Red Shift

Article 1: Name

The name of this organization shall be Red Shift.

Article 2: Purpose

The purpose of Red Shift shall be to publish creative works submitted by the undergraduate students of Stevens Institute of Technology, as part of the greater goal of promoting creativity at Stevens.

Article 3: Membership

Section 1: Membership

All undergraduate Stevens students are members of the Red Shift.

Section 2: Voting Membership

Any member who is marked as a contributor in the previous issue of Red Shift, as defined by any applicable bylaws, shall be considered a voting member.

Article 4: Executive Board

Section 1: Positions

There shall be an executive board, which shall consist of an Editor-in-Chief, Publisher, Treasurer, and Secretary.

Section 2: Duties of the Editor-in-Chief

The editor-in-chief shall

1. Chair all meetings of Red Shift
2. Act as the official representative of Red Shift in all matters relating to the content of the publication
3. Have the power to call regular and special meetings of Red Shift
4. Carry out any duties specified elsewhere in this constitution or in the bylaws of Red Shift.

Section 3: Duties of the Publisher

The publisher shall

1. Assume all responsibility of editor-in-chief in the absence of the editor-in-chief;
2. Act as the official representative of Red Shift in all matters relating to the production and distribution of the publication; and
3. Carry out any duties specified elsewhere in this constitution or in the bylaws of Red Shift.

Section 4: Duties of the Treasurer

The treasurer shall

1. Be responsible for all financial matters of Red Shift;
2. Provide the secretary with accurate records of all financial matters of Red Shift; and
3. Carry out any duties specified elsewhere in this constitution or in the bylaws of Red Shift.

Section 5: Duties of the Secretary

The secretary shall

1. Be responsible for all records and documents of Red Shift;

2. Provide the library with copies of Red Shift for the purposes of archival;
3. Maintain communication between the executive board and the voting membership on matters relating to the administration of Red Shift;
4. Inform the SGA of any changes to the executive board; and
5. Carry out any duties specified elsewhere in this constitution or in the bylaws of Red Shift.

Article 5: Nominations and Elections

Section 1: Nominations

The period for nominations shall begin with the announcement of Unified Elections by the Chair of the Committee of Student Interests of the SGA and shall last for at least one week. During the period of nominations, any voting member of Red Shift may nominate his or herself, or any other voting member of Red Shift, for any office, by alerting the Secretary. The secretary will then notify the nominee and the voting membership of the status of the nomination. Voting members may be nominated for several positions, but election to a position constitutes withdrawal from other races. Accepting nomination and running for office requires:

1. The nominee must demonstrate his or her status as a voting member of Red Shift;
2. The nominee must disclose all past convictions and confessions of Honor Board violations to the Secretary, who will make them public to the membership, as pursuant to Article 6 of this constitution; and
3. The nominee must write and circulate a brief statement of purpose and qualifications, to educate the voting membership on the nature of the nominee's candidacy.

Section 2: Elections

Voting in elections shall be by secret ballot; victory is by a simple plurality. Absentee ballots must be submitted in writing no later than one day prior to an election meeting. Votes will be tallied for each position separately, in the following order: Editor-in-Chief, Publisher, Treasurer, Secretary. Nominees for two or more positions will occupy the first office to which he or she is elected, following this order. Votes will be tallied by members of the exiting executive board and at least one voting member of Red Shift not seeking election, who may be a member of the exiting executive board.

Section 3: Transitions of Office

Following election, the new executive board will take over the powers and responsibility of their positions immediately, or immediately following publication of the current issue of the magazine, if substantial progress has been made on an issue. At no time will an executive board maintain office past the end of a semester in which elections have been held.

Article 6: Honor Board Clause

Any member of Red Shift who runs for or holds an elected position under the jurisdiction of this constitution shall make public any past Honor Board violations.

Article 7: Chaos Clause

Procedures not specifically defined in this constitution shall be adapted from the latest publication of Robert’s Rules of Order.

Article 8: Bylaws

Section 1: Integration

The bylaws of this constitution shall be valid for intents and purposes as a part of this constitution, save that they require only a majority vote to pass, suspend, or negate.

Section 2: Limitation

No bylaw shall supersede or be inconsistent with this constitution.

Section 3: Approval

All bylaws shall exist within the sufferance of the SGA. If at any time the SGA finds them inappropriate, it may require them to be negated.

Article 9: Implementation

This constitution shall become effective upon the approval of the SGA. It shall abolish any previously existing constitution for the governance of title and purpose. Immediately after the adoption of the constitution, any student in attendance at the first general body meeting, and any student who contacts Jim Weatherall prior to the meeting with justification of absence, shall be considered a voting member for the period between the implementation of this constitution and the publication of the first Red Shift. The nomination period for the executive board of Red Shift will begin with the first meeting after the ratification of this document and will extend for at least one week, during which time nominations may be made as dictated in Article 5 of this constitution. After a suitable nomination period, officers will be elected pursuant to this document, and will serve in the period before a new board, elected during the first period of Unified Elections following the ratification of this document, takes office.