Advisory Board Minutes

October, 2002

Approved 8 Jul 2003

Call to Order	There was no call to order for the October meeting, since the September meeting was not officially adjourned. These minutes, while technically a continuation of the September meeting, will be broken up by month for clarity. Approval of the September minutes is still pending.
Officer Reports - NC
Motion - agenda	Note: This is a continuation of business begun in September. (9/28/02) Bill Oliver, NW/Plains CC Rep, presented a motion "that the items on the September agenda and the issues [which include the -ALL list and the RAL right to function as elected] mentioned that need completion be brought forward, discussed, resolved or solved by AB action until the agenda and issues are in closure, unless the time becomes 0001 hours, 1 September 2003. And, further, that Sunday has for some centuries been considered a day of rest, therefore, that no AB action not declared an emergency be done on day of the week." The motion was numbered 02-18 and opened for discussion. (10/3/02) Mr. Oliver amended the motion to read, " I move that no meeting may be declared adjourned as long as there are items on the agenda that are unresolved; that no items on the agenda may be 'set aside', referred to committee, nor pushed forward to the next meeting, except by general consent approval by the Advisory Board." With no AB members objecting to the change, the amended language was approved. Motion passed with 10 "yes" votes, 2 "no" votes, and 2 members not voting (10/8/02).
Motion - USGENWEB-ALL-L list	(10/8/02) Tim Stowell, SE/MA SC Rep, presented the following motion: "Whereas the USGenWeb-All list has traditionally been a list were USGenWeb members who were so inclined could join and share knowledge or concern regarding the USGenWeb Project and is therefore the members list we the members of the Advisory Board hereby implement the following with regard to this list and its administration: - that the list be reopened as soon as this motion is passed and the following points have been addressed: List Membership: - that it be open to all voting members of the USGenWeb Project whose membership will be confirmed by the list administrator or his/her designee, as the person wishing to join has their name listed as a member of xxgenweb state project or special project on their main site as a bona fide member. - that it will be the responsibility of each listmember to provide said proof by sending a working URL or letter from the state's project or special project naming them as a member - that upon verification that each listmember have full posting privileges within the confines of the list rules List Administration: - that the list be administrated on a rotating basis by the 8 CC Reps of the 4 regions on a quarterly basis, starting with those members whose term of office ends 31 August 2003, so that each of the 8 CC Reps will have a turn at administering the list. - that the list administrator have 2 CCs as co-administrators appointed by them who are not members of the current Advisory Board. These 2 CCs term of office will expire with the list administrator's term so that 2 CCs will have to be appointed by the incoming administrator. - that these 3 administrators shall be free from interference by the National Coordinator or the Advisory Board in administrating the list unless or until such time as corrective action so designated by the list rules are not enforced by them. List Decorum: - whereas the list management now falls under the jurisdiction and/or responsibility of the Advisory Board the following standards will be applied: - no profanity - no name-calling of fellow members - staying on topic. While some topics are ok that are not related to the list, such as holiday greetings or announcements, if you aren't sure, then don't or at least ask the administrator for permission to post items that may be of general interest. Proper netiquette (etiquette on the Internet) is that one does not forward private emails in totality to another person without prior permission of the sender. You may certainly say that x person told me this and/or quote from a message you received much like you would from a newspaper or book. Harassment and Flaming: from the following website(s) - http://english.ttu.edu/carter/MBU/MBU.definitions.html : The definition of "flaming" seems to have taken two different directions in the past couple of years. A. As a term applied to electronic discussions, it refers to a situation where people say something in the electronic situation they probably wouldn't say in a face to face situation. Social norms seem to have been broken because of the electronic element. More specifically, most people would further define this situation ONLY if it applies to negative utterances: gay-bashing, cursing, cutting remarks. This kind of flaming usually destroys/degrades the conversation. Many people believe the teacher should intervene at this point; others feel like the group will monitor itself and bring social pressure to bear on the flamer. B. The second definition seems more prevalent on the news groups, where it refers to jumping on someone's case for some reason. This definition doesn't carry the connotation of saying what you normally wouldn't say in face-to-face discussions, but rather giving your blunt opinion. e.g. "Sorry for this flame, but you don't know what the hell you're talking about!" In my opinion, this kind of flaming rarely shuts down the conversation unless it degenerates into the first kind of flaming. Harassment - copied in part from - http://www.teachers.ab.ca/publications/monographs/harassment/harassment03.html Would I want this behavior to be the subject of a column in the newspaper or to appear on the evening news? Would I behave this way if a member of my family were standing next to me? Would I want to see someone I love treated this way? Is the behavior initiated equally by me and the other person?" Penalty Box: - if members are accused by another member of slander, the list administrator(s) must investigate to the best of their ability. - first infractions would require a public apology on the list by the person accused within a prescribed period of time, else face restriction or loss of posting privileges for a certain amount of time, in other words going to the penalty box. - further infractions will require greater penalties to be determined by the list administrators by a majority vote. - penalties imposed must be made public so that the other members may understand the consequences for improper conduct and so they will know when the penalty phase ends for the accused. - other penalties or list rules to be posted publicly by the list administrator and in the letter that members receive upon subscription." The motion was assigned number 02-19, and discussion began. After both a motion to set aside 02-19, and a motion to amend it failed, voting commenced on the original 02-19. The motion failed (11/7/02), 3 yes votes to 7 no votes, with 3 members not voting.
Motion - amendment to motion 02-19	(10/18/02) Jan Cortez moved to amend Motion 02-19 as follows: "Whereas the USGenWeb-All list has traditionally been a list were USGenWeb members who were so inclined could join and share knowledge or concern regarding the USGenWeb Project and is therefore the eligible voting members list, we the members of the Advisory Board hereby implement the following with regard to this list and its administration: That the list be reopened as soon as this motion is passed and the following points have been addressed: List Membership: - that it be open to all eligible voting members of the USGenWeb Project whose membership will be confirmed by the list administrator or his/her designee, as the person wishing to join has their name listed as a member of xxgenweb state project or special project on their main site as a bona fide member - that it will be the responsibility of each listmember to provide said proof by sending a working URL or email letter from the state's project or special project naming them as a member - that upon verification that each listmember have full posting privileges within the confines of the list rules List Administration: - that the list be administrated by one AB members, and two project members selected by the AB - that these 3 administrators shall be free from interference by the National Coordinator or the Advisory Board in administering the list, unless or until such time as corrective action so designated by the list rules are not enforced by them - penalty only upon concurrance by two list administrators. List Decorum: Whereas the list management now falls under the jurisdiction and/or responsibility of the Advisory Board the following standards will be applied: - No profanity - No name-calling of fellow members - Stay on topic. While some topics are ok that are not related to the list, such as holiday greetings or announcements, if you aren't sure, then don't, or at least ask the administrator for permission to post items that may be of general interest. - No statements of a libelous nature (Def: Written defamation. Publicly communicated, false written statements that injure a person's reputation, business or property rights) - No threats to life, limb or harm in any way, nor threats of a legal nature Proper netiquette (etiquette on the Internet) is that one does not forward private emails in totality to another person without prior permission of the sender. You may certainly say that x person told me this and/or quote from a message you received much like you would from a newspaper or book. Penalty Box: - First offense - a verbal warning - Second offense - Posts moderated for a week - Third Offense - Posts moderated for a month - Fourth Offense - automatic suspension. All offenses subject to appeal to the AB for a decision or mediation." Discussion ensued. After Ms. Rippee's motion to set aside 02-19 failed for lack of a quorum (see below), discussion resumed briefly on Ms. Cortez' amended version of 02-19 until Ms. Rippee called the question. With 5 "yes" votes, 4 "no" votes, and 4 members not voting, the amended motion failed. (11/2/02)
Motion - to set aside motion 02-19	(10/23/02) Phyllis Rippee presented a motion to "temporarily set aside the discussion of the amendment to motion 02-19 in order to take up the more pressing issue of seating a representative from the NE region." After this motion was seconded, the NC called for a vote on it, noting that passage would require a simple majority. However, only 8 AB members had voted on the motion to set aside more than 48 hours after the vote was called for, and so the motion failed for lack of a quorum (10/28/02), and discussion resumed on Jan's amended version of motion 02-19.
Other Business	(10/15/02) Kathy Heidel resigned as NW/Plains CC Representative.
Adjournment	There was no adjournment. Business will continue without pause, although minutes for actions taking place in November will be a separate document.

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Recording Secretary

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