Summary of comments

[Manoj Srivastava]

>>>>> In article <20030217054758.GA16206 at taral.net>, Taral
>>>>> <taral at taral.net> writes: 

 > I summarized most of everyone's comments in one document, and one
 > thing struck me almost immediately: we're trying to do to much at
 > once. Many of the proposed "problems" are minor little changes to a
 > document that looks like it's going to undergo some serious
 > revision before we're done with it.

	A few corrections. 
Issues the board wishes us to consider:
	From a recent mail from the president:

======================================================================
* Determine a protocol, or rules of conduct, that would facilitate 
     "Getting to where we can conduct business without getting
     embroiled in continous counter productive flaming is critical to
     the future of our organization."
  "Maybe we need to write a referee into the bylaws."
----------------------------------------------------------------------

	Replace:
 ======================================================================
 > Issues by Manoj Srivastava:
 > 
 > * A mode should exist where major arguments for each item on the agenda
 >   can be presented and voted for in email. It may be necessary to allow
 >   these votes to be changed after a meeting.
 > * A mechanism should exist to handle MIA members, as well as extended
 >   absences by board members (e.g. vacations/sabbaticals). A possible
 >   solution is to have a set fraction of the board members who must be
 >   active, and if the active set ever drops below that number, then one
 >   or more inactive members are required to return to active duty,
 >   possibly in a FIFO manner.
 ======================================================================

	With:
======================================================================
 * The board has been stymied often due to an inability to make
  quorum, and not being empowered to make decisions in an offline
  manner, failing quorum. This issue needs be addressed.
======================================================================
 

	The remarks meant as explanatory examples ought not to be
 codified as changes I want to see incorporated in the bylaws.


 > I recommend everyone look it over, and select two (2) things you
 > want to see done first. That way we'll only have at most 10 things
 > to deal with.  Once we've dealt with those 10, we can pick another
 > 10. Otherwise this will quickly become totally unmanageable. We
 > don't want to have neverending, branching discussions that rapidly
 > lose focus and are difficult to summarize as a concise change to
 > the bylaws.

	I am not sure if we are even on the same page, looking at the
 huge difference in levels of detail of the changes proposed. There
 are a few requests for sweeping changes to the bylaws to address
 grave and recurrent problems with the boards ability to conduct
 busines, and at the other end are minor tweaks to the language,
 which are remniscent of a final proof reading corrections.

	For the record, I consider 
======================================================================
 a) Rules of conduct designed to facilitate constructive debate and
    designed to enable the board to reach decisions efficiently
 b) Ability to make decisions while keeping in mind that real time
    meetings for a globally distributed board present difficulties in
    making quorum
======================================================================	
	critical.

	manoj
-- 
Human society - man in a group - rises out of its lethargy to new
levels of productivity only under the stimulus of deeply inspiring and
commonly appreciated goals.  A lethargic world serves no cause well; a
spirited world working diligently toward earnestly desired goals
provides the means and the strength toward which many ends can be
satisfied...to unparalleled social accomplishment. Dr. Lloyd
V. Berkner, in "The History of Manned Space Flight"
Manoj Srivastava   <srivasta at acm.org>  <http://www.datasync.com/%7Esrivasta/>
1024R/C7261095 print CB D9 F4 12 68 07 E4 05  CC 2D 27 12 1D F5 E8 6E
1024D/BF24424C print 4966 F272 D093 B493 410B  924B 21BA DABB BF24 424C