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ARLB008 ARRL Board meets 1/2

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ARRL Bulletin 8  ARLB008
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  January 20, 1998
To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB008
ARLB008 ARRL Board meets 1/2

Board re-elects League's leadership team

Expressing confidence in the League's leadership team, the ARRL
Board of Directors has re-elected all current officers. Among those
tapped for new two-year terms was President Rod Stafford, ex-KB6ZV,
who now sports the call sign W6ROD. Also re-elected were First Vice
President Steve Mendelsohn, W2ML, Vice Presidents Joel Harrison,
W5ZN, and Hugh Turnbull, W3ABC, International Affairs Vice President
Larry Price, W4RA, Treasurer James McCobb, W1LLU, Executive Vice
President and Secretary David Sumner, K1ZZ, Chief Financial Officer
Barry Shelley, N1VXY, and all current Executive Committee members.
The action came as the Board met for its first regular session of
the new year January 16 and 17 in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. For
several hours on January 16, the Board gathered under emergency
lighting because of a power outage caused by an ice storm.

The League ended 1997 in the black and in overall sound financial
shape, the Board was told. That was a dramatic improvement from
1996, when the League finished the year in red ink. The Board also
approved a financial plan for 1998 that will continue 1997's
successful fiscal management policies.

The Board also okayed the appointment of up to 15 members of The
President's Roundtable, a group of influential Amateur Radio leaders
and strong League supporters to guide development and endowment
activities. The League plans to launch a ''vigorous program of
education on planned and deferred giving.''

In response to repeated member complaints of malicious interference
and the use of foul language on the amateur bands, the Board
established an Enforcement Task Force to push for better rules
enforcement from the FCC. Vice President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, will
chair the 10-member panel. Other members include President Stafford,
Directors Joe Falcone, N8TI, Frank Fallon, N2FF, Kay Craigie, WT3P,
Fried Heyn, WA6WZO, and Marshall Quiat, AG0X, Vice President Hugh
Turnbull W3ABC, General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, and Field
Services Manager Rick Palm, K1CE. The Task Force will oversee and
work closely with the Amateur Auxiliary and make recommendations to
the Board on enforcement issues.

The ARRL also will ask the FCC for a declaratory ruling to put teeth
into the voluntary band plan concept. The League wants the FCC to
affirm that any operation that conflicts with established, voluntary
band plans and causes interference or adversely affects those
operating in accordance with applicable band plans ''is not good
amateur practice'' and would be considered a rules violation.

The Board also applauded actions by the FCC and the New York City
Taxi and Limousine Commission to crack down on illegal use of the
10-meter band by taxi drivers in the city and urges confiscation of
equipment and fines to drivers who fail to comply and eventual
removal of illegal transmitters from New York City cabs.

Approved by the Board were rules changes for the DXCC program that
had been recommended by the DXCC 2000 Committee. Under the new
criteria, no countries currently on the DXCC list will be removed.
In the future, countries will be referred to as entities. A
political entity will be added to the DXCC list if it meets any one
of three criteria: it is a UN member state, it has an ITU prefix
block assigned, or it has a separate IARU member society. The new
criteria also replace all DXCC measurements, including physical
separation distances, with metric system figures roughly equivalent
to the former distances. While the 57 entities on the deleted list
will remain, no new countries will be added to the deleted list in
the future. Deleted entities simply will be removed. In addition,
the new rules specify a minimum ''island'' size of 100 meters
measured in a straight line. The DXCC field checking program will
remain in place.  The effective date of the changes will be
announced later this year.  The DXCC 2000 Committee was discharged
with the Board's thanks.
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/EX