1-6-09 President Beaman: In that case, can I buy some stock?! Have we always been a corporation, or are we attempting to become one? Because, you may be opening a can of worms which may not be best for the NCCA?! Some have suggested that your hasty attempt to create a constitution has resulted in using a generic "computer generated corporate charter form?" and then filling in some of the blanks?! However, when one actually reads it carefully, little of it has anything to do with an "official state chess affiliation?" Now, I am not an attorney, but to the best of my knowledge, there has always been a distinct difference between (1) mission statement, (2) constitution, (3) by-laws. A mission statement is a brief description of the purpose of the organization. The constitution is an official set of rules and provisions for design, number of officers, their responsibilities, and the annual responsibilities of the NCCA itself. And, the by-laws spell out how those rules are to be carried out. For example, the constitution, referring to the Secretary/Treasurer might say: "The Secretary Treasurer will keep an accurate account of the membership of the NCCA," etc. But, the By-laws in reference to the S/T would say, "A membership list will be created. Expired members will be immediately deleted and new members, including their E-mail address, expiration date, rating and city (not physical address) will be added to the list as they join. The updated list will be published monthly on the NCCA website." (The reason for publishing the name, E-mail address, rating and city of a member would be to assist all members in finding other players who live in their vicinity in order to meet, play and form other clubs! After all, isn't that what this organization is all about?!) As I previously suggested, there are dozens of official state chess affiliations posted on the internet that one could access and observe. A motivated member could then compare the designs of the mission statements, constitution and by-laws of a few of them and use the best of which he deems pertinent to the NCCA. Then he would fill in the blanks with our own NCCA rules and regulations. Not to stymie the efforts of any volunteer, but some members think the generally very busy author of your proposed "by-laws" spent little time and effort doing so. Furthermore, it may even be the wrong "generic form" to use in the first place?! Everything which you are attempting to accomplish should be published on the NCCA website (and not in a form whereby the user must open the text of some special file which his computer may not accommodate?) Then, the members of the organization can observe your intentions, discuss their suggestions and concerns, and a consensus of opinion can be formed. In 1985, while I was President of the NCCA, I was also the editor of the "Carolina Gambit" magazine. I singlehandly published 6 bi-monthly, up to date and concise issues that always arrived on time like clockwork.  I was required to address and stamp each copy and then sort them for bulk mailing purposes. (icon Robert Singletary had previously "hand-written" the addresses!! for as many as 400 members!!!) Needless to say, it was a painstaking and time consuming task. Many years later, after the introduction of the Internet, I openly predicted well ahead of time that the "Gambit Magazine" would ultimately be published on the Internet! In the years that followed, many administrations have come and gone, some good and some very bad. The "Gambit Magazine" along with its expense was ultimately abandoned, (though it was clearly stated in our constitution that it was required). But, the NCCA website did not effectively replace it. For years, most of the information was out of date or useless with few up-to-date reports of chess activity. The website was in very poor condition when my friend Randy Wheeless took over as President. (I recommended him). He made many improvements. But, there are still many yet to be made. In theory, one would assume that the website would contain the same information as the "Gambit Magazine" did, except instead of physically mailing it, it would be published on the Internet. That brings me to this point. From my recollection, years ago, the membership fee to the NCCA went up to $15 per year for adults and $7 for juniors. Because most of the budget had been used for publishing the "Gambit" and it was no longer being published, it became possible to reduce the membership fee to $5! So, why is it necessary to give FREE membership to juniors? Come on, even the most indigent family can afford $5! If you are not charging anything, the rolls could become artificially inflated (for political purposes). Every member should be required to pay $5 per year for membership. (And, why not use "R" for Regular member and simply "J" for Junior member - from a webmasters standpoint, adding an extra digit could cause a field to appear irregular). Mr. Beaman, I admire your attempt to get things done and communicate with your circle of advisors. But, your age and lack of experience should naturally require that you seek the advice and recommendations of others. Therefore, please don't be so hasty in making decisions which may affect all of the members of the NCCA for years to come. Observe the other websites as I recommended and get it right! Hastily prepared quick fixes are not what we need right now. You have posted "By-Laws" on the NCCA website. However, they have not been ratified by the members, and in their current form, I strongly recommend that they not be. You have an opportunity to do good things for the NCCA. And, ultimately you will be judged by the decisions that you make. Respectfully, NM Leland Fuerstman Past President 1985 Life Member Member of NCCA Hall of Fame