Location: IRC server pnwx.com, channel #asfar
Time: 8:30 pm central time

Board members present: Eric Anderson, Justin Mallone, Susan Wishnetsky
Members present: David C, Gorman C, Joshua F, Alex KP, Bob M, Ben P, David
SJ, Oliver T
Visitors present: none

The meeting was called to order at 8:39 pm central time.

Approval of Minutes

A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes; the motion passed
3-0.

Reports of Officers

The President, Eric Anderson, reported that the election seemed to be going
well.

The Vice-President, Justin Mallone, had no report.

The Secretary, Susan Wishnetsky, reported that she had been mailing out some
packets of ASFAR materials to members on a semi-random basis, since she was
pretty well caught up on printing and had not received any requests for
mailing. She also reported on a protest (by a local group opposing
"psychiatric oppression") she planned to attend on 11/2 during the opening
ceremony of CHADD, a pro-Ritalin group funded by drug manufacturers, at
which
Chicago's Superintendant of Schools would be the "welcoming" speaker. She
forwarded a suggestion that ASFAR become a supporting organization of this
national movement (with a web site at www.mindfreedom.org), and be listed in
their publication and have a link on their site). It was unclear whether a
donation from ASFAR would be required, and there was some discussion of the
relevance of this movement, in general, to ASFAR's issues. No motion was
made.

The Treasurer, Eric Anderson, had no report.

Reports of Committees.

The 'zine committee reported that the upcoming issue of Youth Truth appeared
to be in fairly good shape, although more submissions would be welcome. It
was suggested that anyone involved in a voting day protest submit a brief
report to the editors for possible inclusion in the next November/December
issue. (Since the deadline for submissions has already passed and the
release date is November 15, this would have to be done very quickly after
the protest!)

Old Business.

Election day protest: the only matter to discuss on this topic was "approval
of writings", which appeared later on the agenda, so there was no discussion
of this topic.

Web site advertising: Susan Wishnetsky presented a message she had received
from an online scooter company proposing that ASFAR place its banner link on
our site in exchange for commission on any sales from this link. There was
discussion of whether this company and its site were respectful to youth,
whether *any* advertising would harm ASFAR's credibility or the quality of
its site, and whether it would significantly increase the download time of
the page. Eric Anderson moved that a committee be formed to explore web
advertising possibilities, which would include ASFAR's officers, David SJ
and
Oliver T (who both volunteered). The motion was seconded and passed 3-0.

Approval of writings: David SJ reported that his position paper on voting
could be viewed at <http://members.aol.com/machcu/asfar/papers/voting.html>.
Susan Wishnetsky felt that it should include mention of the "taxation
without
representation" issue and greater emphasis on the impossibility of a group
being represented by people other than themselves. David SJ proposed to
make
some changes right away so that the paper could be approved before the
meeting ended.

Susan Wishnetsky brought up another paper that she had submitted, and
proposed to change a few words. Eric Anderson moved that the paper be
approved with those changes. The motion was seconded and passed 3-0.

New Business

Ballot issues: Eric Anderson raised the issue of an ASFAR ballot submitted
by
an individual who sent a message last year which he interpreted as a
resignation from ASFAR. Susan Wishnetsky claimed not to have received this
message at the time, and never removed the individual from ASFAR's
listservs.
The text of this message was presented. There was some question about
whether the individual actually intended, with this message, to resign from
the organization or not. Eric Anderson moved that the Secretary ask this
individual for an affirmation of membership, and a signature on all
documents
as required in ASFAR's joining procedure, in order for the ballot to be
considered valid. The motion was seconded and passed 3-0.

Susan Wishnetsky raised the issue of messages sent to votes@asfar.org which
did not include a marked ballot. Some of these messages stated "I vote for
___", but one contained only one word, the last name of one of the
candidates. Justin Mallone and Eric Anderson were both inclined to consider
all of these messages valid votes. No motion was made.

Use of "Youth Truth" name: Eric Anderson reported that a member wished to
start a youth rights club at his school and call it "Youth Truth". His
school administrators told him he needed legal permission from ASFAR to use
the name. Eric suggested that he form the club as a chapter of ASFAR, and
promised to raise the issue with the board. Susan Wishnetsky moved to grant
him permission to use the name, and still encourage him to form an official
chapter. The motion was seconded and passed, 3-0.

Other Business

David SJ reported that his position paper on voting had been revised. Eric
Anderson moved to approve the paper. The motion was seconded and passed,
3-0.

The next board meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, November 15, 2000.

The meeting adjourned at 10:50 pm central time.