Particularly in the past year it has become apparent to YRUU Youth Council, the governing body of YRUU, and Steering Committee, the executive body of YRUU, that YRUU has began functioning as two separate movements: one at the continental level and the other at the district and local levels. Those involved on the local and district levels have little or no understanding of what happens on the continental level or the structure and purposes of YRUU. At the same time, continental leadership has lost touch with what is happening at the districtand local level.

Four of your Youth Council members have created a resolution to remedy this problem. This plan started at a workshop at a conference in Mountain Desert District. From the ideas of this workshop came a resolution that attempts to reconnect the local, district, and continental levels by giving the participants of YRUU a larger share in its running as a whole.

The first way in which all of the youth in YRUU will be able affect the course of YRUU as a whole is through writing resolutions. A resource book to teach everybody the whole process of writing and passing resolutions is now available from the Youth Office. Although only Youth Council can pass resolutions, anybody can write them. Once you have written a resolution, you can send it to the Youth Office to be printed in Synapse. But how do the resolutions get passed? The members of Youth Council vote on these at Youth Council, but this doesn't mean that you can't have an affect on the outcome. If you see a resolution that you feel very strongly about, talk to the Youth Council member that serves your constituency. This may be your district representative or one of the many at-large representatives (post-high, junior high, Canadian at-large, social action coordinator, UUA trustee at-large, and adults at-large). These people do have a vote and what you have to say means a lot to them, so don't be afraid to tell them what you think. If you want to get in touch with your YCR you can look at the back of the latest issue of Synapse, or check out the YRUU web page.

In order for you all to be able to make sure that your Youth Council Representative(s) are doing their job, the resolution calls for a second resource to be printed. This resource will be a guide for evaluating YCRs and at-larges, and will be available from the Youth Office.

Remember: Youth Council as a whole and especially the YCRs and at-large reps work for you and your local/district youth groups. In the past there was a very small percentage of actual YRUUers that had influence on how things work in YRUU. This can and will change starting with you. You need to think about how you want to change YRUU. Write resolutions and tell your ideas to your YCR. In addition, the four youth council members that co-sponsored this resolution are responsible for seeing this thing through so if you have any questions, you can talk to them. Thank you.