From the top
By Tim Stout
Flint Hills Alliance President

As we approach the end of 1998, the officers of Flint Hills Alliance will soon be reaching the mid-point of the one-year term for which they are elected. On the surface, this may not seem to be of any importance, but to me it means there is so much I would like the organization to accomplish and less and less time in which to do it.

When I was nominated for the presidency I gave the position serious thought. I felt that if I were elected, there were some key goals I would like to accomplish during my term. These goals included:

Increase membership.
Increase the attendance at FHA meetings and functions.
Increase membership participation in ideas and plans for the present and future of FHA.
Build FHA’s funds so the organization could do more to benefit the les-bi-gay community.
Enhance the image of les-bi-gays as a positive image in the community as a whole.

After reflecting on my term so far, even though some of the areas have made improvement, I can’t help but feel some disappointment that I have not been able to make more happen to achieve all of the goals and give the organization a stronger purpose and role in the community -- both les-bi-gay and as a whole -- as I had hoped to do.

One of the first articles I wrote in June concerned increasing membership and receiving more input from the Manhattan area les-bi-gay community. I was hoping to get some direction through this request. As of yet, other than my fellow officers and a casual conversation about a project idea with an FHA member at the Thanksgiving potluck, I have received no other input.

I was in hopes of promoting our membership’s agenda -- not my own agenda or that of my fellow officers.

The officers will be meeting soon to finalize the agendas for the upcoming meetings. Please contact me with any ideas or input (good or bad) that you may have as soon as possible so you can help shape the future of your organization. I hope to have the rest of the year’s meetings and potlucks finalized by the first of January.
It is also my hope that when nominations for next year’s officers occur that we have a more active participation than in the last few years. I am not aware of where my fellow officers or I stand on being nominated to serve another term. Whether we decide to or not, FHA needs more participation from the membership in the elections. I do not want you to think I’m not happy with the direction we have taken and the progress we have made, but I just want to let you know I was in hopes of achieving more.

Let’s try to make this last half as good or better than the first. Thank you to all that work to make it happen.