Board Meeting Minutes, 4-26-03

On the Twenty-Sixth of April in the year Two-Thousand Three, five courageous Board Members of the University of
Chicago’s Japanese Club gathered at the legendary Kikuya Japanese Restaurant and exchanged their Thoughts on
the Future of the Club.  What follows are the Fruits of their deliberations.  May all Board Members feast on
these Fruits in the Garden of Planning and Preparation.  Amen.

Maikeru

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1)	Fundraiser

	Concerning our progress in courting Kikuya as the food supplier for our upcoming fundraiser, we were
	fortunate that the manager’s husband was present during the board’s recent patronage of the establishment.
	Vice President Satomi proposed to him the notion of engaging in a business relationship with J-Club, but
	he could not give us a reply at the moment and instead stated his intention to telephone Satomi at his
	earliest convenience with his reply.  Pending Kikuya’s acceptance of our proposal, we will hold the
	fundraiser during the week of Monday, May 5 (Sixth Week) tentatively from 11am to 2pm in the Reynolds
	Club Marketplace.  To this end will need to book the Marketplace for Sixth Week.  Furthermore, we will
	need to arrange for the transportation and heating of the food, the latter of which of may be carried out
	via buffet burners similar to those we used for Iron Chef.  Finally, we must hasten to request the
	support of the members when our plans become substantially concrete.


2)	Summer Breeze: Sumo Wrestling

	This topic is one of heightened importance in light of the necessity of submitting a budget for the event
	to the Student Government Finance Committee by noon on Monday, April 28.  Event Coordinator Shawn has of
	late engaged in correspondence with the Awesome Amusements Company of Chicago, which has quoted us an
	approximate price of $725 for a two-piece sumo suit rental.  The company has yet to respond with an
	indication of whether they will provide a wrestling surface in addition to the suits.  In the case that
	they do not, we will tentatively purchase approximately 60 feet of nylon rope no less than 1 inch in
	diameter to encircle the wrestling area, in addition to renting a tarp or mat to function as the
	wrestling surface.  In any case, we reasoned that Awesome Amusements will most certainly provide us with
	wrestling procedure recommendations.  Necessarily, we will begin advertising the event to the University
	community as Summer Breeze draws near.


3)	Graduate School of Business Liaisons
	
	I quote Satomi:

	“One of my friends in GSB sent an email to the 1st year Japanese students in GSB asking if anyone is
	interested in becoming a liaison [between] the J-club and Japanese students in GSB.  Two people have
	claimed that they can do it together... [W]e should talk about what kind of participation we want from
	them.  Meanwhile, I'll try to get to know them better.”

	We decided that the two liaisons could best fulfill this position by publicizing J-Club events, such as
	Jay Monteverde’s Minority Barbecue, to the Japanese graduate student community, which is notably larger
	than the Japanese undergraduate community.  Furthermore, there was a mutual desire among the board members
	in attendance to extend to Japanese graduate students an invitation to take part in our end-of-the-year
	cookout in appreciation of our newfound connections.


4)	Jay Monteverde’s Minority Barbecue

	Given that Jay has received our food choices and tentative budget, the consensus on this issue was to
	begin buying and advertising following the completion of our fundraiser.


5)	Cookout

	The end-of-the-year study break that we are intent on arranging had taken the form of cookout in an
	earlier meeting, and with the invitation of graduate students it stands potentially to take the form of a
	potluck (in which each attendee brings a dish to share).  The date was the only other subject of
	discussion on this issue: currently our plan is to hold the cookout/potluck on the Saturday before
	reading period, June 1.


6)	Website

	A series of events including the Meishi Exchange and the printing of J-Club’s website address on board
	members’ business cards had given rise to the necessity of updating the website.  Changes will include
	replacing the front page and implementing an events calendar.  The Webmaster promises to make changes by
	the summer at the latest.  (Come on, how many people really use the Internet nowadays??)


7)	Forum
	All of the board members, old and new, are now registered members of the J-Club’s new forum.  What
	remains, then, is for the members to begin to make use of this plexus of communication.  We decided,
	therefore, to take the initiative in the near future to urge members to sign up for and explore the forum,
	which they will ultimately nurture and help to grow.


8)	Business Cards

	To those board members who do yet have J-Club business cards: please wait until you know where you will
	be residing next year to send your business card information to President Vince (the type information
	to be included in business cards was the subject of an earlier mailing).  Those board members who
	currently reside in Shoreland may disregard this request, because, as Vince noted, Shoreland will
	forward your mail to your new address.


9)	Korean Student Organization’s Culture Show

	Although KSO had invited us to participate in their May 10 Culture Show, we have decided not to sponsor
	J-Club’s participation in this event.  Any member who participates or attends this event will not do so
	on behalf of J-Club, but of his or her own volition.  Our reasoning behind this decision was that we
	would not want members of KSO to feel obligated to attend out events merely because both of our
	organizations share an interest in East Asia; we would want them to attend, rather, based on the
	potential for enjoyment.  We cannot hold our own members to a different standard.


10)	The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Japan Intercultural Network Presents: Japan Night

	The location of this lucrative event presents the largest obstacle to our attendance.  Vince reports
	that a round trip via Greyhound will cost upwards of $40, with Amtrak prices not likely to be any
	cheaper.  We have therefore come to the decision that J-Club will not sponsor a trip to UIUC for Japan
	Night.


11)	Annual Allocations

	Vince and Treasurer Cassie have pledged to attend the final Annual Allocation Information Session, to be
	held on Thursday, May 1.


(End of minutes.)