Ocean Explorers Society
February 2004
Sponsored by Ocean Enterprises

 

Contents
  

Monthly Meeting
Thursday, February 5th at 7PM - Upstairs classroom at Ocean Enterprises. This will be a business meeting to discuss club bylaws. We'll meet for dinner and a "management meeting" at 5:30 in Appleby's across the street from Ocean Enterprises all are welcome to join us.

From the President
Wow. I never thought I'd be writing under this headline. But it feels right and I'm excited. Mark's sudden retirement prompted something of a crisis. We had vital functions that needed handing off in a hurry. At the January meeting, 10 people sat down, and in 3 hours we completely reengineered the Ocean Explorers. I'm sure we deserve an honorable mention in the Harvard Business Review. Just don't look for an article any time soon because we all have work to do.

Let me introduce our volunteers:

President: Dave Ambrose
Vice-president: Liza Suwczinsky
Treasurer: Elizabeth Olson
Secretary: Graham Brewis
Board of Directors: Kevin Douglass, Brant Gordon, Paul Lee, Kent Thaeler, and Mark Clausen

Speaker Coordinator: Robin Luczak
Raffle Coordinator: Chris Rink
Web Master: Dawn Tosta
Membership Coordinator: Eilleen Parkhurst
Nesletter Editor: Dave Ambrose
Travel Editor: Jackie Selby
Conservation Editor: Brant Gordon

We've been discussing how to reorganize the club so it was less dependent on Mark. Mark's illness pushed that schedule up by several months. I am truly delighted at how our members have risen to the occasion. We have a participation rate that would be the envy of any other club in San Diego. Sheer numbers combined with good people will certainly bring us a better, stronger, and more entertaining club.

But first, we have to cover some basics. Top of our list is adopting by-laws. This will formalize the club's structure and responsibilities for the officers and board members. I adapted these bylaws from another club that's now been around almost 50 years. I believe they'll work well for us, and foster a good, functional atmosphere. While it might sound silly for a club as small as the OES, I've seen enough problems in other organizations to believe that best practices are worthwhile no matter what your size.

Our proposed by-laws are included in this newsletter. Please read them over. We're devoting our February meeting to discussion, amendment proposals, and an initial vote on whether to adopt the bylaws. In March, we'll formally adopt the bylaws, elect officers, and elect board members. Once we get the bylaws adopted, we'll need to look at whether or not to incorporate. This is a straightforward procedure that may require a vote from the membership.

As we stand now, the Ocean Explorers is less than 30 members. While I like the close knit feeling of the club, we need more members before we really become self sustaining. We got a great club here; no political BS, a minimum of drama, and lots of fun. So for heaven's sake, don't keep it a secret. This isn't some 12 step group. Tell your friends about the club, and invite them to one of our activities. More members also mean more and better activities.

We'll have at least a couple of good venues to recruit some good people. Ocean Enterprises is sponsoring meet-a-buddy potlucks. We need some volunteers to attend these events and say a few words about the club. We'll also have the opportunity to participate in the Council of Divers community events this summer. This is a new event for the council, and it should be a lot of fun.

In the works -- another Rosarito trip. Several years ago, we chartered a Cloud 9 bus and road down to Rosarito beach. We had lunch, drinks, and strolled through the town. On the way back, we made a couple of shopping stops. It was a fun, 1 day trip and not at all expensive. We liked it so much, we decided it's time to do it again. Stay tuned for more details.

We also have a group traveling to St Lucia in early May. It should be another outstanding trip. Contact Jon Parkhurst if you're interested in going along.

In most clubs, vice-president is something of a wallflower position; not in the OES. Because I travel for work, Liza will be leading more than her fair share of meetings. Even when I'm traveling, I have access to my home email. Please feel free to contact me.

We are in dire need of speakers for our meetings. If you know of someone who'd be a good candidate, please contact Robin Luczak.

Club Diving
Nothing formal planned. Send an email to the list if you want to dive after work or on the weekend.

Flotsam
My apologies if this newsletter busts your mailbox. Good stuff from Divebums combined with the bylaws has made this issue much larger than usual. If you have trouble with all this verbaige, don't despair. We should be back to normal in a couple of months.

I swear that this is the best time of year for going to the beach. The temperatures are mild, the water is only a bit chilly, and if the diving isn't good, the boogie boarding will be superb. We were at La Jolla Shores for a bit yesterday, and we seemed to have the best of both worlds because the divers were having a good time, and we were having good waves a little further north. One thing to keep in mind when you listen to the beach report - when the lifeguards report a wave height, it's usually for the swimming and surfing section. South at the Vallecitos entrance, the waves are significantly smaller. While we were enjoying 3 footers, the waves at Vallecitos were half that.

On my last dive, I discovered that my drysuit was taking on water in the right sleeve. Figuring the seals had finally given up, I dropped the suit off at DUI for seal replacement. They called back to tell me there were dozens of little pinhole clusters in the right sleeve, and that it would need replacement. It seems one of our kittens attacked the suit while it was drying. So much for the crushed neoprene withstanding everything short of bullets and bowhunters. Guess they's better add kitten claws to that disclaimer.

John Moore is doing a simple survey. Just ten species (w/ pictures) & whether you've seen them. It's quick. You can do it in 5 minutes with a broken mouse finger. Visit http://divebums.com/General/survey2004.html.

The USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber has posted a Rapid Neurological Examination Video. This is worth watching at least once. Find it online at: http://wrigley.usc.edu/hyperbaric/neuro/neuro.htm. Many thanks to Debbie Karamoto for the pointer.

Also online -- a nice perspective view of the head of La Jolla Canyon. Visit http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/pacmaps/sd-pers5.html

Next month's Aquarium Family Day is scheduled for Saturday, February 21 from 11:00 - 3:00 p.m. and features Southern California's Amazing Tide pools. This family day is timed to the opening of our new tide-pool exhibits. Discover the importance of slime to tide-pool animals in the "Mucus is Amazing" interactive presentation and slime lab. Make and take home a slime sample. Special tide-pool talks, games, and hands-on activities will be featured. Storytime for the little ones will include readings of the books, "When the Tide is Low" and "House for Hermit Crab."

Upcoming Perspectives on Ocean Science Lectures
Wednesday, February 11, 7:30-9 a.m. at the Birch Aquarium: Dr. Walter Munk will present "Global Sea Level: An Enigma." The rate of sea level rise and its causes has been debated for a century. Despite years of scientific scrutiny, no definitive conclusion has been reached. Join Dr. Walter Munk as he explains why 20th century sea level rise remains an enigma, and why scientists still grapple with whether seawater warming or continental ice melting had the greatest influence.

Wednesday, March 10, 7:30-9 a.m. at the Birch Aquarium. Scientists are now able to determine complete genome sequences of organisms, cellular "blueprints" that contain the exact instructions required to create a particular organism with its own unique traits. Join Dr. Brian Palenik as he describes how he and other marine scientists are using this information to understand how phytoplankton, the "plants" of the sea, have adapted to life in the ocean.

E.W. Scripps Associates (EWSA) and Scripps Oceanographic Society (SOS) Members: Free; Guests: $8. Includes continental breakfast, courtesy parking and Aquarium admission. RSVP: (858) 534-5771.

Something for the Inquisitive Spew Crew Members
The Birch Aquarium and Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club is presenting: Local Geology Revealed. Learn "underground" secrets about San Diego while enjoying a hosted reception. Scripps Oceanographic Society members and La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club members will gain insight into the latest findings about southern California's geologic mysteries from a featured Scripps scientist. This event is scheduled for Saturday, February 21st from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at the La Jolla
Beach and Tennis Club. EWSA and SOS Members $20 (proceeds benefit the Birch Aquarium at Scripps). Please RSVP to (858) 534-5771. Ages 21 and up only.

Diving Incident

The following came off the Divebums mailing list. I'm not altogether sure who authored it. But, it's illuminating and we all owe it to ourselves and our fellow divers to learn from each others experiences.

I offer this as a educational note - we didn't think things through well enough, and next time we will. Hopefully someone else might learn from our mistake.

I came close to becoming involved in a Rodales "what went wrong" episode on Sunday. It was a classic case of "One thing goes wrong, everything is fine. Two things, still fine. Three things, someone dies." Luckily we stopped at two.

My buddy and I headed down to LJ Shores to do a shore dive on a nice Sunday afternoon. Surface conditions were a bit rough, but not impassible. We decided to head out in the canyon and drop down deep to see what we could find. While we waited for a third buddy to show (who ultimately didn't), we struck up a conversation with a couple of older divers standing at the wall. [Note: the author is late 30's, buddy is late 20's. Other divers were late 50's - a fact of some importance]

They were visiting from the Midwest, and had done the Yukon/Ruby/Kelp the previous day from a charter boat. Seemed competent - had all their own gear except for tanks/weights which they had rented locally. Talked about diving in bad vis conditions back in Illinois lakes and rivers. While we waited for our third buddy, they headed out to dive. When our third didn't show, we suited up and headed out, just the two of us. As we got the wall we found the two Midwest guys back already. Seems one was having some trouble getting out through the surf - no big surprise - and they gave up and came back in. They asked if the other guy could go with us. We said "sure". We told him we were going deep - 120-130ft perhaps, and asked if that was OK. He said it was. So out we went.

After getting through the surf zone - he had trouble but made it - we did the long swim out to the buoy. Took a while as he wasn't in as good of shape as we were (due somewhat to age), and wasn't used to long ocean surface swims. We waited a few minutes to catch our breaths and headed down. Once down he had some trouble with his weights, but got it under control and we headed west. Got to the wall at 50ft or so, and he was still with us, giving the "OK" sign. Got to 100 ft, still "OK" Got to 130, and looked back to see him up at 100ft in trouble. My buddy immediately went to his aid, and got him calmed down. At that point he still had ~1700psi in his AL80. We started heading back up slowly, with my buddy hanging on to the visitor, and me guiding the group back east looking for the wall (we were in open water at this point). About 5-6 minutes later we found the wall at about 60ft, and things seemed good. Then the visitor grabs my buddy and gives a "hard to breath/out of air" sign. Sure enough he was down to 100psi. Drained the whole tank in 5 minutes of slow ascent. Thankfully my buddy had a pony bottle (new enough it hadn't been used yet). The visitor switched to that and we did a straight (but slow and controlled) ascent to the surface. We hadn't been down long enough to get close to "deco" (according to either of our computers), so buddy and visitor skipped the safety stop and went all the way up - slowly. I hung out at 15ft for 3 minutes watching from below for signs of panic, ready to pop up if needed, but luckily I wasn't needed. I surfaced and we swam back in.

On the way back we talked a bit and found out that this was only the second salt water trip (after the previous day's boat dive), and the visitor had 43 dives total. He had also never been below 85ft before. What had happened was he was overweighted (partially due to not being familiar with a fresh to salt water change), and hadn't controlled his buoyancy well. He then overexerted, partially from the weight/buoyancy issue, and partially from trying to keep up swimming with guys 20-30 years younger than he was. At 100ft he panicked. Once back on the surface he was fine, although the swim in tired him out a again, and we had to rest before coming back through the surf.

The Moral to the story: It was *not* that we shouldn't have taken this guy out. I think the diving community can benefit from friendly support of one another - even people you don't know. The problem was we didn't have the talk from the swim back in *before* we headed out. We should have immediately changed our dive profile to something not so strenuous. We should have waited longer at the surface for him to rest - realizing that he wasn't used to the hard work that the surface swim entailed. We shouldn't have simply taken his word that "yeah 120ft is fine".

Thank goodness for the pony bottle. Based on the air consumed from that, it would *seem* likely that either my buddy or I could have let the visitor breath off our secondaries from our main tanks (the dive was turned around early enough that we each had plenty of air left). However, why risk one more life. Everyone walked away from the day, which is good. Hopefully our visitor learned not to overestimate his abilities, and be willing to speak up. I hope that we learned to ask more questions (as well as his lesson when *we* are the visitor someday.) I also hope that someone out there who find themselves in a similar position one day (on either side of it), will remember to talk a bit more before heading out and make sure that everyone has a safe fun dive.

Marine Conservation

The big news this month -- the Marine protected area program is dead. Officially, it's on hold due to budget constraints. In reality, it's dead. It's probably too early to know where we go from here, but at some point in the future, we'll have to lean hard on our elected officials.

John Moore summed it up nicely:
So today those who have opposed the creation of marine protected areas are rejoicing... while continuing their claim that all we need is traditional fisheries management and all will be well in the end. (Traditional fisheries management means things like catch and size limits.)

Here's an example of why they're full of it:

California DFG is currently considering implementing a seasonal catch limit on market squid (yes, there's that theme of mine again!). This fishery has never been managed... even though it's the #1 cash value fishery in the state. Makes sense not to manage that one, right?

There's an interim seasonal limit while they consider whether/how to manage the fishery long term. The interim limit is 125,000 short tons. In the history of the California market squid fishery*, they've exceeded 125,000 short tons only once, and that by less than 2,000 additional short tons. (*Data beginning 1927)

What does this mean? No effective limit.

So they've been studying this for several years now and the F&G Commission has been presented several alternatives for a first ever official seasonal catch limit on market squid, including one alternative preferred by the Department. These alternatives are

125,000 short tons
118,000 short tons
80,000 short tons
(and a variable by year limit)

The Department's preferred alternative is 118,000 short tons. This limit has been passed only three times in the history of the California market squid fishery. Darn close to no limit.

During the last complete market squid season (2002-2003), just under 47,000 short tons were landed in California. Do you think that a catch limit of 118,000 short tons sounds very meaningful?

The current (2003-2004) market squid season is 3/4 complete. Looking back over the past 20 years of catch data, on average about 2/3rds of the squid caught in a season are caught by the end of December. So far this season, some 34,000 short tons of market squid have been landed. Do you think that a catch limit of 118,000 short tons sounds very meaningful?

As long as the traditional fisheries management exercised in this State remains so abominably bad, we will not be OK in the long run...

Finally, why do you -- as divers -- care? Seen a good squid run lately?

As always, just a little data to think about...

John

San Diego Council of Divers
The San Diego Council of Divers is an umbrella organization for San Diego county dive clubs. Its most important function is to monitor state and local government activities and report on anything that will affect our local diving activities. The SDCD has struggled in recent years with apathy, wholesale leadership changes, and a somewhat clouded mission. I'm happy to report that the Council has taken significant steps to improve their situation.

The Council leadership met with 7 of the local dive clubs on January 17th to discuss the Council's purpose, direction, and priorities. Three major recommendations came out of that meeting:

In short, the council is going to concentrate on governmental activities, and community building. I'm convinced this is the right direction for the Council. We'll be hearing more over the next few months.

The local diving event is going to be exciting. There will be diving, food, and opportunities for dive clubs to get themselves in front of the diving community at large. We'll most likely have a place for us to set up a table and recruit new members. There are two windows for this event; a couple of weeks before Memorial Day, and a couple of weeks after Labor Day. Whenever it happens, I hope we'll see lots of OES members there.

Dive Travel
We're looking for 2004 destinations. I've heard discussions of Papua New Guinea, Truk, Yap, and Hawai'i. I'm hearing great reports on Bahia de los Angeles and am getting interested in Florida. What piques your interest? Please let us know.

Hawai'i: I've been seeing some cheap fares to Kona lately. Some as low as $300 r/t from Long Beach to Kona.

Cayman Brac: Brac Reef resort offers $629/ppdo, for 5 nights, 11 boat dives, breakfast/dinner, selected dates until Feb 7 .... and $899/ppdo for 7 nights, 6 days of 3 1-tank dives, all meals, also until Feb 7 ... www.bracreef.com.

Dive Discovery offers some interesting destinations: Star Dancer in PNG (thru March, second diver 20% off); Mabul Resort in Borneo is $100/ppdo for meals, 3 boat dives daily, unlim shore diving, option of going on to Sipadan Island Dive Lodge with same arrangement of meals/diving for $182/ppdo; Hamanasi Resort in Belize has all-incl 5-nite packages starting at $906/ppdo Jan 6-Apr 30 and $808/ppdo May 1-Dec 14; June/July in Australia, minke whale trips; also group trips including a 5-day one departing San Diego this Nov to Isla de Guadalupe for great white diving (not cheap at $2,450 ... www.divediscovery.com/grouptrips/grouptrips10.shtml).

Cozumel -- Jon and Eileen Parkhurst are putting together a 7 day club trip to Cozumel Tuesday March 9 - Tuesday March 16, 2004 (Tues to Tues plenty of frequent flier spaces). Tentative flight plan on American Airlines below, three lodging choices below (we are undecided as to which one at this time). Pricing is per room, for two people. Diving not included - would be $55 for each two tank boat dive. Any additional research or comments would be appreciated. For more information, contact Jon & Eileen Parkhurst at jlparkhurst@cox.net

Frequent flyer airfare is 30,000 miles plus $57.99 Taxes
Get 3,000 Bonus Miles For On-Line Booking at Land & Air Vacation at AA.com or call the Vacations Desk at (800) 321-2121
or get 1,000 Bonus Miles For On-Line Booking Air AA.com Advantage Desk (800) 882-8880

Tentative Itinerary
8-Mar SAN San Diego #1930 11:00 PM Fiesta Americana Dive Resort
9-Mar Chicago - - 4:45 AM - - - - Air & Land Package $ 2,429.58
9-Mar Chicago #2301 6:30 AM Land Only $ 1,306.00
9-Mar Dallas - - 8:54 AM - - - -
9-Mar Dallas #363 11:00 AM El Cozumeleno Beach Resort
9-Mar Cozumel - - 1:36 PM - - - - Air & Land Package $ 3,003.58
Land Only $ 1,612.00
16-Mar Cozumel #364 2:39 PM
16-Mar Dallas - - 5:30 PM - - - - Iberos Cozumel
16-Mar Dallas #365 8:00 PM Air & Land Package $ 3,535.58
16-Mar SAN San Diego - - 9:11 PM - - - - Land Only $ 2,144.00

Membership
Renewal rates are $20 single; $30 for a family. If you can't make it to a meeting, send your renewal to Mark Clausen; 1862 Willow Way; Vista, CA 92083.

OES Info
OES members can receive $30 off the regular OE price for specialty classes.

For more information:


By-Laws

of the

Ocean Explorers Society

 

Article I – Corporate Structure

Section 1.

The name of this corporation shall be the Ocean Explorers Society.

Section 2.

This shall be a non-profit corporation dedicated primarily, but not exclusively to the:

Section 3.

The principal office in the State of California shall be in the County of San Diego, and shall be located at such address as may be fixed by the Board of Directors.

Article II – Members

Section 1. Classes of Membership.

There are hereby established the following classes of membership:

Section 2. Dues.

The Corporation shall operate on a fiscal year beginning June 1 and ending May 31.

Article III – Membership Meetings

Section 1. Place of Meetings.

Meetings of the membership shall be held monthly at a time and place selected by the Board of Directors.

Section 2. Annual Meetings.

The regular monthly meeting held in February shall be designated as the Annual Meeting. At said Annual Meeting, Directors of the Corporation shall be elected.

Section 3. Special Meetings.

Special meetings of the membership may be called at any time by order of the President or upon demand by a majority of the Board of Directors.

Section 4. Notices of Meetings.

Written notice of Special Meetings and Annual Meetings shall be given to all Active, Family, Honorary, and Contributing Members not less than five (5) days prior to the meeting date. Notice of regular meetings is mandatory only to notify the membership concerning a change in time and/or place of meeting.

Section 5. Quorum at Membership Meetings.

At Membership meetings, the attending Active Members shall constitute a quorum, and a majority vote of those present shall be sufficient for the transaction of business.

Section 6. Proxy Vote.

If a Member is unable to attend a regular or special meeting of the membership, the Member may vote in absentia by one of the following methods.

In all cases, the absent Member shall be recorded as having cast his vote. The Secretary shall record in the minutes of the meeting that the vote was delivered by proxy and the person acting as proxy.

Article IV – Directors

Section 1. Powers, Prerogatives, and Promulgation.

The corporate powers, business, and property of the Corporation shall be vested in and exercise controlled and conducted by a Board of Directors consisting of seven (7) members.

Section 2. Terms of Directors.

The Active Membership shall elect directors for a term of two (2) years. Three (3) Directors shall be elected in odd-numbered years and four (4) Directors shall be elected in even-numbered years. Terms shall be effective on completion of balloting at the Annual Meeting.

Section 3. Vacancies.

The Board of Directors shall fill vacancies on the Board by selecting a qualified member from the membership at large, to serve only during the remaining term of the directorship vacated.

Section 4. Meetings of the Board.

The Board of Directors shall meet at least once every three months; or more often, at the Board's discretion. A special meeting may be called by the President, or by any two Board Members, at any time. The meeting shall be held at a place specified at the preceding board meeting, or special meeting notice.

Section 5. Notices of Board Meetings.

Notices of Regular and Special Meetings of the Board of Directors shall be mailed, sent via electronic mail, telephoned, or personally delivered to all Directors not less than three (3) days prior to said meeting.

Section 6. Quorum.

Except as elsewhere stated, four (4) members of the Board of Directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

Section 7. Qualification for Board Membership.

To be qualified for nomination to the Board, a person shall be an Active Member, and must have one (1) year active membership or attend all board meeting held for a period of 6 months. Termination of board membership shall be automatic if member misses three (3) consecutive Board meetings without notification to the Board.

Section 8. Roll-Call Voting.

Any vote of the Board may be polled by roll call at the discretion of the presiding officer, or on a motion (with second) by any Director.

Section 9. Proxy Vote.

If a Director is unable to attend a regular or special board meeting, the Director may vote in absentia by one of the following methods.

In all cases, the absent Director shall be recorded as having cast his vote. The Secretary shall record in the minutes of the meeting that the vote was delivered by proxy and the person acting as proxy.

A proxy vote will count as though the absent Director was present. For the purposes of attendance requirements, the absent Director will be considered excused.

Section 10. Elections

Elections for open directorships will be held once per year.

90 days prior to the election, notice will be distributed to all members in good standing that nominations for director are open.

Article V – Officers

Section 1. Scope.

The officers of the Corporation shall consist of a President, Secretary, and Treasurer, who shall be chosen by the newly-constituted Board of Directors at the first meeting of the Board following the Annual Meeting of the membership. Said officers serve a term of one (1) year. Terms shall be effective at the Installation of Officers.

No person may hold more than one office at any given time.

Section 2. Eligibility for office.

Officers shall be elected from the Board's membership. Should an office be impossible to fill from the Board, the Board shall have the option to nominate a qualified person from the Active Membership. For election, a majority vote of the total Board shall be required.

Section 3. Duties of the President.

The duties of the President are:

Section 4. Duties of the Vice-President.

The duties of the Vice-President are:

Section 5. Duties of the Secretary.

The duties of the Secretary are:

Section 6. Duties of the Treasurer.

The duties of the Treasurer are:

Section 7. Vacancies.

In the event of a vacancy in the offices of the Corporation, a successor shall be elected from the Board of Directors, by the Board, to serve the remaining term of the vacancy.

Article VI – Committees

Section 1. Nominating Committee.

One month prior to the Annual Meeting, the President shall name three (3) members to serve on a committee to be known as the Nominating Committee. It shall be the duty of the Nominating Committee to submit to the members attending the Annual Meeting the names of at least one candidate for each Director to be elected under these articles.

Section 2. Board of Director's Committees.

The Board of Directors may establish committees whose powers and terms of service are specifically controlled by the Board of Directors.

Section 3. President's Committees.

The President may establish committees whose powers and terms of service are controlled by the President. Actions and findings of such committees shall be subject to ratification by the Board of Directors, if the Board so desires.

Article VII – Dissolution

Section 1. Procedure.

Upon a proposal concurred with by three-fourths (3/4) of the Active Members present and voting at a regular membership meeting the Corporation may be dissolved; and upon such dissolution the funds and properties of the Corporation shall be distributed by a majority vote of the Board of Directors, subject to the approval of the active members.

Section 2. Limitations.

The property of this non-profit corporation is irrevocably dedicated to charitable and/or scientific purposes, and on dissolution none of its assets shall inure to any individual, but shall be distributed to a fund or foundation whose property is dedicated to exempt purposes as specified in Revenue and Taxation Code Section 214 of the State of California. If no quorum can agree on a qualified fund or foundation, within 30 days of dissolution, any remaining funds will be donated to: San Diego Oceans Foundation.

Article VIII – Amendments

Section 1. Majority.

These By-Laws may be repealed or amended, or new By-Laws adopted, by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Active Members present at a Membership Meeting, an Annual Meeting, or a Special Meeting called for that purpose.

Section 2. Notice.

Notice of any such repeal, amendment, or adoption shall be submitted to all Active Members 30 days prior to a Special Meeting being called for that purpose. When action is to be taken at a regular Membership Meeting, notice shall be given, and the topic discussed, at the regular Meeting prior to the one at which action is to be taken.