Minutes of February Meeting GREATER OKLAHOMA CITY CHAPTER UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (UNA-USA/OKC)

MEETING OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS 5:30 pm, Monday, February 11, 2008 In Attendance: Lowell Adams, Bill Bryant, Bob Cox, Bill Dudley, Larry Eberhardt, Bob Elliott, Zach Messitte, Firouz Mollaian, Nancy Musselman. Guests: Lou Jenkins, Murod Mamatov (OKC Community College), Fran Morris, Arlette Srouji (University of Oklahoma). Absent with Regrets: Joann Bell, Jalal Daneshfar, Fred Dunbar, Eric Heinze, Marie Hooper, Darla Jackson, Ruth Males, Ken Tillett, Harley Venters. (1) Opening of Meeting. We convened in our usual meeting space at the Disciples Center, 301 NW 36th Street, OKC. Bob Cox presided, calling the meeting to order at about 5:33pm. A quorum was declared, and our guests were introduced. Before opening the meeting to business, Dr. Cox announced that he had received a letter of resignation from Jerry Stephens who indicated that he is regretfully unable to continue serving as a volunteer member of the board of directors. Jerrys departure from the board leaves a vacancy in the office of Vice President of Membership. (2) Business Reports. A. Review of Minutes of January Meeting. The draft minutes of the January meeting were reviewed. Bob Elliott moved to approve the minutes as presented; seconded by Lowell Adams. VOTE: All Aye; motion carried. B. Financial Report. Firouz Mollaian reported on financial transactions since our last meeting, summarized as follows: Previous balance on 1-14-08 Income Expenses Closing Balance, 2-11-08 ... ... ... ... $3,890.24 400.00 500.00 $3,790.24

The income was a special contribution from a board member. The expenses were related to the Human Rights Video project. There were two payments: (i) (ii) A payment of $100.00 to Lowell Adams for postage and envelope expenses; A payment of $400.00 to Bill Bryant for web design work completed according to our grant proposal to the Oklahoma Humanities Council.

It was noted that we havent paid Sodexho yet for the expense of catering our UN Day luncheon. (3) Committee Reports. Several chapter activities were reviewed during this part of the meeting. A. Educational Programs. High School Essay Contest. Jalal Daneshfar was absent; therefore, there was not a report. Chapter Meeting / Spring Luncheon. Fran Morris and Lou Jenkins were recognized. They reported on plans for the silent auction to be conducted as part of the Spring Luncheon. The proceeds of the auction will benefit the UNAs international Adopt-A-Minefield program. Each director is requested to seek out products or services that may be donated to the auction. Last year, the auction raised several hundred dollars for Adopt-AMinefield. Auction guidelines: (i) Ask friends, colleagues, and friendly merchants to donate a valuable product or service. Think about donating a valuable item from your closet. Plan to deliver the item to the Spring Luncheon on April 19th. Write up a description of the item and send it to Fran or Lou or call them and describe the item (so we can effectively promote it to prospective bidders). Lets get all our items lined up by the 15th of April.

(ii) (iii)

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Contact information for Fran and Lou: Fran Morris 603-5139 or fran.morris@cox.net; Lou Jenkins 943-9754 or ljenkins33@cox.net.

The directors proceeded to discuss the Adopt-A-Minefield program in more general terms. It was noted that national and international fund-raising projects usually take place during the spring. For example: Night of 1,000 Dinners. Bob Cox suggested that fund-raising for Adopt-A-Minefield could be a good project for student groups. In reply, Arlette Srouji expressed her interest in helping out. She shared her contact information with Bob Elliott. She said the members of the European Student Organization at OU might be interested in contributing.

Bob Elliott remarked that we can use our website to promote any new fundraising activities that are organized by the students. Additionally, he suggested that we should consider placing an ad in a friendly newspaper he mentioned the Oklahoma Observer. In fact, Rev. Elliott offered to pay for a modest-priced ad. Bob Cox recognized Murod Mamatov who expressed his willingness to help the UN Association. He suggested that he can help promote our Adopt-A-Minefield project by placing an ad in the student newspaper at OCCC. Additionally, he mentioned placing printed information in the schools coffee shop. Murod mentioned that he would like to start a UNA-USA Student Group at OCCC. Bob Cox invited both Arlette and Murod to join the board of directors as student representatives. They accepted the invitation. Human Rights Video Collection. Lowell Adams reported on the status of the Human Rights Video project. He noted that an initial mail-out to 200 teachers and administrators has been completed. Additionally, he is preparing a mail-out to social studies supervisors in each school. He circulated a sample letter that will be mailed out in the coming days / weeks. Lowell will seek a usage report from the Metropolitan Library System as soon as it is available. At about this time, Nancy Musselman and Larry Eberhardt were welcomed to the meeting. Bob Elliott mentioned that he is preparing to send an informational letter to mainline ministers in the Oklahoma City area. It will mention the availability of our Human Rights Video Collection. On a different topic, Larry Eberhardt was recognized. He reported that Marie Hooper has prepared a brochure for the Spring Luncheon. It is ready for review and approval. Lowell indicated that he will get a copy from Larry or Marie. B. Advocacy. No report.

C. Membership. With the resignation of Jerry Stephens, there was a short discussion about the need to elect a new Membership Chair. The duties of the office were reviewed briefly as well as the important role that is played by the person who performs those duties. Our chapter has the potential to greatly expand the number of members that we serve. D. Nominations Committee. Bill Dudley advised that there are no new nominations to report at this time. E. Community Relations & Media. No report.

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Coordination with Student Peace Alliance Groups. The directors noted with pleasure the leadership and initiative that has been displayed by our two new student representatives. Unfinished Business: Several items of unfinished business were discussed: A. International Day of Peace, 2008. Bill Bryant reported that an interorganizational planning group has been meeting to plan the celebration of the International Day of Peace in Oklahoma City (Sunday, September 21st). Tentatively, the celebration is being planned to take place at the Myriad Gardens in Oklahoma City on and around the Water Stage. Following last years model, a large group of co-sponsoring organizations will be lined up to support the project. Our chapter will serve as the leading sponsor and fiscal agent for the event. An inter-organizational planning committee will meet on a monthly basis between now and September.1 B. Possible Internship for OCU Student. Larry Eberhardt reported that he has received no additional information on this opportunity. He will contact Professor John Starkey of OCUs School of Religion regarding the possible assignment of a student intern. Bill Dudley offered to make a contact with Professor Starkey as well. Nancy Musselman suggested that a student intern might be assigned to take care of some of the tasks corresponding to the duties of the Membership Chair. She offered to visit with Dr. Starkey regarding this possibility. In the course of this discussion, Nancy remarked that she would be willing to serve, in an interim capacity, as our chapters new Membership Chair an offer that was welcomed by the other directors. We will plan to receive a follow-up report on this topic at our next meeting on March 10th. Before proceeding to a final item of Unfinished Business, Dr. Cox asked the directors to consider an item of New Business.

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(7) New Business: Model UN on the OU Campus. Each year, the University of Oklahoma hosts the Model United Nations of the Southwest. As described on the website of the OU College of Continuing Education: The program provides high school and college students with the opportunity to experience the workings of the United Nations and to actively gain first hand knowledge of international politics.
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The next meeting of the International Day of Peace planning team will be Thursday, March 6th, at 5pm. The group will convene at the Myriad Gardens in Oklahoma City. We plan to meet up in the Crystal Bridge gift shop before proceeding to a planning session with Kendle Riley. He is the Building Operations Manager for the Myriad Botanical Gardens and Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory.

This years Model UN will take place February 20 23. The directors proceeded to make plans to set up an informational table at the conference in order to reach out to students and instructors who have an interest in the UN. Arlette volunteered to manage the table. At a minimum, we will want to have the following handouts available to give away: (a) Spring Luncheon brochures; and (b) Membership brochures. Additionally, we may want to have some sort of handout describing our Human Rights Video Collection. (6) Unfinished Business (Continued): D. Preparation of the 2008 Budget. Bill Bryant was recognized. He distributed copies of a proposed budget for 2008. He said it is being offered for review and approval. The features of the budget were described. Notably, it is an unbalanced budget. That is, the Planned Expenditures exceed the Projected Revenue. This represents a challenge and an opportunity for our chapter. The proposed 2008 budget was compared to the actual income and expenditures that were recorded in 2007. In terms of revenue: The proposed budget anticipates income of $3,857.50. This is less than we received in 2006 or 2007. It was noted that our chapters financial status benefitted from a large gift of $1,500 in 2007. It is not known if this gift will be replicated in 2008. Additionally, we received a $900 grant from the Oklahoma Humanities Council which is not expected to recur. The sources of income for our chapter will be: Ticket Sales (Fall and Spring Luncheons) Fund Raiser, Adopt-A-Minefield Program Income, International Day of Peace Miscellaneous Membership Dues TOTAL 1,830.00 766.00 600.00 445.00 216.50 3,857.50 47% 20% 16% 12% 5%

In terms of expenditures: The proposed budget describes expenses of $5,976, including amounts necessary to support our usual program of meetings and outreach. For example, food costs for our two annual luncheons are targeted at $2,100. Program costs for materials, supplies, and brochures were estimated at $1,500. Additional amounts will be reserved for the following activities OCU Hunger Banquet Student Alliance Essay Contest Walk the World / Fight Hunger $100.00 500.00 100.00

Fall Peace Festival Website

50.00 145.00

Some of our expenditure will be offset by corresponding income. For example, we expect to raise $766.00 for the Adopt-A-Minefield program. All funds we receive will be sent to the AAM national office. Similarly, we expect to spend $600 on the International Day of Peace project; but, those expenses will be made up by contributions from cosponsoring organizations. Discussion: It was suggested that the proposed program costs for materials, brochures, supplies, etc., should be reduced to $1,100. This amount is expected to be sufficient to meet the needs of our chapter, and it is comparable to the amount we expended in 2007 (excluding a $400 printing cost for the start-up of our Human Rights Video Collection). It was suggested that we need to pursue another large gift like the one we received in 2007. In this regard, we need to make sure that we are able to account for designated gifts -- so that we can assure our donors that their funds are being properly used as directed. Additionally, we need to do a better job of recruiting new members to the chapter. Our chapter benefits financially each time a new person joins UNA-USA from our area. After a thorough discussion, Lowell Adams moved to approve the proposed budget (with the revised amount -- $1,100 for materials, brochures, supplies, etc.). His motion was seconded by Bob Elliott. VOTE: All Aye; motion carried. (8) Adjournment. In accordance with established custom, the next meeting of the Board of Directors will be on the second Monday of the month: Monday, March 10, 2007 5:30 pm Disciples' Center 301 NW 36th Street Oklahoma City, OK Any special agenda items should be sent to Bob Cox (email: rhcox@ou.edu) in advance of the meeting. Without objection, the meeting adjourned about 6:55pm.

Prepared by Bill Bryant February 18, 2008