LUMAS: Constitution

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  1. The Society
    • 1.1 The name of the Society shall be "Lancaster University Manga and Animé Society", hereafter referred to as "the society".
    • 1.2 The Society shall be associated to Lancaster University Students' Union (LUSU) subject to conditions set out in Section 27 of the Union Constitution. As such the Society agrees to abide by the Union Constitution, it's by-laws, the LUSU Safety Framework and all other Union policies.
    • 1.3 The Society may affiliate to external bodies subject to the approval of the Union Council (see section 20 of the Union Constitution).
  2. Aims
    • 2.1 The Society shall exist to:
      • 2.1.1 Provide a community by which fans of manga and animé at Lancaster University and in surrounding areas can meet others with similar interests.
      • 2.1.2 Show to members previews of new animé releases, where the publisher or copyright holder of the series permits this.
      • 2.1.3 Help members to remain informed of new releases and developments in the general fan community and the animé industry.
  3. Membership
    • 3.1 Membership of the Society is open to all members of Lancaster University Students' Union, ex-members of the Lancaster Union Students' Union and falls into two categories, full and associate, as laid out in Section 7 of the Union Constitution.
    • 3.2 No person shall be charged to become a member of the society.
    • 3.3 All members may attend and speak at meetings however, only full members may propose a motion or vote at a meeting.
    • 3.4 Only full members have the right to be a candidate, vote or nominate/second a candidate in elections.
    • 3.5 Honorary membership may be granted on a life basis or for a limited period, subject to the agreement of the qualified majority, as defined in section 6 of this constitution, at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). This shall normally be granted to ex-members for outstanding service to the Society, or for those who can continue to offer service to the Society.
    • 3.6 Honorary members have the right to participate in all Society activities, and attend and speak at meetings.
    • 3.7 The Executive Committee reserves the right to refuse or revoke membership of an individual for breaching this constitution, the Society's Safety Code Of Practise, the LUSU Safety Framework or bringing the Society into disrepute, subject to the complaints procedure set out in section 7 of this constitution.
  4. Executive Committee
    • 4.1 The Society shall be administered by an annually elected Executive Committee who shall have duties and responsibilities set out below. Unless prohibited by LUSU rules or any other part of this constitution, these duties may be delegated to an appointed member of the society with the approval of the Executive Committee.
      • 4.1.1 President: who shall
        • Be the primary representative of the Society to the Union, the University and to external bodies.
        • Co-ordinate and oversee the activities of both the Executive and the Society as a whole.
        • Attend the Societies Union and other relevant meetings.
        • Act as chair to all Society meetings.
        • Oversee the safety aspects of all Society activities and ensure that the LUSU Safety Framework and the Society's Safety Code of Practise is adhered to, and give specific responsibility for this area to a designated member of the Executive Committee.
        • Be responsible for the ordering and maintenance of all Society equipment.
      • 4.1.2 Treasurer: who shall
        • Maintain records of any assets of the society.
        • Maintain good order of the Society Finances and ensure that the Union Financial Regulations are adhered to.
        • Maintain an up to date account of all financial transactions.
        • Advise the Executive and membership on expenditure of the budget.
        • Prepare a statement of revenue and expenditure to be presented at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) for ratification.
      • 4.1.3 Secretary: who shall
        • Be responsible for administration of all matters relating to memberships and subscriptions and liaising appropriately with the Treasurer.
        • Be responsible for all Society correspondence and administration.
        • Take minutes at meetings and circulate agendas and minutes of such meetings to the membership.
        • Ensure that all members are informed of important affairs related to the running of the society, including but not limited to the dates, times and agendas of General Meetings of the society.
        • Act as Returning Officer at all elections and ensure their smooth running.
        • Maintain the society website, and keep up to date the society mailing list for communication with members.
    • 4.2 In the event of resignation, vote of no confidence or removal from the Executive Committee for any other reason, a by-election for this position shall be held at any General Meeting taking effect immediately, or at the nearest available opportunity.
    • 4.3 If an Excutive Committee member is in their final academic year, or otherwise ceases to be a student, they must resign at least two weeks before their departure if possible to allow time for a replacement to be found.
    • 4.4 In the absence of any member of the Executive, their duties may be delegated to another Executive member. Alternatively a full member may be co-opted to fulfil such duties, subject to the approval of a General Meeting.
    • 4.5 Members of the Executive shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting and shall take office from the last day of the Lent Term.
    • 4.6 Failure of Executive members to carry out the duties conferred on them by this constitution or by resolutions of Society meetings, without reasonable excuse, will be grounds for suspension or motion of no confidence of the officer concerned.
    • 4.7 At least one member of the Executive Committee should not be in their final academic year.
  5. Elections
    • 5.1 The running of all Society elections shall be the responsibility of the Secretary who shall act as Returning Officer. Should this officer be a candidate in any election then the Executive may appoint another officer as Acting Returning Officer for the duration of that election.
    • 5.2 All officers shall be elected towards the end of the Lent term at the Annual General Meeting.
    • 5.3 All officers elected at this time will attend training offered by the LUSU Student Activities Office.
    • 5.4 Any post may be filled by by-election at a General Meeting.
    • 5.5 Society members will be informed of the date of the election, positions available and details for nominations at least two weeks prior to voting taking place.
    • 5.6 Re-Open Nominations (RON) shall be a candidate in all elections.
    • 5.7 All elections are preceded by speeches by the candidates. The Returning Officer shall decide in advance the maximum length of speeches. The speeches shall be followed by questions to the candidates.
    • 5.8 Candidates unable to attend must send written confirmation of their intention to stand and this may include a speech to be read out by the Returning Officer. If no confirmation is received, exclusion for the election will result.
    • 5.9 A show of hands at the meeting shall be taken for each candidate. Members may only vote once per position. The candidate with the highest number of votes shall be duly elected. The Returning Officer shall be responsible for the count.
    • 5.10 Any full member may propose that voting be done by secret ballot, subject to the approval of a simple majority at the meeting.
    • 5.11 No Executive Committee member shall stand for re-election for the same position for more than two consecutive years.
    • 5.12 Any complaints regarding elections should first be taken to the Returning Officer, and then to the Societies Council Chair, as per complaints procedure detailed in By-law 26.
  6. Meetings
    • 6.1 We define "qualified majority" as a vote in which a two-thirds majority is required.
    • 6.2 General Meetings may be called by the president, by a majority decision of the Executive Committee, or by written request of five or more Society members.
    • 6.3 At least seven days written notice must be given for General Meetings.
    • 6.4 Before AGMs or General Meetings an agenda should be made available at least 24 hours before the meeting starts, however additional emergency agenda items can still be added after this time.
    • 6.5 Any elected officer may have a motion of suspension of no confidence placed in her/him at a General meeting and a qualified majority shall be required to sustain it.
    • 6.6 The quorum of General Meetings shall be ten full members. Failure to achieve quorum shall mean that the meeting has no constitutional competence.
    • 6.7 Emergency meetings may be called in the same way as a General Meeting save that it shall require five days written notice of the business to be transacted. The quorum for such meetings shall be twenty full members.
    • 6.8 Emergency meetings shall only discuss the matter for which the meeting was called. It shall not be able to transact any financial business or amend the constitution.
    • 6.9 The President shall present a report of the Society's activities for the previous year and the Treasurer shall present an audited statement of accounts at the Annual General Meeting in the Lent Term each year
    • 6.10 Elections for positions on the Executive Committee shall be held at the Annual General Meeting.
    • 6.11 Quorum for the Annual General Meeting shall be twelve full members, including at least two members of the current Executive Committee if at all possible.
  7. Complaints
    • 7.1 Any complaints about the running or operations of the Society should initially be discussed with the President and then follow the procedures set out in bye-law 26 of the Union Constitution.
    • 7.2 Any complaints specifically concerning the President should be brought to the Secretary.
  8. Ethical Issues
    • 8.1 The society may, at the discretion of the executive committee, make available to the membership animé fansubs or manga scanslations.
      • 8.1.1 We define fansubs as animé series or features subtitled by bilingual fans, rather than a company.
      • 8.1.2 We define scanslations as scanned manga (comic book) pages, which have been edited, either to replace Japanese text with English, or to add marginal notations.
      • 8.1.3 The society approves of these unofficial translations only where no official translation is available, and no company has declared an interest in acquiring the English language translation rights.
      • 8.1.4 Most files of this type are made available over the Internet. We may, on occasion, make files available by other means for the benefit of those members who do not have their own Internet connection.
      • 8.1.5 The society does not tolerate the distribution of fansubs or scanslations where either the material has been officially licensed for translation, or where the copyright holder has requested that fansubs are not distributed.
        • 8.1.5.1 Any member found to be distributing fansubs after a series has been licensed, selling fansubs or distributing duplicates of licensed DVDs or videos will be given a single written warning before being permanently expelled from the society.
      • 8.1.6 The society does not in any way condone the distribution of media where such distribution could be construed as detrimental to the copyright holder or the holder of any authorised license on the media.
    • 8.2 The society will not show or promote animé or manga which is deemed to be offensive to any ethnic, racial or religious group, or which promotes any racist, sexist or otherwise discriminatory viewpoint.
      • 8.2.1 The society accepts that characters in animé or manga may exhibit these behaviours or viewpoints, as people in the real world do.
      • 8.2.2 Hentai, or pornographic animé, is deemed unacceptable, as is any other form that promotes the objectification of humans.
      • 8.2.3 When considering ethical or moral issues depicted in animé, the committee should take into account the cultural background in which the animé was created.
      • 8.2.4 Use of racial or cultural stereotypes in animé is acceptable where it would not be considered offensive by a majority of the target group.
  9. Constitution
    • 9.1 The whole or any part of this constitution may be altered, amended or deleted at any General meeting or at the Annual General meeting. Any changes shall require a qualified majority.
    • 9.2 The constitution and the safety code of practice shall be reviewed and re-voted upon by the society before the end of the first academic term.
  10. Safety
    • 10.1 The Society must adhere to the LUSU Safety Framework at all times. Copies of this will be distributed at appropriate times throughout the year. Failure to abide by this framework may result in disciplinary action.
    • 10.2 The Society shall have a Safety Code of Practise that shall be reviewed annually. This code shall be shown to each member before they subscribe to the Society and be made readily available throughout the year.
    • 10.3 It is duty and responsibility of the President to ensure that the Safety Framework and Safety Code of Practise is enforced in all Society activities.
    • 10.4 The President shall attend an annual Duty of Care Briefing held by the LUSU Student Activities Office in Michaelmas Term.

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Last modified: 26th May 2006