[H-ANNOUNCE] Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held 30 September 2001

[Raymond Smith]

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        MINUTES OF THE 30 SEPTEMBER 2001 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF
                 THE HOME UNIX MACHINE - BRISBANE USER GROUP

The President, Brent Wesley, opened the meeting with quorum at 6:00pm
and took up the chair.

Reports
-------

The President reported that Linux continued to grow and the club along
with it. He reported that he would not be standing for re-election.
(He did however stay on as Chairman of the meeting.)

The Vice President, Robert Brockway, had nothing to report but publicly
thanked Brent Wesley for his years of service as President, to applause
from the assembly.

The Secretary, Raymond Smith, reported on the ongoing work with the
HUMBUG web-site, and the ongoing work with the Membership Database.

The Treasurer, Mark Suter, reported an account balance of between
three thousand and four thousand dollars. The only significant
spending in the year had been on repairs to Caliburn and a new switch
for meetings.

Fiona McRae, from the floor, asked after membership numbers. The Secretary
reported that the numbers were around 110 at last count, although he did
not have an exact count at the time.

Fiona then asked after moves towards incorporation. The short answer is
that we haven't quite made it. Membership fee will need to increase to
cover insurance costs. There was a general feeling from the club executive
that it would happen. It was noted that a general rewrite of the club's
constitution would be required for us to meet Department of Fair Trading
rules.

The Librarian, David Makepeace, reported no change in holdings and that
we would renew our subscription to the Linux Journal.

Elections
---------

Brent Wesley passed the Chair to the Vice President following club practice.

   President
   ---------

Mark Suter was nominated for president by Brent Wesley; the nomination was
seconded by Raymond Smith. Mark accepted the nomination.

As there were no other nominations, Mark Suter was elected unopposed.

Mark Suter was then passed the Chair by Robert Brockway.

   Vice President
   --------------

Robert Brockway was nominated by Nikolai Lusan; the nomination was seconded
by Jason Parker. Robert accepted the nomination.

As there were no other nominations, Robert Brockway was elected unopposed.

   Secretary
   ---------

Raymond Smith was nominated by Jason Parker; the nomination was seconded by
Nikolai Lusan. Raymond accepted the nomination.

Clinton Roy was nominated by Patrick Nichols; the nomination was seconded by
Fiona McRae. Clinton accepted the nomination.

Raymond Smith and Clinton Roy left the room for the vote.
Raymond Smith was elected by a show of hands.

   Treasurer
   ---------

Clinton Roy was nominated by Brent Wesley; the nomination was seconded by
Willie Yeo. Clinton declined the nomination.

Brent Wesley was nominated by Raymond Smith; the nomination was seconded by
Robert Brockway. Brent declined the nomination.

Bradley Marshall was nominated by Robert Brockway; the nomination was seconded
by Nikolai Lusan. Brad declined the nomination.

Michael Pick was nominated by Brent Wesley; the nomination was seconded by
Robert Brockway. Michael declined the nomination.

David Makepeace was nominated by Patrick Nichols; the nomination was seconded
by Willie Yeo. David accepted the nomination.

Ewan MacGreggor was nominated by Brent Wesley; the nomination was seconded by
Robert Brockway. Ewan declined the nomination.

Mathew Sellers nominated himself; the nomination was seconded by Brent Wesley.
Mathew was taken to have accepted the nomination. At this point,
David Makepeace withdrew his nomination.

As there were no other nominations, Mathew Sellers was elected unopposed.

    Librarian
    ---------

David Makepeace was nominated by Nikolai Lusan; the nomination was seconded by
Willie Yeo. David accepted the nomination.

Michael Pick was nominated by Brent Wesley; the nomination was seconded by
Patrick Nichols. Michael declined the nomination.

Clinton Roy was nominated by Bradley Marshall; the nomination was seconded by
Fiona McRae. Clinton accepted the nomination.

David and Clinton left the room for the vote. David Makepeace was elected
by a show of hands (12 - 11).

General Business
----------------

Jason Parker asked what arrangements were in place for .humbug.org.au now
that Bruce Campbell had left the country for another job. Robert answered
that we were running on one machine, caliburn, and called for assistance
with new machines to allow continuous service.

Fiona MacRae asked after the arrangements regarding the PO Box. (HUMBUG
and Bruce Campbell have shared the same PO Box for some time.) Raymond
answered that the box was fully paid until April next year. We would be
seeking a letter of authority from Bruce to allow us to operate the PO
Box.

Mathew Taylor asked about the possibility of a position of 'Training Manager'
to oversee training for the club. Robert Brockway agreed this was an
excellent idea and nominated Mathew. Mark Suter used his powers under
the constitution to create the position during the meeting.

Further discussion ensued. It was noted that in the past this role has been
difficult because people have not provided specific topics they would like
to learn.

   Pornography
   -----------

Fiona McRae raised the issue of people looking at pornography during meetings.
Her concern is that while it does not bother her it would tarnish the image
of the club in the eyes of the general public. She was also concerned that
it would open the club up to charges of harassment.

Robert Brockway agreed wholeheartedly and pointed out that access to the
Internet at meetings was a privilege not a right. If people use it for
porn, then that was outside the University's terms and conditions and so
the exec could revoke network access. Brent Wesley noted that the same was
true for Warez, non-UNIXen, etc. Mark emphasised the role of University
Policy. Noted that things should be Fun in a professional way.

Fiona was still concerned and so Mark Suter asked her to propose a suitable
motion. Steve McIntyre shared her concerns and offered his view as a gay
man.

Fiona moved:

    "That any member viewing pornography (as defined by an exec
    Member) be warned formally and on a repeat offence be excluded
    for a time to be determined by the executive."

Steve McIntyre seconded the motion. There followed much debate between
individual members, the chair, and the general meeting. Out of this
Raymond Smith moved, and Kevin Cox seconded, that

    "The word 'deliberately' be inserted between member and viewing".

This amendment was passed 24 to 1.

Debate continued for some time. Clinton Roy question the need for such
a motion given existing powers. Jason Parker raised the issue of deciding
what was and was not porn. The debate again devolved and finally Raymond
Smith moved and Robert Brockway seconded that "the motion be put".

The amended motion passed 11 for to 5 against.

    Close of Meeting
    ----------------

Ben Fowler asked for input regarding talks to be sent to talks at humbug.org.au.
Raymond Smith made a call for input into the club.

The meeting closed at 7:15pm.


---
Raymond Smith
Secretary of HUMBUG 2001/2002              mailto:secretary at humbug.org.au
Home Unix Machine - Brisbane User Group    http://www.humbug.org.au/



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