Bylaws

Bylaws of the Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility,
Pittsburgh Chapter

Initially adopted 4 Dec 2001

1. Name and Purpose

1.1. Name. The name of this Organization shall be COMPUTER PROFESSIONALS
     FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, PITTSBURGH CHAPTER.  We shall also
     refer to the abbreviation CPSR/Pittsburgh.
     
1.2. Purpose

The first objective of the Organization shall be to provide the public
with scientific information and expert judgment on which social and
political decisions must in part be based.

The second objective of the Organization shall be to take a pro-active
public role in promoting societally beneficial uses of computers and
discouraging harmful ones. This includes, but is not limited to:

(a) Risks of dependency on computers in critical operations, e.g.,
    nuclear defense and air traffic control;

(b) The dangers of personal privacy invasion in the light of large
    computer databases;

(c) The various issues that have arisen regarding the Internet:
    censorship, public access, privacy, governance, etc.
   
2. Membership

2.1. Qualifications

Any member of the CPSR parent organization shall be eligible to become a
member of CPSR/Pittsburgh upon request.

2.2. Volunteers

Any person of good character and dedicated to the purposes of this
Organization and who either works in the computer profession or is
interested in the role of computers in society shall be eligible to
become a CPSR/Pittsburgh volunteer upon request.  Volunteers shall have
all of the privileges of members with respect to the local
CPSR/Pittsburgh organization.  All members are considered to be
volunteers with respect to the sections below.

2.3. Privileges

All current volunteers of the Organization can vote.  Additionally, each
volunteer will be added to the cpsr-members and cpsr-events mailing
lists unless she requests otherwise.  These lists roughly serve the
function of an Organizational newsletter.

2.4. Dues 

Members are not required to pay dues beyond those of the CPSR parent
organization.  Volunteers are not required to pay dues.

2.5. Personal Donations

CPSR/Pittsburgh is glad to accept donations from individuals.  For those
who wish to contribute to the Organization, we suggest an annual
donation of $20 (or $5 for students); any other amount is also welcome.

2.6. Corporate Donations

CPSR/Pittsburgh is glad to accept donations from corporate
sponsors.  Regardless of the terminology used to describe such sponsors,
they are not members of CPSR/Pittsburgh in the sense of this Article,
nor does acceptance of such donations imply CPSR/Pittsburgh approval of
their products or practices.

3. Meetings

3.1. Quorum Roll

The quorum roll is used to define quorum requirements.  50% of volunteers
on the quorum roll are needed to establish quorum at a meeting.

3.1.1. Additions to the Quorum Roll

At any meeting, a volunteer of the Organization can make a request to be
added to the quorum roll for subsequent meetings.

3.1.2. Deletions from the Quorum Roll

Volunteers can make a request to be deleted from the quorum roll at any
time.  The request can be made at a meeting, or in writing.  Volunteers who
anticipate missing upcoming meetings (for instance, on extended travel)
should request to be deleted.  Any volunteer who misses two consecutive
regularly scheduled meetings shall be deleted from the quorum roll.

3.2. Announcements

To announce an event to volunteers, it is sufficient to both

  1) send an announcement to the cpsr-members mailing list, and
  2) announce the event at all meetings subsequent to the e-mail
     announcement and preceding the event.

This rule may not be sufficient if, in the future, volunteers join who do
not regularly read e-mail.  We should remain sensitive to this issue.

3.3. Regular Meetings

Regular meetings may be scheduled by any volunteer of the
Organization. They must be announced to volunteers at least one day in
advance, or be part of a regular schedule.

3.4. Special Meetings

Special meetings may be scheduled by acts of the Organization.  Officer
elections and amendments to the Bylaws may only be considered if they
are part of the agenda for a special meeting.  The agenda for a special
meeting must be announced to volunteers at least two weeks in advance.

3.5. Voting

All volunteers are eligible to vote.  If a quorum is present, the
affirmative vote of the majority of the volunteers represented at the
meeting shall be the act of the Organization.

4. Officers

4.1. Positions and Responsibilities

The officers of the Organization shall be a Treasurer, a Secretary, and a
Chair.

4.1.1. Treasurer.  The Treasurer shall attend to the following:

    1) Books of account. The Treasurer shall keep all books of account
       for the Organization.  The books of account shall be open to
       inspection by any volunteer at any time.

    2) Restricted Fund Oversight.  The Treasurer shall have the
       responsibility to oversee the utilization of restricted funds,
       grants, and endowments, so as to ensure that these funds are used
       only for the purposes and in the manners specified by the
       respective donors.

    3) Deposit and disbursement of money and valuables. The Treasurer
       shall deposit all money and other valuables in the name and to
       the credit of the Organization.  The Treasurer and the Chair
       of the Organization shall have the ability to disburse funds from
       these deposits.  Funds shall only be disbursed according to
       allocations passed by an act of the Organization (i.e., a
       majority vote at a regular meeting).  The Treasurer shall
       render, on request, an account of all of her transactions to the
       Organization.

    4) Parent organization.  Upon request, the Chapter Treasurer shall
       provide the Treasurer of the CPSR parent organization with a copy
       of all financial records of the Chapter.

4.1.2. Secretary. The Secretary shall attend to the following:

     1) Book of Minutes. The Secretary shall keep, or cause to be kept, a
        book of minutes of all meetings, whether regular or special,
        and, if special, how authorized, the notice given, the names of
        those present at such meetings, the number of volunteers present or
        represented at volunteers' meetings, and the proceedings of such
        meetings.

     2) Membership Records. The Secretary shall keep, or cause to be
        kept, a record of the Organization's members, showing their
        names and contact information.  In particular, this includes
        maintenance of the Organization's mailing lists, and ensuring
        that all members are on the cpsr-members mailing
        list.  The Secretary shall also maintain the quorum roll,
        and shall be responsible for ascertaining whether a particular
        meeting has quorum.

     3) Notices. The Secretary shall give, or cause to be given, notice
        of all meetings required by the Bylaws to be given.

     4) Parent organization. No later than 30 days after the beginning
        of each fiscal year, the Chapter Secretary shall provide the
        Secretary of the CPSR parent organization with a complete
        membership list for the Chapter. In addition, the Chapter
        Secretary shall throughout the year submit to the Secretary of
        the CPSR parent organization changes to the membership list in
        timely fashion, and shall otherwise render to the Secretary of
        the CPSR parent organization all reasonable assistance in
        maintaining the membership list for the CPSR parent
        organization.

4.1.3. Chair.  The Chair shall attend to the following:

    1) Parent organization.  The Chair shall be responsible for
       communicating with the CPSR Board of Directors and the staff in
       the National Office regarding anything being done at the chapter
       level which may need to be discussed at the national level of the
       organization (exclusive of those matters which are the province
       of the Chapter Treasurer).

    2) Vice treasurer.  The Chair shall perform the duties of the
       Treasurer in the Treasurer's absence.  In particular, the Chair
       shall have the ability to disburse funds, according to
       allocations passed by acts of the Organization.

4.2. Elections

Officer elections shall be part of the agenda of a special meeting.  One
election shall be held each year, approximately in November.

4.3. Removal and Resignation of Officers

Officers may be removed, with or without cause, by a 2/3 majority vote
of the Organization, at a regular meeting.  Any officer may resign at
any time by giving written notice to the Organization. Any resignation
shall take effect upon the receipt of such notice or at any later time
specified in that notice.

4.4. Filling of Vacancies

Vacancies shall be temporarily filled by a simple majority vote at the
earliest opportunity (during any meeting of the Organization).  At the
time of the temporary appointment, a special meeting shall be scheduled
to permanently fill the vacancy.

4.5. Minor Officers

New officer posts with minor duties (such as maintenance of the
Organization web page) may be created and filled by an act of the
Organization.  Once created, minor officer posts will be subject to the
same policies as the major officer posts.

5. Bylaws
  
5.1. Amendments

These Bylaws may be amended, as part of the agenda of a special meeting,
by a 2/3 majority vote.

5.2. Parent Organization

In the event of any conflict between these Bylaws and the Bylaws of
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, Inc., the Bylaws of
the latter shall govern.  In particular, the CPSR parent organization
Board of Directors may dissolve CPSR/Pittsburgh or remove officers
of CPSR/Pittsburgh (see the CPSR, Inc. Bylaws, section 10).