One of our TDs has caught an inconsistency between our membership system and our Bylaws.
The Bylaws state that someone who is 16 is eligible for the Youth membership ($19, includes 6 issues of Chess Life), but the membership system was set to cut off those memberships at age 15, not age 16. (I even went back to check the Minutes of the 2006 Delegates Meeting, it is clear from the Minutes that 16 is the correct cutoff age.)
The membership system tables have been corrected and the membership webstore has also been corrected. Membership forms also need to be revised, I’ve alerted the publications department about that. There may be other web pages or forms that cite the wrong cutoff age.
The insert in the March issue Chess Life still shows that Youth Members must be 16 at expiration. If 16 year olds are eligible for this membership, they will be 17 at expiration.
The March issue is right, they must be no older than 16 at expiration. Under 17 is the same as no older than 16.
The following is from the 2006 delegates meeting minutes:
DM06-38 (ADM 06-38 Substitute) (Bill Goichberg, NY) Article III of the Bylaws is amended as follows:
Section 2. Change “Youth Membership” to “Young Adult Membership.” Change “Under 20 years of age” to “Under 25 years of age at expiration.”
Section 3. Change “Scholastic Membership” to “Youth Membership.” Change “Under 15 years of age” to “Under 17 years of age at expiration.” (These members get 6 issues of Chess Life.)
Create a new Section 4 which is the same as the existing Section 3, except change “Under 15 years of age” to “Under 14 years of age at expiration” and change the dues from $19, $35 and $52 to $17, $33 and $48. (These members get Chess Life for Kids.)
Renumber the other sections of Article III, and references to sections of Article III in the Bylaws, appropriately.
Modify Article III, Section 6 to change the ages from 20 to 24.
Modify Article III, Section 6 to add: The spouse of a Life or Sustaining member may be included in a Family
Membership Plan 2. However, in that case, only the Life or Sustaining member will receive Chess Life.
All of the above will have a $2 affiliate commission.
I think part of the problem is that our Bylaws tend to find the most confusing way of wording anything, and then we don’t always word it the same way everywhere else. :sigh:
As you interpret the DM:
Is someone who is 14 years old TODAY eligible for the $19 ‘Y’ rate today? If yes, is that for just one year or for multiple years?
Is someone who is 15 years old TODAY eligible for the $19 ‘Y’ rate today? If yes, is that for just one year or for multiple years?
Is someone who is 16 years old TODAY eligible for the $19 ‘Y’ rate today? If yes, is that for just one year or for multiple years?
Is someone who is 17 years old TODAY eligible for the $19 ‘Y’ rate today? If yes, is that for just one year or for multiple years?
I found the following, which does not appear correct. Chess Life says “16 and under at expiration,” which is right. The webstore has a similar error regarding Young Adult and Scholastic.
I don’t know why that’s the language we use on the webstore, it’s what someone (probably Joan) typed in and may be a carryover from the old webstore.
Mind you, I think the ‘at expiration’ language has its own problems.
For example, given that memberships always expire at the end of the month, does someone who turns 16 tomorrow (March 25th) still qualify for the 15 and under rate TODAY, since a one-year membership will expire on March 31st of next year, ie, after his 17th birthday?
Simplest is to say yes, as it’s not worth making this an issue and some players will assume that if they join March 24 of this year their membership expires March 24 of next year. Actually, if a player joins on March 1, 2008 and expires March 31, 2009 we already have the slight problem that the player can play in two years worth of March tournaments on the same one year membership.
The webstore language:
“Youth members must be 15 years old or less at the beginning of each membership year, whether paying for one year or multiple years.”
is actually not wrong, just confusing. It sounds like a 15 year old could buy a 3 year Youth membership, but “the beginning of each membership year” actually allows only the first year of Youth and not a multiyear purchase.
I know you’ve heard me reference them at EB meetings, Bill, but I think we have a group of players, possibly several hundred of them, who ‘leapfrog’. They play in only one event a year (such as a Labor Day weekend event), and pay dues every other year. since a one-year membership purchased in September 2007 is valid until September 30, 2008.
I haven’t looked to see if Tournament Memberships have affected that phenomenon.
Regarding the webstore age eligibility wording, I suggest we take that issue to email and work with Bill Hall, Joan and Daniel on consistent and implementable descriptions. We may also want to come up with a Bylaws amendment to make the Bylaws consistent with whatever we come up with.
This is one reason why the Michigan Chess Association sets the expiration date as the end of the month preceeding the date of receipt of the membership. One variant to that is memberships received just after the cutting of the labels for a monthly mailing get an expiration date of the upcoming month end date. This ensures that the member receives 12 mailings.