[Air-L] A Modest Proposal: Annual Elections for AoIR Internet Cat Macot

Nishant Shah itsnishant at gmail.com
Thu Apr 25 04:59:14 PDT 2013


May I respectfully add that this task is of paramount importance and cannot
be taken lightly. Especially because there are rumours that several
imposter cats, photoshop cats and shanzhai cats are already being produced
as possible 'fake' candidates for the position. It is necessary, perhaps,
to set up a steering committee to evaluate the authenticity of the nominees
and conduct a rigorous background check to make sure that the Hello Kitty
clones do not flood up the ballot.
In feline solidarity
Nishant


On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:20 AM, Terri Senft <tsenft at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Madame Incoming and Esteemed:
>
> In addition to our other important positions, I would like to propose AoIR
> hold elections for Internet Cat Mascot. In accordance with our by-laws,
> this would be an annual position, and the cats would answer the questions
> below like anyone else would.
>
> Naturally, since cats cannot yet write, their statements would be drafted
> by those nominating. Whether or not anyone okays this, I will write a
> statement for Maru. Andrew Herman does not yet know it, but he will
> represent Lil Bub.
>
> Friends in the gallery: Can we agree that this is a moment long overdue in
> the history of an organization that does NOTHING but STUDY THE INTERNET?
>
> Please, let's get some Internet cats up on this ballot.
>
> Respectfully,
> Terri
>
> P.S. Anticipating questions about dogs: No.
>
>
> Dr. Theresa M. Senft
> Global Liberal Studies Program
> School of Arts & Sciences
> New York University
> 726 Broadway  NY NY 10003
>
> home: *www.terrisenft.net <http://goog_689013053/>** *
> facebook: www.facebook.com/theresa.senft
> twitter: @terrisenft
>
> On Wed, Apr 24, 2013 at 5:35 PM, Kendall, Lori <loriken at illinois.edu>
> wrote:
>
> > Dear all,
> >
> > I am pleased to announce that AoIR has now commenced the process of
> > electing a new Executive Committee to take office in October of this year
> > and serve until October 2015. We are seeking nominations for the new
> > executive. I also note that voting for your executive committee is one of
> > the privileges of membership in AoIR. This is one of the ways you can
> shape
> > the organization. So if you have let your membership lapse or have not
> yet
> > signed up, now would be a great time to join AoIR!
> >
> > Here is an overview of the election timeline, procedures and positions
> for
> > nomination, as determined by the Association's by-laws. This year we will
> > be handling voting through an election management site, and voting
> > instructions will be provided later.
> >
> > Below in this email, you will find: A. Time frame of the election. B.
> > Description of the AoIR governance system and of the elected positions.
> C.
> > Nominations and Elections Processes. And D. Questions for Candidates.
> >
> > A. Time Frame of the Election:
> >
> > 1. Call for Nominations: opens April 25, 2013.
> >
> > 2. Nominations close for all positions (4 officer positions and 3 open
> > seats) May 8, 2013.
> >
> > 3. Candidate information will be made available to AoIR members on
> > aoir.org and will be sent to air-l.
> >
> > 4. Voting begins May 22, 2013 at the balloting site. (Details for
> > accessing this site will be sent in a later email.)
> >
> > 5. Voting ends May 31, 2013.
> >
> > The new committee is formally announced and assumes its duties at the end
> > of the Annual General Meeting during the AoIR conference, 23-26 October
> > 2013.
> >
> > B. AoIR Governance and Description of Elected Positions:
> >
> > The organizational structure of AoIR is simple. There are 5 officers
> > (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Graduate Student
> > representative). The 9-member Executive Committee consists of these
> > officers, plus the Past President and 3 open seat representatives.
> Elected
> > officials hold their positions for two years. After two years, the Vice
> > President becomes President. In this election, nominations are invited
> for
> > Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Graduate Student representative,
> and
> > 3 open seats. You may nominate yourself or someone else you think would
> do
> > a good job. Details on the nomination procedure follow below.
> >
> > Here are brief descriptions of positions:
> >
> > President: Acts as "CEO" and supervises the organization. The President’s
> > duties include serving as part of the Conference Committee. This position
> > is not directly elected, as the Vice President becomes President after
> two
> > years.
> >
> > Vice President: "Back up" for President, performing various duties as
> they
> > arise; becomes President after 2 years. The Vice President also serves on
> > the Conference Committee.
> >
> > Secretary: Handles records and membership matters.
> >
> > Treasurer: Liaises with Secretary to maintain membership records; takes
> > care of financial and related administrative duties (e.g., annual report
> to
> > membership and U.S. tax authorities), including close attention to the
> > annual Internet Research (IR) conference budget. The Treasurer serves on
> > the Conference Committee.
> >
> > Graduate Student Representative: Responsible for running graduate student
> > activities. The Graduate Student Representative must be actively enrolled
> > in a degree program at the time of nomination and election. All members
> can
> > vote for the grad student representative.
> >
> > Open Committee Seats: Three open Seats on the Executive Committee
> > represent membership of AoIR, and contribute to decision-making.
> >
> > Immediate Past President: Serves on the Executive Committee.
> >
> > More information can be found in the AoIR Bylaws:
> >
> > http://aoir.org/about/bylaws-statements-and-policies/bylaws/
> >
> > Candidates should familiarize themselves with the duties laid out in the
> > Bylaws. I also encourage persons interested in running for a specific
> > position to contact the current office-holder(s) with any specific
> > questions, etc.
> >
> >
> > C. Nominations and Elections Processes.
> >
> > Only a member of AoIR can run for a position, nominated by anyone. If
> > nominated for more than one position a nominee must choose to run for one
> > (and only one) position in this election. You may nominate yourself or
> > another person (or people).
> >
> > Self Nominations: Email AoIR Secretary Catherine Middleton
> > <catherine.middleton at ryerson.ca> and indicate the position for which
> > you are nominating yourself. Please provide, in your nomination email a
> > short candidate statement addressing the questions below.
> >
> > Nominating Others: Email AoIR Secretary Catherine Middleton
> > <catherine.middleton at ryerson.ca> with the name of the person you want
> > to nominate, the position for which you are nominating this person,
> contact
> > information for that person, and an indication of whether you know if
> this
> > person would accept this nomination. (If you don't know, we'll contact
> them
> > and ask).
> >
> > All candidates for election will be required to provide answers to the
> > questions listed at the end of this email, have the answers posted to the
> > AoIR election forum website, and participate in an online candidate
> forum.
> >
> > In addition the Graduate Student candidates must confirm in their
> response
> > that they comply with the by-laws: The Graduate Student Representative
> must
> > be actively enrolled in a degree program at the time of nomination and
> > election.
> >
> > The voting system used by AoIR is one vote per member for each of the
> > eight positions for election listed above. Votes will be tallied using a
> > balloting software site. In the case of the four directly elected
> officers,
> > the candidate with the highest number of votes shall be declared the
> > winner; in the case of the open seats, the three candidates with the
> > highest, second-highest and third highest votes shall be declared the
> > winners of the open seats.
> >
> > In the case of tied results for the officer positions, the winner shall
> be
> > determined by the ballot counters, by drawing of lots, using a method
> that
> > ensures each of the tying candidates has an equal chance of success and
> > witnessed by at least 1 person independent of the association. In the
> case
> > of tied results for the open seat positions, the drawing of lots shall be
> > used only when there are more tied candidates than seats available.
> >
> > D. Questions for Candidates:
> >
> > 1. What are your qualifications for this position (including prior
> > experience and participation in AoIR)?
> >
> > 2. Please describe two or three short-term goals you would like to
> achieve
> > through membership on the executive (including a rationale for each and
> how
> > you would contribute to their achievement).
> >
> > 3. What is your long-term vision for AoIR?
> >
> > 4. What else should voters consider when deciding whether or not to vote
> > for you?
> >
> > In answering the questions, please be concise and give information
> > specific to the position for which you are nominating and which will
> permit
> > voters to assess your case for election to that position.
> >
> >
> > In closing - please consider contributing your time and energy to making
> > AoIR even better in the upcoming years! Many thanks in advance to all who
> > will consider running and serving AoIR in this way.
> >
> >
> > Lori Kendall
> > Vice President, AoIR
> > ______________________
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> > is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
> > Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
> > http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
> >
> > Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> > http://www.aoir.org/
> >
>
>
>
> --
> <http://goog_689013053>
>
> <http://goog_689013053>
>
> Dr. Theresa M. Senft
> Global Liberal Studies Program
> School of Arts & Sciences
> New York University
> 726 Broadway  NY NY 10003
>
> home: *www.terrisenft.net <http://goog_689013053>**
> *(needs a serious updating)
> facebook: www.facebook.com/theresa.senft
> twitter: @terrisenft
> _______________________________________________
> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
> http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
>
> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> http://www.aoir.org/
>



-- 
Nishant Shah
Director (Research), Centre for Internet and Society,Bangalore, India (
www.cis-india.org )
International Tandem Partner, Inkubator - Leuphana University, Lueneburg,
Germany
# +49-0176-841-660-87
http://www.facebook.com/nishant.shah
http://cis-india.academia.edu/NishantShah



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