JD White, WINS Operations Administrator, announced on the Talk-List in early January that he was having computer difficulties. Apparently his video card was on its last leg. He stated that he was shutting his computer down until the problem is resolved.

As we all know, JD and his computer are the heart and sole of WINS. Among a multitude of things, JD monitors the email lists as List Mommy, he processes and announces our new members, and he runs our auctions. JD utilizes most of his computer time working for WINS. Without JD and his computer, WINS is somewhat dead in the water.

Dave Noble, WINS Secretary, motioned that the WINS Treasury purchase a new video card, or whatever else - within reason - that JD needs to get up and running again. This motion was seconded and presented to the Board of Directors by Ralph J. Huntzinger, WINS President.

The formal wording of that motion, as presented to the Board, is noted below. Board members were instructed as follows:

Board Officers should vote YES, NO or ABSTAIN. Remember that Board voting is done on the record; that the motion and voting results will be presented to the membership; and that a simple majority is what's needed to either pass or fail this motion.

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Board of Directors Motion 2006-01

I, Ralph J. Huntzinger, on behalf of a proposal presented by WINS Secretary Dave Noble, make a motion within the Board of Directors, that a certain computer component be purchased to help minimally maintain the current and efficient operations of the WINS Society; said purchase deemed an emergency measure for the preservation of the society; said component being a Diablo Tek Radon 9600XT / 256MB DDR/AGP 8X video card; said component costing $113.82, including shipping; said component having been competitively priced; said component to be licensed and warranted to JD White, WINS Operations Administrator; said Society-expense to be offset by the WINS Treasury Funds in reimbursement fashion as a purchase receipt is received by the Treasurer; and, if passed, this motion will go into full force and effect immediately upon passage. ________________________________

The motion passed on January 16, 2006 with votes registered as follows:

President Ralph J. Huntzinger - Yes
Vice President Jason Craton - Yes
Secretary Dave Noble - Yes
Treasurer Ken Hughes - Yes
Operations Administrator JD White - Yes
Newsletter Editor Susan Thornton - Yes
Librarian Frank Tucker - Yes

The computer component was purchased by JD White, and a WINS Treasury check for reimbursement was issued by Ken Hughes. As you can see, the computer-fix was successful and JD White has been working hard ever since to get our new MajorDomo email lists up and running. Thanks a lot, JD!

Speaking of our new email lists ... I thank everyone for their patience. The old "Mailman" lists weren't very dependable. They went down every month or two and were out of service for anywhere from a few hours to a few days. That was frustrating for all of us. The Board spent a lot of time discussing our options and searching for something better.

Ultimately, JD White uncovered the new Domo lists. He and Ken Hughes negotiated the payments, then JD worked for days on the set-up. Hopefully the wait has been worth it. The new lists should be much more stable and dependable. More importantly, they come with some technical support which we didn't previously have. And though the new lists aren't free, you usually get what you pay for. If they're all that we hope them to be, they will be well worth the annual fees.

Best Regards,

Ralph J. Huntzinger
WINS President