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By Michael Lash
October 11, 2004
The last month has
seen progress by the American Go Association (AGA) on several
fronts, including youth go, membership and voting rights. There
have also been interesting developments on the international
front.
YOUTH GO CAMPS: Next
year, for the first time ever, the AGA has approved holding two
go camps in one summer. The AGA East Coast Go Camp will be held
July 2-9 at Hartwick College in New Jersey; David Dinhoffer will
be the Camp Administrator, Mike Samuel will be Camp Director and
Feng Yun 9p will head the teaching staff. The AGA West Coast Go
Camp will be held July 16-23 at Mills College in Oakland,
California; Jon Boley will be back as Camp Administrator, Steve
Burrell will be the Camp Director and Ming Jiu Jiang 7p will
return to head the teaching staff. Attendance at both is
possible and certainly encouraged for the truly dedicated. For
more information, click on: http://www.usgo.org
MEMBERSHIP: While
our historic membership increases of the last two years seem to
have leveled off, there are now new initiatives underway to make
AGA membership more attractive for both new and existing members
and a group of volunteers is working on developing ideas and
incentives. Those interested in contributing thoughts and
suggestions can reach me at President@usgo.org
VOTING RIGHTS: The
lively debate of proposals to revise voting rights within the
AGA is continuing, led by Chairman of the Policy and Governance
Committee Keith Arnold. The Chapter Assembly aired the issue at
this year's U.S. Go Congress, and there are some interesting
ideas about how best to achieve a functional, balanced and
representative voting system. For members interested in this
topic, contact your Chapter Representatives now and get
involved.
INTERNATIONAL GO:
Finally, two interesting developments occurred on the
international front. First, in early September, Terry Benson and
Chris Kirschner represented the AGA at the 5th Ing Cup World
Professional Goe Championship held in Guiyang, China, during
which meetings were held about the advent of
"universal" rules for playing GO, potentially at the
Olympic level ("International Pro Rules Discussed"; EJ
10/04/04). This is a very exciting development that may allow
the AGA to play a more prominent role in the development of
international rules of play. Second, I recently conducted
interesting talks with two people in Mexico City who are trying
to start a Mexican go association. Their enthusiasm was
refreshing and it was satisfying to realize just how much useful
material we have available right now on the AGA web site for
someone trying to start a new go organization, demonstrating the
AGA's value as a national organization and resource. With a few
more people to fill some empty seats we can expand our reach to
a whole new plateau as a service organization
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