July 17, 2006 Executive Committee Minutes

The meeting was called to order at 7:45 PM by Chairman Louise Lepie at the Houston Athletic Fencing Center at 4997 West Bellfort, Houston. Other Officers present were Secretary Matt Delevoryas and Treasurer Rachel El-Saleh. Vice Chairman Jerry Dunaway was absent.

Louise Lepie moved to accept the draft minutes of the previous (June 5) meeting, as they had appeared on the Division Web site. The motion passed without objection.

The Treasurer reported that, since the report made at the June 5^th meeting, there had been no financial activity to report, in particular there was no further news about the W-9 form had been prepared and sent to Texas A&M as a prerequisite for the Division receiving its income from the 2005 Divisionals which was still in the possession of the Texas A&M University Fencing Club. She expected that there might be no further progress on that matter until the school year begins. She also reported that she expected to complete preparation of the USFA-required financial reports for 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 before the end of her term as Treasurer.

Matt Delevoryas, Chairman of the Equipment Committee, reported on the state of the equipment. He reported:

The two main strip scoring equipment sets are in good shape with one previously reported item which has been fixed (4), six previously reported significant exceptions (items 1-3, 6-8), and one old and not urgent exception (item 5).

1) The floor cords are still missing for the "red set" and still being substituted for by a better floor cord set owned by Texas A&M University Fencing Club. A previous meeting has authorized purchase of replacements for the Division cords. I have not yet exhausted the final resources in attempting to locate the lost cords, but it now seems beyond the point of diminishing returns. I anticipate replacing the cords promptly and returning the substitute cords to TAMUFC shortly. Shopping for good floor cords at Summer Nationals proved to be unproductive.

2) Reel #1 of the "yellow set" has two spots on the cable where the outer insulation is worn through or simply broken. Both are near the connector. At this moment there is tip tape covering the flaws. I intend to evaluate the situation and decide between continuing to treat the symptom with tip tape, heat-shrink tubing, and/or flexible adhesives, and shortening the cable as necessary to eliminate the bad spots.

3) Reel #1 of the "yellow set" has a worn cable guide, so worn that the cable is eating into the metal screw retaining the cable guide. It appears that the major source of wear to the guide is use of the reel with the hole aimed at a diagonal to the length of the strip. The January meeting authorized my purchase, and reimbursement from the reserved equipment fund, of one replacement cable guide for this reel. I purchased a replacement cable guide during January for $4.50, but have not yet installed it. In fact, it is being lent to reel #1 of the "red set" which developed an even more pressing need for it (see discussion of this, and suggestion to authorize purchase of another cable guide). Reimbursement has yet to be requested.

4) One of the floor cords for the "yellow set" had a basket on one of the prongs which is nearly destroyed by use. (As an aside, it should be noted that the equipment, as purchased, did not include Favero floor cords, but some off brand. The connectors on them are poor quality, and there have been chronic problems getting good connections with those connectors. And, these off-brand cables are the evidence I have the Texas A&M University Fencing Club actually did lose the cables from the "red set", because at 2004 SWIFA #1 A&M had one such cord in their possession, could not explain how they procured it, but did not have a second like it.) The January meeting authorized my purchase, and reimbursement from the reserved equipment fund, of one good three-prong connector to replace this entire connector (and keeping the replaced connector for replacement parts for the other three of the same type). I purchased a Favero three-prong connector during July for $6.30, and installed it. Reimbursement has yet to be requested.

5) One of the latches for the plastic carrying case for the scoring box for the "yellow set" is snapped off. Some time ago, this broken latch got moved there, having originally been on a carrying case for reels (which are heavier and need intact latches more). It is also not clear whether the problem happened before or after the Division bought the equipment. (There is some circumstantial evidence that the equipment was used as rental equipment before the Division bought it.) The carrying case is manufactured by the Swiss company Wez, and this specific case appears to be Wez part number 6408-397G (€22.20 when ordered from the Irish retailer Production Equipment Ltd, see http://www.productionequipment.ie/Storage%20(230%20-%20265).pdf page 260 of the catalog), with aluminum internal partitions riveted into the case. Replacement "swing latches" are available as Wez part number 9980-828 (€0.80 for two when ordered from Production Equipment Ltd, see page 261 of the catalog). I recommend taking no action at present.

6) Reel #1 of the "red set" developed a worn cable guide, so worn that the spring on the connector not only jammed in the guide and ripped free from the connector, but got swallowed up inside the reel. The January meeting authorized my purchase, and reimbursement from the reserved equipment fund, of one replacement cable guide for reel #1 of the "yellow set". I purchased a replacement cable guide during January for $4.50, but before installing it, I "borrowed" it for the more pressing need on this reel and installed it. The June meeting authorized my purchase, and reimbursement from the reserved equipment fund, of one replacement cable guide because of the need of this reel. I have determined that there are not any cable guides for sale currently in the United States, and there will have to be a delay before a replacement can be obtained. The two worn, previously removed, Favero Millennium cable guides are still on hand, and it looks like it may be possible to rebuild them. However, I do not encourage the Division investigating this at the moment, because the Clear Lake Fencing Club is known to be in a very similar situation, and already has both a work cable guide and materials with which it may be possible to rebuild the cable guide. It would not make sense for the Division to invest in repair materials if CLFC will be performing an experiment which might show that a possible repair material doesn't work.

7) Reel #2 of the "yellow set" has a worn cable guide, so worn that the cable is about to begin scraping against metal. It appears that the major source of wear to the guide is use of the reel with the hole aimed at a diagonal to the length of the strip. The June meeting authorized my purchase, and reimbursement from the reserved equipment fund, of one replacement cable guide because of the need of this reel. I have determined that there are not any cable guides for sale currently in the United States, and there will have to be a delay before a replacement can be obtained. See the comments in the paragraph above about the possibility of repairing a worn cable guide.

8) Reel #2 of the "yellow set" has two spots on the cable where the outer insulation is worn through or simply broken. Both are about one meter from the connector. At this moment there is tip tape covering the more worrisome of the flaws. I intend to evaluate the situation and decide between continuing to treat the symptom with tip tape, heat-shrink tubing, and/or flexible adhesives, and shortening the cable as necessary to eliminate the bad spots.

There is no change in the status of the Escrime Technologies SG21V1 box. There is no evidence that it will be useless for the future. However, before becoming legal to use, it will need some replacement light bulbs. Before becoming legal for foil or saber use, it will require a replacement microprocessor. The manufacturer does make replacement microprocessors, but no cost has been determined yet.

The remote control units for the Favero scoring boxes use 9 volt batteries. The January meeting authorized my purchase, and reimbursement from the reserved equipment fund, of replacement 9 volt batteries when needed, including having one replacement battery available with each remote control.

Some expenditures have been approved, and have occurred, but reimbursement has not yet occurred.

1) Two rubber feet of a Favero Millennium reel were missing from their mounting holes, on reel #1 of the "yellow set". The March 1st, 2005 meeting authorized my purchase, and reimbursement from the reserved equipment fund, of replacements for the rubber feet. I purchased two replacement feet during January for $3.60, and installed them. Reimbursement has yet to be requested.

2) Reel #2 of the "red set" had a worn cable guide, so worn that the spring connector not only jammed in the guide and ripped free from the connector, but got swallowed up inside the reel! The January meeting authorized my purchase, and reimbursement from the reserved equipment fund, of one replacement cable guide for this reel. I purchased a replacement cable guide during January for $4.50, and have installed it. Reimbursement has yet to be requested.

Since the June 5th Executive Committee meeting (the last at which a report was presented), the two main sets of equipment have been lent to Salle Mauro for use by an uncertain number of sessions of fencing camps from June 8 to June 22. The initial request was for a one-week loan, and only after delivery on the 8th was a return date of June 22nd mentioned. The loan itself was the most irregular and least obviously justified loan ever made of the equipment under current loan philosophies. Before making the loan, the Equipment Committee consulted all the Officers of the Division. The Equipment Committee requests that the Executive Committee restate the loan philosophy for equipment (which currently is entwined in a resolution predating, and conflicting with, the current Bylaws, concerning who has the authority to administer loans), and consider revising the loan philosophy to make more clear whether such loans They have been requested by the Galveston Fencing Club for use at the Franks Memorial Tournament.

The assembly then began discussing the request of the Equipment Committee to restate, and possibly revise, the Division's equipment loan philosophy which had originally been enacted at the November 2, 2004 meeting in language which was no longer appropriate with the June 31, 2005 adoption of new Bylaws. After extended discussion of six incremental changes to the status quo, the assembly resolved by general consent: "The Equipment Committee shall have the authority to loan scoring equipment owned by the Division, provided that priority for loan purposes be 1) to SSCC tournaments and Sectionals to satisfy obligations of the Division to those tournaments, 2) to divisional qualifier tournaments, 3) to ordinary divisional tournaments, 4) to unsanctioned tournaments in the Division, sanctioned tournaments physically within the Division but under national auspices instead of under the auspices of the Division, and non-tournament use involving or relating to the Division, and then 5) other sanctioned tournaments not under the auspices of the Division, and provided that priority for conflicting loans be in the order the requests are received when there is insufficient difference in 1) the priority of the intended loan purpose, 2) the extent to which the conflicting requesting parties have already recently been beneficiaries of loans, and 3) the ability of the parties to cope without the loan. For all loans, the borrower must sign an agreement describing the loan and listing any pre-existing damage to the equipment. For for-profit non-tournament use, the equipment is to be rented rather than lent free of charge, but the borrower will still have all responsibility as would exist if lent free of charge. The Executive Committee recommends the rental fee for fencing year 2006-2007 be $75 for two sets of scoring equipment per week. Any single borrower shall not be lent equipment for non-tournament use for more than a cumulative total of two weeks in any single fencing year."

The assembly examined a 400 x 400 pixel circular color logo for adoption as the logo of the Gulf Coast Texas Division. This draft logo was a further refinement of a design which had been informally reviewed at the June 5^th meeting, as part of a process which had been under way since the March 8^th meeting. The logo has the circle divided approximately in halves by a curve in the shape of the Gulf Coast coastline from Pass Cavallo at Matagorda Bay on the west to the Cameron/Vermillion Parish line on the east, with the sea side of the coastline light blue and the land side of the coastline the colors of a Texas flag with the star halfway into the circle at the 10:15 point, the boundary between the blue stripe and the white and red stripes about half way between the center and the left edge, and the boundary between the red stripe and the white stripe about 60% of the way from the center to the top edge, with a black and white front view of a mask superimposed on the Gulf of Mexico just right of the centerline, with three black weapons with white guard interiors and white saber pommel nut interior crossing at a point to the upper left of center about 50% of the way to the edge with the blades reaching the edge of the circle, the weapons being a saber pointed upwards with the guard to the left and entirely in front of the Gulf of Mexico, an épée pointed to the upper right with a black French grip with guard and grip entirely in front of the blue flag stripe, and a foil pointed to the right with a black French grip with guard entirely in front of the blue flag stripe and grip in front of the blue flag stripe and white star. The assembly adopted the draft logo as the logo of the Gulf Coast Texas Division by general consent.

The assembly noted that certain pragmatic difficulties were arising as a consequence of the details of the Bylaws adopted July 31, 2005, including the following subject which the assembly was preparing to discuss. The assembly digressed to consider the Bylaws in general, and whether action might be appropriate. It was noted that the Bylaws were about to become one year old, an age by which time certain problems might be expected to become visible which might not have been visible when the Bylaws were composed. By general consent, the Executive Committee resolved that it requests the members of the bylaw committee which wrote the draft Bylaws for the July 31, 2005 meeting reconvene themselves to review the now one-year-old Bylaws and recommend any changes they deem appropriate in view of experience with the year of experience with the Bylaws.

The assembly noted that the Bylaws adopted July 31, 2005 left ultimate responsibility for the Division tournament schedule in the hands of the Executive Committee, but the Bylaws were quite detailed in specifying how the Division Tournament Committee should assemble the schedule for review by the Executive Committee. However, the detailed procedures left it effectively impossible for the Division Tournament Committee to schedule any tournaments during the months of August and September. This was because the Division Tournament Committee is constrained to schedule by fencing year, and to wait for certain information to become available, before trying to convene and attempt to meet a target of creating the schedule for the year in time for the Executive Committee to review it and still have it published by Labor Day. Labor Day is after August, and too soon for tournaments in September which need to know, longer beforehand than that, if they will or will not exist. The assembly noted that Clear Lake Fencing Club wished to hold the Fête de Lune and the Fencing Club at the University of Houston wished to hold the Cougar Call to Arms. Both clubs expected to need to know if they would be scheduled sooner than the Division Tournament Committee would be able to address these matters within the constraints written in the Bylaws. By general consent, the Executive Committee resolved that the 2006 Fête de Lune and the 2006 Cougar Call to Arms be sanctioned divisional tournaments on the schedule of the Division, unless, for each of these tournaments, the Division Tournament Committee meets to schedule fencing year 2006-2007 adequately long before the tournament, and chooses not to schedule the tournament as a sanctioned divisional tournament, and if any additional host club wishes to have a fencing year 2006-2007 sanctioned divisional tournament scheduled with more advance notice than the meeting of the Division Tournament Committee can provide, then the Chairman of the Division, in consultation with the other Officers, is delegated the authority to add such a tournament to the schedule of sanctioned division tournaments.

The assembly adjourned by general consent at 9:31 PM.