[Channel Open]
[Incoming Transmission from Psi Phi, Office of Communications]

Minutes

(08/25/2004)

Call To Order: 10:00 pm

Attendance:

Don Steiner (Captain)
Elizabeth Koprucki (First Officer)
David Henderson (Chief of Operations)
Joan Johnson (Grand Nagus)
Jon Lascelles (Constable)
Kristen Zidon (Communications Officer)
Jeff Hibbard (Faculty Advisor)
Matt Adams
Marisa Bonomo
Curtis Erickson
Julie Faas
Joel Oberdieck
Meaghan Porter
Joe Taylor
Will Vesely
Eric "Xeen" Wills
Kevin Zepp
Stuffed animal: Ferret (monkey)
Stuffed animal: Monkey (ferret)
Stuffed animal: Senator Kama (rabbit)

There were 17 human attendees and three stuffed animals, the latter of which are all Elizabeth's.

Marisa welcomed members into the room by showing them her new game and declaring, "I date boys!"

Minutes:

Summarized and approved.

Committee Reports:

Recruitment and Relations Committee:

We had a table at the Activities Fair. The rain dampened spirits, as well as some items, but we still had 27 new people sign up.
Xeen got the printout for the freshman binder flyer from Jon. Jon then went to sleep. It turns out that the copier needed higher contrast and Xeen didn't wake up Jon so Jon could fix it, so we had no flyer in the binder.

Reunion Committee:

Elizabeth needs to remind the food service people that we have reservations for this event.
There were no reunion chats over the summer.
David needs to send out a final invitation/reply list (but his mail's having problems).
We also need to get the T-shirt order (final-ish design: "Ten Years as Science Fiction's Last, Best Hope" on one side, "Its Continuing Mission: 1994-2004" on other) and place the order.
Marisa noted that she got permission from her parents for stargazing; however, Psi Phi can only use the land, not the house (including the bathroom).
- Also, Marisa only has two telescopes currently, one crap one and one that needs calibration. If anyone can lend some, that could be useful.
- We could also have a barbecue there.
- Don says we should vote on the stargazing session as part of the reunion, but there's no vote. Some say we should check out prices on Port-a-Potties first.
Student Center catering is no longer a requirement, as the party will be in Geisert, not the Student Center, but it's still an option. We should check and compare prices for various options.
Meaghan has a members list combining the information she had with Jon's and David's lists. She gives this list to David.

T-Shirt Committee:

Buy T-shirts!
- Some of the old ones are in the office; talk to the Grand Nagus if you want to buy one.

Movie Committee:

Jon has his usual lists and passes them around.
Jon went to see Alien vs. Predator twice. It wasn't exactly Lord of the Rings, but he enjoyed it.
- Evidently AvP was going to be NC-17, but got edited to PG-13.
Jon also saw Hero, which Quentin Tarantino brought from China to the U.S., and stated it was the grandchild of Kill Bill; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; The Matrix; and Highlander.
An away mission is suggested to see AvP, as a "move-in movie".
- Four people are interested.
Jon has The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, so let him know if you're interested in seeing it.

Office Resource Committee:

The office is still here, although the combination has changed. Don will give out the new combination to the appropriate people.
Jon notes that after a summer of not working on the table, he's ready to strip again. Plus, we'll have an influx of new, gullible people to strip for us! (Note: If you are new, don't worry, we're not talking about you. You're not gullible at all. Although you would certainly love the nice citrusy smell of the stripper.)
- It is noted that essentially the entire purpose of this committee seems to be to make comments like these.

Constitution Reform Committee:

The CRC is still working on procedures for voting on spending money. This issue had been tabled until fall
David brings up a potential change to election procedures: Instant Runoff Ballot. You would mark your first, second, third, etc. picks. If your first pick has the smallest number of votes or is elected for a higher office, your vote is redistributed to your second pick. This would reduce re-votes and save time.

Acquisition Committee:

Lyz Liddell donated assorted books, which should be shelved and catalogued. She also donated Star Wars stamping markers, and a Darth Vader Pez dispenser.
Jon asks for other members to help him catalogue our stuff.
- Elizabeth says she might help if she's free.

No Report Committee:

Joan gives the No Report this meeting.
- Joan went to London this summer. She took a double-decker bus tour, and one of the places they visited was the place where the London Fire started (which eventually wiped out the plague.)
  - The tour guide was very descriptive. "Imagine living here back in the time of the Black Plague. Rats scurry about, and rotting bodies litter the streets. You can't hear children playing; all you can hear is the cry "Bring out your dead!"
    - Joan's first thought [in Monty Python accent]: I'm not dead!
No report.

Officers' Reports:

Communications Officer:

The Comm. Officer wasn't sure she was going to have a report, but then she got a fortune cookie in her mailbox. She was excited about this, as the last fortune cookie she'd had was a purple one from some campus group with the fortune: "Chlamydia is one of the most widespread STDs on campuses", and while it worked well with the "in bed" suffix, it was far from usual for fortunes. This fortune cookie said, "Did you know soybeans are found in some candy bars?" and her roommate's fortune noted that peanuts are not nuts, but legumes, like soybeans. It is as yet unknown who sent them soybean propaganda fortune cookies.
The minutes are out.
David suggests posting the minutes on our LiveJournal page and emailing the link to the list.
Frequency closed.

Constable:

The Constable went to Hawaii and visited the Polynesian Center (which is run by Mormons), where he bought a bigger, better bapper. It's not made of foam, though, so he can't use it at the meetings.
The Constable is on a board online regarding Aliens vs. Predator vs. Marines, where one's posts lead to money (not real money), which leads to weapons (again, not real [I hope]), which leads to attacking other posters.
- The Constable is the king of this board.
- Don joined, too, but is not exactly the king.
The Constable replaced the rubber bands on the bapper, which counts as a weapons upgrade.

Chief of Operations:

Come see Psi Phi's group LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/~psiphisector001/

Grand Nagus:

The Nagus also visited Stonehenge whilst in London, and on the way there, they passed Shrewton, which has several thatched-roof cottages. The Nagus was tempted to ask if they were ever under threat of burnination, but the tour was mostly old people who would just think she was odd, so she didn't.
As of June 23rd, we have $864.58 in our checking account, $25 in savings, and $67.64 in the vault.
Suggestions are made for a new Aircraft Carrier Fund: The Death Star Fund, the K.I.T.T. Fund, and the Ridiculous Expenditure Fund.
Over the summer, we got a check for three previous quarters that hadn't been credited: the second quarter of 1998 ($31.80), the fourth quarter of 1998 ($217.60), and the first quarter of 1999 ($166.84), for a total of $416.24. $109.00 had been added to the Treasury on 4/28/99, so $208.12 (half of $416.24) minus $109.00 (already given to club) yields $99.12, which was deposited to the Psi Phi checking account in June.
$396.47 for 2004q2 from Amazon.com, so $198.24 will be added to the account soon.
$253.88 from Amazon.com QTD (7/1-8/24).
Matt gives $0.04 to the (maybe) Death Star Fund; Elizabeth gives $0.16.
Joan bought a composition book to record monetary transactions in. [Yes, I ended a sentence with a preposition. I can do that! I'm mad with power! Or something...]

First Officer:

The current First Officer (note: the First Officer for the rest of the semester will be elected at the next meeting, so as to give everyone, including newbies, a chance at a position of power) stayed at Bradley over the summer and took classes for her new major, Graphic Design.
- The First Officer actually likes her major now.
- The First Officer promises that if she is reelected, there will be no more comments on her major.

Captain:

"Letters" is sung.
- We have a new fake credit card. It is pronounced "beautimous."
- Our office has been renewed.
- The current Captain opens a letter addressed to former Captain Ryan Woodrow. Once discovering it's from Bradley Ambassadors, he stops reading it.
We must re-register with the Student Activities Office to continue existing. The Captain will collect signatures for this later, probably next meeting.
We have a room for meetings all semester except for when the Job Fair takes place and the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
The Captain is peeved at the new, non-Pizza Hut pizzas in Center Court.
In a sad sequence of events too long to relate at the meeting, the Captain's computer died, and will not be resurrected until next week.

Old Business:

Julie has offered to give us a microwave for the office.
Someone should look up Port-a-Potty prices.
- Jon kindly agrees to do so. (It is suggested that he tell Xeen, his roommate, that it's for their room.)
The club votes on whether or not to add "and fantasy" to its Constitution. The vote is 11 in favor, two opposed, and two abstaining; thus, it passes.

New Business:

At the next meeting, we will be (shhhhhhhh!) sneaking in food (technically, we're not supposed to have food in the Student Center that wasn't bought at the Student Center).
- Jon offers to make a run to Sav-A-Lot; Elizabeth and Don also offer to buy stuff. They agree to a post-meeting meeting to determine who will get what. Others are welcome to bring food and drink (non-alcoholic, but you already knew that).
Over Marisa's cell phone, Xeen and Joe ask that we have an away team to Hero, but are told that this has already been done. If they want another one, they can make a proposal next meeting, when they're present. [They do arrive just before the end of this meeting, but don't make a proposal.]
The Shack-a-Thon might be on October 29, which would be a Friday, which could conflict with the usual "make a shack and have the meeting there." David is checking with Habitat for Humanity for confirmation.

Other Organization's Announcements:

We forget about this bit, so there are none.

Sci-fi News:

Stargate SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis set new records for the Sci-Fi Channel: 4.2 million people saw the SG:A pilot episode, the highest number for any SFC episode; 3.2 million people saw SG-1 season premiere, that show's highest-rated episode ever.
The animated Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show may be back on track: see http://fanboyplanet.com/derek/mc-buffyjephloeb.php for more information.
On Saturday, Sept. 25, all 20 episodes of Star Wars: Clone Wars will air on Cartoon Network.
A trailer for Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars mini-series (coming to SFC in December) is up at http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/farscape/
The Earthsea miniseries is coming to SFC in December. It's based on the first two books of that series (written by Ursula K. Le Guin).
A Muppet version of The Wizard of Oz is going to be ABC TV movie.
NBC is considering developing a new cable channel devoted to horror (like SFC is to sci-fi).
Spider-Man 2 will be on DVD on Nov. 30.
Serenity (the Firefly movie) is scheduled to be released April 22, 2005.
James Doohan (Scotty from Star Trek, the original series) will get his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 31.
Star Wars Lego computer game is coming April 2005 (PC, Xbox, PS2, GBAdv). Yes, a tie-in to another tie-in.
The new "Revenge of the Mummy" ride at Universal Studios Hollywood, with voices of actors from The Mummy, opened in June.
David has several nifty items to show off:
- Voyager seasons 2 and 3 on DVD.
- Star Trek: Strange New Worlds VII, edited by Dean Wesley Smith
- Star Trek: Tales of the Dominion War, edited by Keith R.A. DeCandido
- Star Trek: Vulcan's Soul, Book I: Exodus, written by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz
- The first seven of nine (hee!) books in the A Time to... series (which will not include A Time to Cast Away Stones, nor A Time to Gather Stones Together.)
- The fifth Stargazer book--Enigma.
- An Enterprise paperback--Shockwave.
- The Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban soundtrack.
- A recent issue of Tidbits, featuring Star Trek. Actually, David brought six copies to donate to the club.
  - The issue was pretty good, though it had some mistakes. For instance, it said, "The only characters to be carried over from the pilot to the regular series were Spock and Chapel (who was apparently demoted from second in command to a nurse by airtime)." Chapel and Number One were actually different characters, though they were played by the same person.
J.K. Rowling has a website now, http://www.jkrowling.com/. It's a very neat, interactive website, full of lots of clues and comments about the Harry Potter series. One clue was that the sixth book would be called Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
We decide that the club is probably not interested in purchasing a computer, at least not right now.
Marisa tells the club that she won a prize from Kelloggs and Nutragrain bars: a $1500 gift certificate to travel wherever she wants. The club is suitably awed.