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ACBL Board
Meeting at Houton NABC |
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021-260: Ratification of Executive Committee Minutes. Comment: Normally, this is routine approval of the actions that the Executive Committee took since the previous board meeting. Although the Executive Committee did not take substantive actions in its meetings since Las Vegas, I voted against approval because, in accordance with board approved procedures, adequate advanced notification of these meetings were not being provided. Motion passed. The Fall 2002 Board meetings will be held in
Memphis, TN on dates to be decided by the ACBL CEO and the ACBL
President. Dates under consideration are October 23-27, October
31-November 3 and November 13-17. Item 021-01: Disciplinary Cases: In the matter of John Peters’, ACBL# 5609917, request for a hearing for readmittance: the committee reiterated the information sent to John Peters in June of 2000 that he could not reapply until March 23, 2003. Comment: This matter was decided by the Appeals and Charges Committee of the Board of Directors, and reported to the full board. Item 021-02: The ACBL Handbook for Appeals Committees is amended as follows: I. INTRODUCTION This handbook is created to educate our members about Appeals Committees. The process begins with the Tournament Director, who enforces the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge. The Tournament Director can adjust scores (Law 12) and give procedural penalties (Law 90). Each player then has a right to appeal the ruling (Law 92). An Appeals Committee hears that appeal (Law 93). ... ... This committee is not a court of law, but in some ways is similar. It uses principles of equity so no player may gain an advantage by unethical conduct or violation of law. Committee members should hear the whole story and make a fair and reasonable adjudication. They should not accept a procedural argument that prevents either side from fully expressing its views. The purpose of this Handbook is to help those who serve on an Appeals Committee and those who appoint committee members. Committee members who follow these guidelines will hold a fair hearing and should reach a fair and reasonable decision. Everyone is entitled to a fair and impartial hearing, no matter the final decision. NOTE: The Committee Chairperson must be particularly careful in implementing part III. Procedures, A. Introductions below with respect to advising committee members and parties to the appeal to air concerns of possible. III. PROCEDURES Bridge players are as argumentative as other high level competitors. We need procedures that ensure an orderly and efficient hearing. Committees should follow the procedures described beginning here. A. Introductions 1. Introductions are the first order of business. The committee chairperson should: Give their full name and home city; State that the chair will function as the presiding officer; Request that all questions and comments be directed to the chair; Have the other committee members introduce themselves; 2. The parties, including their advocates, introduce themselves; 3. The committee chairperson addresses the committee members as follows: a. “If there is any reason why you feel you should not serve on this committee, please recuse yourselves now.” b. “If you believe you can serve and make an unbiased decision, but you know of conditions or circumstances that may be perceived as creating potential bias or perceived as such, please disclose those issues now.” 4. The committee chairperson addresses the parties to the appeal and the committee as follows: “If any member of this committee or party to the appeal has cause to believe that a committee member should not serve, you must raise the issue or issues now.” (If there is any objection, see section III. F. below) 5. The Tournament Director: Gives his or her name and role (e.g., table director, chief director, appeals director); Introduces any witness, stating if that witness is associated with any party.
Comment: Motion carried. 021-03: USBF Disciplinary Actions: Any discipline imposed by the USBF at a USBF event sanctioned by ACBL shall be referred to: 1. The Ethical Oversight Committee of ACBL for cases of alleged cheating by use of signals, other unauthorized information, other forms of cheating or serious breaches of ethics, or 2. The District Disciplinary Committee in whose geographical area the USBF event was held for any other cases of discipline.
The above appropriate disciplinary body will conduct a hearing to affirm or modify the findings and discipline of the USBF Committee in accordance with ACBL Disciplinary Regulations. Comment: Carried without dissent. Item 021-230: Junior Coupons at NABCs: A. Junior/Student Coupons for entry into events at NABCs are restricted to ACBL members residing in Zone Two who are either 21 years of age or younger or full-time students between 22 and 25 years of age. Full-time students must offer proof of their eligibility prior to purchasing their entry.
A. ACBL Board of Directors believes Junior/Student coupons should be set at an affordable price to encourage junior player participation at NABCs. As a guideline Management should set Junior/Student coupons at approximately 50% of the NABC regional entry fee. For 2002 the NABC entry fee using Junior/Student coupons will be $6.00 per session. Comment: Motion passed. Item 021-200: Item 001-171 Club Games is amended as follows: Sanctioned clubs may hold regular open games (not to include any special games awarding extra masterpoints) with a minimum number of boards played of 12 up to a maximum of 17 boards will be awarded at 80% of the award for open games. Sanction fee for this games are 40˘ (12 to 17 boards) per table. Comment: Motion carried.
Item 021-201: Club Game Barred Players Item 011-42 is amended as follows: No open club may bar a player, or players as a class, based upon the player’s race, creed, religion, political affiliations, sexual orientation, national origin or on his proficiency at bridge. Except as detailed in the previous paragraph, a club may bar a player for whatever reason it deems proper consistent with ACBL Rules and Regulations and the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge. An obnoxious or incompatible partnership may be barred as a pair, but each may be permitted to play with other partners. To bar a player, club management must notify the player in writing and send a copy of the notification to the ACBL Club Membership Department. The notification must include the player’s name and player number and the reason for the barring. A club may extend the barring of a player from Grand National Teams, North American Pair events, STaCs, qualifying session of a progressive sectional, unit or district competitions, such as unit championships, charity games, IMP games, and unit-or-district-wide championships held at the club. In such cases, the written notice to the person barred must include the person‘s right to appeal the action to the Unit Board in which the club is located. The barred player has 30 days from receipt of the notice to appeal to the Unit in which the barring took player. Such written notice is required, otherwise the barring shall not be effective. The club may not impose partnership restrictions on such players for these events unless the unit, district or ACBL first imposes them. Comment: This was just a clarification of a motion that was passed last year. Motion passed. Item 021-216: Management is authorized and encouraged to develop and implement a program to subsidize teachers who need assistance in order to properly and efficiently instruct new duplicate bridge players and students. Comment: This motion was the result of an agenda item specifying a particular teacher subsidy. The Board wanted to approve the concept of a subsidy without tying management’s hands as to how that subsidy would be implemented. Motion passed. Item 021-46: Elections for the office of ACBL President will be held at the Summer meeting rather than at the Fall meeting of the Board of Directors. Comment: I voted against this motion because I did not want the current president to be a lame duck for six months, but it passed anyway. Item 021-47: Entry Fees for Non-Members A. A person must be a member of ACBL whose dues or service fees are paid up in order to participate in any sanctioned play at an NABC unless Management waives the requirement for a specified person or persons or for a specific event. Note: Management may waive this requirement for visiting dignitaries, special promotional events and/or charity events. B. A person must be a member of ACBL whose dues or service fees are paid up in order to participate in any sanctioned play at an ACBL Regional (of any type) unless Management permits the sponsor to waive the requirement for a specified person or persons or for a specific event. C. A person must be a member of ACBL whose dues or service fees are paid up in order to participate in any sanctioned play at an ACBL Sectional (of any type) unless Management permits the sponsor to waive the requirements for a specified person or persons or for a specific event. Comment: This is a proposal by the new management team. It was deferred to the Washington Summer 2002 NABC. As long as novice and/or newcomer events are exempt, I lean toward approving this concept. If you can offer strong arguments otherwise, please let me hear them. Item 021-48: Reduced Fees Amnesty Program The membership dues or service fees for multi-year memberships during an amnesty program period beginning June 1, 2002 and ending December 31, 2002 will be as follows: 1 year 2 year 3 year New Member $24.00 $48.00 $72.00 Reinstatement NLM $32.00 $58.00 $84.00 Reinstatement LM $29.00 $53.00 $77.00 75 Years or Older $24.00 $45.00 $66.00
A. In all cases except New Member the program applies to anyone whose membership has lapsed or whose service fees haven’t been paid for at least 12 months. B. In the cases of NLMs and 75+ year-olds, the reinstatement fees are waived. Comment: I voted against this item because we ran an amnesty program two years ago, so the results of this one is not likely to be very productive. I also object to offering discounted membership dues to attract former ACBL members. Item 021-145: Mini-Life Masters’ Pairs: Management shall make arrangements to add a LM to 5000 masterpoint event and a LM to 1500 masterpoint event to the Summer NABC schedule for a two year trial. A. Except for the masterpoint restrictions, the conditions of contest will be identical to the six-session Life Masters’ Pairs that has no upper masterpoint limit. B. The masterpoint award will be calculated using the current formula for a Nationally-rated event that has no pre-determined masterpoint award. There is a cap on the first place award of 50 masterpoints for the LM to 1500 event and 75 masterpoints for the LM to 5000 masterpoint event. C. Management shall select an appropriate name for this event. D. The Board will review the attendance and consider this event for permanent status no later than the 2004 Fall meeting. E. The event will be reduced to a 4-session event if table count is below 60 and the appropriate adjustment made to the overall masterpoint awards. Comment: This is continuation of a trend that began with the Mini-Spingold last year, e.g., establishing national events for players immediately below NABC+ event caliber. Motion carried. Item 021-146: Senior Event Classifications & Stratum: A. Senior events may be stratified by age (55-65-75) or masterpoints but not both. Stratification is limited to not more than 3 stratum. If stratified by age, the age of the younger person of a pair or the youngest member of a team will determine the strata. If stratified by age, the masterpoint awards will be 80% for 55+, 70% for both 65+ and 75+. B. Senior events may be held with minimum age restrictions of 55, 65, or 75. Such events may be stratified by masterpoints. The masterpoint awards will be 80% for 55+ and 70% for both 65+ and 75+.. Any two age limited events may be held simultaneously. Comment: I voted for both of these two proposals, but Paragraph A was voted down, while paragraph B passed. This gives tournament chairpersons more flexibility with their senior events. Item 021-149: Bracketed KO’s: A team or teams wishing to play up in a Bracketed KO event shall be accommodated unless the upper bracket is full (e.g. 16 teams playing in a 4-session KO). Comment: This permits a lower-ranked team to choose to play in a higher bracket if there is room to do so. Please note that no team will be dropped to a lower bracket to accommodate these requests. Motion carried. Item 021-151: Red Ribbon Pairs Schedule: The Red Ribbon Pairs will be held concurrently with the NABC+ Open Pairs II (second Thursday and Friday) at the Spring NABC starting in 2003. Comment: Carried without dissent. Item 021-152: Tournament Director Education, Training and Certification A. Management will develop a comprehensive education, training and certification program for all ACBL tournament directors. The program will be developed in 2002 and instituted in 2003. Each Director will be required to be certified in accordance with their rank. B. The training will include a separate certification for all tournament directors handling appeals at NABCs. C. Management will submit an update report to the Board no later than the Spring 2003 NABC. Comment: This program was proposed by the new management team and it will be costly (approximately $100,000/year). Since tournament directors interface with our membership more than any other ACBL representative, management believes that they should be highly qualified, well trained, and highly motivated employees. As a board member, I cannot disagree with the direction taken with this program. Naturally, I will closely monitor the progress reports to see if the results provide an acceptable return on our investment. I voted reluctantly to approve the agenda item and it was carried without dissent. Please contact me if you have any questions or opinions that you wish to share: Chuck Wilkinson 1806-B
Saint Ann Street |