Noteworthy Decisions From The November 2008 Board Meeting

   

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By Mo Siegel, President, Urantia Foundation

Audio Book in German

Mr. Reinhard Schneider of Switzerland has offered to produce an audio version of Das Urantia Buch. The Board has authorized Jay Peregrine, Executive Director of Urantia Foundation, to communicate with Herr Schneider about expediting the production of this audio edition.

Books Ready for Printing

The Board was informed that the Estonian, Hungarian, and Swedish translations will need to be printed in the near future. In addition, the Portuguese and the Spanish translations will need to be reprinted. Funds will have to be raised to pay for these printings.

Urantia Foundation Europe

Trustee Georges Michelson-Dupont, President of Urantia Foundation Europe, reported on continuing efforts to make Urantia Foundation Europe a reality. The Trustees foresee the day that Urantia Foundation Europe will assume the responsibility for printing and distributing translations of The Urantia Book in Europe.

Reprinting the Russian Translation

The Board agreed to sign a book printing and book distribution agreement with our current business associate, "Irena" in St. Petersburg. The fourth printing of the Russian translation will be done in Russia, and the money for the fourth printing will come from funds collected from sales of the Russian book.

2009 Budget

The Board modified and then ratified the 2009 budget including the approval to hire two part- time sales consultants, one for the United States and one for Europe. The budget is conservative due to the uncertain times we face in the coming year.

The Urantia Book Internet School (UBIS)

The Board reviewed the needs of UBIS as expressed by Dorothy Elder and Jay Peregrine. The Board expressed its commitment to the work of UBIS.

Marilynn Kulieke, the editor of Urantia Foundation's News Online, was asked to find ways to publicize the needs and activities of UBIS. The Board made newsletter suggestions, such as a running feature for UBIS stories, advertisements for classes and teachers, and fundraisers that include a Pay Pal method for making contributions. Jay expressed his on-going commitment to keeping the best affordable web structure for UBIS.

Report on Standard Reference Committee

Seppo Kanerva, chair of the Standard Reference Text Committee, distributed the committee's draft report. He asked the Board to review the report in preparation for passing a resolution at the January 2009 Board meeting. The committee dedicated the report to Seppo to acknowledge his tireless contributions, leadership, scholarly command of the English language, and knowledge of The Urantia Book, which helped create the findings of the report.

The purpose of this committee was to review the changes that have been made to the text of The Urantia Book since it was first published in 1955 and to recommend a "final" English version. Since 1955, spelling and punctuation errors have been corrected, and a few other changes have been made to the text published by the Foundation. Now that the English edition of The Urantia Book is not protected by copyright and there is more than one publisher, the Board appointed this committee to create an agreed upon Standard Reference Text to be used for all future printings. Committee members include: Merritt Horn, Marvin Gawryn, Nancy Johnson, Seppo Kanerva, Marilynn Kulieke, and Jay Peregrine.

Edición Europea de El libro de Urantia

The Board reaffirmed its decision to print the European edition of El libro de Urantia and its preference to limit sales, including internet sales, to Europe. The Board reconsidered the logistical feasibility of limiting internet sales because it is not practical; internet sales cannot be restricted or controlled. Therefore, the Board rescinded the July 4th, 2008 resolution restricting the internet sales of Edición Europea de El libro de Urantia. Nevertheless, the Board continues to prefer that sales of this edition be limited to Europe to avoid confusion with the translation currently being distributed in Mexico and Central and South America.

Education Committee

Gard Jameson reported that the individuals from the educational working group who participated in the Educational Appreciative Inquiry will reconvene on June 12 to 14, 2009 at 533 Diversey Parkway in Chicago to continue their work. This group's purpose is to recommend education activities that need Urantia Foundation's support.

Index Committee

Marilynn Kulieke and Jay Peregrine reported on the progress of The Urantia Book Index Project and handed out sample pages of the index. Work on this project will continue.

Parliament of World Religions

The Parliament of World Religions will be held in Australia in December 2009. Gard Jameson, head of the Education Committee, will coordinate with Susan Cook of The Urantia Book Fellowship and Merindi Belarski of Urantia Association International to coordinate with readers who will attend the Parliament. He will bring a recommendation to the Board at the next meeting.

Reappointment of Associate Trustees

The Board reappointed Jan Bernard, Marta Elders, Irmeli Ivalo-Sjölie, Olga Lopez, and Claire Mylanus to serve as Associate Trustees through 2009.

General Permission-to-Quote Policy

The Board agreed to update Urantia Foundation's 1998 Safe Harbor Policies. The "Permission-to-Quote Policy for Commercial Works"; the "Permission-to Copy Policy for Educational Purposes"; and the "Permission-to Quote Policy for Labors-of-Love" will be replaced with the following policy:

Elections

The Board elected: Mo Siegel to serve as President of the Board of Trustees of Urantia Foundation until the next regular elections scheduled for April 2010; Georges Michelson-Dupont to serve as Manager of Translations and chair of the Translations Committee; Marilynn Kulieke to serve as secretary until the next regular elections scheduled for April 2010; Judy Van Cleave to serve as chair of the Governance Committee; Henk Mylanus to serve as an Associate Trustee and as European Manager of Sales and Distribution.