From owner-constitution@andromeda.68k.org Wed Dec 3 07:53:01 1997 Date: Wed, 3 Dec 1997 10:52:45 -0500 (EST) From: Dennis Voss To: Virtual Constitutional Convention Subject: fixed const draft MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-constitution@lsmsaaa.org Precedence: bulk LSMSA Alumni Association: 1997 Constitution 1. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE This Constitution provides for an organization called the LSMSA Alumni Association (hereafter "LSMSAAA"). The LSMSAAA is intended to (a) ...Promote the institutional interests of the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts (hereafter "Louisiana School"); (b) ...Serve as a voice for graduates of Louisiana School in matters affecting the school's continuing reputation as an educational institution; and (c) ...Promote the interests of all students, faculty and staff associated with the Louisiana School, past and present. 2. MEMBERSHIP Anyone ever associated with the Louisiana School -- whether as a student, member of the faculty, or member of the staff -- is automatically a member of the LSMSAAA. 2.1 Types of Membership The LSMSAAA has three levels of active membership: (a) Lifetime Member - Any member who has paid lifetime dues 10 times (whether consecutively or not). (b) Graduate Member - Any graduate of the Louisiana School who has paid dues (regular or lifetime) for the fiscal year, but is not a Lifetime Member. (c) Adjunct Member - Any member who has paid dues (regular or lifetime) for the fiscal year, but is not a graduate of the Louisiana School and does not hold Lifetime Membership. 2.2 Unregistered Members Individual members are responsible for maintaining contact with the LSMSAAA. Members who do not notify the Recording Secretary of their current addresses (electronic and/or postal) temporarily lose the right to communications from the Executive Council. Failing to register does not sacrifice any other right protected by this Constitution. 3. ANNUAL DUES Members who wish to activate their status for a given fiscal year must submit dues to the LSMSAAA Treasurer, unless they already possess Lifetime Membership. The fiscal year runs from June 30 of one year to June 29 of the next. (a) The rate for "regular dues" is $12 annually. If a member is willing to receive LSMSAAA communications electronically, dues are reduced to $9. (b) The rate for "lifetime dues" is $25 annually. 3.1 Timing of Changes in Membership Status Members may pay dues to cover a given fiscal year at any time. (a) If dues are paid prior to the beginning of that year, all associated rights and privileges begin (or continue, for members who are already active) at the start of the fiscal year. (b) If dues are paid after a fiscal year has already begun, relevant rights of membership begin upon receipt of payment by the Treasurer; no privileges are retroactive. (c) Once a member has paid lifetime dues sufficient to cover 10 fiscal years, regardless of timing, that person becomes a Lifetime Member. No act of the Executive Council may revoke someone's Lifetime Membership. 3.2 Retroactive Rate Increases Dues requirements for a given fiscal year are governed by constitutional rates in effect at time of payment. Subsequent increases do not effect those who have paid already, nor may they revoke Lifetime Membership once someone has qualified. 3.3 Other Fees The LSMSAAA may charge user fees for activities, services and products it organizes or subsidizes, at discretion of the President. All funds so collected, not just the net profits, must be turned over to the Treasurer without delay for addition to the General Fund. No additional dues or fees may be charged for members to exercise rights and privileges granted in this Constitution. 3.4 Earmarked funds Three-fourths of all dues money collected goes into the General Fund. The remaining quarter of dues goes into the Communications Fund, and is earmarked for postal or electronic communications. All proceeds collected through user fees, as well as dues from members who waive the right to postal communications, go into the General Fund. 4. OFFICERS OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL The Executive Council consists of five elected officers: the President, Vice President, Treasurer, Recording Secretary, and Natchitoches Liaison. 4.1 President The President is the primary executive officer of the LSMSAAA, bearing the following powers and responsibilities: (a) Public Relations - To act as the official voice of the LSMSAAA in its interactions with faculty and staff of the Louisiana School, with the LSMSA Board of Directors, and with all others inside and outside the Louisiana School community. (b) Budgeting - To decide how the General Fund should be spent and how LSMSAAA resources should be distributed, in keeping with the general purposes of the LSMSAAA. Even if the President delegates this spending authority, either in part or in full, no one else may pass a valid General Fund expenditure request to the Treasurer (c) Leadership - To preside over the time, place and manner of communications among members of the Executive Council, and establish guidelines for the conduct of business. To delegate authority and responsibilities, in keeping with the general purposes of the LSMSAAA. (d) Communications - To provide a brief Presidential Report to the Recording Secretary no later than two weeks before each newsletter must be distributed. The Report should outline the current state of the LSMSAAA, including any ongoing projects of the Executive Council. (e) Succession -- To fill vacancies in the Executive Council, including those created by implicit resignation, in keeping with the line of succession for each office. 4.2 Treasurer The Treasurer is the LSMSAAA's sole financial officer, bearing the following powers and responsibilities: (a) Communications - To provide a Financial Report to the Recording Secretary no later than two weeks before each newsletter must be distributed. The report should outline the current balance in LSMSAAA's accounts, including an itemized list of all expenditures since the last Financial Report, and indicate the procedure for paying dues (i.e., mailing address, form of payment). In no case may the procedure place an undue burden on active or inactive LSMSAAA members wishing to pay their dues. (b) Treasury - To collect all dues payments, and safeguard all LSMSAAA funds. To keep track of balances in the General Fund and Communications Fund. The Treasurer may not provide money from the General Fund to anyone other than the acting President, and may not provide money from the Communications Fund to anyone other than the acting Recording Secretary. The Treasurer may not spend LSMSAAA funds for any reason, aside from expenses directly related to maintenance of LSMSAAA accounts, nor may the Treasurer receive delegated powers to do so. (d) Veto - To review all expenditure requests from the President (for the General Fund) or Recording Secretary (for the Communications Fund), and decide within two days of receiving the request whether and how much to fund the appropriation. If the Treasurer accepts at least a portion of the request, those funds must be provided within a week. If a portion of the request is rejected, the Treasurer immediately must notify the officer who made the request. The Treasurer also must prepare a Veto Notice explaining why the funds were refused, and provide that report to the Natchitoches Liaison at least a week before the next meeting of the General Assembly. (e) Database Management - To maintain a record of all dues paid by members for the given fiscal year and, for people who have paid in advance, any future fiscal years. To maintain a record of how many years each member has paid lifetime dues. To inform the Recording Secretary when LSMSAAA members activate their status for a given fiscal year. 4.3 Recording Secretary The Recording Secretary is the LSMSAAA's primary communications officer, bearing the following powers and responsibilities: (a) Archiving - To collect all reports and official communications from other LSMSAAA officers, and hold them for at least 10 years. (b) Public Information - To provide full election results to any LSMSAAA member upon request, once these are released by the Vice President. To make archived reports available to active members when requested, at the convenience of the Recording Secretary. To make reasonable efforts, beyond those explicitly required, to spread information about the LSMSAAA. (c) Database Management - To maintain a database with each active LSMSAAA member's current addresses, electronic and postal. (d) Communications - To distribute a newsletter to all active members with registered electronic mail addresses, regardless of dues status, within two days of March 30 and September 30. To distribute a printed copy of the biennial newsletter to all Lifetime Members, and to all other active members who refused the electronic communications discount, within two weeks of disseminating the electronic version. This newsletter must contain the text from all official reports and communications submitted by members of the Executive Council since distribution of the last newsletter. (e) Budgeting - To decide how the Communications Fund should be spent, in keeping with the elections and communications requirements of this Constitution. The Recording Secretary bears ultimate responsibility for passing any communications expenditure request to the Treasurer for review. (f) Elections - To carry out all informational tasks necessary for LSMSAAA elections, as provided in other sections of this Constitution. 4.4 Vice President The Vice President is the LSMSAAA executive officer in charge of elections and Special Chapters, bearing the following powers and responsibilities: (a) Balloting - To collect the ballots for annual elections, or to locate and appoint others who will do the same. (b) Communications - To provide an Election Report, along with all valid ballots cast, to the Recording Secretary no more than one month after an annual election's balloting deadline. The report should include all vote tallies, and indicate the ultimate result of each contest. (c) Charters - To consider applications for Special Chapters, and determine in each case whether to provide a charter. Within a month of receiving such a request, the Vice President must issue a ruling to the Recording Secretary. (d) Support - To carry out, within reason, such tasks as the President sees fit to delegate. 4.5 Natchitoches Liaison The Natchitoches Liaison performs all functions of the LSMSAAA that require presence in the state of Louisiana, and bears the following powers and responsibilities: (a) Chair the General Assembly - To call meetings of the General Assembly once a year, and find a location for the meeting that will be convenient for active members. In any case, the General Assembly must meet in the state of Louisiana, in a town or city with at least as many residents as Natchitoches. The Natchitoches Liaison may not schedule meetings of the General Assembly without notifying active members at least one month in advance. (b) Archiving - To store all Veto Reports submitted by the LSMSAAA Treasurer, and present them at meetings of the General Assembly for possible override. (c) Communications - To provide a General Assembly report to the Recording Secretary no later than two weeks before each newsletter must be distributed. The report should outline the events of any General Assembly meeting that have taken place since the last newsletter. (d) Communications - To serve as a conduit between the Louisiana School administration and the Executive Council. To keep active members, and especially the Executive Council, abreast of activities at the school. (e) Research - To gather specific information about the Louisiana School when such information is requested by other members of the Executive Council. To fulfill such requests, when reasonable, from other active LSMSAAA members. (f) Support - To carry out such reasonable tasks as the President sees fit to delegate, especially those that are only feasible for someone residing near Natchitoches. 5. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY The General Assembly may consist of all active LSMSAAA members, and bears responsibility for officer impeachments and appropriations veto overrides. No meeting of the General Assembly may last more than two hours beyond the starting time announced by the Natchitoches Liaison; actions conducted afterward are not valid. 5.1 Membership in the Assembly All active members who attend a meeting of the General Assembly are considered part of the Assembly while present, and receive a single vote for any item on the agenda. Any active member who has forwarded an unambiguous proxy vote on a particular issue is also a member of the General Assembly for purposes of that vote. Executive officers who are present may participate and vote like any other active member. For any decision of the General Assembly to be binding, a quorum of 10 members must be present during any vote. 5.2 Removal of Officers The General Assembly may opt to remove any Executive Council officer for violating the letter or the spirit of this Constitution. At least two-thirds of those present or voting by proxy, and in any case no fewer than seven active members, must choose to remove the officer for the action to be binding. The Natchitoches Liaison may determine the process for considering an impeachment, but in no case may a vote be delayed past the two- hour limit for any given meeting. 5.3 Reception of Veto Reports The Natchitoches Liaison must read or distribute to the General Assembly all veto reports submitted by the Treasurer since the last meeting. The General Assembly may override any veto; in such a case the Treasurer must provide funds to cover the requested expenditure within a week. At least two-thirds of those present or voting by proxy, and in any case no fewer than seven active members, must choose to override the veto for the action to be binding. The Natchitoches Liaison may determine the process for considering a veto override, but in no case may a vote be delayed past the two-hour limit for any given meeting. 5.4 Special Sessions The Natchitoches Liaison may schedule additional meetings of the General Assembly if 15 or more active members of the LSMSAAA request one. These meetings are scheduled at the discretion of the Natchitoches Liaison, but otherwise must meet all requirements for calling and convening the annual General Assembly gathering. 6. THE LOUISIANA SCHOOL MEDIATOR The Louisiana School Mediator is the LSMSA administration's voice in the LSMSAAA. The Mediator holds no direct responsibilities during the regular functioning of the LSMSAAA, and is therefore not a member of the Executive Council. However, in periods of constitutional crisis the Mediator has authority, if desired, to stabilize the LSMSAAA either through interim appointments or constitutional rulings. 6.1 Eligibility and Appointment The Louisiana School Mediator serves at the discretion of the LSMSA Executive Director. At any time, the Executive Director may replace an acting Mediator through appointment of a replacement. The term of office is otherwise unlimited. Anyone may be appointed to this position, including the Executive Director or any member of the Executive Council. 6.2 Executive Council Appointments The Mediator serves as the last recourse during a succession crisis. When no one in the line of succession is able or willing to take on the duties of LSMSAAA President, the Mediator may choose an interim officer to serve in this role. Similarly, the Mediator may appoint an interim Treasurer, to serve as a check on the President's spending authority, when no one is eligible or willing to take on such duties through normal succession. 6.3 Constitutional Interpretation Should a dispute that requires speedy resolution arise regarding the meaning of any portion of this Constitution, the Mediator may choose to adjudicate between competing parties. Once the Mediator determines how the Constitution should be interpreted, that judgment is binding on officers and members of the LSMSAAA. Whenever possible, however, such ambiguities ultimately should be resolved by the voting membership through the amendment process. 6.4 Constitutional Amendment by Fiat Faced by an otherwise intractable constitutional crisis, the Louisiana School Mediator may order immediate, temporary amendment of this Constitution. Recourse to this power should be exercised with extreme restraint, and the voting membership must be permitted to rule on any such temporary changes -- as soon and as completely as is feasible -- through the standard amendment process. 6.5 Revocability of Decisions Any decision of the Louisiana School Mediator should be treated as revocable whenever possible, either through appointment of a new Mediator by the LSMSA Executive Director or through the constitutional amendment process. Section 7. OFFICER SUCCESSION 7.1 Eligibility To Hold Office (a) The President and Vice President each must be a Graduate Member or Lifetime Member the entire time they hold office. No others may assume these posts through election, succession or appointment. (b) The Treasurer and Recording Secretary each must be an active member the entire time they hold office. (c) The Natchitoches Liaison must be a member of the LSMSAAA who resides within 75 miles of Natchitoches or is a student enrolled at Northwestern State University. (d) No President, Vice President, Treasurer or Recording Secretary may be employed by the Louisiana School or the LSMSA Board of Directors, if such a job provides any form of remuneration beyond reimbursement for expenses. Sitting as a member of the Board does not, in itself, qualify as employment even if backed with some sort of monetary reward for service. (e) No one may hold two Executive Council offices simultaneously, with one exception: serving as Natchitoches Liaison does not preclude holding another post. 7.2 Officer Elections (a) Election years -- All offices of the Executive Council must be filled through elections held every four years, starting in 1999 (i.e., 1999, 2003, 2007, etc.). (b) Election-year notification - The Recording Secretary must notify all active members of a coming election no later than January 31. This notification, which may take the form of electronic mail (transmitted by the deadline) and/or postal mail (first class, postmarked by the deadline), must indicate the final cutoff for declaring candidacy, and specify the process for making such a declaration. In no case may the requirements for filing a candidacy place an undue burden on potential contestants, nor may candidates be charged any direct fee (beyond their standard dues) as a requisite for inclusion on the ballot. (c) Filing deadline - Those seeking a post on the Executive Council must declare candidacy no later than March 15 of the election year. It is the candidate's responsibility to ensure that a declaration is registered by the deadline. (d) Incumbency - Sitting members of the Executive Council may run for reelection, or for any other post on the council, without restriction. No candidate for office in any given election may be directly responsible for counting votes. (e) Limits on ballot access - A candidate may only declare for a single Executive Council post in any given election, with one exception: candidates may seek to serve as both the Natchitoches Liaison and one other officer simultaneously. 7.3 Recall Elections Any group consisting of at least 30 active members may demand a recall election for a member of the Executive Council. For a recall vote to appear on a given year's ballot, a petition with at least 30 active members' signatures must be provided to the Recording Secretary no later than March 15. 7.4 Implicit Resignation Failure to carry out certain tangible duties constitutes implicit resignation on the part of executive officers. For each officer, the following permits, but does not require, immediate recourse to the relevant line of succession without convening the General Assembly: (a) President - Failure to meet the deadline for submitting a Presidential Report. (b) Treasurer - Failure to meet the deadline for providing a Financial Report, with details on how members may pay dues; failure to either provide funds or issue a veto decision within a week of receiving any appropriations request; failure to meet the deadline for providing a Veto Notice. (c) Recording Secretary - Failure to meet deadlines for distributing the required newsletter; failure to meet the deadline for notifying active members of a coming election; failure to meet the deadline for distributing valid election ballots. (d) Vice President - Failure to meet the deadline for providing an Election Report; failure to rule on a potential Special Chapter's application for charter within a month of the request. (e) Natchitoches Liaison - Failure to meet the deadline for providing a General Assembly report; failure to call and oversee a valid meeting of the General Assembly, including consideration of all impeachments and veto overrides, within 400 days of the previous gathering; failure to answer, within a month, reasonable executive officer requests for information. 7.5 Crisis succession (a) Should an ineligible candidate appear on the ballot inadvertently and win election, the office devolves at point of discovery to the valid candidate who received the greatest number of votes, unless an intervening election has provided a qualified officer for the post in question. (b) Should the President resign, fall out of eligibility, lose an impeachment proceeding, become incapable of performing required duties, or otherwise vacate the office, the Vice President becomes the new President. However, if the Vice President simultaneously becomes ineligible to serve or is unwilling to accept the promotion, the presidency follows this line of succession until someone is both eligible and willing: the Treasurer, the Recording Secretary, the previous President, the previous Vice President, an appointee of the Louisiana School Mediator. (c) Should the Treasurer move to a different post on the Executive Council, resign, fall out of eligibility, lose an impeachment proceeding, become incapable of performing required duties, or otherwise vacate the office, the Vice President (if elected) becomes the new Treasurer. However, if the Vice President simultaneously becomes ineligible to serve, or is unwilling or unable to accept the promotion, the office of Treasurer follows this line of succession until someone is both eligible and willing: the previous Treasurer, the previous President, the previous Vice President, the Recording Secretary (if elected), an appointee of the Louisiana School Mediator. (d) Should the Recording Secretary move to a different post on the Executive Council, resign, fall out of eligibility, lose an impeachment proceeding, become incapable of performing required duties, or otherwise vacate the office, the Vice President becomes the new Recording Secretary. However, if the Vice President simultaneously becomes ineligible to serve or is unwilling to accept the promotion, the office of Recording Secretary follows this line of succession until someone is both eligible and willing: the previous Recording Secretary, the previous President, the previous Vice President, an appointee of the President. (e) Should the Vice President move to a different post on the Executive Council, resign, fall out of eligibility, lose an impeachment proceeding, become incapable of performing required duties, or otherwise vacate the office, the vice presidency follows this line of succession until someone is both eligible and willing: the previous President, the previous Vice President, an appointee of the President. (f) Should the Natchitoches Liaison resign, fall out of eligibility, lose an impeachment proceeding, become incapable of performing required duties, or otherwise vacate the office, the President should appoint an eligible and willing Natchitoches Liaison with all deliberate speed. (g) Should the Louisiana School Mediator resign, become incapable of performing required duties, or otherwise vacate the office, the LSMSA Executive Director should appoint a new Mediator with all deliberate speed. Until such appointment, the previous Louisiana School Mediator may act in that capacity. (h) In all cases, reference to a "previous" officer should be construed as meaning the last such officer to leave a post voluntarily. 8. THE AMENDMENT PROCEDURE 8.1 Amendments Proposed by the Executive Council Any member of the Executive Council may propose an amendment to this Constitution. For consideration of a proposed amendment in any given year, the executive officer must provide a petition to the Recording Secretary no later than March 15. The petition must provide the wording of any suggested amendment, with unambiguous directions regarding what will be changed or removed in the current document and what will be added. 8.2 Amendments Proposed by the General Membership Any group consisting of at least 15 active members may propose an amendment to this Constitution. For consideration of a proposed amendment in any given year, a petition with at least 15 active members' signatures must be provided to the LSMSAAA Recording Secretary no later than March 15. The petition must provide the wording of any suggested amendment, with unambiguous directions regarding what will be changed or removed in the current document and what will be added. 8.3 Competing Amendments Should petitioners propose multiple amendments that would change a particular portion of the Constitution, the Recording Secretary may rewrite the specific amendment choices facing voters for clarification purposes, for example to allow a two- stage vote (whether to change a provision, and if so which alternative to implement). In any case, one option for voters must be to maintain the status quo. 9. ANNUAL BALLOTING If the Recording Secretary does not receive any valid constitutional amendment proposals, and Executive Council posts are not up for election or recall, then no balloting is required in a given year. 9.1 Construction of Ballots Each year's ballot must be legible, without unreasonable complexity. It must include all valid amendment proposals, the option to recall any executive officer who has been challenged by a valid recall petition, and, in election years, the names of all candidates who meet the eligibility and filing requirements for a given office. The ballot must clearly indicate the voting deadline, and any other requirements for a vote to be counted. In no case may the requirements for voting place an undue burden on active members, nor may members be charged any direct fee beyond their standard dues as a requisite for voting. All ballots must identify who will tally the results, and the addresses (at least one postal and one electronic for each member) to which ballots may be submitted. 9.2 Distribution of Ballots Any LSMSAAA member who holds active status on April 15 of the election year may vote. The Recording Secretary must distribute a ballot through electronic or first-class postal mail to every eligible, registered voter no later than that date (where distribution is gauged by the official postmark for postal mail). 9.3 Submission of Ballots Voters must submit ballots through electronic or postal mail no later than May 31 (with the date of submission determined by the official postmark for postal mail). Ballots sent after this date are invalid. All ballots must be signed; unsigned ballots and those not submitted by active members are invalid. 9.4 Voting on Amendments For a proposed amendment to take effect, 2/3 of all valid votes on the issue must favor changing the status quo, unless the amendment vote involves whether to reverse constitutional changes imposed by fiat, in which case only a voting majority must favor change. If voters approve two amendments that change the same portion of the Constitution, the Recording Secretary must reconcile the language of the two amendments. The resultant provision should preserve as much as possible the spirit of both amendments approved by the voters, yet do so in such a way that the constitutional language remains internally consistent. Unless otherwise specified in the amendment proposal itself, any constitutional amendment approved by the voting membership takes effect on June 30 of the election year. 9.5 Voting in Recall Elections If votes to remove an executive officer outnumber those against doing so, the individual is stripped of office. The replacement should come from the line of succession for that post. In no case may a recalled officer be returned to the lost post, except by the voting membership. 9.6 Voting in Standard Elections Whichever candidate receives the most votes (i.e., a plurality) for a given post wins. In case of a tie, responsibility for selecting between the two devolves onto the candidate who came in third place. If only two candidates contested the election, the current Vice President must choose one to be the acting officer; the next General Assembly to convene with a quorum then may select the permanent officer from among the two candidates. The incoming Executive Council assumes office on June 30 of the election year. The outgoing Executive Council must transfer all funds, archives and resources of the LSMSAAA to the relevant, newly elected officers with all deliberate speed, and certainly no later than July 15. 10. SPECIAL CHAPTERS 10.1 Size Any group of at least 10 active members may seek to establish a Special Chapter. Should membership in a Special Chapter fall below 10 at any time, that chapter ceases to exist. Members may not belong to two Special Chapters simultaneously. 10.2 Responsibilities Special Chapters have no responsibilities under this Constitution, nor does an official charter confer any additional rights to either officers or members. In no case are powers delegated to such a chapter imbued with constitutional authority or responsibility. 10.3 Application An application for a new Special Chapter charter must be submitted to the LSMSAAA Vice President. The application should include a list of at least 10 founders (active members in the LSMSAAA), as well as by-laws under which the Special Chapter will operate (including powers of any chapter officers, conditions for membership eligibility and the procedure for amending by-laws). The Vice President chooses whether to grant the charter. An acting Vice President may revoke any Special Chapter's official charter at any time. 11. RESIDUUM 11.1 Presumed Powers Any action not explicitly forbidden to an officer of the Executive Council should be considered permissible under the terms of this Constitution, unless it violates the spirit or letter of a protection guaranteed to an active member, or infringes upon the spirit or letter of powers provided to another officer of the LSMSAAA. 11.2 "Supporting" Dues Credit for paying "supporting dues" under previous incarnations of the LSMSAAA constitution and organizational by- laws still counts as credit toward Lifetime Membership under this Constitution. Similarly, anyone who has already earned Lifetime Membership under terms of the old constitution and by-laws retains that status. 11.3 Divisibility Clause Should any part of this Constitution violate applicable state or national law, only those portions in direct violation of the law are invalidated as a result. The Constitution, to whatever extent is legally possible, should be retained by the LSMSAAA. 11.4 Interim Officers Acting Natchitoches Liaison Rachel Hughes is authorized to organize and conduct an election for interim officers (except for Treasurer) under this Constitution as soon as is feasible. The interim officers immediately gain all titles, rights, privileges and powers that the Constitution sets aside for future elected officers, except that they will not be able to serve full terms without successfully running for reelection in 1999. 11.5 Interim LSMSAAA Treasurer Micah Luftig is the only legitimate remaining officer of the LSMSAAA under the old constitution. Therefore, no interim Treasurer is needed; Luftig may continue serving in that capacity within the normal duties and constraints of office set by this document. 11.6 LSMSAAA Resources All resources possessed by the LSMSAAA under its old constitution are still possessed under this Constitution. Half of all LSMSAAA funds remaining when the interim officers join the Executive Council go into the General Fund; the other half goes into the Communications Fund. 11.7 Retroactive Approval Any amendments considered in 1998 require a majority (more than 50%), not a supermajority, of votes to represent official changes to this Constitution. 11.8 Obsolescence Subsections 11.4 through 11.8 of this Constitution will become obsolete no later than June 30, 1999. They cease to be part of the official LSMSAAA Constitution on that date. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- D. Stephen Voss (dsvoss@wjh.harvard.edu) Eat your beans, then some mutton, Department of Government, GSAS don't pee ... and go on looking Harvard University after you obsession! Oh! my hypothesis! M-38 Littauer Bldg. Oh! my fame! I shall be immortal! Immortal! Cambridge, MA 02138 Doktor (from Wozzeck) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------