Minutes of the 1987 Business Meeting of the World Science Fiction Society

Part 1: The Preliminary Business Meeting

Date: Friday August 28th

Time: 9.00 am

Officers: Chairman Tim Stannard

Parliamentarian Ben Yalow

Secretary Tim Illingworth

A copy of the Agenda is attached to these minutes.

1. Statement by Bidders for the 1990 Worldcon

Ben Yalow, as Parliamentarian, read the following statement by the bidders for the 1990 Worldcon:

The HOLLAND IN 1990 bid and the LOS ANGELES IN 1990 bid agree that they will accept the outcome of the Site Selection Voting as of 18:00 Saturday, 29th August 1987, no matter what that outcome may be. Both bids urge the Business Meeting of the World Science Fiction Convention not to contravene this agreement nor do anything to make the situation more complicated.

A motion to commend the bidders on their decision was proposed by Robert Sacks and seconded by Robert Hillis, and was passed by acclamation.

2. Nominations for Election to the Mark Registration and Protection Committee

Four nominations were received:-

Leslie Turek (Eastern), proposed by Donald Eastlake III

Rick Katze (Eastern), proposed by Bruce Pelz

Robert Hillis (Central), proposed by Mark Olson

Elizabeth Gross (Central), proposed by Robert Sacks

Rick Katze later withdrew his nomination.

Business Passed On To Conspiracy '87

3. Short Title: NASFIC Representation

MOVED, to amend Article IV, Section 5, of the WSFS Constitution by adding the following at the end of the first sentence: "one(1) non-voting member appointed to serve at the pleasure of each future selected NASFiC Committee and for each Committee of a NASFiC held in the previous two years."

An amendment to delete 'voting' and substitute 'non-voting' was proposed by Donald Eastlake and seconded by Rick Katze. This was ruled to be in order and was passed by 20 votes to 19. A 2 minute time limit for debate was set.

4. Short Title: ConCom Financial Reporting Act

MOVED, to amend Article I, Section 8, of the WSFS Constitution by striking the second sentence and inserting the following in its place:
Each Worldcon Committee shall submit an annual financial report, including a statement of income and expenses, to each WSFS Business Meeting after the Committee's selection through the first or second Business Meeting after its Worldcon, at its option, to which it will also submit a cumulative final financial report.

A 3 minute time limit for debate was set.

5. Short Title: Rotation Zone Refinement

MOVED, to amend Article III, Section 5, of the WSFS Constitution by striking the first sentence and inserting the following:
"To ensure equitable distribution of sites, North America is divided into three (3) regions as follows: Western: Baja California, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Saskatchewan, and all states and provinces westward including Hawaii, Alaska, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories;
Central: Central America, the islands of the Caribbean, Mexico (except as above), and all states and provinces between the Western and Eastern regions; and
Eastern: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Quebec, and all states and provinces eastward including the District of Columbia, St. Pierre et Miquelon, Bermuda and the Bahamas."

A secretarial amendment to restore St Pierre et Miquelon to the Eastern Zone from the Central was made, and a 2 minute time limit for debate was set.

6. Short Title: Best Non-Fiction Book

MOVED, to amend Article II, Section 6, of the WSFS Constitution by striking out "relating to" and inserting in its place "whose subject is", and by inserting "or fandom" after "fantasy".

A 2 minute time limit for debate was set.

7. Short Title: Notification of Hugo Nominees

MOVED, to amend Article II of the WSFS Constitution by inserting the following new Section between Sections 18 and 19:
"Notification and Acceptance: Worldcon Committees shall use reasonable efforts to notify the nominees, or in the case of deceased or incapacitated persons, their heirs, assigns, or legal guardians, in each category prior to the release of such information. Each nominee shall be asked at that time to either accept or decline the nomination."

A 1 minute time limit for debate was proposed by Bruce Pelz and Rick Katze and a 3 minute time limit by Robert Sacks and Jill Eastlake. The 1 minute time limit for debate was passed.

8. Short Title: Rules Distribution Amendment

MOVED, to amend Article IV, Section 9, of the WSFS Constitution by striking the words "printed in the Worldcon Program Book, if there is one" and inserting in their place the words "distributed to all WSFS members in attendance at the Worldcon upon registration".

A 2 minute time limit for debate was set.

9. Report of the WSFS Mark Registration and Protection Committee

Rick Katze read the report, a copy of which is attached.

10. Report of the Special Committee to Codify Business Meeting Resolutions

Donald Eastlake presented his report, a copy of which is attached as part of the Agenda. He proposed two amendments to the Standing Rules. The first, which is a housekeeping measure to allow consequential amendments to be made to the Standing Rules was debated under a 30-second time limit and passed nem con. The second proposed two methods of continuing its work: the meeting chose the second option (continuation of the existing committee to 1988) by 28 votes to 25, and passed the resolution nem con.

New Business

11. Short Title: Business Meeting Quorum

MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution and the Standing Rules for the Governance of the WSFS Business Meeting as follows:

1. Add the following to Article IV, Section 4:
"The quorum for the Business Meeting shall be twelve members of the Society physically present."
2. At the time the above amendment to the Constitution takes effect, delete the first two sentences of Standing Rule 18.
Moved by Donald E Eastlake III and seconded by Gary Feldbaum.

An amendment to provide that no quorum should be necessary to hear the report of the Site Selection or to interview the winning and bidding committees (prop: Robert Sacks, sec: Elizabeth Gross) was defeated by lots of votes to 1 as the Chair ruled that no quorum was necessary to hear reports. A 2 minute time limit for debate was set.

12. Short Title: Question Time

MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution and the Standing Rules for the Governance of the WSFS Business Meeting as follows:
1. Insert the following new Section in Article IV of the Constitution:
"Each future selected Worldcon Committee shall send an official representative to the Business Meeting to answer questions about their Worldcon."
2. At the time the above amendment to the Constitution takes effect, add the following to Standing Rule 19:
"At the Site Selection Meeting fifteen(15) minutes shall be allotted to each of the three future selected Worldcons. During the first five (5) minutes their representative may make such presentations as they may wish. The remaining time shall be available for questions to be asked about the representative's Worldcon. Questions may be submitted in writing at any previous session of the Business Meeting and if so submitted shall have priority (if the submitter is present at Question Time and still wishes to ask the question) except that under no circumstances may a person ask a second question as long as any person wishes to ask their first question. Questions are limited to fifteen seconds and answers to two minutes. Any of these time limits may be adjusted for any presentation or question by majority vote."
Moved by Leslie J Turek and seconded by Neil Rest.

A 2 minute time limit for debate was set.

13. Short Title: Worldcon Processes Protection Amendment

MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution as follows:
Replace the words "Worldcon Committee" with "Mark Registration and Protection Committee" in the following Sections:-
II.2, II.17, II.18, II.20, II.21, II.21, III.1, III.4 (first occurrence only).
Replace Article III, Section 6(1), with
"Voting shall be by written ballot administered by the Mark Registration and Protection Committee at the then current Worldcon, if there is no NASFiC following the Worldcon that year, or at the NASFiC, if there is one following the Worldcon, with ballots cast either by mail or at the appropriate convention, and with only members of the appropriate convention allowed to vote."
Add the following to Article IV as a new Section after Section 7:
The Business Meeting shall by resolution provide for the funding of these processes. It shall require a 3/4 (three-quarters) vote of the Business Meeting to provide more than two US dollars ($2) per member for these processes.

NOTE: It is unclear from the original motion if the Mark Registration and Protection Committee shall be responsible for choosing the site if "None of the Above" wins and the Business Meeting is unable to select a winner. If that is desired, the words "Committee for the following Worldcon" and "Worldcon Committee" should be replaced by "Mark Registration and Protection Committee" in III.3.

NOTE: it is unclear which Business Meeting has the duty to provide funding.

Moved by Elizabeth L Gross and seconded by Victoria A Smith, Beverly L Brandt, Robert L Hillis and Robert B Sacks.

This motion was originally submitted with the folowing text:
To amend the WSFS Constitution:
The Mark Registration and Protection Committee shall be responsible for the complete Hugo nomination and site selection process.
The Business Meeting shall by resolution provide for the funding of these processes. It shall require a 3/4 (three-quarters) vote of the Business Meeting to provide more than two US dollars ($2) per member for these processes.

An Object to Consideration was called and passed by 30 votes to 11.

14. Short Title: Broadened Hugo Nominations

MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution as follows:
1. In Article II, Section 18, strike "WSFS Member" and insert in place thereof "member of either the administering or immediately preceding Worldcon".
2. Add to Article I, Section 4, the following: "Within ninety (90) days after a Worldcon, the administering committee shall forward its best information as to the names and postal addresses of all its members to the committee of the next Worldcon."
Moved by Mike Glyer and seconded by Don Eastlake, Scott Dennis.

An Object to Consideration was called but was not seconded. A 6 minute time limit for debate was set.

15. Short Title: NASFiC Selection Amendment

MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution as follows:
1. In Article III, Section 4, strike "no later than the end of the calendar year before voting" and insert in place thereof "as set by the administering convention but no earlier than the close of the corresponding Worldcon voting".
2. In Article III, Section 6, strike the words "either by mail or" and the words "before the calendar year in which selection occurs".
Moved by Scott Dennis and seconded by Mike Glyer, Don Eastlake.

An motion to separate the question was proposed by Gary Feldbaum and seconded by Robert Sacks. This was defeated by 28 votes to 27. A 6 minute time limit for debate was set.

16. Short Title: Availability of Supporting Membership

MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution by substituting the following for Article I, Section 5:
Members of WSFS who cast a site-selection ballot with the required fee shall be supporting members of the selected Worldcon. The rights of supporting members of a Worldcon include the right to receive all of its generally distributed publications. Voters have the right to convert to attending membership in the selected Worldcon within ninety (90) days of its selection for an additional fee set by its committee. This fee must not exceed the minimum voting fee and not exceed the difference between the voting fee and the attending fee for new members. Attending members of a Worldcon have the rights of supporting members plus the right of general attendance at said Worldcon and at the WSFS Business Meeting held thereat. Other memberships and fees shall be at the discretion of the Worldcon committee except that they shall make provision for persons to become supporting members for no more than 125% of the site selection fee, or such higher amount as has been approved by the Business Meeting, until a cut-off date no earlier than ninety (90) days before their Worldcon.
PROVIDED, that the requirement to provide supporting memberships shall only affect Worldcons selected after it goes into effect.
Moved by Don Eastlake and seconded by Scott Dennis, Mike Glyer.

An Object to Consideration was called but was not seconded. An amendment to insert 'The rights of' at the start of the second sentence, and change 'have' to 'include' in the second sentence was accepted by Donald Eastlake, as proposer. An amendment to delete the 125% provision was proposed by Robert Sacks, but found no seconder. An amendment to define 'generally available publications' was withdrawn. A 5 minute time limit for debate was set, and the Business Meeting then adjourned until 9.30 am on Saturday 29 August.

Part 2: The Main Business Meeting

Date: Saturday August 29th

Time: 9.30 am

Officers: Chairman Tim Stannard

Parliamentarian Ben Yalow

Secretary Tim Illingworth

The Chairman announced that, since the Preliminary Business Meeting, another motion had been discovered in the recesses of Conspiracy's filing system. This motion proposed the restoration of the Pro-zine Hugo, but was not seconded and therefore would not have been on the agenda had it been found in time. No harm had therefore been done.

1. Election to the Mark Registration and Protection Committee

Three nominations were received:-
Leslie Turek (Eastern), proposed by Donald Eastlake III
Robert Hillis (Central), proposed by Mark Olson
Elizabeth Gross (Central), proposed by Robert Sacks

Since all three were eligible for election, they were declared elected.

Business Passed On To Conspiracy '87

2. Short Title: NASFIC Representation

MOVED, to amend Article IV, Section 5, of the WSFS Constitution by adding the following at the end of the first sentence: "one(1) non-voting member appointed to serve at the pleasure of each future selected NASFiC Committee and for each Committee of a NASFiC held in the previous two years."

Robert Sacks objected to the Preliminary Business Meeting's amendment. The Chair ruled that the amendment was a lesser change, and so in order. Robert appealed to the meeting, which confirmed the ruling by lots of votes to one. Robert then tried an amendment that the NASFiC member(s) could vote on NASFiC business only, but got no seconder. A motion to close debate was then passed by 30 votes to 20, and the motion was passed by lots of votes to 3.

3. Short Title: ConCom Financial Reporting Act

MOVED, to amend Article I, Section 8, of the WSFS Constitution by striking the second sentence and inserting the following in its place:
Each Worldcon Committee shall submit an annual financial report, including a statement of income and expenses, to each WSFS Business Meeting after the Committee's selection through the first or second Business Meeting after its Worldcon, at its option, to which it will also submit a cumulative final financial report.

Robert Sacks proposed a motion to close debate, which attracted a lot of seconders, and was passed nem con. The motion was then passed nem con.

4. Short Title: Rotation Zone Refinement

MOVED, to amend Article III, Section 5, of the WSFS Constitution by striking the first sentence and inserting the following:
"To ensure equitable distribution of sites, North America is divided into three (3) regions as follows: Western: Baja California, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Saskatchewan, and all states and provinces westward including Hawaii, Alaska, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories;
Central: Central America, the islands of the Caribbean, Mexico (except as above), and all states and provinces between the Western and Eastern regions; and
Eastern: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Quebec, and all states and provinces eastward including the District of Columbia, St. Pierre et Miquelon, Bermuda and the Bahamas."

Robert Sacks proposed a motion to close debate, which attracted a lot of seconders, and was passed nem con. The motion was then passed nem con.

5. Short Title: Best Non-Fiction Book

MOVED, to amend Article II, Section 6, of the WSFS Constitution by striking out "relating to" and inserting in its place "whose subject is", and by inserting "or fandom" after "fantasy".

Robert Sacks proposed a motion to close debate, which attracted a lot of seconders, and was passed nem con. The motion was then passed by lots of votes to one.

6. Short Title: Notification of Hugo Nominees

MOVED, to amend Article II of the WSFS Constitution by inserting the following new Section between Sections 18 and 19:
"Notification and Acceptance: Worldcon Committees shall use reasonable efforts to notify the nominees, or in the case of deceased or incapacitated persons, their heirs, assigns, or legal guardians, in each category prior to the release of such information. Each nominee shall be asked at that time to either accept or decline the nomination."

Robert Sacks proposed a motion to close debate, which attracted a lot of seconders, and was passed nem con. The motion was then passed by lots of votes to 3.

7. Short Title: Rules Distribution Amendment

MOVED, to amend Article IV, Section 9, of the WSFS Constitution by striking the words "printed in the Worldcon Program Book, if there is one" and inserting in their place the words "distributed to all WSFS members in attendance at the Worldcon upon registration".

Robert Sacks proposed a motion to close debate, which attracted a lot of seconders, and was passed nem con. The motion was then passed nem con.

New Business

8. Short Title: Business Meeting Quorum

MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution and the Standing Rules for the Governance of the WSFS Business Meeting as follows:

1. Add the following to Article IV, Section 4:
"The quorum for the Business Meeting shall be twelve members of the Society physically present."
2. At the time the above amendment to the Constitution takes effect, delete the first two sentences of Standing Rule 18.

Moved by Donald E Eastlake III and seconded by Gary Feldbaum.

Robert Sacks proposed a motion to close debate which got a lot of seconders and was passed nem con. The motion was then passed by lots of votes to 3.

9. Short Title: Question Time

MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution and the Standing Rules for the Governance of the WSFS Business Meeting as follows:
1. Insert the following new Section in Article IV of the Constitution:
"Each future selected Worldcon Committee shall send an official representative to the Business Meeting to answer questions about their Worldcon."
2. At the time the above amendment to the Constitution takes effect, add the following to Standing Rule 19:
"At the Site Selection Meeting fifteen(15) minutes shall be allotted to each of the three future selected Worldcons. During the first five (5) minutes their representative may make such presentations as they may wish. The remaining time shall be available for questions to be asked about the representative's Worldcon. Questions may be submitted in writing at any previous session of the Business Meeting and if so submitted shall have priority (if the submitter is present at Question Time and still wishes to ask the question) except that under no circumstances may a person ask a second question as long as any person wishes to ask their first question. Questions are limited to fifteen seconds and answers to two minutes. Any of these time limits may be adjusted for any presentation or question by majority vote."

Moved by Leslie J Turek and seconded by Neil Rest.

Mike Glyer asked, on a point of information, what uniform the Chairman was wearing. He replied that it was that of an Obersturmbannfuhrer in Das Reich Regiment of the Waffen SS, being the highest rank that had the SS flashes on the collar. A motion to change "send" to "designate" (prop: David Anderson, sec: Robert Sacks) was passed nem con. A motion to make the representative attend at their own expense found no seconder. The motion was then passed by lots of votes to about 10.

10. Short Title: Broadened Hugo Nominations

MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution as follows:
1. In Article II, Section 18, strike "WSFS Member" and insert in place thereof "member of either the administering or immediately preceding Worldcon".
2. Add to Article I, Section 4, the following: "Within ninety (90) days after a Worldcon, the administering committee shall forward its best information as to the names and postal addresses of all its members to the committee of the next Worldcon."

Moved by Mike Glyer and seconded by Don Eastlake, Scott Dennis.

There was much debate on this item, especially about the effect of the Data Protection Act in Britain making it illegal to pass information stored on computer to other people. A motion to postpone was called, but was defeated by lots of votes to 5. An amendment to insert "except where prohibited by local law" (prop: Rick Katze, sec: lots of people) was passed by 39 votes to 34. The main motion was then carried by about 40 votes to about 30.

11. Short Title: NASFiC Selection Amendment

MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution as follows:
1. In Article III, Section 4, strike "no later than the end of the calendar year before voting" and insert in place thereof "as set by the administering convention but no earlier than the close of the corresponding Worldcon voting".
2. In Article III, Section 6, strike the words "either by mail or" and the words "before the calendar year in which selection occurs".

Moved by Scott Dennis and seconded by Mike Glyer, Don Eastlake.

This motion was passed after little debate by about 40 votes to 3.

12. Short Title: Availability of Supporting Membership

MOVED, to amend the WSFS Constitution by substituting the following for Article I, Section 5:
Members of WSFS who cast a site-selection ballot with the required fee shall be supporting members of the selected Worldcon. The rights of supporting members of a Worldcon include the right to receive all of its generally distributed publications. Voters have the right to convert to attending membership in the selected Worldcon within ninety (90) days of its selection for an additional fee set by its committee. This fee must not exceed the minimum voting fee and not exceed the difference between the voting fee and the attending fee for new members. Attending members of a Worldcon have the rights of supporting members plus the right of general attendance at said Worldcon and at the WSFS Business Meeting held thereat. Other memberships and fees shall be at the discretion of the Worldcon committee except that they shall make provision for persons to become supporting members for no more than 125% of the site selection fee, or such higher amount as has been approved by the Business Meeting, until a cut-off date no earlier than ninety (90) days before their Worldcon.
PROVIDED, that the requirement to provide supporting memberships shall only affect Worldcons selected after it goes into effect.

Moved by Don Eastlake and seconded by Scott Dennis, Mike Glyer.

An amendment to insert 'The rights of' at the start of the fifth sentence, and change 'have' to 'include' in the fifth sentence was accepted by Donald Eastlake, as proposer. A motion to close debate was then passed nem con. The motion was then passed by about 50 votes to 2, and the Business Meeting then adjourned until 10.00 am on Sunday 30August.

Part 3: The Site Selection Business Meeting

Date: Sunday August 30th

Time: 10.00 am

Officers: Chairman Tim Stannard

Parliamentarian Ben Yalow

Secretary Tim Illingworth

1. Announcement of the 1990 Worldcon site and statement by the winner

Paul Dormer presented the results of the Site Selection ballot for the 1990 Worldcon. These were as follows:

The write-ins were for Jack Herman, Minneapolis in 1973 and Karnak in 1990

Kees van Toorn then announced that ConFiction will run from 23 August to 27 August 1990, with guests Joe Haldeman, Wolfgang Jeschke, Harry Harrison and Andrew Porter and Toastmistress Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. Their nominee to the Mark Registration and Protection Committee is Morris Keesan.

2. Presentations by the bidders for the 1991 Worldcon

Ross Pavlac made a presentation for Chicago in 1991, and Greg Rickards for Sydney in 1991.

3. Motion to adjourn sine die

Robert Sacks proposed the motion to adjourn sine die, which attracted a lot of seconders, and was passed nem con. The meeting accordingly went in search of an open bar.

Report of the WSFS Resolution Compilation Committee: Resolutions and Rulings of Continuing Effect.

This is a first attempt at compiling the resolutions and rukings of continuing effect that have been adopted at WSFS Business Meetings.

The WSFS Mark Registration and Protection Committee (then called the Standing Committee), at a meeting held at the 1984 Worldcon voted unanimously to produce such a compilation. However, nothing was done to implement this. When the matter was brought up the following year at the 1985 WSFS Business Meeting, the assembly voted to give this task to a special committee consisting of a named individual who was not present and was never formally notified. At the 1986 WSFS Business Meeting, the assembly voted to give this task to the mark Registration and Protection Committee but this action was reconsidered and the assembly later voted to give the task to a special committee appointed by the chair to report back to the 1987 Business Meeting. This document is the report of this special committee.

It is not clear that these resolutions and rulings are of any binding effect outside of the Business Meeting at which they are adopted. The Constitution provides in Aricle IV, Section 3, that "The conduct of the affairs of WSFS shall be determinded by this Constitution together with all ratified amendments hereto and such Standing Rules as the Business Meeting shall adopt for its own governance." However, the matter is not completely clear as the Business Meetings and their chairmen who adopted or issued these resolutuions and rulings are provided for in the Constitution. In any case, they may serve as useful precedents or indications of the sentiments of the Society.

This compilation consists of resolutions adopted by the WSFS Business Meeting that declare some policy or rule and are of indefinite effect along with rulings and directives by the chair that are either similar to such resolutions or seem as if they might be useful precedents. BUsiness Meeting actions are indicated by the letters BM and rulings or directives of the chair by CH.

The following were excluded:

1) Anything which has become incorporated in an amendment to the WSFS Constitution or the Standing Rules for the Governance of the Business Meeting.

2) Any resolution of praise or censure.

3) Anything which has subsequently been reversed, repealed, or annulled by the adoption of a contrary resolution or ruling.

4) Any resolution which, although initially of indefinite effect, has been fully executed or otherwise expired ot become inoperative.

In addition, the text of the resolutions and ruling has been updated to reflect changes in the Constitution and Standing Rules, such as the change in the name of the Standing Committee to the Mark Registration and Protection Committee. Rulings by the chair have in some cases been generalized to avoid naming particular individuals or organizations. In some cases parts of resolutions have been excluded so that the material remaining is all, at least nominally, in effect.

This material was compiled from the written minutes of the 1978 through 1986 WSFS Business Meetings (excluding 1979 for which minutes are not available). THese minutes vary considerably in style and completeness which influences the amount and type of material for each year in this compilation.

A minor attempt was made to obtain minuteds of additional meetings. It is hoped that, if this compilation task continues, this report will act to spur those with minutes of other Business Meetings to make them available.

(1) In going over these minutes the committee noted that it appears to have been the practice to modify the Standing Rules to reflect changes made to the Constitution, although this is not indicated by the relevant Standing Rule. Therefore, as a housekeeping measure, the following change is submitted:

MOVED, To amend Rule 16 of the Standing Rules for the Governance of the WSFS Business Meeting by striking the sentence "The Secretary will also adjust any other Section of the Constitution equally affected by an amendment unless otherwise ordered by the Business Meeting." and inserting in its place the following "Unless otherwise ordered by the Business Meeting, the Secretary will adjust any other Section of the Constitution and Standing Rules equally affected by an amendment to the Constitution, and will adjust any other Section of the Standing Rules equally affected by an amendment to the Standing Rules. Resolutions and rulings of continuing effect may be repealed or amended at subsequent Business Meetings by majority vote without notice and shall be automatically repealed or amended by applicable amendments to the Constitution or Standing Rules and by conflicting resolutions and ruling subsequently adopted or made."

(2) The committee believes that this compilation task should continue so as to include material from this 1987 Business Meeting and from Business Meetings before 1978, if only as a compendium of the expressed sentiments of the Society. As a potentially continuing task of indefinite duration, it seems most sensible to assign this duty to a continuing body. The only continuing body provided for in the Constitution is the Mark Registration and Protection committee and, in fact, the Constitution currently prohibits any other continuing body. While its name speaks the primary duty of the Mark Registration and Protection committee and this primary duty would override any other assignments, should there be a conflict, the committee is quite large and typically only 2 or 3 of its members are actually involved in its primary duty. Therefore the committee recommends the following:

MOVED, that the Standing Rules be amended to provide that

The Mark Registration and Protection Committee is directed to continue the compilation of WSFS Resolutions and Rulings of Continuing Effect and annually submit updates to the Business Meeting.

As an alternative, if the Society feels it inadvisable to so direct the Mark Registration and Protection Committee or is not ready at this time to make this a continuing task of indefinite duration, the following is proposed as an alternative:

MOVED, To amend the motion immediately above by replacing it with the following:

RESOLVED, that the committee to compile WSFS Resolutions and Rulings of Continuing Effect created at the 1986 Business Meeting is continued and directed to report to the 1988 Business Meeting.

Donald E Eastlake, III

Bruce E. Pelz, Presiding Officer

Elayne F. Pelz, Secretary

Ben Yalow, Parliamentarian

BM-86-01 The Mark Registration and Protection Committee is authorized to appoint a representative to engage in discussion with "World SF, The International Organization of Science Fiction Professionals", aimed at minimizing name conflicts.

BM-86-02 All Worldcon and NASFiC Committees are encouraged to financially support the Mark Registration and Protection Committee.

Jack Herman, Presiding Officer

Kent Bloom, Secretary

Donald Eastlake, Parliamentarian

BM-85-01 It is the sense of the Business Meeting that the name of "World SF, The International Association of Science Fiction Professionals", does not infringe on any proper trademark of WSFS.

CH-85-01 The chair directed that the Mark Registration and Protection Committee should respond to requests for lists of Hugo winners provided that the use of service marks is noted.

Ross Pavlac, Presiding Officer

George Flynn, Secretary

George Scithers, Parliamentarian

Bob Hillis, Timekeeper

BM-84-01 The Mark Registration and Protection Committee should be directed concerning pursuit of registration for particular marks only by resolution of the Business Meeting.

BM-84-02 (a) The current Worldcon Committee should be neutral between committees bidding for future Worldcons. It should not request or accept money or supplies from any one bidding committee without making equivalent opportunity available to any competing committee(s).

(b) This resolution shall not preclude any individual member of a Worldcon Committee from offering his or her services, funds, or supplies to a bidding committee.

(c) This resolution shall not preclude the current Worldcon Committee from accepting the services of a bidding committee or its members, nor shall it preclude a bidding committee from offering services or merchandise to members of a Worldcon.

CR-84-01 The chair directed that if the present appeal of the refusal of the US Patent and Trademark Office to register "Science Fiction Achievement Award" fails, no further attempts should be made to register that mark.

CR-84-02 The chair directed that the Mark Registration and Protection Committee should pursue registration of the mark "NASFiC" if the NASFiC continues in existence.

CR-84-03 A motion to refer a site-selection rotation zone plan to the United Nations was ruled out of order.

CH-84-04 The chair ruled that the convention where the voting would take place should be taken as the deadline for the presentation of documents by write-in site selection bidders.

Kent Bloom, Presiding Officer

Mary Morman, Secretary

CH-83-01 A Constitutional amendment was up for ratification which divided a Hugo category into two new categories. A motion was made to delete one of the new categories. The chair ruled that this was permissible at the ratification stage and that further ratification the following year would not be needed if the change were adopted. The ruling of the chair was appealed and the assembly overruled the chair, deciding that such a deletion was out of order at the ratification stage in this case.

CH-83-02 A Constitutional amendment up for ratification was reworded with more neutral language but with no change in meaning. A point of order was raised that this would require it to be ratified again in changed form the following year. The chair ruled this point of order was not well taken.

Donald Eastlake, Presiding Officer

George Flynn, Secretary

Rick Katze, Counsel

Leslie Turek, Timekeeper

Paula Lieberman, Sergeant-at-Arms

BM-82-01 Whereas recent Worldcons have had, and future Worldcons can expect to have, significant excess funds following the close of the convention;

And whereas there has been considerable debate and discussion in the past about the appropriate uses for these funds;

And whereas there are many organizations that would be worthy recipients of such funds;

And whereas it is difficult to choose which of the many worthy organizations should receive said funds;

Be it resolved that the following organizations are considered by the World Science Fiction Society to be among those worthy to receive donations:

a. recognized fan charities, such as TAFF, DUFF, CUFF, TOFF and the FAAn Awards;

b. established national fan organizations, such as the NFFF and the Fantasy Artists Network;

c. PBS, NPR, and their local affiliates, for the production and/or sponsorship of science fiction programming;

and

d. future Worldcon committees.

CR-82-01 The chair ruled that an amendment up for ratification may be changed so as to decrease the scope of the amendment and such a change does not require farther ratification at the next Business Meeting.

CH-82-02 The chair ruled that when the procedure of filling a blank is used to determine debate time limits at a Business Meeting, voting should start with the longest time period and proceed to shorter time periods until one obtains a majority.

CH-82-03 The chair ruled that the opinions of the Business Meeting chair as to the meaning of Hugo category definitions are not binding on future Worldcons.

CH-82-04 A motion was introduced that would direct future Worldcons supervising site selection to disqualify any bid that used hotels from a particular chain as the main convention hotel until certain conditions were met. The chair ruled the motion out of order on the grounds that requirements for bidding are specified in the WSFS Constitution and additional criteria cannot be imposed without amending the Constitution.

CH-82-05 A motion to amend the Standing Rules to impose additional criteria for NASFiC bidders to appear on the ballot was ruled out of order by the chair on the grounds that bidding criteria are specified by the Constitution and any additional criteria can only be imposed by Constitutional amendment. (The ruling of the chair was appealed and the chair was sustained by vote of the assembly.)

CH-82-06 The chair ruled that actual personal signatures are not required on motions submitted in writing as long as the makers of the motion are identified.

CH-82-07 The chair ruled that "generally available" means you can get it if you want it, not that there have to be copies for everyone who might want it.

Donald Eastlake, Presiding Officer

George Flynn, Secretary

Rick Katze, Sergeant-at-Arms

Bob Hillis, Timekeeper

CH-1981-1 The chair ruled that the term "publications" includes everything sent to all members, and also flyers, etc.

George Flynn, Secretary

Mike Lalor, Sergeant-at-Arms

Bob Hillis, Timekeeper

CH-80-01 The chair ruled that in the Standing Rules the phrase "the same Business Meeting" includes all sessions at a given Worldcon.

CH-80-02 The chair ruled that in the case of the adoption of an entire new Constitution for WSFS, general amendments would be in order at the time of ratification.

CH-80-03 The chair ruled that Section 2.6 of the WSFS Constitution requires that at least three nominees in each Hugo category appear on the final ballot provided that there are at least three nominees. (The ruling of the chair was appealed and the chair was sustained by a vote of 19-3.)

CH-80-04 A motion was introduced to authorize a named individual to select and publish a series of "retrospective Hugos" for the years 1926 through 1951. A point of order was raised that, in light of the WSFS Constitution provisions prohibiting extending the name to any award other than that awarded by the mechanism provided in the Constitution, this would require a Constitutional amendment The chair ruled that this point of order was well taken.

CH-80-05 The chair ruled that allegations of misconduct involving a non-Hugo award administered by a Worldcon are not WSFS Business. (The ruling of the chair was appealed and the chair was sustained by a vote of 20-1.)

Donald Eastlake, Presiding Officer

Rick Katze, Secretary

Bob Hillis, Presiding Officer

Donald Eastlake, Secretary

Jack Speer, Parliamentarian

Mike Lalor, Timekeeper

BM-78-01 A permanent body, the World Science Fiction Society, Incorporated (WSFS, Inc.) should be established, independent of any Worldcon Committee, whose members will be the members of the current and upcoming Worldcons. The Board of Directors of WSFS, Inc. should be selected by the members of the Society and by current and recent Worldcon Committees.

WSFS, Inc. should be responsible for the administering of voting for selection of the Hugos and the sites of future Worldcons. No change should be made in either Hugos or site selection as a result of the establishment of WSFS, Inc. except as necessary to administer the voting.

In cases of a Worldcon Committee becoming unable to properly manage its designated Convention, either because of internal collapse or misconduct, then, after investigations and due process, the Board of Directors should have the right to remove the name "World Science Fiction Convention" and the awarding of the Hugos, site selection and the holding of the Society's Business Meeting from the control of the guilty Committee and to award them to another responsible group.