CONSTITUTION OF QUIZ BOWL CLUB (Quizbowl)

ARTICLE I: Name

The style of this club shall be the Quiz Bowl Club.

ARTICLE II: Purpose

The purpose of the Quiz Bowl Club is to provide the university community with a club from which teams of students will be drawn to compete in local and national competitions of academic and popular culture knowledge.  It is also the purpose of the club to provide a welcome atmosphere to the university community for those who wish to participate in such contests.

ARTICLE III: Requirements

The requirements of membership in the club are an interest in the activity. All are welcome.  Members of this club shall be accepted without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, national origin, sex, color, sexual orientation, age, or disability. Members of this organization will not at any time engage in hazing as defined by the CA administrative code.

ARTICLE IV: Recruitment

The club will recruit each year by tabling at Calapalooza.  Club members may actively recruit new members throughout the University community. Alternative methods of recruitment in addition to those enumerated above may include hosting intramural tournaments, staging exhibition matches and practices, and posting advertisements in the form of flyers or other print ads.

ARTICLE V: Officers

Election of officers is to take place towards the end of fall and spring semesters.  Unless rescheduled at least two weeks in advance the elections will occur on the final Monday of November, and the final Monday of April.  The Quiz Bowl Club will elect two chief magistrates known as Presidents. In addition, a treasurer shall be elected. Other offices may be created at the discretion of the presidents and approval of a majority of the club. All officers must be registered students at the University of California.

1. Powers of the Presidents

     The Presidents preside at all official club meetings.

     The Presidents will present the agenda at every club business meeting.

     The Presidents will establish the regular meeting time and place at the start of the school term.

     They will ensure room reservations at the beginning of every semester.

     They will serve as club signatories.

     They will see to it that requests for funding from the University are submitted before the deadline.

     The Presidents will supervise the recruitment efforts of the club.

     The Presidents will conduct relations with clubs from other schools. It is their responsibility to maintain good relations with other schools and promote the annual Berkeley-run tournament(s).

     The Presidents have the power to appoint a temporary coach for the team on an ad hoc basis. The length of such a coach's term is up to the discretion of the Presidents.

     The Presidents have the power to delegate authority and/or duties to a member of the club.

     The Presidents will determine the composition of teams for tournament play.  In the event that the Presidents cannot come to a consensus the issue shall be put to a vote of all club members in attendance that are eligible to vote.  If Presidential team selection is unacceptable it can be overturned by the vote of three quarters of attending club members eligible to vote, excluding the Presidents who may not vote in this instance.

2. Powers of the Treasurer

     The Treasurer shall have control and responsibility of the income the club generates. The Treasurer may only spend money with the approval of a President.

     The Treasurer will help the Presidents make requests for financial assistance from the University when needed. The Treasurer may be charged with making a budget request to the University.

     The Treasurer is to make reports on the status of the club's fiscal reserves at the request of a President.

ARTICLE VI: Club activities

The Club will meet at a regular meeting time and a regular meeting place every week until final exams each semester.  Club activities consist of practice and tournaments.

     1. Practice.  When the club meets to practice, the goal is to improve knowledge and playing skills. All members are encouraged to make constructive suggestions and/or criticism to help improve team play. Several different formats of play may be employed; the selection of packets to be read at practice is open to the suggestion of all club members.  Final decision on these matters is to be made by the Presidents.

     2. Tournaments.  When the club hosts or attends a tournament, Quiz Bowl Club members are expected to be on the best of behavior. If there is a difference of opinion with a tournament official, club members are expected to conduct themselves in a courteous and adult manner.

ARTICLE VII: Hosting Tournaments

The Quiz Bowl Club may host one or more tournaments per year as a fund-raising device and/or as an opportunity to allow all members of the club to participate in a tournament. There is no limit to the number of teams the club may host or field, provided there is enough personnel to manage the event. One such tournament could be an intramural. Such an activity may increase campus awareness of the club and also bring in new members. If the club votes to conduct such an intramural, the members voting in favor of holding an intramural must be willing to help run the project.  The club will run a fall college invitational each year as well as a fall and spring high school tournament.  A majority vote is necessary in each consideration to cancel these events.

ARTICLE VIII: Attending tournaments

The Quiz Bowl Club will attend as many tournaments as it has opportunity, interest, and funds. In cases where more than one team is allowed to attend, multiple teams may be sent, provided that sufficient funds exist.

ARTICLE IX: Choosing teams to represent CAL Berkeley

In all cases it is up to the discretion of the Presidents whether to enter the strongest possible teams or to allow everyone to play.

1. Who is qualified to play?

     Individual tournaments will specify the qualifications club members must meet in order to play.

2. The Selection process

    The Presidents will solicit interest from members of the club in reference to upcoming tournaments.

    The Presidents will use the list of interested club members to assemble teams who conform to the eligibility requirements of the tournament.  These team selections will then be announced to the club either by electronic mail or at practice.

     If these selections are deemed unacceptable they may be overturned by the vote of three-quarters of the club members in attendance that are eligible to vote.

     In the event that team selections are overturned the Presidents will submit a new set of teams for the approval of the club until the selections are approved by over one-quarter of club members in attendance and eligible to vote.

     Presidents may use any criteria they deem proper to determine the composition of teams, with the exception of considerations of race, religion, national origin, sex, color, sexual orientation, age, or disability.

ARTICLE X: Creation of other magistrates

The Presidents, if in agreement, may appoint club members to special magistracies for the purposes of facilitating club activities or relations with other schools.  After Presidents are elected the Presidents will choose a willing Vice President who will assume the duties of the President in the event that neither is present at a club meeting, or that both Presidents leave the club.

ARTICLE XI: Voting power of the membership

Most issues will be brought for discussion by one or both of the Presidents before the membership during regular meetings. In most cases a simple majority vote will be sufficient to pass such bills. In all cases, a quorum of eight eligible club members must be present to vote on an issue.  If no quorum is present at any time over the course of two regular club meetings the intention to vote at a specific time during the next meeting will be announced via the E-mail list and those eligible to vote will constitute a quorum at that time.  In the rare event of a tie vote, the Presidents will have final tie breaking power. If the Presidents cannot agree the issue is to be tabled until the next meeting.  If the issue is extremely time sensitive and delay is not possible the treasurer can break the tie.  If the treasurer is not present the Vice President can break the tie.  If no tie-breaking vote is made, debate is to continue until a majority opinion can be reached.  In order to have a vote in club decisions and elections, each member must meet to the following requirements: Attend club meetings on a regular basis (2+ full meetings a month, or six hours of meetings spread out over many meetings). Starting with the second year of participation, each member must submit a packet of original questions once a semester if solicited.  This rule is to be enforced in the negative only after the final deadline for those solicited packets has passed.  This should typically be in the form of a High School tournament packet, or a college invitational packet.  Each club member eligible to vote must have helped run one club activity in the previous twelve months, players who have been in the club fewer than twelve months are exempt from this provision. This means moderating/score keeping at a tournament, editing tournament rounds etc.

ARTICLE XII: Additions and Changes to the Constitution

If it becomes necessary, upon a 60% majority vote, Articles in the Constitution may be changed. Additionally, Articles may be added to the constitution upon a majority 51% vote of the membership, however new articles may not be added which contradict existing articles.

Revision Drafted: October. 29, 2001

Revisions and proposal by Steven Kaplan
Presidents Ross Ritterman and Seth Teitler presiding


Voting Record (added 10/21/2002)