News from the President
HSA
ELECTIONS
The Nominating Committee (Angela Terry, Jim Sullivan, and me) is happy to announce that we are making progress toward offering a full slate of candidates for the November election. Voting will be done via a professional balloting service, ElectionBuddy, from November 1st up until midnight, Pacific time, November 25th. Just follow the link on an email that will be sent to you on November 1st (and mark your calendar to check your Spam folder if you don't see the ElectionBuddy message on that day.) We still have one position for which no candidates have volunteered, but we hope to fill it in September. Nominations will be closed at midnight, September 30th, Pacific time.
Here's the electoral picture as September begins.
These officers have agreed to run for another term:
1st Vice President: Mike Montreuil
Treasurer: Bill Deegan
Electronic Media Officer: Randy Brooks
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I'm very grateful that Mike, Bill and Randy have agreed to stay on. With five Executive Committee officers stepping down, these three will provide necessary institutional memory for the sake of the newcomers and will help smooth out the transition.
These EC officers are stepping down:
President: David Lanoue
2nd Vice President: Charlotte Digregorio
Frogpond editor: Francine Banwarth
Newsletter editor: Adrienne Christian
Secretary: Mollie Danforth
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In a later message I plan to express my gratitude to Charlotte, Francine, Adrienne and Mollie for their great and selfless service to HSA--in detail. But for now I'll simply say, "Thanks, guys!"
Stepping up to the challenge, the Nominating Committee has identified the following individuals, all of whom have agreed to run.
President: Fay Aoyagi
2nd Vice President: Patricia Machmiller
Frogpond editor: Aubrie Cox
Newsletter editor: Ignatius Fay
Secretary: Sondra Byrnes
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These Regional Coordinators will run again (and again, I'm very grateful):
Alaska: Billie Wilson
California: Deborah Kolodji
Hawaii/Pacific: Brett Brady
Mid-Atlantic: Robert Ertman
Midwest: Julie Warther
Northeast/New England: Wanda Cook
Northeast Metro: Rita Gray
Oregon: Shelley Baker-Gard
South: Carlos Colon
Southwest: James Applegate
Washington: Angela Terry
Robyn Hood Black has agreed to run for Southeast RC; outgoing RC Terri French has kindly agreed to help with the transition.
That leaves a blank to fill for the newly-formed Mountains Region (you might recall, as I announced in the last bulletin, members in the states of Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota voted to move east to join the Midwest Region). I have written to members in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Wyoming, asking for a volunteer to serve as RC. Because members in those vast states are so far-flung, I've suggested to them that as a first step they set up an Internet-based way to be in touch and share haiku news. I hope that one of these members will volunteer before the September 30th deadline. Fingers crossed...
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PROPOSED AMENDMENTS
TO THE HSA BY-LAWS
Also on the November ballot you'll find four proposals for amendments to our by-laws. The EC has extensively discussed these amendments, has taken into account specific objections that members have provided us, and ultimately has endorsed all four. We are now seeking ratification by members. To pass, an amendment will require a two-thirds vote in favor.
Amendment 1
Article VIII. OLD LANGUAGE: 1. The Society shall hold four quarterly meetings each year, the third to be concurrent with the annual meeting.
PROPOSED LANGUAGE: 1. The Society shall hold three meetings each year, the second to be concurrent with the annual meeting.
EC's RATIONALE: With monthly conference calls the Executive Committee no longer needs to meet as often in person as it did in earlier years. Thrice-yearly meetings are sufficient to conduct Society business. The HSA will continue to encourage regional meetings so that (most years) members will continue to have at least four meetings to attend, if they choose.
Amendment 2
Article III. OLD LANGUAGE: 2. Nominations for the following year's officers shall be made by the nominating committee or by any member in person or by mail to the secretary at the third quarterly meeting of the Society. To be placed on the ballot each nominee must have accepted nomination.
PROPOSED LANGUAGE: 2. Nominations for the following year's officers shall be made by the nominating committee or by any member in person or by mail to the secretary at the second thrice-yearly meeting of the Society. To be placed on the ballot each nominee must have accepted nomination.
EC's RATIONALE: This change is necessary if we ratify the change to thrice-yearly meetings. The second meeting of the year would be good for nominations because the last meeting could conceivably take place in December, after elections are over.
Amendment 3
Article VII. OLD LANGUAGE: 3. Each ad hoc committee shall be disbanded upon the acceptance of its final report by the Society, such report to be made to the membership at a quarterly or annual meeting.
PROPOSED LANGUAGE: 3. Each ad hoc committee shall be disbanded upon the acceptance of its final report by the Society, such report to be made to the membership at one of the thrice-yearly meetings and/or published in the newsletter.
EC's RATIONALE: If we ratify the thrice-yearly meetings change, we need to remove the reference to "quarterly" meeting. Also, it might be more practical for some ad hoc committees to present their reports in writing rather than in person at a meeting.
Amendment 4
Article V. OLD LANGUAGE: 4. The treasurer shall receive all of the Society's funds; keep detailed account books; make a report at each meeting of the Society; present an annual report at the third meeting of each year; and prepare all financial reports required by the government. The treasurer shall be responsible for keeping all financial records for the preceding three years, or for such other interval as may be established by applicable government agencies.
PROPOSED LANGUAGE: 4. The treasurer shall receive all of the Society's funds; keep detailed account books; present a report at each meeting of the Society and/or in the Society's newsletter; present an annual report at the first meeting of each year and/or in the Society's newsletter; and prepare all financial reports required by the government. The treasurer shall be responsible for keeping all financial records for the preceding three years, or for such other interval as may be established by applicable government agencies.
EC's RATIONALE: It is more practical (and is the current practice) for the Treasurer to present a written report to the membership in the HSA's newsletter several times per year. The annual report should be presented as soon as possible in the new year, not at the third meeting.
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NHK PHOTO-HAIKU PROGRAM
I was contacted by a producer of a new television show in Japan titled Haiku Masters. It will feature photo haiku and will be aired in English on NHK World in over 140 countries. It will premiere this October. The producer has invited all HSA members to contribute by clicking and following the instructions provided in the link below.
A few members noted a 5-7-5 bias and what can most charitably be described as less than adequate English in the examples they provide on their website. I wrote back to him, politely explaining that the majority of American haiku poets for aesthetic reasons choose not to be bound by the 5-7-5 rule. He responded, "The general rule we are following is that the English haikus do not have to strictly follow the 5-7-5 rule so long as the poets try to at least stay close to it."
Though his response indicates that the bias remains, I feel that this might be a good opportunity for our members to influence the international development of English Language Haiku. We may need to come up with some haiku that approximate 5-7-5, but I'm hoping that many of our poems will be televised and will help raise the quality of what this program can offer. Based on their two sample poems, there's nowhere to go but up. If you choose to participate, good luck!
David G. Lanoue
HSA President
