Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 19:40:14 -0400 (EDT) From: Dennis Voss Subject: Virtual Constitutional Convention LSMSA alums, The LSMSA Alumni Association recently underwent a constitutional crisis because of several resignations and impeachments, and currently is operating with an interim set of officers who were elected by extraconstitutional means. Although the LSMSA seems in responsible hands with the acting executive council, led by President Kristy Zeringue Boxberger and Treasurer Micah Luftig (the only valid elected officer remaining), the recent mini-crisis has made clear that the current LSMSAAA constitution is inadequate. Former LSMSAAA officer Andre Dehon has proposed a Virtual Constitutional Convention to work out amendment proposals for consideration at the next LSMSAAA balloting, and asked me to chair the effort. The purpose of this message is to see who wants to help shape up the LSMSAAA charter by being a "delegate" to the Convention. How do you sign up? All you need to do is send me email. Since the VCC will not be operating in an official capacity (the LSMSAAA Constitution has no terms for a convention), but will really just be a working group to debate amendments, no elections or appointments are necessary. And since we will carry out all work by Internet, no limit to how many people get involved seems necessary. If you want to help, you can help. What's involved? As chair, I will structure the debate and keep track of the proposals. But the goal is to float potential amendments one at a time, and have the participants hammer them into an acceptable framework (or reject them altogether) after debate. So the only requirement for participating is that you be willing to receive loads of email (which, obviously, you always have the discretion of deleting from your system without reading). What happens after the VCC compiles a list of proposals? Even if you do not want to monitor any resulting debates, you will not be left out in the cold on the Convention. Not only do I encourage you to send any proposals for how the LSMSAAA should be changed (especially how its Constitution should be changed), you also will have chances to get involved later. After the committee composes a preliminary list of amendments, the following will happen: (1) We will post these suggestions to both the moderated and unmoderated mailing lists for additional comments and criticism (with your input sent to the Virtual Constitutional Convention so that it does not clog up the mail buffers for everyone else). (2) The VCC will edit the list of proposals further to incorporate any new insights. (3) Only then will a final draft of proposals be passed to the acting LSMSAAA officers for consideration. Under the terms of the old Constitution, the executive committee does not have to offer these amendments up to the LSMSAAA membership. So if you didn't like one, you could try to get it defeated at the relevant LSMSAAA meeting (in person or by proxy). (4) No amendment can pass without it being distributed to all LSMSAAA members as part of an election ballot. So if you are an active member, ultimately you get to vote on anything we compile. Why is a Virtual Constitutional Convention necessary? Paraphrasing Andre Dehon's initial appeal for the convention: In the past, amendments to the Constitution were tossed together by the LSMSAAA executive council with little time for consideration. Thus voting members were forced to make a decision between accepting flawed amendments or voting down well-intentioned efforts because of their flaws. The result is a disappointing LSMSAAA Constitution. With this new approach, the amendment proposals will have been refined greatly before anyone ever has to vote for/against them. This should make for a Constitution that is less susceptible to periods of confusion and breakdown. Let me know if you are interested or have other suggestions, and (if you've gotten to this point) thanks for reading a long messge. steve voss (class of 1986) - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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) - -----------------------------------------------------------------------------