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DINOS Former Members Last Known E-mail Ben O'Neill honeil1@gl.umbc.edu Jessica O'Neill joneil1@gl.umbc.edu Steve Becker sbecke2@gl.umbc.edu Emily Bernstein eberns1@gl.umbc.edu Susan An san1@gl.umbc.edu George Alvarez galvar1@gl.umbc.edu Nneka Anwah nanwah1@gl.umbc.edu Basem Awad bawad1@gl.umbc.edu Brad Bennett b1wb@aol.com Janet Bhutta jbhutt1@gl.umbc.edu Kate Bonning kbonni1@gl.umbc.edu Vergil Bushnell vbushn1@gl.umbc.edu Ian Butler ibutle1@gl.umbc.edu Victoria Crane vcrane1@gl.umbc.edu Chris Kelly ckelly7@gl.umbc.edu Meghan Kirksey mkirks1@gl.umbc.edu Reiko Matsuo rmatsu1@gl.umbc.edu Jen Searfous jsear1@hhmi.umbc.edu Sumesh Thomas sthoma2@gl.umbc.edu Yi-Ping Wang ywang1@gl.umbc.edu Kate Breslin kbresl1@gl.umbc.edu Dedra Demaree ddemar1@gl.umbc.edu Earl Millet emille1@gl.umbc.edu Troy Berman tberma1@gl.umbc.edu |
The (OLD) Constitution The Constitution of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society Preamble The UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society is a group of individuals who enjoy Parliamentary debate and Socratic discussion. Members of this society are free to express their opinions and ideas about any subject. The UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Committee on Student Life, The Student Government Association and the right of review of the President of this university or his specifically designated representative. Debate is not about truth. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article I: Name and Purpose Section 1: The name of the organization shall be the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society. Section 2: The purpose of this organization shall be many fold. First is to allow those individuals who desire to compete in the American Parliamentary Debate Association to do so. Also this organization is to encourage the exchange of ideas and the opinions among not only its members, but the members of the student body as well. The third goal of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society is to help any who wish learn or better their skills in the area of public speaking. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article II: Membership All members of the UMBC community, to include resident and commuting students, faculty, and staff are eligible for membership. Membership may not be denied on the grounds of race, color, age, gender, ethnic background, religion, sexual orientation, handicap, political affiliation, or criminal record. To retain membership in the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society the individual must not be under judicial sanctions by state or university. Individuals officially become members of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society after they attend their first debate tournament. Membership requires attendance at a minimum of one tournament per every two semesters on the team. In order for attendance at a tournament to count for membership purposes, the person must be officially registered with the hosting university by the officer officially in charge of tournament registration. Attendance at the annual UMBC debate tournament will not count under any circumstances for either obtaining or retaining membership on this team. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article III: Officers Section 1: All members of the of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society who are full time, degree seeking students at UMBC and who have been a member of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society for one year are eligible to become officers. Section 2: The officers of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society shall be the President, Team Captain, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and student advisors. Section 3: Officers shall be elected in April by a plurality general vote by at least two thirds of all eligible members. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article IV: Voting Section 1: General Votes shall be taken on issues which affect the functioning of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society. General Votes may only be taken at the regularly scheduled meetings. General Votes may only take place if a quorum is present. A quorum shall be defined as two thirds of the members of the team. All members of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society may participate in the General Vote. General Votes shall be by a show of hands or by secret ballot. Only the president or team captain may bring an issue to a General Vote. Section 2: Officer Votes shall be taken on all issues facing the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society. The Officer Vote may only be taken at the regularly scheduled officer's meeting. All officers except for the student advisors may participate in this vote. Officer votes shall be by a show of hands or by secret ballot. Any officer, including student advisors, may bring an issue to an Officer Vote. Officer votes concerning team policy must be passed by a two thirds majority vote. Section 3: Impeachment Vote is to remove any elected officer from the office which they hold. A quorum must be present to have an impeachment vote. All members of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society may participate in this vote. The Impeachment vote may only be conducted by a secret ballot and must be counted by the remaining officers. An Impeachment vote may be called for by any member of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society. The Impeachment Vote must be a two thirds majority vote. Section 4: In cases of extreme disagreement, Article IV of this Constitution may be temporarily replaced by Robert's Rules of Order, except where it conflicts with this Constitution. In other words, the team can override an officer vote by a simple majority vote from a quorum when absolutely necessary. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article V: Impeachment and Termination of Membership Section 1: Impeachment may only be accomplished by an Impeachment Vote or by the termination of the individual's membership in the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society. Section 2: Any individual's membership may be terminated by a vote conducted by the same procedure as an Impeachment Vote. Section 3: If any member of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society is placed under any judicial sanction by the university their membership is automatically terminated. Section 4: All the rules and dictates of this university and the UMBC Student Government Association shall be followed. All university rules regarding judicial or disciplinary action can override this Constitution. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article VI: Meetings Section 1: General meetings shall be scheduled at least one week in advance. There shall be at least one general meeting a week for debate practice. Section 2: Officer meetings shall be held at least once a month and shall be scheduled at least one week in advance. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article VII: Amendments The constitution of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society can only be revised by a two thirds majority general vote by a quorum. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article VIII: By-Laws The By-Laws of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society detail the responsibilities of the officers, the responsibilities of the members, and the penalties for misconduct. BY-Laws of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society I. Officer Responsibilities A. President 1. Contact between the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society and the University, community, and APDA 2. Registration for all persons attending any tournaments 3. Setting both officer and general meetings 4. Raising additional funds for the team 5. Appointing the Tournament Director for the UMBC Debate Tournament 6. Voting in all APDA elections 7. Running the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society elections 8. Enforcing the team rules B. Team Captain 1. Training the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society 2. Team morale 3. Settling disputes among the members of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society 4. Supporting the President in the enforcement of team rules C. Vice President 1. Assist the President and Team Captain in any duties they request 2. Support the other officers in the enforcement of team rules 3. The Toast Master of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society 4. Recruiting of new members D. Treasurer 1. The processing of all travel expenses 2. The processing of all registration fees 3. The collection of all tournament fees owed to UMBC 4. To keep a detailed record of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society funds 5. To help the President in raising funds if needed 6. To support the other officers in enforcement of team rules E. Secretary 1. The maintaining of a weekly attendance and membership role 2. Calling the team with any announcements that the President or Team Captain need made. 3. Calling the team to remind them of events and practices F. Student Advisors: These officers are those individuals who have held officer positions in the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society in the past. This is an honorary office which is not elected. The only way to obtain this office is to have held the officer position of President, Team Captain, or Vice President in the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society. This office does not have an officer vote, but may attend officer meetings and voice their concerns, ideas, and opinions. There is no limit to the number of seats in this office. The individual(s) holding this office must abide by the rules of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society. 1. Support the other officers 2. To voice opinions and ideas II. Tournament Rules A. The highest ranking officer (Team captain is the highest at a tournament, otherwise the President is the highest, followed in this order by the Team Captain, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary) at a tournament (other than the annual UMBC debate tournament) is in charge of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society while away at that tournament. All decisions are to be made by that individual with the exception of decisions made at APDA meetings. B. Each individual must inform the president, or the appointed individual, of their intent to attend a tournament the Monday before the tournament. If the individual does not do this they shall not be registered for the tournament. C. Only the president, or the appointed individual, may register teams for tournaments. Any individual who registers themselves without the express permission of the president, or the appointed individual, shall be dismissed from the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society. D. No individual driving to a tournament can refuse to transport another team member to a tournament unless it exceeds the number of seat belts in their vehicle. Failure to take the maximum number of team members will result in the driver not being reimbursed for travel expenditures. E. All forms of transportation which require money must be approved by the president before the buying of those tickets. F. If an individual informs the president that they wish to be registered for a tournament that individual must attend the tournament or have another team member stand in for them. If an individual does not attend a tournament for which they were registered they might be suspended from the team. This will be decided by an Officer Vote. III. Rules of Etiquette A. All members of the team are encouraged to post on APDA net; however it is the President's responsibility to make posts regarding the team. Any member who wishes to express a team viewpoint or announcement must first obtain permission from the President. Failure to do so will result in discipline not to exceed suspension decided by an Officer Vote. B. All members of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society are expected to act in a reasonable fashion. Activities such as, but not limited to, chronic lying, chronic disruptive behavior, harassment of other members, slander, and abuse of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society resources are considered reasonable grounds for actions not less than suspension from the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society, to be decided by an Officer Vote. C. Funds for tournaments shall be provided, as available, on a first-come-first-serve basis. Officer sponsored tournaments shall have priority over other tournaments. Specific rules for funding will be determined yearly by an Officer Vote. D. Movements to expel or to impeach shall not be voted on until the first meeting after they are put forward. E. All members of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society agree to abide by this constitution and the by-laws of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society, as well as specific procedures established by the officers and members of the UMBC Parliamentary Debate Society. Members who fail to do so may have their membership canceled and may be subject to criminal prosecution, as appropriate. |
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