[no subject]

[lojbab@grebyn.com (Logical Language Group)]

     In accordance with the Bylaws, notice is hereby given that the
Annual Meeting of the members of The Logical Language Group, Inc. will be
held on Sunday, August 16, 1992 at 9:30AM EDT at the Corporation princi-
pal office at 2904 Beau Lane, Fairfax, Virginia 22031.
     This notice is being sent to all voting members of LLG, and to other
people who are expected to be at the meeting, or who came last year and
hence might be interested in attending this year, or who otherwise have a
reason to be interested.
     According to the Bylaws, there is no requirement for prior
announcement of the agenda of an annual meeting; all manner of business
is in order.  Actions can be taken by the members without the requirement
of prior notice.  However, Article 9 on Bylaw amendment states:
     A written notice shall have been sent to each member at his last
     known address at least ten (10) days before such Annual or Special
     meeting, which notice shall state the alterations, amendments, or
     changes which are proposed to be made in such By-Laws.  Only such
     changes as have been specified in the notice shall be made.  If,
     however, all the members shall be present at any regular or Special
     meeting, these By-Laws may be amended by unanimous vote, without any
     previous notice.

     Last year's annual meeting directed the inclusion of specific bylaw
amendments in this year's agenda.  In addition, an expected item for
discussion, overseas members, prompts me to propose some Bylaw amendments
in that subject area so as to allow such changes (not necessarily with
the exact wording proposed - I have not interpreted that above Bylaw as
confining Bylaw changes to the wording proposed in the announcement.)
This announcement constitutes notice of these proposals per the above
requirement.
     There is no quorum requirement for an annual meeting, but over 1/2
of all members must vote in favor of a Bylaw amendment for it to be
effective.  If you are a member, and do not plan to attend the meeting in
person, we ask that you take one of the following actions:

     1. Provide a written proxy, either stating your vote on proposed
Bylaw amendments, or delegating your vote to another person you expect
will be in attendance.  We, or your delegated representative, must have
your proxy at the start of the meeting.
     2. Arrange for attendance by telephone, such that we will telephone
you at a specific time to obtain your vote.  This arrangement should
include a written statement that you should be considered in attendance
subject to such telephone consultation.  We need this statement prior to
the meeting.
     3. Resign your membership so that your non-presence does not affect
the vote totals.

     We expect that there will be members not in attendance at this
meeting, hence your following the above procedures could be important to
whether we can approve the Bylaw amendments.

             Proposed Agenda, as prepared by Bob LeChevalier
(1) roll call
(2) proof of notice of meeting or waiver of notice
(3) reading of Minutes of preceding meeting
     a motion to waive this will be heard
(4) reports of Officers
     a. President's report
          language status
          book status

          legal status             2
     b. Secretary/Treasurer's report
          Bob LeChevalier will give a financial report on behalf of the
               Treasurer
(5) reports of committees
     The only officially constituted committee is one consisting of
     Athelstan and Guy Garnett for evaluating and deciding on allocation
     of certain funds to support needy non-payees who want to receive our
     materials.  This committee has been inactive due to Athelstan's
     injury, and is not expected to report.  The President would like to
     solicit volunteers to spend a little time at LogFest or shortly
     afterwards to make the limited decisions applicable to this
     committee that need to be made.
(5a) At this point in the agenda, a motion will be heard to consider
     unfinished business Bylaw Amendment number 5, as listed below, and
     to thereafter vote on possible new members who are present at the
     meeting.  This may, at the discretion of members present, include
     the discussion of overseas members and associated Bylaw amendments
     per New Business.
(6) Election of Directors
     The President is proposing a slate consisting of all current
     Directors except Athelstan, who is not yet recovered sufficiently to
     participate in active governance of the organization on a regular
     basis.
(7) Unfinished Business
     a. Negotiation stance with the Institute
               Last year, the membership directed policy to be that there
          be no further expenditure of resources on negotiations with the
          Institute unless there is a change in their policy.  In the
          last year, there have since been two events of change in their
          policy that have caused the President to determine that
          negotiations were appropriate.

               1) Shortly before the oral arguments in TLI's legal appeal
          last November, there was indication that JCB was willing to
          meet with us when he visited Washington DC for the oral argu-
          ments.  After consulting with the Board and determining that
          this was a significant change in their policy, Athelstan, John
          Cowan, and I prepared inputs for such a meeting and sent them
          to TLI.  Part or all of these inputs are included as an
          attachment to this announcement.
               TLI indicated that they were not prepared to discuss on
          the basis of this agenda, and no meeting took place; the
          implication was that TLI's position was essentially unchanged,
          and that we had misread their intent with regard to the
          possibility of negotiation of a settlement.

               2) After an initial feeler immediately after the Appeals
          Court decided in our favor last April, Robert McIvor, as an
          authorized representative of TLI, contacted me in June to in-
          dicate that TLI considers the legal battle to be at an end.  He
          indicated that he was authorized to initiate negotiations with
          us, presuming our November agenda as a statement of our current
          position.  He indicated that he was representing TLI, and not
          JCB in particular, JCB having delegated negotiation to McIvor
          and some unidentified-to-us Board Member.
               McIvor was one of the people present at the original
          meeting declaring "Lojban - A Realization of Loglan", and has
          often expressed some sympathy with our positions, though
          retaining loyalty to JCB.  He is not currently an officer of
          TLI, though he is a Member, a Member of the Loglan Academy, and

          'Chief Grammarian' of TLI Loglan as one of the original team of                                   3
          Loglan YACCers.
               The initial position paper from TLI offered no significant
          change of position on their behalf, and indeed was offensively
          unacceptable, being essentially a call for the status quo ante
          the split with TLI, with TLI's policies intact and 'the Lojban
          experience' absorbed into TLI Loglan on a basis determined by
          their Academy.  However there was some indication of another
          acceptable avenue, wherein each side would be allowed to
          present its case to the other organization's 'membership'
          (defined in our case probably as our JL subscribers and other
          active language users), with a vote being held to determine the
          nature of any merger of the two languages.
               I communicated the unacceptability of status quo ante the
          split, but indicated that the vote option may be acceptable to
          our membership, though I cautioned him that I saw no chance
          that our membership, however defined, would accept a return to
          the TLI Loglan version at this stage.  I did indicate, and I
          believe, that we have a fair chance, on the other hand, of con-
          vincing a fair vote of the TLI membership to accept a
          conversion to Lojban done with consideration.  Part or all of
          my response is included as an attachment.
               McIvor has indicated in response that his people are
          studying our response, and that he considers that there is
          likely benefit in continued negotiations.  To this end, he has
          placed a paid order for materials through level 3 and a JL
          subscription, and has indicated interest in being consulted on
          any ongoing technical decisions to try to keep the two language
          versions from drifting further apart.  He has also indicated
          that he has proposed and expects approval of some TLI Loglan
          changes inspired by our criticisms, that sound like they bring
          the two languages closer together.
               On the other hand, he did not see that progress was far
          enough along that there was benefit in his attending LogFest
          (though he did consider doing so), and he is instead proposing
          to visit here approximately the 1st of December while enroute
          to wintering in Florida.  I have indicated to him that 1) I
          cannot promise to be available then due to my personal situa-
          tion, 2) I would need direction from the membership for further
          negotiations, and 3) that by December we would be likely to
          have at least one book published and would be far less likely
          to seriously consider any changes to Lojban in concession to
          TLI.
               There has been no further discussion at this writing,
          though I expect to see something more prior to LogFest, and
          will make same available to those who attend.
               I would like the membership to consider whether any
          changes to our negotiation policy and stance are in order, and
          will consider motions under Unfinished Business.
     b. Bylaw amendment Proposals forwarded from last year, per below.
     c. Modification of the Electronic Distribution Policy to eliminate
          the discussion of electronic checksums, which has proven
          technically impractical.
     d. A report on the grammar baseline status will be made.  There is
          one significant grammar change proposal, and numerous minor
          changes, all intended for official incorporation at the time of
          the publication of the first book, expected this fall.  (The
          major change does not noticeably affect much text that has been
          written, but implies a radical change in perspective on the se-
          mantics of relative clauses, and the grammar that dictates the
          choice of semantics, which is currently vague to the point of

          possibly being 'broken').  John Cowan and I are seeking con-                                   4
          currence of the membership with this plan.

(8) new business
     a. Consideration for baselining the rafsi list, after consensus
regarding any changes deriving from Bob's rafsi analysis report, which we
will discuss outside of the formal meeting.
     b. John Cowan has indicated intent to propose at least one new
person from overseas (probably Nick Nicholas) and possibly more, for
voting membership.  These people are unlikely to attend meetings, making
their participation perhaps problematical, but John argues that at least
symbolically, LLG as an international effort should have at least some
foreign members.  Bob is proposing some possible Bylaw amendments below
to resolve some of the problems that would be expected, which can be
considered in conjunction with this discussion.
     c. Other new business as proposed

                        Proposed Bylaw amendments

                              Old business

>From last years' meeting minutes:
     There was also a motion that we change the "10 days" notice for
     meetings to "15 days".  However, since this was not on the agenda
     and not all members are present, the motion was withdrawn.  However,
     we agreed that for the next meeting we would give 15 days notice.
     And, at the next annual meeting we would propose as changes to the
     bylaws:
          1) at least 15 calendar days notice for the members' meeting.
          2) at least 15 calendar days notice for all other required
               notices.
          3) Change the agenda order such that the voting on new members
               be done just after the committee reports and before the
               election of directors.

1.  Amendment to the Bylaws per the above:  amend Article 3, Section 4,
which reads:
     Section 4.  Annual Meeting.  The annual meeting of the members shall
     nominally be held at such place and time as the Directors shall
     designate.  In the absence of any such designation, the annual
     meeting shall be held at the principal address of the organization
     on the first Sunday following the 20th day of June each year, at 10
     o'clock in the morning of that day.  The Secretary/Treasurer shall
     serve personally, or send through the post office, at least ten (10)
     days before such meeting a notice thereof, addressed to each member
     at his last known post office address; but at any meeting at which
     all members shall be present, or of which all members not present
     have waived notice in writing, the giving of notice as above
     required may be dispensed with.

to read:
     Section 4.  Annual Meeting.  The annual meeting of the members shall
     nominally be held at such place and time as the Directors shall
     designate.  In the absence of any such designation, the annual
     meeting shall be held at the principal address of the organization
     on the first Sunday following the 20th day of June each year, at 10
     o'clock in the morning of that day.  The Secretary/Treasurer shall
     serve personally, or send through the post office, at least fifteen
     (15) calendar days before any meeting a notice thereof, addressed to
     each member at his last known post office address; but at any
     meeting at which all members shall be present, or of which all

     members not present have waived notice in writing, the giving of                                   5
     notice as above required may be dispensed with.

2.  Amendment to the Bylaws per the above:  amend Article 3, Section 5,
which reads:
     Section 5.  Special Meetings.  Special meetings of the members,
     other than those regulated by Statute, may be called at any time by
     a majority of the Directors.  The Secretary/Treasurer shall serve
     personally, or send through the post office, at least ten (10) days
     before such meeting a notice thereof, addressed to each member at
     his last known post office address.  Such notice shall contain a
     statement of the business to be transacted at such meeting; at any
     meeting at which all members shall be present in person or by proxy,
     or for which members not present have waived notice in writing, the
     giving of notice as above described may be dispensed with.  No
     business, other than that specified in the call for the meeting,
     shall be transacted at any Special meeting of the members.

so that the second sentence reads:
     The Secretary/Treasurer shall serve personally, or send through the
     post office, at least ten (15) days before such meeting a notice
     thereof, addressed to each member at his last known post office ad-
     dress.

3.  Amendment to the Bylaws per the above:  amend Article 4, Section 6,
which reads:
     Section 6.  Notice of Meetings.  Notice of meetings, other than the
     regular Annual meeting shall be given by service upon each Director
     in person, or by mailing to him at his last known post office ad-
     dress, at least ten (10) calendar days before the date therein
     designated for such meeting, including the day of mailing, of a
     written or printed notice thereof, specifying the time and place of
     such meeting, and the business to be brought before the meeting, and
     no business other than that specified in such notice shall be
     transacted at any Special meeting.  However, at any meeting at which
     every member of the Board of Directors shall be present in person,
     by mail, or by telephone, although held without notice, any business
     may be transacted which might have been transacted if the meeting
     had been duly called.

to read:
     Notice of meetings, other than the regular Annual meeting shall be
     given by service upon each Director in person, or by mailing to him
     at his last known post office address, at least fifteen (15)
     calendar days before the date therein designated for such meeting,
     including the day of mailing, of a written or printed notice
     thereof, specifying the time and place of such meeting, and the
     business to be brought before the meeting, and no business other
     than that specified in such notice shall be transacted at any
     Special meeting.

     Bob will oppose this amendment as written.  The Board of Directors
has not held a formal meeting in the last year, since due to Athelstan's
injury, notice would have been required for any such meeting.  The few
issues that have come up warranting Board discussion, needed resolution
more quickly than even the 10 days notice required by the Bylaws.  Hence
we were forced to consult by telephone among the remaining 4 Board
members without formally conducting a meeting.  This is an irregular way
to run an organization; the Board of Directors is supposed to exist in
order to allow day-to-day policy decisions to be made more rapidly than
is possible when a Members' meeting must be called, and it isn't working.
Amendments to the above amendment which allow for telephone and/or

electronic mail notice certified in the minutes by the                                   6
Secretary/Treasurer, and/or an amendment which specifies the resignation
or removal of a Board member who cannot/does not participate in meetings,
can be considered (this paragraph constitutes notice of consideration of
such amendments, with wording to be decided by the members present).

4. Amend Article 9, which reads:
                                  ARTICLE 9
                      Approval and Amendment of By-Laws

     These By-Laws shall be made, altered, amended, added to, or
     rescinded by a majority of the total current members of The Logical
     Language Group, Inc. at a meeting called for that purpose or at the
     annual meeting, with the following exceptions:
               a. any Bylaw dealing with the removal of Directors shall
          be made, altered, amended, or rescinded by a vote of two-thirds
          (2/3) of the total current members of The Logical Language
          Group, Inc. at a meeting called for that purpose.
               b. any amendments to Article 11 Dissolution shall be
          unanimously approved by the Board of Directors, proposed by
          them to the members, and approved at a meeting by two-thirds
          (2/3) of the members.
     A written notice shall have been sent to each member at his last
     known address at least ten (10) days before such Annual or Special
     meeting, which notice shall state the alterations, amendments, or
     changes which are proposed to be made in such By-Laws.  Only such
     changes as have been specified in the notice shall be made.  If,
     however, all the members shall be present at any regular or Special
     meeting, these By-Laws may be amended by unanimous vote, without any
     previous notice.

so that the first sentence of the last paragraph reads:
     A written notice shall have been sent to each member at his last
     known address at least fifteen (15) days before such Annual or
     Special meeting, which notice shall state the alterations,
     amendments, or changes which are proposed to be made in such By-
     Laws.

5. Amend Article 3, Section 8, which reads:
     Section 8.  Order of Business.  The order of business of all
     meetings of the members shall be as follows:  (1) roll call; (2)
     proof of notice of meeting or waiver of notice; (3) reading of
     Minutes of preceding meeting; (4) reports of Officers; (5) reports
     of committees; (6) election of Directors, if necessary; (7)
     unfinished business; (8) new business.  In case of dispute over
     meeting procedures, Robert's Rules of Order shall serve as the basis
     of resolution, although a majority of members present may vote to
     override those rules on any question.

to insert an item after (5), as follows:
     The order of business of all meetings of the members shall be as
     follows:  (1) roll call; (2) proof of notice of meeting or waiver of
     notice; (3) reading of Minutes of preceding meeting; (4) reports of
     Officers; (5) reports of committees; (6) proposal and approval of
     new members (7) election of Directors, if necessary; (8) unfinished
     business; (9) new business.  In case of dispute over meeting
     procedures, Robert's Rules of Order shall serve as the basis of
     resolution, although a majority of members present may vote to
     override those rules on any question.

     Bob will propose that this shall be amended to specifically
indicate: "(6) proposal and approval of new members, who shall assume
membership immediately if present at the meeting, or at the end of the
meeting if not present."  This prevents a paradox whereby new members
(especially overseas ones who would not likely be present) might cause
the meeting to no longer be in accordance with the bylaws due to lack of
notice, etc.

                              New Business

     Bob proposes for consideration the following amendments, related to
the question of adding members who reside in other countries and are
unlikely to be able to attend meetings.

6. Further amend Article 3, Section 4 to read (full text in old business
- 1)
     The Secretary/Treasurer shall serve personally or by personal
     telephone conversation, or send through the post office or by
     electronic mail addressed to each member at his last known address,
     at least fifteen (15) days before such meeting a notice thereof; but
     at any meeting at which all members shall be present, or of which
     all members not present have waived notice in writing, the giving of
     notice as above required may be dispensed with.

7. Further amend Article 3, Section 5 to read (full text in old business
- 2)
     The Secretary/Treasurer shall serve personally or by personal
     telephone conversation, or send through the post office or by
     electronic mail addressed to each member at his last known address,
     at least fifteen (15) days before such meeting a notice thereof.

8. Amend Article 3, Section 2, which reads:
     Section 2.  Voting.  Each member shall be entitled to one (1) vote,
     and all his right, title, and interest in and to the Corporation
     shall cease on termination of his membership.  No member shall be
     entitled to share in the distribution of the Corporate assets upon
     the dissolution of the Corporation.  Members may assign their vote
     to a representative by written proxy.

so that the last sentence reads:

     Members may assign their vote to a representative by written or                                   8
     electronically-mailed proxy, and/or may specify voting on specific
     issues in such a proxy.

and add the following paragraph:
     Any member who does not expect to be physically present at a meeting
     may request that they be permitted to participate via telephone,
     mail, or electronic mail.  The President or a majority of Members
     present physically or by proxy may also declare a meeting to extend
     to some or all Members not physically present.  In either case, the
     meeting will be conducted in accordance with Section 7 below, with
     the President setting a reasonable time limit for responses before
     declaring voting closed on any issue.

     9. Bob feels that all other references in the Bylaws which relate to
notice and/or communication in connection with the rights and duties of
members are vague enough to include the possibility of electronic mail as
an alternate means of notice, or communication.  However, notice is
hereby given that members present may propose other amendments relating
to the ability of overseas members to participate in governance of the
organization, with specific wording to be approved at the meeting, and
such amendments will be considered in order under the Bylaws.