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Stilyagi Bylaws

Revised as of 19 July 2009

Article I – Name

Section 1. Name This organization will be called the Stilyagi Air Corps. The name is from a book by Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

Article II – Purpose

The Stilyagi Air Corps is a not-for-profit literary organization devoted to the advancement of science fiction as a literary form. It shall pursue this promotion in a number of ways:

Section 1. Meetings Local meetings shall be held, open to all members, for the general discussion of science fiction. The form and frequency of meetings is discussed below.

Note: Hereafter, a local meeting refers to any meeting or planned social meeting unless otherwise stated.

Section 2. Regional meetings The Stilyagi Air Corps may hold annual regional meeting(s) of authors and readers of science fiction. This meeting will be open to the general public. An attendance charge will be waived for quests and professional authors in the field of science fiction.

Article III – Membership Qualifications

Section 1. General membership To be a member of the Stilyagi Air Corps, one must attend one (1) meeting in one’s lifetime.

Section 2. Voting membership

  1. Voting Anyone who has attended a business meeting and at least one Stilyagi event of any kind in the last three months is considered a voting member.
  2. Age Voting members must be at least six (6) calendar years of age, unless an exception is granted.

Section 3. Removal of members Membership may be revoked only by a vote to remove by 90% of all voting members, not simply those present for the meeting. Emergency status may not be applied to removal of members.

Section 4. Resignation A voting member of the Stilyagi Air Corps may resign from voting membership without resigning from general membership.

Article IV – Voting Rules

Section 1. Qualifications One must be a voting member as specified in Article III.

Section 2. Quorum A quorum will be either 15 members present or 25% of the voting members, whichever is less. A quorum must be present in order to begin a business meeting.

Section 3. Notification of issue Any non-emergency issue must be brought up at least two (2) weeks prior to a vote being taken. Emergency issues may be voted on immediately after being brought up. Emergency status is determined by a 2/3 vote of voting members attending the meeting.

Section 4. Proxies Proxies will be accepted from those voting members unable to attend the business meeting where the vote is to take place. Proxies may be phoned in to the Social Director(s) of the club or to another member(s) designated by the club as a recipient for proxy votes, or they may be hand carried by another voting member designated in writing with the signature of the voting member unable to attend. Proxies may only be used for the vote and may not be substituted for attendance.

Article V – Officers

Stilyagi will sometimes elect to retain official positions in the form of officers. The following is a guide to the rules surrounding such officers, should they be desired.

Section 1. Elections Elections will be held by the first regular meeting in October. A simple majority of voting members shall be sufficient to elect a member to a position, providing quorum is met. If no single candidate has a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is dropped and a new vote is taken. This procedure will be repeated until a candidate receives a majority.

Section 2. Nominations The period of nominations shall be at least two weeks prior to the election date. Any voting member is eligible to be nominated by any other voting member, as in Article III, Section 2.

Section 3. Term of Office The term of office will be for a period of one year. There is no restriction on holding consecutive terms of office.

Section 4. Removal of elected officers An elected officer may be removed by a 2/3 vote of the members present providing a quorum is met. Emergency status cannot be applied to the removal of officers. Removal of an officer has no effect on membership status.

Section 5. Resignation of officers An elected officer may resign at any time. Resignation has no effect on membership status.

Section 6. Type and duty of officers

  1. Social Director(s) The Social Director(s) shall be responsible for
    1. keeping the party list,
    2. organizing parties and finding hosts for them,
    3. communicating the party list to the TAANSTAFL editor, and
    4. coordinating with the Membership Director(s) in the planning of events for Stilyagi members.
  2. Membership/Recruitment Director(s) The Membership Director(s) shall be responsible for
    1. keeping records of group membership, ii) recruitment of new members,
    2. holding the log book,
    3. creating a contact list for the membership, and
    4. planning social events for the purposes of membership in coordination with the Social Director(s).
  3. Other Offices Any other offices may be created and elected, as deemed necessary by the membership of Stilyagi, following the election rules in Section 1.

Section 7. Vacancies In the absence of Stilyagi officers, the board of directors of the Ann Arbor Science Fiction Association, Incorporated (hereinafter referred to as “AASFA”) will enforce these bylaws.

Article VI – Other Official Positions

There will be other official positions. These positions will be filled from the membership as a whole. An officer of the organization may also hold one of these positions.

  1. Convention Chairperson The Convention Chairperson shall be appointed by the AASFA Board. Should the Chairperson leave office for any reason, the President of AASFA shall sit as Chairperson until a replacement is appointed. The Chairperson shall assemble a convention committee in whatever form s/he desires.
  2. Minister of Information There may be a Minister of Information who maintains electronic access so that information about Stilyagi and science fiction can be disseminated.
  3. Web Master An individual who maintains the web site for Stilyagi. Maintenance included updates to information, and may include redesigning the web site.

Any other committees or official positions may be created if the club desires to create them.

Article VII – Meetings

Section 1. Types of Meetings

  1. Business meetings are meetings which are held for the purpose of conducting the business of Stilyagi, such as elections or recruitment. Business meetings shall be held at least 4 times each calendar year, roughly quarterly, in areas accessible to the public.
  2. Social meetings are other gatherings for the purposes of socializing. These meetings may be held at public and private places, and at various times throughout the year.

Section 2. Business Meeting Notification All reasonable efforts should be taken to notify all members of the location, date, and time of all planned business meetings.

Article VIII – Bylaw Amendments

These bylaws may be altered, amended, suspended, or repealed and new by-laws may be adopted by a 2/3 majority of members, following the voting rules.