ALT News No. 23

[Johan van der Auwera]

ALT News No. 23
July 1999

1. The invoice
2. Proposals for changing the statutes


1. The invoice

By now every member will have received an invoice from Walter De Gruyter
(Berlin) for the journal. Remember that the sum to be transmitted to the
publisher includes the membership fee. If you want to pay with a credit
card, write down the credit card details (type, number and expiry date)
on the invoice, sign it and send it back to Walter de Gruyter. As you
will see, the prices have not changed.


2. Proposals for changing the statutes

2.1. Proposals originating from the Nominating Committee

In preparation of ALT III and the elections that are to go with it, the
Statutes and the Interim Arrangements approved of at ALT III were dusted
off and a Nominating Committee was constituted. The Nominating Committee
consists of Pier Marco Bertinetto (chair), Marianne Mithun, Anna
Siewierska and Leon Stassen. The Nominating Committee has to make
proposals for the following positions:

President
Secretary-Treasurer
Editor-in-Chief
Executive Committee
Editorial Board

However, the nominators soon agreed that they did not really want to act
according to the Statutes and Interim Arrangements. Article VII,
however, allows for the Statutes to be changed. It says:

Any proposed amendments to this constitution must be submitted to the
Secretary-Treasurer in writing, signed by at least five members of the
Association. Such proposals will be submitted to the membership for
ballot. An amendment must have the approval of two-thirds of the members
voting.

As a result of the action of five members, I now submit the following
proposals to the membership. If the proposals are accepted, the
Nominating Committee will resume its work and have a slate ready by ALT
III.

Proposal 1: Article III, 8:

Old formulation:

The Nominating Committee shall nominate one person for the position of
President, one for the position of Secretary-Treasurer, one for the
position of Editor-in-Chief, and two for each vacant position on the
Executive Committee and on the Editorial Committee.

Motivation for change:

The policy of suggesting two names for each position on the Executive
Committee and on the Editorial Committee may have certain advantages,
but it might cause friction, which for an organization as young as ALT
and with as modest a membership would seem counterproductive.


New formulation:

The Nominating Committee shall nominate one person for the position of
President, one for the position of Secretary-Treasurer, one for the
position of Editor-in-Chief, and one for each vacant position on the
Executive Committee and on the Editorial Committee.



Proposal 2: Article III, 5:

Old formulation:

Six other members of the Editorial Board shall be elected [...]

Motivation for change:

Reality is already different from the Statutes, for the present Board
has seven members other than the Editor-in-Chief. The latter furthermore
suggests that it would be advantageous to add yet an eighth member.

New formulation:

Eight other members of the Editorial Board shall be elected [...]



2.2. Another proposal

Proposal 3:

Old formulation:

Statutes III,9:
There shall be a Program Committee consisting of six members appointed
by the President with the approval of the Executive Committee, three
persons being appointed each year to serve for a period of two years.
(...)

Interim Arrangement 6:
Six members of the Program Committee shall be appointed by the President
with the approval of the Executive Committee prior to the 1999 Annual
Meeting, three to a term of two years, and three to a term of one year.

Motivation for change:
The idea was to provide for a useful overlap. The proposed rules do not
have this effect, for the ALT rhythm is biennial.

New formulation:

Statutes III, Point 9:
There shall be a Program Committee consisting of six members appointed
by the President with the approval of the Executive Committee, three
persons being appointed every second year to serve for a period of four
years. (...)

Interim Arrangement 6:
Six members of the Program Committee shall be appointed by the President
with the approval of the Executive Committee prior to the 1999 Meeting,
three to a term of two years, and three to a term of four years.


2.3. Other proposals?

Any quintuple of members can, of course, at any point, suggest further
modifications. For the sake of efficiency, I propose to bundle any
further proposals and start submitting them to the membership on the
occasion of ALT III.


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Please state which of the three proposals you support.


    I support / do not support Proposal 1

    I support / do not support Proposal 2

    I support / do not support Proposal 3


Please reply to Johan van der Auwera before August 9.


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Bernard Comrie [President]

Director, Department of Linguistics
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Inselstrasse 22                            tel +49 341 99 52 301
D-04103 Leipzig                  tel secretary +49 341 99 52 300
Germany                                    fax +49 341 99 52 119
E-mail:                                        comrie at eva.mpg.de
Secretary's e-mail (Ms. Julia Cissewski):    cissewsk at eva.mpg.de


Frans Plank [Editor-in-chief, Linguistic Typology]

Sprachwissenschaft
Universitaet Konstanz
D-78457 Konstanz                         tel + 49 7531 88 26 56
Germany                                  fax + 49 7531 88 27 41

E-mail:                             frans.plank at uni-konstanz.de


Johan van der Auwera [Secretary-Treasurer]

Linguistiek (GER)
Universiteit Antwerpen (UIA)
B-2610 Antwerpen                           tel + 32 3 820 27 76
Belgium fax                                fax + 32 3 820 27 62
E-mail:                                      auwera at uia.ua.ac.be


ALT on the WEB: http://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/alt

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