The Turmoil Experienced by A Parli Peer & Pupil: Willy Nilly Parli Pro

November 13, 2018

To whom it may concern,

"Nothing against this organization I am currently engaged in, but folks, the parli pro we use for our delegate sessions is straight up wickity wack" said my inner-noggin as I sat on the floor during a policy development meeting on Monday. I will provide one story- and only one story to prevent the inevitable fumes erupting from the ears of a green, yet eager parliamentarian such as myself . I would ask anyone reading this to give me your input, did I do the right thing?

11:25 am. Monday November 12, 2018.

The way this organization does this is quite impressive and brilliant. Policies are provided prior to the session, reviewed by a committee and then submitted to the delegates to be deleted or amended. I should also let you know that this assembly approved their own set of rules, with nothing included about previous question. After debating on the deletion of an item, a member called "question" which of course was a relief because we were at 1 of a few hundred to review. WARNING: This is where it went down.

The chair states "The question has been called, we will now vote on the motion to delete..." BRUH. Goodbye Justin Kurtz, a new and improved, ddf12 creation has been unleashed on this delegate floor. Of course I shoot up and say "MR. CHAIR POINT OF ORDER, POINT OF OR-". To which a confused VP responds with "Give that kid a microphone". "Hello, Justin Kurtz, Centre County, I rise to a point of order because the call for previous question is a subsidiary motion requiring a 2/3 vote. Essentially we should vote on the previous question, closing debate, and then vote on the motion." Still confused, and now panicked, the chair refers to his consultants who responded that when we voted to suspend the rules, the previous question was also suspended so as soon as any member says question, debate comes to a close. BIG BRUH. I sat down, feeling defeated, and oddly enough yearning for Dr. Foster's presence to whip out his RONR and save the day. I mean seriously, just because one person wants to stop debate, we are going to restrict the right of debate to members? I am pretty sure this is would be out of line when referring to the characteristics of a Deliberative Assembly.

But hey, I guess if it works for them, maybe we should just let the custom be what drives the business? Or maybe we could just cover all of our bases when introducing special rules for an assembly? What are the downfalls of relying on custom? Was it more a hinderance when I stood to a point of order? Let me know,

Sincerely,

A Parli Peer & Pupil

Session 7 - Midterm Review - March 5

Responses from you Ticket Outs from Session 8!

What are you curious about?

• How hard the midterm will be! STUDY TIPS
• Don't worry too much, but make sure you know the ins and outs of your chart quizzes and the material covered in class! The questions will be pulled directly from the packets you received in class, so answer all of those and particularly review what you got wrong!
• When Suspend the Rules suspends parliamentary procedure.
• What will the performance section of the midterm look like?
• Dr. Foster will chair a 'meeting' in which six students participate at a time. You'll each get one (1) motion that you will have to demonstrate.
• Grading for this section:
• 20%: correctly demonstrated
• 10%: incorrectly demonstrated
• 0%: not demonstrated
• Does the Chair always talk the majority of the time?
• No. In class we're don't debate near as much as the amount that actually happens in deliberative bodies, so in class the Chair seems to talk the majority of the time.
• Difference between the final and the midterm?
• The final is the accreditation exam so it is just multiple choice. You can choose to take it for actual SAEP accreditation if you would like, but will need to pay the $5 testing fee in order to do so.
• Why can't Take From the Table be made at the time a recess has been scheduled?
• As stated in RONR, p. 300, Take From the Table takes precedence over no other motion. Additionally, when a group is not in session no motions related to the group may be made.

What did you learn?

• Midterm structure and review
• How to use all 24 motions 
• Putting everything together
• You can adjourn before a vote
• #Gryffindor4Life & #gryffindorcantstop <-- lots of pride! Congrats!
• How to make 24 motions in ~15min
• Obviously in real life there will be much more debate and difference of opinion (no one will be racing to get all 24 in quickly!) so don't expect this to only ever take this long! ;) 
• Reconsider is only debatable if the motion it's applied to is debatable
• Better practice with motions in actual meetings
• The three ways to vote to Rescind

   
What do you want to learn more about?

• What breed of dog we would like?!
• Gotta be one of these!
• How to use the motions effectively
  
The best advice I can give is to know what each motions means and does, and then to know its characteristics. You'll have an arsenal of parlia pro knowledge!
• Elections and Officers
• See you on April 2nd! Cassie's excited to teach this session :) Check out Robert's while you're bored on the beach and start looking into it!
• More mock meetings please!
• I've passed it on!
• Voting
• Right after the midterm on March 26th! But again, check out Robert's while you're bored on the beach and start looking into it!
• Rules of an Assembly organization
• Each one will have their own, so check out their Bylaws.
• Taking From the Table cannot interrupt a series of connected main motions. Can you show me where in the book that is?
• RONR, p. 302-303

Session 6 - In Depth with Incidental Motions - February 19

Responses from your Ticket Outs from Session 6!

What are you curious about?

• Suspend the Rules
• Suspend the Rules sets aside a rule of the Assembly. 
• Needs a second, not debatable, not amendable, cannot be reconsidered
• Requires a majority vote to suspend a Standing Rule, but requires a 2/3rds vote to suspend a parliamentary order or order of business
• Read everything about it here: RONR, p. 260
• Bylaws language
• Follow Ch. 18 starting on p. 565 on creating and writing the Bylaws with correct language. 
• We will be studying this more in depth on April 9th!
• Judging opportunities and coaching for them
• Talk to Dr. Foster for details!
• Is time the primary purpose you can only debate once in Appeal?
• Although RONR doesn't state anything specifically, time is a good reason, as is the fact that a decision has already been made and members are debating the validity of that decision. The Chair has the right to speak first or last.
• Read all about Appeal starting on RONR, p. 255
• The five other Incidental motions we didn't cover
• Consider by Paragraph or Seriatim: RONR, p. 267
• Motions Relating to the Methods of Voting and the Polls: RONR, p. 283
• Motions Relating to Nominations: RONR, p. 287
• Request to be Excused from a Duty: RONR, p. 289
• Requests and Inquiries: RONR, p. 292
• MTBBBTA ("zombie" motions)!
• Next week! Read Ch. 9 to prepare.
• Is there a way to formally call out an officer and re-vote the vote that gave them their office? Like a Call for the Orders of the Day but for the role of officers?
• I like that idea for a motion! Unfortunately, it doesn't exist though. 
• The best way to call out or punish an officer or member is to move to censure him or her. The rules regulating censures and the subsequent punishments are usually laid out in an organization's Bylaws.
• Incidental main motions and why they are used?
• They're main motions that are incidental, or related to, the Business of the Assembly or its past or future action. 
• They're used for procedure or to delineate further steps related to substantive Business (aka something introduced via a main motion)
• See RONR, p. 100-102
• Withdraw/Modify
• Use this motion to withdraw or modify a motion without having to take a vote
• Needs a second when modifying the motion. Needs no second when withdrawing the motion
• Not debatable. 
• Vote by general consent when asking to withdraw. The negative vote in withdrawing a motion can be reconsidered
• See RONR, p. 295-298

What did you learn?

• The eight Incidental ("popcorn") motions (POWPADDS)
• Point of Order
• Object to the Consideration of a Question
• Withdraw
• Parliamentary Inquiry
• Appeal
• Division of the Assembly
• Division of the Question
• Suspend the Rules
• Withdraw has conditions on voting
• You can't Appeal an opinion
• There can be numerous parts to your main motion and you can break it down by calling for Division of the Question
• Amendments can be divided with Division of the Question
• Division of the Assembly vs. Division of the Question
• Division of the Assembly: retaking a vote in a format where the result can be quantified. Call it when you don't trust a viva voce vote
• Division of the Question: dividing a motion into smaller sections to be dealt with individually
• How to Suspend the Rules and that the motion has different standards and restrictions when applied to different types of rules
• You can't Suspend Bylaws unless it's stated in the Bylaws that you can
• Incidental motions are for the unexpected and do not have an order of precedence
• How to properly use Object to the Consideration of a Question
• When you can Withdraw with or without a vote

What do you want to learn more about?

• Voting
• We'll be looking at Debate and Voting on April 2nd
• In the meantime, check out Ch. 13 in RONR (starting on p. 400)
• How to make sense of all 24 motions and their precedence
• Use the acronyms in order of precedence (FARQC, LCLRPRAP) and then POWPADDS and MTBBBTA and Main to remember them all. Keep up with your chart quiz studying and it will all fall into place before the semester is out! 
• Cassie and I would also be happy to meet with you to find the best way for everything to make sense for you :)
• Using Object to the Consideration of the Question in a model
• Check out RONR, p. 270!
• Suspend the Rules
• Suspend the Rules sets aside a rule of the Assembly. 
• Needs a second, not debatable, not amendable, cannot be reconsidered
• Requires a majority vote to suspend a Standing Rule, but requires a 2/3rds vote to suspend a parliamentary order or order of business
• Read everything about it here: RONR, p. 260
• MTBBBTA!
• Next week! Read Ch. 9 to prepare.
• Under what circumstances would you Withdraw a motion?
• Successfully withdrawing a motion makes it as if that motion never happened. There are many situations in which you might want that to happen, such as new information coming to light (for example, you want to move our midterm to March 12th, but then realize that's spring break) - see RONR, p. 41 for this particular example. 
• Using Chair language
• Pay attention to the phrasing used in class by Dr. Foster and your classmates, read the models of motions in RONR, and practice with your friends!
• Participating in debates as Chair
• You'll have at least two opportunities to Chair class this semester!
• Amending Bylaws
• Amending Bylaws is a variation of the motion to Amend Something Previously Adopted. 
• It's an involved process and the process for each individual organization will be explained towards the end of their Bylaws document. We will be covering Bylaws on April 9th, but until then read RONR, p. 592-599
• Where in Roberts does it say about Withdraw needing a second after being stated?
• RONR, p. 40-41
• Object to the Consideration of a Question
• This prevents the main motion from being considered
•  No second, not debatable, not amendable. Because no second and no debate is needed, the Chair takes an immediate vote on the Object to the Consideration of a Question motion
• Requires a 2/3rds vote in the negative for the main motion to not be considered. Only a negative vote can be reconsidered
• Check out RONR, p. 267 on for more information
• Are there any example websites on Parli Pro videos?
• YouTube has tons!