that my old membership number (R-6335) isn't even remotely as cool as my new membership number; for that reason alone I think I'd have to wait.

As you said, however, how the current language in the constitution is interpreted could have repercussions on other similarly situated members; I'm not sure that the current language matches the practice/intent. As such, it should probably be officially clarified and codified by the Board (who could probably do so via a Statement of Policy, rather than a constitutional amendment). Additionally, the practice of allowing a member to 'redeem' a past membership number via the payment of the intervening dues is similarly not mentioned in the constitution/bylaws. That would seem to be an important practice to codify as well.

Finally, IMHO, section IV 4. of the Bylaws should be removed or amended, since it appears (at least in many circumstances) to contradict Article 5 E of the constitution.

Thank you in advance to the Board for clarifying these important issues. I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Brent J. Jensen
R-8007
orbis non sufficit