UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS Anime and Manga Club CONSTITUTION First Ratified Friday, Feb. 4th, 1994 Amended Tuesday, Jan. 19th, 2005 Article I: Name The name of this organization shall be University of Massachusetts Anime and Manga Club. Article II: Mission Statement Section I: To promote anime and manga, especially from Japan, as being valid forms of art and entertainment; to provide a forum for the discussion of the artists, industry, and other related subjects. Section II: To hold weekly meetings for the anime and manga fans. Section III: To acquire animation and manga material for the organization that are otherwise unavailable. Specifically included are: Paragraph I: The purchase of materials that are distributed only to clubs, for possession by the organization and viewing by the members. Paragraph II: Placing bulk orders, when the demand is sufficient, to producers who offer a ‘club’ or ‘bulk’ discount. Funding for these purchases will come from the members who are ordering the materials. Article III: Membership Section I: Meetings are open to the public. Section II: Paragraph I: Voting members must have attended at least two prior meeting within the current academic year, or have been a voting member in the previous academic term. Voting members must be SATF fee paying undergraduate students at the University of Massachusetts. Paragraph II: Associate members are people of the general public who do not pay SATF fees to the University of Massachusetts. They cannot vote or hold office. Paragraph III: Library member are voting members or associate members who have paid a fee to use the library. Paragraph IV: Officers may ask any person(s) to leave a meeting(s) or the office for any conduct found by the majority of the officers present at the meeting or in the office to be decremental to the flow of the meeting or the integrity group as a whole at the officers discretion. Article IV: Officers Section I: The Inner Circle is the leadership board and will include the President, the Vice-President, the Treasurer, the Librarian, and the Webmaster. The Inner Circle will have meetings biweekly and as needed. Decision at an Inner Circle Meeting shall be made by majority vote. Quorum for an Inner Circle Meeting shall be three officers. Officers of the Inner Circle do count towards quorum at general meetings. All Library purchases shall be approved by the Inner Circle members at the Inner Circle Meetings and announced at the next General Meeting. Section II: The President shall preside over meetings, act as a spokesperson, be responsible for insuring that rooms and equipment are reserved for the meetings, and obtain and maintain signature responsibility. Section III: The Vice-President shall preside over meetings in the absence of the President. In the event that the President relinquishes his or her office for any reason, the Vice-President shall assume all duties of the President until a new President can be elected. He or she shall be responsible for taking the attendance at meetings and assisting the President in the duties listed in Article IV, Section II. He or she will also be responsible for insuring that copyright laws are not being violated. Section IV: The Treasurer shall be responsible for maintaining records and receipts for all financial transactions, present a report at every meeting providing information about the current financial status of the organization and any transactions that have taken place since the last meeting. The Treasurer will also be responsible for taking the minutes, presenting a report on the previous general meeting’s minutes at every general meeting, and preparing an agenda for general meetings and inner circle meetings. The Treasurer must obtain and maintain signature responsibility. Section V: The Librarian shall oversees the Library, catalog, label, and organize newly-attained media (anime and manga), maintains all media to conform to the organizational system of the Library, and educate officers of the Inner Circle in the Library protocol. The Librarian must maintain the integrity of the Library by lending out media according to the current lending timelines, maintain records of lent of media, ensure the timely return of lent out media, and enforce and collect late fees at the discretion of the Inner Circle. He or she is also responsible for collecting input from Library members as to new acquisitions and holding contact information of Library members. Section VI: The Webmaster shall maintain the website, add interested parties to the mailing list, and keep the mailing list updated. Section VII: Elections of Officers Paragraph I: Elections of Officers shall take place in March or at the Inner Circles discretion. Emergency elections will take place within 30 days of an officer vacating his or her position, at a time scheduled by the Inner Circle. The voting membership shall be notified at least 2 weeks in advance at a regular meeting of the time and place of election. Elections will normally be by secret ballot. Nominations and speeches of those nominated may take place at any time up until the vote. The Treasurer will keep a public list of current Nominees, and bring such list to all meetings between the first nominations and election. Paragraph II: Nominations may not take place before the elections has been scheduled. Proxies and Absentee ballots will not be allowed. The voting members must attend the election in person in order to vote. Self-nomination is permitted. A nominee has the right to refuse nomination. All nominations must be seconded. Paragraph III: All current officers of the Inner Circle shall be charged with the training of the newly elected officers of the Inner Circle in their assigned duties. The newly elected officers of the Inner Circle will normally take office in the beginning of the Fall semester The President and the Treasurer must attend signature responsibility workshop as early as possible. Paragraph IV: No one person may hold more than one position at any one time. Article V: Amendments and Ratification Section I: The procedure for amendments and ratification is as follows: Paragraph I: Any voting member may propose an amendment or new constitution at a general meeting. If the membership decides, by majority vote, a vote on the amendment or ratification shall be added to the next meeting’s agenda. Paragraph II: The Inner Circle may decide to propose an amendment or new constitution. Such an amendment or new constitution proposal shall be announced at the next general meeting. Paragraph III: Voting is by secret ballot or by show of hands. An amendment is approved or a new constitution ratified if two-thirds or more of the voting members present approve the amendment. Article VI: Meetings Section I: General Meetings shall be held weekly at a time determined by the Inner Circle. General meetings are divided into three parts: the business meeting, scheduled showing, and free time Paragraph I: The procedure for the business meeting is as follows: an officer of the Inner Circle will call the meeting to order. the Treasurer shall present the agenda on the board amendments and critical business shall be discussed and voted on business shall be discussed and voted on if applicable any voting member may make a motion to vote. If the motion is seconded, a vote by show of hands or secret ballot shall take place Paragraph II: One hour from the beginning of the business meeting, the schedule showing shall begin. The scheduled showing is anime that was prior planned and advertised to be shown during the allotted time. Paragraph III: Free time is dedicated to viewing anime on equipment available to the club, for members to view each other’s manga or magazines if the choose to share them with the meeting, and/or socialize. Paragraph IV: At the first meeting, or first meeting after a period of inactivity, there may be no voting members of the organization. In this case, all SATF fee paying undergraduate students at the University of Massachusetts at the meeting will be considered voting members. Article VIII: Terminology Section I: “Manga” is defined as ‘comic books or ‘graphic novels’ from Japan. Section II: “Anime” and “Japanese Animation” are defined as animated films, television shows, or movies from Japan.