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| Club Charter Charter of Northern Oregon & Vancouver Anime ARTICLE I - NAME ARTICLE II - PURPOSE ARTICLE III - MEMBERSHIP ARTICLE IV - OFFICERS AND ELECTIONS ARTICLE V - OFFICERS AND DUTIES ARTICLE VI - DUES ARTICLE VII - FINANCES ARTICLE VIII - MEETINGS ARTICLE IX - AMENDMENTS AMENDMENTS ARTICLE I - NAME The name of this organization shall be: Northern Oregon & Vancouver Anime In all cases this club may be referred to by its acronym, NOVA. ARTICLE II - PURPOSE The purpose of Northern Oregon & Vancouver Anime (hereafter identified as NOVA) is to provide an opportunity for people with interest in animation, in particular Japanese animation, to discuss, view, and support the artform commonly known as anime. Related activities, such as model building and mecha gaming, where they relate to Japanese hobbies and cultural interests, are also encouraged at NOVA. ARTICLE III - MEMBERSHIP NOVA is a loosely organized fan group not affiliated with any college or university. As such, there are no classes of membership, such as student or alumni. Instead, membership in NOVA is open to anyone, regardless of student status, age, race, religion, veteran status, sexual orientation, political affiliation, or gender. Membership rolls will be kept by the Secretary, whose duties are described later. A member of NOVA is defined as any person who attends meetings of NOVA on a frequent basis, maintains contact with the officers of NOVA, and is current in the payment of dues. Dues are defined in ARTICLE VI. ARTICLE IV - OFFICERS AND ELECTIONS An election of officers, open to the full regular membership, will be held at the first meeting in September each year. The term for elected officers is one calendar year beginning the following meeting. Elections are performed by first nominating candidates for each office, and at the following meeting holding a vote. Voting will be by paper ballot, totalled and reported by the current Secretary. If the office of Secretary is vacant, another officer will conduct the vote. Should an office be vacated at any time during the year, an election will be held to fill it at the earliest convenient time. Elections are held at regular meetings, described in ARTICLE VIII. ARTICLE V - OFFICERS AND DUTIES The officers of NOVA shall constitute a board consisting of a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Games Activities Coordinator, and Archivist. The duties of each office are: President The President is responsible for NOVA's organizational stability. This includes maintaining records and handling club business. The President must also coordinate the efforts and results of any committees appointed by the regular membership. The President has the authority and responsibility to delegate tasks to the Vice-President, Secretary, and Archivist. The President shall chair the regular meetings of NOVA. The President shall: Be the chief executive officer of the club. Act as chairman at all meetings of the club at which they are present. Represent the club and the membership thereof to organizations and at gatherings where such representation is necessary. Oversee and administer any activities of the club not specifically under the control of any other officer. Vice-President The Vice-President of NOVA is the President's assistant administrator. In addition to assisting the President to fulfill his (her) duties in handling club business, the Vice-President shall assume the President's role in case of his (her) absence. The Vice-President shall: Act as chairman at all meetings of the club at which the president is not present. Assume all powers and duties of the president when and while such position is vacant. Coordinate group ventures by club members. Assess the needs of the other officers and facillitate these needs through assisting other officers in their duties where requested. Secretary The Secretary shall: Keep up-to-date records of NOVA membership. Manage correspondence with other clubs. Maintain a record of votes. Coordinate flyer distribution and publicity. Supervise the production of a newsletter. Maintain all non-financial records of the club. Be responsible for keeping accurate and complete records of the financial transactions of NOVA. Administer the finances of NOVA with the approval of its members. Prepare and present a budget for the operations of the club each fiscal quarter in the months of March, June, September and December. Present a report of the financial affairs of NOVA when requested by a member, as outlined in ARTICLE VI. Archivist The Archivist shall: Be an administrator responsible for maintaining club material. Chief Information Officer The CIO shall: Be responsible for seeking out visitors and welcoming them to the club. As befits a club composed of fans, volunteers will always be welcome to help the officers execute their duties. However, representations made in the name of NOVA must be made by officers of NOVA. This means that any contracts entered into on behalf of NOVA, such as rental of a suite for the purpose of showing anime at a science fiction convention, must be signed by officers of NOVA. Members of NOVA who are not officers of NOVA may not enter into contracts on behalf of NOVA or present themselves as authorized representatives of NOVA. They may of course cite their affiliation with NOVA. ARTICLE VI - DUES NOVA, by decree of this charter, institutes a system of dues by which membership will be tracked. These dues will be collected by the Treasurer according to the following system: Attendees of meetings of NOVA may become members by paying a membership fee of $15 or an acceptable substitute as defined in the Amendments. The Secretary/Treasurer will collect the fee, note the member's name, address and phone number, and will note said member in the rolls. Membership shall be for one calendar year from the date of payment. It confers access to the Archive, the right to vote at meetings, and the right to hold office. Anyone not wishing to pay dues may freely attend meetings and anime showings as a guest of NOVA. ARTICLE VII - FINANCES Finances for NOVA are handled by the Secretary. Funds for NOVA are raised by yearly membership dues of $15. Such funds must be recorded as they are received. Any monies received by an officer of NOVA must be recorded by the Secretary, and placed within the week into a bank account managed for the purpose. Purchases for the use of the club will be made out of this fund. Purchases fall into two categories: Incidentals Incidentals are those items needed for the ordinary running of the club. These include copies of the flier distributed to advertise meetings, and postage for correspondence with other clubs. These costs must be defined by the membership and put to a vote once. Thereafter, such purchases are the discretion of the NOVA officers, but they must be recorded, and receipts kept. Exceptionals Exceptionals include food, room rentals, and anything else likely to have a value of more than a few dollars. These items must be proposed at the regular meeting and voted on by members present. The Secretary must record the expense and keep the receipts. Perpetuals Perpetuals are the items, services, and fees that shall be paid with club funds for club use for the foreseeable future. Perpetuals are to be added as amendments (see for instance AMENDMENT IV) and the Secretary must record the expense and keep the receipts. At any time, any member may request an audit of the books of NOVA. The request must be made at a convened meeting of NOVA, and the Secretary and other officers have until the next meeting to produce the expense reports to meet the request. Initially, the bank account for managing NOVA funds must be created in such a way that two signatures are required for a withdrawal to take place. Once all officers have been elected, it will be the duty of said officers to study the question of legally declaring NOVA a non-profit organization to eliminate any question of taxing NOVA dues. A report will be made on the expense and actions required to achieve this status. In the event that NOVA is dissolved, for any reason, and it is clear that there is no likelihood that it will reform, it is the duty of the officers as their final act to see to it that all funds are distributed to a worthy charity in the Beaverton area. Any property belonging to the club (purchased using checks from the NOVA bank account) must be sold or auctioned off and the proceeds given to charity. ARTICLE VIII - MEETINGS GENERAL Meetings refer to the informal meetings conducted by NOVA to promote the goals of appreciation of Japanese animation. It will be necessary from time to time to conduct formal business at these meetings, such as elections, amendments to the charter, scheduling of special events, etc. This business will be held at the beginning of the regular viewing meetings, as soon as it is felt that most members who intend to be there have arrived (no later than 90 minutes after the normal commencement of the informal meeting). During this formal segment, the President of NOVA will be in charge of all discussions, and parliamentary rules will be observed (within the limits of courtesy). FORMAL Convocation Club meetings may be called by majority of members present at any club meeting. a majority of the executive officers of the club. by de facto, when a regularly sheduled meeting place has been arranged. Notice of any club meeting shall be given to the membership of the club at least twenty-four hours in advance of the said meeting. Procedure Quorum - two-thirds of the members on the Secretary's roles. For the purposes of this definition, two-thirds means "two-thirds of those members whose dues are current and who have attended a meeting in the past quarter-year or communicated their intention to remain a member to one of the active officers. For votes to be conducted, either the President or the Vice-President must be present. All procedures at any club meeting shall be conducted by consensual agreement (of two-thirds majority of those present) until and unless it is requested by a member that Robert's Rules of Order, Revised be implemented, in which case they will be, insofar as such provisions are in accordance with established usages and regulations of the club. ARTICLE IX - AMENDMENTS The membership of the club shall be empowered to, from time to time and as it sees fit, amend the constitution of the club. Procedures Notice Notice of any motion to amend the constitution of the club shall be given at a club meeting no less than fourteen days before the meeting at which the matter is to be considered. Approval Any motion subject to the above provision must be approved by a two-thirds majority of members present at the time of consideration in order to take effect. AMENDMENTS Amendment I Family Dues: Any member of NOVA who brings a family member to NOVA meetings may enroll that family member for $7.50 for the yearly membership, provided that they have already themselves enrolled at the $15 yearly fee. This family membership adjustment does not apply to the by-meeting rates. Membership fees may be waived for any member by a unanimous vote of all 5 currently serving officers. This waiver may be granted for reasons of financial hardship, exceptional donations to the club, special merit, or for other reasons deemed worthy by the officers. Waivers will be considered on a case by case basis. Waivers may be for any length of time, based on the ddecision of the officers at the time the waiver is granted. [ Voted on and approved September 4th, 1993 ] [ Emended by vote on September 14th, 2002 ] Amendment II Membership Recision: Any member can be asked to leave NOVA for the following reasons: Using the NOVA name: To further the commission of a crime. For commercial ventures (NOVA is not-for-profit). Harrassment or menacing of another NOVA member or guest. It is not necessary that proof sufficient for a court of law be presented; only the judgement of a simple majority of NOVA officers is required. The party facing ejection may request a probationary period. In any case, any portion of dues left at the moment of recision of membership is forfeit. [ Voted on and approved June 17th, 1994 ] Amendment III Dues Substitution: Anyone may pay for one year's dues by supplying a commercial videotape, laser disc, CD or DVD of a Japanese animated feature licensed in the United States. The media must be in good condition in the judgment of the archivist at the time of donation. Subtitled or dubbed (English) material are both acceptable. Each additional item supplied substitutes for an additional year of dues; there is no limit to the number of years paid for in this manner. Motivation: NOVA respects the licenses of American companies, and so NOVA will not carry fansubs or unsubbed Japanese copies of American licensed anime features in the archive. However, carrying commercial tapes which have been bought through licensed channels is acceptable, as it encourages the US companies to continue to license anime. [ Voted on and approved March 18th, 1995 ] [ Emended by vote on September 14th, 2002 ] Amendment IV Domain: Until such time as the club dissolves, or the domain name is changed, the club will, under the perpetuals clause in ARTICLE VII pay the fee to retain ownership of the domain name of novaanime.org. [ Voted on and approved September 23rd, 2000 ] Amendment V Valuable Equipment Disposition: Definitions Archive Item: A videotape, DVD, CD, manga or other cultural artifact residing in the NOVA Archive. Valuable Equipment: Any item which: is not an Archive item, is owned by the club collectively, rather than by an individual member, is expensive or otherwise difficult to replace. The threshhold for what constitutes an expensive item, or one which it would be difficult to replace, is left to the judgement of the current NOVA officers. If there is a dispute over such classification, it must be put to a vote at a regularly held meeting. Example: the NOVA Video Projector, unveiled at the August 24th, 2002 meeting of NOVA. NOVA Hardware (or simply, Hardware): a synonym for Valuable Equipment. Custodian: An appointed, rather than elected position within the NOVA club membership. It is intended that valuable equipment belonging to the club is for the sole use of the club. A responsible member must care for such equipment. Rather than create a new office for the management of such equipment (Chief AV Geek?), we propose: After each election, the newly elected President of the club will have the duty of appointing custodians for NOVA's hardware. There may be a custodian appointed for each valuable piece of equipment belonging to NOVA, or the President may choose, at his or her discretion, to have a single individual in charge of multiple items. The duties of each appointed custodian will include: storage of the hardware. regular transport of said item to meetings (personal emergencies excused). This directly requires that the custodian must have a reliable means of transport. 'The bus' is not secure enough for transporting NOVA Hardware. recognition that the valuable equipment is not for personal use. Using the projector as an example, the lamp itself is expensive, and should last for a good long while if only used at meetings. Personal use could shorten that lifespan considerably and would be looked on as an abuse of the position. The custodian should be a member in good standing for that year (payable on appointment or a reasonable time thereafter). The custodian will not be financially responsible for loss of Valuable Equipment due to factors beyond their control (i.e. Theft, Fire, Flood, etc.). [ Voted on and approved September 14th, 2002 ] (Signatures:) Date of Adoption: May 15, 1993 President: |