) to go into Committee of the Whole to discuss Irene Harrison's idea for
dealing with Teddy Harvia's punfines.
MSP (Gay Ellen Dennett) to exit Committee of the Whole with the recommendation that we approve
Michael Bursteins's alternate suggestion for tormenting Teddy.
MSP to adopt the recommendation of the Committee of the Whole [which the Claire Anderson, with a
cast of thousands, will implement in the Art Show]. [Also, Teddy is warned that NESFA's Official
Bounty Hunters, the Hertels, who are designated to collect his punfines, are now 3 in number.]
????
MSP (Claire Anderson) to appropriate up to $20 to purchase a black & white (or color,
if necessary) disposable flash instamatic camera to keep at the clubhouse to photograph
the skunk family. The camera will be known as the skunk-a-matic.
Davey Snyder ended the discussion by declaring she would give Treasurer Tony Lewis $3
for 3 Family Dependency memberships. Tony was reminded that he must now name the new
Family Dependency members. Priscilla said skunk babies are called "kits", the plural
of which Deb Geisler said was "kitch." Nomi was also punfined for advising Tony to
name one of the kits "Eartha."
????
Name Committee (Tony Lewis): Mr. Harter's middle name for the next month is Stribling.
Ted Atwood, as Rules Committee chair, inquired if the naming of the baby skunks should
be referred to the Name Committee; Tony instantly replied: Stink, Stank, and Stunk.
Sharon Sbarsky added that if there is a fourth sibling its name should be D'Artagnan.
[[create a complete list of Mr. Harter's assigned middle names? in a section for the
'name committee'?]]
????
MS (Joe Ross) to double the Bursteins' punfines for the remainder of the meeting.
MS (Chip Hitchcock) to amend to make Joe Ross pay their doubled punfines.
Moved, no second (Joe Ross) to adjourn.
Tony asked if Joe's motion applied to those Bursteins at this meeting or to all of them
everywhere. Davey suggested "Burstein" as a middle name for Mr. Harter. Mark Olson
recommended making Mr. Skunk an honorary Burstein. Michael Burstein protested that only
he and his brothers can create honorary Bursteins. Ted Atwood, the Rules Committee chair,
was called upon to clarify several Objections to Consideration.
MSF (Deb Geisler) to adjourn.
The chaos was finally curtailed:
MSP (George Flynn) to call all pending questions.
All pending questions were defeated.
????
MSP: to appoint Liana Hertel as the official NESFA Bounty Hunter to collect Teddy's punfines at Boskone (her parents having failed in this duty at ConCept).
????
Fiat (David A. Cantor, FN, official groundhog): All requests for Groundhog predictions should be submitted to the Groundhog no later than sunset, 1 February for opinions to be rendered the morning of 2 February.
????
(Joe Ross) The US Census Bureau's web site has info in all sorts of languages,
including Yiddish. Tony further noted that in the web site's census form help area,
if you click on the question "sex", the answer is "The government cannot help you
with this item."
MSP to punfine the government, and to appoint Tony to collect the punfine.
????
MS (Deb) to name the Ricoh copier "Joe". Mark Olson inquired if Joe Rico
would be punfined each time the copier was used during a meeting.
MSP (Priscilla) to amend to name the copier "Mr. Joe".
The motion as amended passed.
????
"Priscilla appointed Sharon to head the Ministry of Truth"
????
Tony's Renamed Months:
Acting upon the charge laid upon me by the August 2002 Business Meeting, I have
come up with a proposed list of new names for months. This was inspired by the example
of the government of Turkmenistan whose efforts are, although useful, futile in the
face of NESFA. The proposed list is:
| Mundane | NESFA |
|---|---|
| January | Asimov |
| February | Boskone |
| March | Bheer |
| April | Linebarger |
| May | NESFA |
| June | Clement |
| July | Moon |
| August | Gernsback |
| September | Worldcon |
| October | Campbell |
| November | Chocolate |
| December | Clarke |
Suggestions will be considered.
-- Tony Lewis
????
We then formally defined the 2 similar, but different, NESFA words "george" and "georgify". To george something means to have George [Flynn] proofread it. Something is georgified if it has been submitted to George to see if we're doing the right thing.
????
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