[UK-TUG] SEGM impose penalties for not voting!

[Chris Weeks]

If I can help a bit. UKTUG is the UK TeX users group. Perhaps John
Bradford joined at one time or just happened to end up on the
distribution list. Maybe he has forgotten.

I am an outsider, in the sense that I am retired and not very active.
But I use LaTeX still and value the presence of a users group. UKTUG
is important in providing a forum and support. In addition the UKTUG
has recently been running valuable courses for learners, especially
useful for students needing to present dissertations in an attractive
and readable way. This is particularly important where mathematical
symbols are involved (the original stimulus for TeX), but also very
useful for handling extras like bibliography files. The other major
benefit of LaTeX is that it handles the display and presentation of
the text and should leave the writer to think more clearly about
content.

It is difficult for distant members to be involved and this makes it
seem that the organisational procedures seem irrelevant. But as with
all these organisations, the work tends to fall on a few and I think
we should support them, at the very least to vote.

Insufficient members attending the AGM means that an electronic
special general meeting [SEGM] has been called.

Chris Weeks


On 3 December 2011 09:58, John Bradford <johnmbradford at hotmail.com> wrote:
> Jay,
>
> I've no idea who you are, or what on earth you're talking about.
>
> What am I supposed to be voting for, and what do you want me to resign from?
>  Whatever it is, if you're a member, I'll happily resign.
>
> Regards,
>
> John Bradford
>
> PS  What is [UK-TUG] and what is SEGM?
>
>
>
>
> On Fri 2 Dec 11 23:41, Jay Hammond wrote:
>>
>> Dear members
>>
>> please vote. If you don't, I think you should resign instead. You owe
>> it to UKTUG to help keep the show on the road. And if you don't think
>> UKTUG should function, you should vote to wind it up or resign.
>>
>>
>>
>> The AGM was inquorate. That left UKTUG in difficulty.  As I
>> understand it, we are supposed to have an AGM, and that AGM is
>> supposed to do certain business.  This SEGM  is a more democratic way
>> of resuming the AGM, but it is not, formally speaking, the AGM.
>>
>> The constitution states the AGM,  if inquorate, is to be resumed (at
>> a new time and place, notice being given) and that the quorum is -
>> well whichever members turn up, even if that's only the chair and
>> their dog. i.e. possibly just 1 member. They can decide what they
>> like with whatever consequences that has.
>>
>> So being inquorate is really bad news for UKTUG. In fact I would go
>> so far as to say it is not in the interest of UKTUG to be inquorate.
>>
>> That does not sound very radical. But there is a clause in the
>> constitution that permits the committee to eject a member for not
>> acting in the interest of UKTUG. And I'm arguing that not voting at
>> the AGM (even by proxy) is behaviour that  leads to inquoracy and
>> difficulties for UKTUG.  I did propose to the committee that all
>> nonvoting members be asked to resign.
>>
>> If you think that's a bad idea, please let me know (and vote anyway!)
>>
>>
>> Jay Hammond
>>
>> homemade at talktalk.net
>>
>>
>



-- 


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Chris Weeks
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