United States Naginata Federation Board Meeting Minutes
August 5-6, 1999
Long Island University, Southampton, N.Y.
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The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by President Miyako Tanaka Price. It was determined that there were enough board members in attendance to form a quorum.
Agenda
Kurt Schmucker presented the agenda for the meeting which
was to take place in two evening sessions. The first session
would be devoted to receiving the Treasurer's report and
taking up smaller issues. Larger issues, such as a
discussion of the increased insurance premiums, the INF
Takai in 2003 and the USNF Tournament and Seminar for the
year 2000 would be discussed in the next session.
Treasurer's Report
Stephanie Hoppe handed out the latest treasurer's report and stated that, to date, only 33 people had paid their federation dues. Stephanie further pointed out that only three members from Southern California Naginata Federation and no members from Rocky Mountain Federation or Hawaiian Federation were in good standing. No board members from SCNF and RMNF were in good standing.
Nonpayment of Membership Dues
The treasurer's report of membership dues in arrears led
to a discussion of the possible ramifications from such a
situation. Bob Peterson noted that, according to the
By-laws, members must be in good standing in order to hold
office. Kurt Schmucker said that if that were the case, then
several Kyu examiners could not be approved by the board. It
was also noted that it would be impossible to determine how
many representatives a federation could have on the board
given this situation. (ie., if a federation has no members
in good standing, it cannot have any representation on the
board). During further discussion, Miyako Tanaka Price
expressed her feelings that if such behavior (nonpaymen/late
paymentt of dues) were not nipped in the bud, it would
continue to happen. Those who were late this year would
always be late. Miyako Tanaka Price then relayed how similar
situations were handled in Japan: If someone did not pay
their dues on time, their name would be removed from the
list of active members. If they did not actively practice
for a long period of time, they nevertheless were expected
to keep up their federation dues. Kurt Schmucker then made
the proposal that the Kyu examiners submitted for approval
be divided into two lists. One list (people who had paid
their dues) would be approved. The second list (those who
had not yet paid their dues) would not be approved until
they had paid their dues. Any promotions submitted by
non-approved examiners would not be validated. Several
members brought up the fact that membership dues and
promotion fees are a major source of revenue for the
federation, which it in turn uses to host seminars, pay for
insurance, etc. Miyako Tanaka Price mentioned as an example
that in the Northern California Naginata Federation (NCNF),
NCNF makes a lump sum payment for all its USNF members and
then collects the money from the individuals. Stephanie
Hoppe suggested that next year members be given a two
month's advamce warning when fees are due. Kurt Schmucker
then suggested that he, as the Executive Secretary, send a
letter to the presidents of the regional federations
explaining the situation and reminding them that if they
haven't paid their dues, they cannot hold USNF office or
judge exams. No one disagrees. Fran Vall proposes accepting
the Treasurer's Report. Marcia Toyohara seconds. A vote is
taken. For: 8. Against: 0. The Treasurer's Report is
accepted.
Sending Literature to people buying the Naginata Video
Bob Peterson questions whether it is appropriate to send people USNF literature along with the Naginata video.
Official Address
Executive Secretary Kurt Schmucker states that the By-laws show the official address of the federation as Malyne Chiu's address (former executive secretary). Kurt proposes that the official address be changed to his address: 6798 Graystone Lane, San Jose, CA 95120, and notes that the By-laws expressly permit this change by board vote. Karen Schmucker seconds. A vote is taken. For: 8. Against: 0.
New USNF Business System Design
Karen Schmucker submitted a proposal that the USNF business system (letterhead, envelope, business cards, etc.) be updated to reflect a more contemporary look. She suggested cleaning up the logo so that it prints properly, contemporizing the typography of the logotype and creating a clean, professional layout for the letterhead, envelope, business cards and forms. Karen, a professional graphic designer, felt that the current system looks dated and that the artwork is not in good enough condition to print well. She brought along presentation boards showing three different designs that she felt would work well for the federation. She has offered her services to the federation to produce the new design pro bono (see attached proposal). The presentation boards were passed around the room and several people made comments about the designs. A basic question asked was whether it was cost effective to actually print letterhead with the current executive secretary's address on it and whether board members needed business cards. Karen pointed out that an electronic version of the system could be made at no cost to the federation and that decisions about printing parts or all of it, with or without address, could be made at a later date. She promised to get printing quotes to submit to the board in the near future. Karen felt that some sort of new system was needed for the federation to present a businesslike image, especially if the federation decides to host the next INF world championship. Several board members agreed and it was generally felt that Karen could proceed with designing an electronic version only. The presentation boards were left out during the rest of the seminar for members to look at and make comments.
Minutes from Last Board Meeting
Kurt Schmucker stated that he had distributed the draft
minutes from the last board meeting to all board members and
that he had also posted the draft minutes on the USNF
website. Bob Peterson wondered if posting the draft minutes
on the website were a good idea. Discussion followed. The
general thoughts were that if we waited for the minutes to
be approved and finalized at the next board meeting, the
information would be extremely late getting out to the
general membership. The idea of posting an executive summary
was raised. Stephanie Hoppe suggested mailing out the draft
minutes to the entire board, giving everyone two weeks to
respond. After two weeks, the minutes could be posted on the
website. Marcia Toyohara seconded the motion. The vote was
unanimous.
USNF Newsletter
Karen Schmucker mentioned that the second issue of the USNF Newsletter had been sent to all board members and regional representatives. There was general agreement that the newsletter, with its photos from the Paris INF event, was much appreciated. Stephanie Hoppe suggested that we add a line on the back page of future issues listing regional dojo's and contact names and numbers. Karen agreed to get this information in the newsletter, either on the back page or on a one-page insert. Miyako Tanaka Price asked that Karen send courtesy copies of the newsletter to Mr. Kondo and to Brazil.
Bylaws: Definition of a Quorum
Bob Peterson asked what happens to the concept of a quorum when board members are removed. Stephanie Hoppe mentioned that next year we need to be very clear that board members need to be current with their membership dues, be present at board meetings, etc. Fran Vall stated that it is important for board members to be present at board meetings. Bob Peterson reminded everyone that in the case of the people who had not yet paid their membership dues, it was a moot point whether they attended meetings, since they were not USNF members or office holders if they were delinquent in their dues. If, for example, Southern California Naginata Federation has not paid its dues, then they have no USNF members and deserve no representation. Karen Schmucker reminded everyone that at the last board meeting Kurt Schmucker had suggested that we approve the By-laws stipulating that we would reexamine the issue of the quorum at a later date. No further discussion of this issue occurred.
USNF T-Shirt
Karen Schmucker proposed that the federation design and make a USNF t-shirt to have available for sale to members and at USNF events. Several members had expressed interest in purchasing such a t-shirt at the last general meeting. Karen offered to help design and produce such t-shirts with Miyako Tanaka Price.
Insurance Premium
Kurt Schmucker raised the issue of funding the increased insurance premium for the federation. The increase was due to the insurance carrier requiring separate riders for the regional federation dojo's at a cost of $75.00 for each rider. Bob Peterson was of the opinion that charging each regional federation the same price was unfair because some regional federations had over 25 members, while others, like the East Coast Federation had very few members. Some members present at the meeting did not understand why the insurance was necessary. It was pointed out that the insurance was necessary in many cases before a facility would allow us to book it for a seminar or tournament. Stephanie Hoppe suggested that we raise USNF dues another $5/year to cover the increase. Some members did not like the idea of increasing dues any more, since many members are students and might not be able to afford it. Fran Vall suggested raising the dues even more than $5 this year to avoid having to raise it again next year if the premiums go up again. Bob Peterson suggested that if we assess the regional federations to cover the increased cost, that we leave it to those regions to decide how they want to raise the funds. They could raise their dues, or raise the money in other ways. Brian Moore suggested prorating the regional federations according to membership. Stephanie Hoppe suggested assessing the membership by rank and have the more senior people pay more.
Kurt Schmucker recapped the various proposals for dealing with the increased cost: 1) levy a fee to cover the amount; 2) increase membership dues; 3) pass the cost on to the regional federations and let them deal with raising the money; 4) raising the membership dues for higher ranks. A discussion followed with respect to the fourth proposal. Karen Schmucker commented that raising dues for higher ranked members would make the raise more palatable because higher ranked individuals are already committed to naginata and would better understand the need for the insurance, whereas beginners might be discouraged if the dues were raised. Kurt Schmucker supported keeping the dues low for Kyu level members and raising it for Dan level. It was pointed out that the USNF has 42 members at the Dan level. Bob Peterson suggested having separate dues for Kyu and Dan and then levying a separate fee just for the insurance. A discussion ensued about how other martial arts organizations handled insurance fees.
Brian Moore was in favor of passing the burden for coming up with the additional cost to the regional federations. Kurt Schmucker saw the logic in that since the cost increase this year was due to adding the regional federations in separate riders. Some suggested tacking on an additional fee to seminar fees to cover the cost. Miyako Tanaka Price commented that not all members are active and attend seminars, so that would not be fair. Most members in attendance seemed to like the idea of passing the cost on to the regional federations as long as it was prorated according to each region's population. Kurt Schmucker reiterated the most likely proposal: raise seminar fees and pass some of the cost to the regional federations. If the seminars do not get enough attendees, the USNF covers it. There was some more discussion of what defines a member and Miyako Tanaka Price remarked that not all regional members are USNF members. Valerie Eades suggested having a non-member surcharge. Stephanie Hoppe and Kurt Schmucker agreed to get together and work out the numbers and submit a proposal to the board in one month.
INF Taikai, 2003
Kurt Schmucker relayed that at the last INF meeting in Paris, the US was asked to host the next championship in the year 2003. This would entail being the sponsor of the event, picking the location, reserving hotels, ensuring that locations for both the championship and the seminar were adequate for the events, and arranging for welcome and sayonara parties. Typically the INF pays for the welcome party and the host pays for the sayonara party. The INF Board told Kurt that they expect the U.S. to have a rythm team if it hosts the event. With regard to funds necessary to put on such an event, Kurt Schmucker mentioned that at the last U.S. hosted INF event, which was the Friendship Tournament in Domingez Hills, CA, Helen Nakano raised between $8,000-10,000.
In addition, Kurt Schmucker relayed that the INF Technical Committee desires to raise the ability of referees by holding seminars in the years 2000 and 2001. The INF asked the Australians to host the seminar in 2000 and they have formally declined. The INF would like the U.S. to host the 2001 seminar. The INF Board also decided to have enough judges present at Goodwill events to hold promotions up to yondan and to have enough present at Championships to promote up to godan. Kurt stated that we have not informed the INF yet of our intentions with regard to the seminars or the championship.
Kurt Schmucker stated that the biggest problem we would face in holding any of these events is finding a location that would have adequate space to hold a seminar. Kurt expressed his opinion that the facilities in Vichy were too small. (There was unanimous agreement on that point) Kurt went on to say that he had asked Kent Sato to see if the Hawaiian group would consider holding the next USNF Tournament in conjunction with an INF Seminar.
Marcia Toyohara stated that the Northern California Naginata Federation could host the championship. Marcia also suggested asking the other regional federations to submit proposals for holding either the seminar or the championship/seminar. Members of Northern California Naginata Federation then relayed some exploratory work that they have done to see if it were feasible to hold the championship in Northern California. Marcia Toyohara has discovered a group for ethnic sports that may be able to help. Miyako Tanaka Price and Maylne Chiu went to Notre Dame College (in Belmont, CA) to see that facility and thought that the championship could be held there, but not the seminar. The space was not large enough. Kurt Schmucker noted that San Jose State University had adequate spaces for both the championship and the seminar, but several members expressed concerns about the quality of the dormitories at SJSU. It was felt that it would not be desirable to ask INF participants to stay in the dorms. Hotels are plentiful within walking distance of SJSU, but are on the expensive side. Stephanie Hoppe remarked that this year's PAWMA was held at Sonoma State University, where she herself went to school. Stephanie said the dorms were very suitable and the facility was probably large enough. Some members thought that the distance from San Francisco would be a negative, but others thought that it would be nice to get out in the wine country, especially for the seminar, since many people take a vacation in the area following the seminars.
Following this discussion, Miyako Tanaka Price related that the INF decided as early as last July that the U.S. should host the next championship, but that they did not inform her of that until the end of the year. Kurt Schmucker relayed the INF's desire to have had a decision on this from the USNF by June of 1999. Kurt said that he did not want the USNF to be pressed into making an early decision. He reminded the group that at the INF Seminar in Brazil in 1996, France had still not decided to host the 1999 Championship. Kurt said he feels that the U.S. should not agree to hold the event until the location and costs are moderately firmed up. Miyako Tanaka Price mentioned that another difficult part about putting on such an event is getting enough support people, such as timekeepers, and so on. She was under the impression that the French had as many as 50 people doing these kinds of tasks. It was her intent to contact the French and find out exactly how many support people they had, but felt that we needed to make a decision first. Then we could focus on the tasks to be done and would have a goal to work toward. Marcia Toyohara mentioned her idea of offering to help the U.S. Kendo Federation, whose next championship was going to be in the Bay Area in return for getting some of their people to do support work at an INF event. Malyne Chiu was skeptical about getting help from the Kendo organizations, saying that they were more inwardly focused.
At this point, Miyako Tanka Price asked the board how they felt about sponsoring the championship. Marcia Toyohara, Malyne Chiu and Karen Schmucker all felt that the U.S. should hold the next championship. Marcia felt it would be politically advantageous to the U.S. Stephanie Hoppe thought that we (in Northern California) could do it, although we are a small group. Kurt Schmucker said that we had no one on the board who would be able to raise the amount of money we would need. Marcia Toyohara and Malyne Chiu both offered to help raise money. One suggestion was to ask Helen Nakano if she would be willing to chair a fundraising committee since she had done such an excellent job in the past.
It was suggested again that we survey the regional federations and see if anyone else would propose hosting the event.Kurt Schmucker said he would send a letter out to the regional federations asking for proposals, asking for a response by the end of November. He would also send a letter to the INF saying that we will respond by the end of January 2000 about holding the event. The Board agrees, asks for research to continue. Bob Peterson asked if the INF had suggested a time of year for the event. Kurt Schmucker responded that the INF wants us to submit a list of dates and they will pick from the list. Kurt then asked if there were a sense that the board wanted to hold the event. All agreed and asked that more research be done on the matter.
Certification of Kyu Examiners
Kurt Schmucker read off the list of proposed Kyu examiners after reiterating that the criteria is to be Sandan and above in rank and to have the recommendation of their regional federation. The proposed examiners are: Fran Vall, Helen Nakano, Kevin Saxton, Kathy Mikuni, Johana Weber, Jean Yien, Miyako Tanaka, Malyne Chiu, Temuchin Lowe, Bob Peterson, Kurt Schmucker, Alyne Hazard, Owen Chiu, Marcia Toyohara, Dan Garrett, Diana Garrett, Takami Tanner, Steve and Diana Payne.
Kurt Schmucker proposed dividing the list into two sections: 1) approved; members in good standing and 2) to be approved after payment of federation dues. Fran Vall seconded the proposal. Some discussion preceded a vote. Bob Peterson asked why we let the regional federations submit names. Malyne Chiu said that we didn't need to approve the regional federations' submissions. Kurt Schmucker said that this method follows the Japanese model and that it is only the regional federations who really know which of their members are still active and qualified. Miyako Tanaka Price then explained the US Kyu regulations for the group and finished by saying that she would like to encourage the regional federations to grow by allowing them to promote to Kyu ranks without having to send to Japan for examiners. A vote was taken at this point on Kurt's proposal and the results were as follows: For: 7 (Malyne Chiu, Stephanie Hoppe, Miyako Tanaka Price, Marcia Toyohara, Kurt Schmucker, Karen Schmucker, Fran Vall, ). Against: 1 (Bob Peterson) Abstain: 0.
USNF/INF Seminar in Hawaii
Kurt Schmucker related that the Hawaiians prefer to have such a seminar in July because their whole group is going to Japan in August. Miyako Tanaka Price said that she sent a letter to Mrs. Tamaki in July about the possibility of having such a seminar. It was not an official U.S. proposal. She learned that France has asked for INF instructors for a seminar in Southern France next year. Kurt Schmucker said that we have had no actual proposals for the seminar yet. As soon as we receive proposals, they will be posted on the USNF website.
Calendar
The possibility of having a board meeting in October was discussed. Fran Vall will be in the San Francisco Bay Area mid-October and that would facilitate having a quorum. Kurt Schmucker said he hoped we would have some proposals by then. Fran Vall mentioned that the East Coast Federation is having their seminar October 30th, 31st, and November 1st. The Northern California Federation announced their annual tournament for mid-October and said they were thinking of having a two-day seminar in February of next year. NCNF is also hosting a group of naginata practioners from the Hiroshima area on 20 August.
U.S. Promotional Test
Miyako Tanaka Price proposed setting a fixed date every year for a U.S. promotional test, perhaps in March to coincide with the annual general meeting. She also raised the possibility of having a seminar and tournament at the same time. This way, people who were working toward higher level promotions would be in sync with Japanese promotions which are held annually in May. Someone suggested that perhaps the tournament dates could fluctuate. Fran Vall seconded the proposal. A vote was taken: For: 8 Against: 0.
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Hold an annual USNF promotional test in March, coinciding with the annual general meeting, and possibly with a seminar and tournament |
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Proposed: |
Miyako Tanaka |
Seconded: |
Fran Vall |
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For: 8 |
Against: 0 |
Abstain: 0 |
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Macia Toyohara made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Fran Vall seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 9:40 p.m. on August 6, 1999.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Yesowich Schmucker
Recording Secretary
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