Board Meeting, Minutes - April 7th, 2013

CVCLU board meeting on Sunday, April 7, 2013

Present were David Rice, Paul Wagner, Myron Buchholz, Alida Maggiore, and Stephanie Turner.

As we didn’t have a quorum, we deferred approving the minutes from the February 10 meeting.

Here’s a summary of what we discussed:

• Local chapter website–it was generally agreed that including only the president’s name and contact information was preferable for now. Paul Wagner suggested that, for email addresses, it is desirable to spell out the ampersand; this foils programs that troll for emails. So, for example, my email address would be written ssturner88 at gmail.com

• Paul described the April 16 presentation with Mildred Larson and Ann Heywood for Chippewa Valley Learning in Retirement. Stephanie commented that we should find additional ways to use the slide show Mildred and Ann put together for this presentation. It sounds terrific!

• Plans for a May “Let’s Talk: ACLU” meetingat Phillips Library were discussed. Paul proposed a break-out session format consisting of 3-4 topics; this would involve attendees meeting in small groups with a board member to discuss a particular civil rights-related topic. Topics include the municipal use of surveillance drones, internet privacy, LGBTQ rights, and possibly rights issues related to seniors (per Ann’s board report recommendation). Stephanie will reserve a room in the library and draft an email to members inviting them to attend.

• Regarding the City Council election, Stephanie noted that she and Sara worked together on a letter to candidates inquiring about their position on the city’s use of surveillance drones. We received replies from 6 of these (Michael Turner, Luke Hoppe, Eric Larsen, Steven Judd, Catherine Emmanuelle, and Mark Olson). However, the candidate who indicated that he would provide the necessary co-sponsorship, Turner, did not get elected. We decided to ask Sara Adams to ask Beverly Wickstrom for advice as to which of the elected Council members would be likeliest to co-sponsor.

• Fighting Bobfest Northhas been cancelled this year, Stephanie reported.

• Regarding the Free Food Free Speech eventput on by the student chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists, Stephanie reported that she has not yet heard back from the organizers.

• Two items under “new business” include 1) Paul announced the September showing of a documentary on Alan Turing, the computer scientist credited with (among many achievements) cracking the Germans’ Enigma Code during WWII and victim of discrimination by the British government for homosexuality. This event may be of interest to our members. 2) Alida Maggiore announced that the Gay/Straight Alliance at Memorial High School will be having a movie night at the end of April, with a screening of the film “Philadelphia.” Stephanie offered to present a few minutes of background information on HIV/AIDS discrimination during the 1980s as part of the discussion with the student group on this film.

The next board meeting was scheduled for Sunday, June 9, at 6:30, at David Rice’s office.