Message-Id: <200110150409.AAA23427@frank-n-furter.mit.edu>
To: lmf@MIT.EDU, molly@MIT.EDU
cc: keithw@MIT.EDU
Subject: Minutes, 14 Octobre 2001
Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 00:09:53 -0400
From: Keith Winstein <keithw@MIT.EDU>

Here are the minutes from the Reunion of October 14, 2001.

Reunion 14/10/01, Ouverte a 21h20

In attendance: Morgan, Josh, Marissa, Dave, Austin, Mikael, Chloe,
Manuel, Susan, Keith, Shaunna, Carrie, Elina, Adam, Michael, Megan,
Radu, Miriam, Natalia [+ Marc, + Dina]

19 members at start of meeting / 31 total members (not including Paula)
= 61%

President:

Diner de Noel:

- Prochaine reunion
- Besoin de chef-chef

Tea kettle:

- Broken, Mary will handle replacement.

Rice cooker:

- Broken. Morgan moves to buy another for $30-$40 (10 cup capacity),
  1/2 coming from house funds, 1/2 from tutor funds.

- Marc okays tutor funds use.

19-0-1 passes

Molly Peeples's social membership:

Connaissance: Two-thirds majority achieved.
[Secretary's note: The guidelines do not make mention of a "connaissance"
vote. We should probably fix this, since everybody seems to agree this
is good policy and we do it anyway.]

Vote [in absence of Vice-President and Tresorier, secret ballot
was counted by Morgan, President, Megan, Food Steward, Keith,
Secretary, and Manuel, Sports Chair]: Two-thirds majority acheieved.

Molly is now a French House social member, bringing LMF's membership
up to 33 (including Paula).

Secretary's Report:

- Discussion of error in determination of voting standard for Miriam
  Boon's social membership election 12 Septembre 1999, and subsequent
  action upon discovery. This error changed the result of her vote
  from a pass to a fail, as announced in these minutes at the
  time. The secretary happened to note the error in September
  2001. Due to the sensitivity of this issue, it is not discussed
  further in these minutes.

Education:

- Marathon
- Professeurs, ce qu'ils ont dit
- Wellesley visit

- Cable TV

[NOTE: The secretary has an inherent conflict of interest in the reporting
of this issue. I have done my best to be clear and accurate.]

Keith (Secretary): The Ministry of Education feels that, given that
we have a war on, we should be getting CNN and C-SPAN, etc. Therefore,
I propose that we spend the 75 cents per person per month to get basic
cable.

Chloe: Second.

Susan: How long will it take to install?
Keith: Probably under a month.
Chloe: In a month there won't be any more Afghanistan.

Marc: What channels?
Keith: CNN, C-SPAN 1 & 2, 3 Discovery Channels, Fox News, A&E, etc.
       There's a list on the web.

Mikael: I think it's not necessary.
Dave: Me too.

Chloe: Until when would we get it?
Keith: Until the end of the year.
Susan: The calendar year?
Keith: No, the academic year. Until June.

Dave: I don't see why we need to get the news 1 minute after it happens
      when we can get it 1 hour after it happens with local.
Susan: I don't like local.

Dave: Does this have TNN?
Keith: Yes.
Dave: Okay then. <laughter>

Morgan: Worried about too much "vegging out" by my room, but after
	all I bought the PlayStation. I just think it would be
	a distraction.

Marc: Is CNN TV available on the web?
Keith: No.
Morgan: But there is Yahoo! News and cnn.com.

Morgan moves to vote.

Counting:
		Oui: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8
		Non: Secretary counts 1-2-3-4-5, everybody else
		     seems to count 6.
		
Morgan: And I have two absentee ballots from Mary and Adora who both
	say know.

Keith: Demands recount of no's.

Counting:

		Non: 1-2-3-4----- "Is your hand up or not?"
Count again:
		Non: 1-2-3------- "Put your hand up high!"

Keith: Demands full recount, starting with "ouis".

Counting:

		Oui: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
		Non: 1-2-3-4-5-6
		Abs: 1-2-3-4

Plus 2 absentee ballots for non: 10-8-4. "Yes."

Morgan: Not happy with way of voting, will discuss later. [NOTE: In
French, and secretary had little comprehension of remark. Many
understood remark to indicate President intended to have house vote
again.]

[NOTE: For your convenience, here are some relevant guideline sections
on voting procedures:

General Procedures:

  [...]
  After establishing the method and type of voting, the presiding officer
  declares the issue being voted upon, enumerating all voting options.
  The vote is then taken, and the presiding officer announces the official
  results.  If the vote is not by secret ballot, a house member has the
  opportunity to change his vote any time before the official results are
  announced.

Specific Voting Procedures:

  [...]
  The decision of whether to make a ``major'' house purchase
  requires a two-thirds majority vote.  The interpretation of the word
  ``major'' is left to the President.
  [...]

Methods of Voting, Show of Hands:

  This is the most common method of voting, in which votes for a
  particular choice are indicated by a raised hand.  The presiding officer
  enumerates all choices (ending with a call for abstentions), and pauses
  after each while he and the secretary both count raised hands.

Types of Voting, Simple Majority Vote:

  In a simple majority vote, one choice must receive a simple majority
  of the votes cast in order to pass.  A tie vote between two options,
  if not broken by the presiding officer (see below), results in
  neither option passing.  The only exception to this rule is a simple
  ``yes/no'' vote on a motion, in which case a tie means that the
  motion fails.
  [...]

Vote of the Presiding Officer:

  In general, the presiding officer does not vote, although his presence
  counts toward quorum.  The presiding officer may, however, vote when the
  voting is sufficiently close that an extra vote might alter the outcome.
  For example, if during a simple majority vote there are 50 ``yes'' votes
  and 49 ``no'' votes, the presiding officer is allowed to vote, for
  another ``no'' vote would result in a tie and thus a failed motion.
  Although technically the presiding officer may use this privilege to
  purposely tie a vote, the spirit of the rule is to avoid deadlock by
  permitting a tie vote to be broken.
  [...]

Proxies:

  A proxy is a house member who is given the power to vote for someone who
  cannot attend the meeting.  There are no restrictions on the proxy's use
  of this extra vote.  The presiding officer can neither designate a proxy
  nor be a proxy.

  A member who wishes to designate a proxy must seek approval from the
  President before the beginning of the meeting, explaining the
  inability to attend the meeting and naming the proxy.  The President
  should not approve the request if he feels that the reason for
  the member's absence does not merit the privilege of having a proxy.

  For the purpose of determining quorum, the person who is a proxy is
  still counted only once.

Absentee Ballots:

  An absentee ballot is a vote on a specific issue which has been
  announced prior to the meeting.  The vote pertains only to one
  specific issue. 

  A member who wishes to cast an absentee ballot must seek approval from
  the President before the beginning of the meeting, explaining the
  reason for his absence and giving the President a piece of paper
  with a description of the issue, the member's vote, and his signature.
  The President should not approve the request if he feels that the
  reason for the member's absence does not merit the privilege of casting
  an absentee ballot.

  During the course of the meeting, the nature of the issue under
  discussion may change.  The presiding officer will determine if the
  issue has changed so much that the absentee ballot is no longer
  relevant.  If this is the case, the absentee ballot will count as an
  abstention.

  Absentee ballots do not count towards quorum.]

Social Chairs:

- Who wants to to go to the cabin? 13-14
- Planning for November 16--18.
Marc: Give your final answer early, at least a week before.

Environment:

When is the recycling emptied?

Mikael: I don't know, but I'll find out?

Chloe: Composting?
Mikael: Not doing it.

[Discussion]

22h00 Rush:

Miriam: New social member!

Food:

Megan: We're buying concentrated O.J.

We have issues about menus. People haven't given me menus. People have
complained about not getting the right food. I put menus outside
my door. Other living groups have teams buy food themselves; it's up
to you guys.

Keith: Can you post menus for the week on the board by the kitchen?
Megan: Yeah, the menus for the week will be posted.

Morgan: Will use $20 discretionary presidential capacity to buy can opener.

Generale:

Dave: Propose to buy Josh's 40GB hard drive for $75.

Keith: Uncomfortable with buying computer stuff from member; propose
private collection.

Keith, Morgan, Dave, Radu each pledge up to $20. Will try to find other
people to join in.

---

Marc: Need fire marshalls, one per floor.
Dave: I volunteer.
Chloe: Does this mean I have to stay in and help people if
       there's a fire?
Marc: Yes.

Volunteers: Morgan, David, Megan, Marc

---

Mikael: I would loke to say how wonderful I think the freshmen + Natalia
+ Adam are, and they're really great, but especially the freshmen.

[Everybody leaps on Austin]

22h13: Meeting loses quorum.

22h20: President describes meeting as adjourned.