Fantasy and Science Fiction Club Minutes

12/11/03

I. Attendance: Three people attended the meeting in Eads 116 (Jerome, Craig, and Emily, a new member who responded to a flier; she had considered posting her own fliers to start her own club!). We discussed topics of mutual interest, constitutional issues raised in the Agenda, and agreed on a schedule of meetings.

II. General Items Discussed:

A. Book Discussion: Emily had read the online minutes, and suggested the inclusion of Larry Niven, who has novel ideas about evolution, and also books by Stanislaw Lem (Solaris), and Anne McCaffrey. Jerome suggested H. G. Wells and Brian Aldiss. Emily suggested that we could have meetings covering authors, not just TV shows (although we want to keep the meetings fun, not academic). Emily also pointed out that last spring there was an informal Lord of the Rings reading group, now disbanded (they finished the books!) We do not know how many groups of that sort currently exist on campus. We should try to make contact with them.

B. Movie showings: We proposed showing 1984, H. G. Wells movies (The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine (both versions), The First Men in the Moon, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Shape of Things to Come), and the Russian version of Solaris.

B. Venue: the Science Fiction Club (the older club which first met on October 19) has decided to keep its Sunday 7-8pm meetings in Nemerov Hall, because it has a bigger TV screen and meeting space. They need to get their TV fixed. These meetings will be announced on our website, and open to the public.

C. Website: Craig suggested using PHP Script, or chipmunk-scripts.com ("cmscore," SCS website), in order to update our website from any location, even a cell phone. He promised to help our webmaster (Sarah) with this. Craig suggested getting our own ".com" for $7.95 a year.

D. TV Shows: Emily has seasons 2, 3, and 4 of the X-Files, and season 1 of Farscape; Craig has season 1 of SG1, season 1 of Futurama; Jerome has season 1 of Enterprise.

III. Constitutional Issues Raised in the Agenda:

A. We decided not to be an "umbrella organization," even though there is precedent for this ("Connections: A Multicultural Group"). We agreed to be open to member-sharing proposals from other clubs, but our own subsections (called "Clubs" in the proposal) should be called Groups (rejected suggestions include "Divisions" or "Sections"). This is to avoid confusion. We will be the Fantasy and Science Fiction Club, with a Science Fiction Group, a Fantasy Group, a Tolkien Group, and a Cinema Group.

B. Membership. We agreed to be faculty-friendly and staff-friendly (the flier neglected to mention staff, but they are welcome). We agreed also to be open to membership from other universities such as SLU and UMStL.

C. Officers. Emily proposed a PR Officer and a Constitution person. Jerome volunteered for these jobs. We need a student to be President and Treasurer. Star Fleet ranks were suggested in jest. We also need a Webmaster (Sarah has volunteered for this).

III. Proposed Events

A. T. A. Shippey Talk: This will happen eventually (Washington University has money and resources, and CS40 is behind this). However, Prof. Shippey is booked for a while. While we are waiting, he is more than welcome to stop by our meetings for informal discussion (we will not announce this publicly). In our Club, we are all just fans, discussing fantasy and science fiction for fun.

B. Lectures: We proposed a Spring 2004 academic lecture. In addition to T. A. Shippey, we suggested his assistant, Mr. Kelly, and Prof. Boyd, who taught the Freshman Seminar on science fiction and modernity in Autumn of 2002, and a course on science fiction and horror cinema in Spring of 2003. She is still living in the area. Other potential academic speakers might include Frank McConnell, Robert Scholes, Prof. Roberts (who wrote on science fiction criticism). Or we could invite Prof. Freeman, a specialist in Celtic folklore, who teaches Roman mythology courses in the Classics Department. We discussed whether to have the lecture before or after Spring Break, and tentatively agreed to have it before, but we have to check exam schedules to make sure it does not conflict with any major midterms.

C. Reading Aloud: We could read a short story aloud, followed by discussion. This is relaxing.

D. Fundraisers: We suggested a fundraiser in Autumn of 2004. Suggestions included: A marathon reading of scripts in Edison Theater, or read a whole book aloud in 24 hours, taking 45 minute shifts. We could sell audio recordings! [but is this legal, if the material is copyrighted?] We could take over the CS40 Video Store, eventually.

E. Library: Eventually, when we become established, we could apply for an office in Umrath Hall, and start a library there. The Campus Pagans have a lending library in Umrath.

IV. Schedule of Events: We agreed on a schedule for our first month, beginning the Saturday after MLK Day. If possible, we want to get dormitory cosponsorship (perhaps Liggett-Koenig) so we can have food and a good room! We agreed to have meetings on the South 40 or the Business School. Suggestions for venue included the Small Group Movie Theater, or Wohl, or Ursa's. Jerome agreed to contact the Liggett-Koenig dormitory staff to determine the availability of a room on the South 40.

A. Schedule of First Month (venues TBA):

1. Saturday, January 24 [Cinema Group Meeting]

Lord of the Rings Movie Marathon (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers)

2. Saturday, January 31 [Tolkien Group Meeting]

Discussion of The Lord of the Rings (book and movies)

Saturday, February 7 [Science Fiction Group]

Showing of the first Star Trek episode with Captain Kirk, followed by the first Enterprise episode with Captain Archer.

Saturday, February 14 [Fantasy Group]

Celtic Folklore in Fantasy and Science Fiction (perhaps in collaboration with Gaelic Culture Society and/or Campus Pagans, perhaps with a Valentine's Day theme)

B. Schedule of Second Month: This will follow the same sequence as the first month, with different content (venues TBA).