[nabs-l] proposition for amendment to constitution

[Elizabeth]

Hello George,

I admire the boldness you have demonstrated by posting a proposal to amend 
the NABS constitution. I believe ideas such as these help keep the 
organization fresh and relevant to its membership. And while I agree with 
the underlying premise behind your proposal, that everyone would like to 
participate in NABS elections should be able to participate in these 
elections, I would like to offer the following thoughts for your 
consideration.

According to the NABS constitution, a member must pay annual dues in advance 
to participate in NABS elections. It also gives authority for NABS to meet 
once a year in conjunction with the annual convention of the National 
Federation of the Blind. All other meetings take place on the call of the 
President or majority of the board of directors to conduct business or 
further the cause of the organization.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but in a recent email I believe Arielle 
explained that the money that is collected at Washington Seminar is not 
considered dues, but rather a registration fee to help pay for the cost of 
providing the seminar. I also do not believe there is currently a mechanism 
to pay for dues other than in person at national convention. Therefore, I 
believe the only way a person can be eligible to vote is to attend national 
convention.

Now I understand people may be confused about why we collect money at 
Washington Seminar. I am a bit confused about this myself, as I have heard 
different things from different people over the years. Perhaps one of the 
things the new board could do is to clarify the purpose of registering and 
collecting money at Washington Seminar. I believe it should be solely to 
help pay for the seminar, and not as a means to collect dues, as it only 
seems to complicate the process.

I know that you have mentioned the idea of creating some kind of online 
forum for people to register, pay dues, and vote in elections. I am curious 
though, how exactly do you plan to create this online platform that is 
consistent with the practices of the organization as a whole? I am pleased 
that the current board has created a new website for our organization. 
However, anyone who has recently visited the website can tell you that it is 
currently not up to date. If it is difficult for the board to maintain the 
website as it currently exists, then how exactly would they be able to 
manage a new online platform for absentee voting?

In addition, I am not quite sure how easy it is to maintain an accurate 
database of members as called for in your proposal. In fact, I do not 
believe the national office even keeps a database of members who attend 
national convention anymore. I believe this to be true because when I 
registered for last year’s national convention at the hotel, I only had to 
provide them with my name and the state where I was from so they could 
create a name tag for me. They did not seem to have any kind of device to 
collect this information for their own purposes. So if the national office 
no longer keeps records of who attends national convention, then how do you 
propose that we keep and maintain such an accurate database of members for 
ourselves?

I understand it can sometimes be difficult to attend national convention for 
a variety of reasons. I know this to be true because I was not able to 
attend national convention even though it was being held in my own back 
yard. In short, I was not present to vote for most of the members who 
currently serve on the NABS board. However, this has by no means prevented 
me from becoming an active member of the National Association of Blind 
Students. I choose to be involved with this organization not because I voted 
for the members of the board, but rather because I choose to be a member of 
this organization. I hope that others would feel the same.

Again, thank you for submitting your proposal. I believe we all want to do 
what we can to make this organization open to those who would like to take 
part in it.

Elizabeth