MINUTES OF CASRA MEETING
September 8, 2003

1. Meeting called to order by Mike Day at 6:30 PM
2. Minutes of the previous meeting: These are now available with the emailed "Good Call" and on the website. Approved with no amendments (motion by Larry Fox, 2nd Cilla Hammer)
3. Reports:
   1. Vice President (Mike Day)
      1. Introduction of new members, guests
      2. TASO (High School) info: returning refs sign up at Oct. 6 meeting; new and returning refs sign up at Oct. 20 meeting.
   2. Secretary (Marc Kutner):
      1. A corrected electronic version of our membership roster will be emailed to all current members.
   3. Treasurer (Dana Brown)
      1. Checking acct balance is $2060.45
      2. AWSL tournament Oct. 4 and 5. Contact Mark Elbom.
         
4. Old Business
   1. Kidsafe. (Marc Kutner). Following up on tabled motion from last meeting, I tried to do a little research on our legal rights.
      
      I got some info from the ACLU website. BTW, their Texas office happens to be in Austin, I called the number, and found out from their answering recording that they don't give out info over the phone, but do take requests for legal help (or advice) in writing.
      
      From their website, their is a link to employment rights, and they remind us that we don't have the same rights in the workplace as we do protection from government abuses. It would seem that the same goes for independent contractors, like us, as well as regular employees. Remember, private employers can fire us at will, without cause, and there are only protections from discrimination on the basis of gender, race or disability.
      
      That said, the ACLU seems to have won some victories in fighting unreasonable background checks as a condition of employment.
      
      One further thought, for those who think that, if you have nothing to hide, simply sign the form: Remember the FL election in 2000 when the Texas based company, Choice Point, erroneously scratched thousands of eligible voters from the rolls? That company is expanding its operations, and it, or one like it, could be doing the STYSA background checks. If companies like this, which have incentives for positive results, don't double check in cases where voting rights are involved, why should they take any care, if only your right to referee youth games is involved?
      
      I think the tack to take with SAYSA is that we understand their concerns, but their approach will not make kids safer, because of the danger of false positives and false negatives. We then need to offer a way that deals with these issues in a more directed way, without violating our rights.
      
      I would also suggest that we ask them that, given our concerns and our efforts to try to do this better, and how fast they are trying to do this, which will lead to more chances of error, they consider delaying the implementation of their plan (at least as far as refs are concerned).
5. New Business
   1. None.
6. Situations
   1. Charlie Spriggs on wall management.
7. Meeting adjourned at 7:30 PM , on a motion by Charlie Spriggs (2nd by Larry Fox), for one hour of training on Fouls and Misconduct.

Respectfully submitted,
Marc Kutner