1997
12/14/97 AANC Board Meeting Minutes
Present: Carter Roberts, Dennis LeClert, Paul Collier, John Hewitt, David Harris, Ilona Magyary, Alan Gould (taking minutes)
Minutes of previous meeting: Approved.
Treasurer not present. Don was contacted by cell phone (CarterÕs). No report is available.
Club Reports: by Dennis L., Paul C., Carter R., Ilona M., Alan G., David H., John H.
Old Business
A. Election of officers. Nominations were closed. New officers were elected by acclamation: Dennis LeClert (President), John Hewitt (Vice President), Don Stone (treasurer), Alan Gould (secretary)
B. Workshop. Dennis sent notice to Sky & Tel, Astronomy, and Reflector (Astronomical League). Chronicle requires notice two weeks before the event for pink section or green section. Ilona will ask Mike Maimen two send Chronicle a notice at appropriate time. LHS will do some publicity as well.
Speakers (John H):
Jill Tartar is confirmed.
Chris McKay is confirmed. Future exploration of Mars and possibilities of life on Mars.
Simon Clement is one of the members of the Mars meteorite team at Stanford under Dr. Zair.
Sabine Aireau from Project SERENDIP is confirmed.
Not confirmed: speaker from Cassini (Steve Edberg sedberg@jpl.nasa.gov or someone he might suggest), or SciFi world. Geoff Marcy is not able to speak, but Paul Butler is pending. Ilona: there is 3rd member of the Marcy-Butler team who might give a good talk. Carter: Who spoke AGU last week? Alan: Do we want a teacher or someone to talk on educational aspects. Kevin Beals, or LHS staff on SETI education project/planetarium show or GEMS guide. Andy Fraknoi?
Alan will find out about what lunch options there are for putting on the flier and registration form.
We set Jan. 11, 1pm at Chabot Observatory (main observatory building) for a Workshop planning meeting.
For fliers, Carter or Don can make mailing labels and TMW may be recruited for putting labels on. Or we can do labels/mailing at Jan. 11 meeting.
Need renewal notices. Maybe we can send fliers with renewal notice.
Next Board Meeting: Feb. 8, 1998
Mtg. Adjourned 3:50pm
10/19/97 AANC Board Meeting Minutes
Present: Carter Roberts, Dennis LeClert, Paul Collier, John Hewitt, Dennis Tye, Alan Gould (taking minutes), David Harris
Message from Don for Treasurer's report:
Great Western Bank account balance--$3,427.38 (9/30/97)
Franklin Money Fund: $1,562.50 (9/30/97)
Don can send out dues notice soon.
Dennis L will send Don a reminder to do that.
Minutes of previous mtg: Correction to minutesÑDennis: AANC Award was given to Nancy Kassover, not Nancy Cox. Carter: correct spelling is "Mukensnable."
Old Business:
Workshop
Speakers:
John talked to Dave Rodriguez. Jill Tarter is confirmed as a keynote speaker. Still waiting to hear from Chris McKay, Geoff Marcy or Paul Butler. Other suggestions--Donald Goldsmith, Ken Crosswell, someone from Project SERENDIP. John: have a special speaker on outer solar system. Costume contest? Lucasfilm artist? School contest? Dale Cruikshank? Steve Edberg?
Publicity:
Need to send something to Astronomy and Sky & Telescope.
Carter: send something simple right away and then again later.
Need flier. Preliminary flier can go out by Dec.
Dennis T: we need to get flier, either hard copy or electronic directly to newsletter editors. Alan will create a flier before the next board mtg (Dec).
AL Reflector web site and news letter--Dennis L will check.
Motorland, Berkeley Monthly, Chronicle's web page.
David: fliers in library bulletin boards.
Cost:
LHS can be full co-sponsor, take registrations by phone or mail and split gross receipts with AANC 50-50. So moved, seconded, and passed.
Vendors: Dennis L--not much time for vendors to vend.
Carter--should not encourage vendors to come and not provide customer time. But we don't necessarily need to discourage them.
Door Prizes: Alan--suggests that we not have vendors or door prizes unless someone comes forward to be a door prize/vendor coordinator.
New Business
Nominations of officers for 1998.
Dennis L is willing to be president again.
John is willing to be VP again.
Don is willing to be treasurer again.
Alan is willing to be secretary again.
Meeting adjourned 3:35 pm.
8/17/97 AANC Board Meeting Minutes
Present: Carter Roberts, Don Stone, Dennis LeClert, Paul Collier, John Hewitt, Dennis Tye, Alan Gould
Minutes of previous meeting: Muckensnable was misspelled. Minutes approved as corrected.
Treasurers report: On conference $696.74 above expenses We have 1543.257 Franklin; 3427.38 in Great Western checking Membership: EAS TMW HS SNG SF sidewalk astronomers Dues are due as of Jan. each year.
Club Reports: MDAS on web. VoM read by John H--not on web as of 8/17. SFAA report by Dennis T.--not on web(?). LHS info on web. EAS/TMW/Chabot by Carter-- not on web as of 8/17. SNG by Don--not on web as of 8/17. Stockton report by Dennis L--not on web as of 8/17.
Old Business:
A. AANC Awards--only one was given out at StarBQ--to Nancy Cox. Chuck Vaughn may get his at Digger Pines. Dennis L was unable to reach David Morrison. Will keep trying.
B. StarBQ attendance was pretty good. Gave out two awards best tasting: ring nebula (Cream Puff) best looking: Sojourner cake/dessert by Ranger Nick Franco. Carter--the morning of the StarBQ 30,000 gal water were lost (tanks were empty). Dennis T: trivia contest was very challenging. Out of 30 questions the winner got only about 11 right. What was the maximum number of earthquakes at a star party? (Answer: 13) Dennis T. New awards from previous years are ready. Alan: could we have StarBQ closer to Perseid meteor shower time? Carter: Ranger Rick is leaving and someone else will be in charge, so status of StarBQ is up in the air.
C. Astronomy Day 2? Carter can't coordinate. Oct. 4 is possible date for Ranger Rick farewell party. It's hard to get clubs interested in it. There are several other events going on in Oct. It's sort of late notice. John is willing to contact 6 or 8 clubs and VoM is willing to participate. Don is willing to mail out query to AANC clubs to see if any of them are planning any activities for that day. John will contact clubs as possible.
New Business
A. Possible Future Workshops. Obvious title: Life in the Universe.
Dennis: I'm uncomfortable with having high powered speakers and not having a turnout. Alan: How about having a different kind of event--like a fair for AANC Clubs. John: That kind of event might not have appeal to the general public and schools. Publicity has always been a problem. We need to have act together at least 4 mo in advance--include notice in Astronomy/Sky & Tel./Reflector. After discussion of good dates, April 11 or 18 would be good with 11th as 1st choice. Oct. 19 is next board meeting--we'll confirm at that time.
Project Astro could make presentation if there are amateur astronomy club presentations. Possible speakers to invite: Chris McKay, SETI people SERENDIP, Seth Shostok; Geoffrey Marcy.
Meeting adjourned 3:15.
6/22/97 AANC Board Meeting Minutes
Called to order 1:30 PM
Present: Jon Wilson (MDAS), John Hewitt (VOM/LHS), Alan Gould (LHS; Sec.), Dennis LeClert(SAS; Pres.), David Harris (Hercules Stargazers/HPSP), Dennis Tye (SFAA), Don Stone (EAS, Chabot TMW, COSC)
Minutes of Previous Mtg.
Additions to previous minutes:
About the conference---Dennis T: Had tried several places to get donuts, but was unsuccessful.
Jon: coffee should be set up the night before
Treasurer's Report:
Great Western Bank account has $3477.88
Dennis L/Don--we need documentation from FPOA for bill for Star-B-Que expenses.
Franklin Money Fund has $1530.68
Total: $4870.56
Alan: We need membership dues notice sent out for current year.
Club Reports SAS, MDAS www.mdia.org go to natural features bottom of page-- click astronomy, Hercules Star Gazers, SFAA, VOM, LHS, COSC ((Give notice of which are web connections, solicit club reports by email))
LHS Report: We have a number of Astronomy (and other science & math) Summer Camps going through August. July 6-7, LHS will be showing the "Live From Mars" broadcast from NASA. [link]
OLD BUSINESS
A. AANC Award Nominations
Amateur:
- Joel Goodman (nom by Paul)--MDAS member; Strolling Astronomer (ALPO); gave lectures; Jon: past observer for ALPO; observes Mars helps with public astronomy programs; lectures at meetings.
- Steve Overholtz--David: he invented concept of lightweight giant; authored telescopes book "Lightweight Giants;" lectured at AANC workshop; Dennis T: gave talks at Mt. Tam
- Cindy McGill--Don: fundraiser for Sonoma Astronomical Society
- Mike Ryan
- Joe Disch
- Chuck Vaughn--telescope makers class Tri-Valley--very active
- Jeff Baldwin--Dennis L: Telescope makes workshop with SAS, made SAS more organized as far as star parties, school teacher
- Marnie Berendsen--president MDAS
- Rich Combs--John H: gave eyepieces talk at AANC workshop--well-known and active amateur
Professional:
- Keith Strong--Dennis T Jon: gave talk on Solar research for NASA acoustic imaging (SOHO) at SFAA, MDAS, ...
- David Morrison--Alan: he has given numerous excellent talks on asteroid/comet impacts; has lobbied for funding for asteroid search programs
- Chris McKay--John H: he has given talks on Mars at many clubs and conferences--works at NASA
- Scott Sandford
Commercial:
- Telrad (invented by Steve Kufeld; nom by Dennis T.
- Techtron???
Special:
- AAVSO
- SETI Institute
- Nancy Kassover--Happy Valley School in Lafayette; classroom comet web page and student comet activities
- Mt. Tam Interpretive Assn. (Tinka Ross--nom by Dennis T)
Alan moved to close nominations. Don seconded. Passed. The following were chosen (by secret ballot) for receiving awards:
- David Morrison (Prof Award)
- Telrad (Commercial Award)
- Nancy Kassover (Special Award)
- Chuck Vaughn (Amateur Award)
B. Star-B-Que (Aug 2):
Dennis LeClert attempted to contact Don Muckenschnabel to say AANC would like to participate in Star-B-Que event with FPOA. AANC will contribute 1/2 food cost. As of this meeting, no flier has gone out from AANC. AANC awards will be given out at Star-B-Que.
Other
John H asked if there would be a 2nd Astronomy Day in the fall--good for publicity and school activities. Sept 6 22% Moon Oct. 4 11% Moon and 30th anniversary of Sputnik; Nov. 8 64% Moon. John H: Planets are more favorable in Oct. that in spring '98. John H moved that we tentatively set Oct. 4 as Bay Area Astronomy Day (subject to check by Carter Roberts, Astronomy Day coordinator). Jon seconded. Passed.
NEW BUSINESS
Next Year's workshop.
Attendance has been 60-70 per year. Dennis LeClert will contact ASP and/or Morrison to cosponsor and provide more publicity. Dennis T said to contact Tinka about possibilities with Morrison. Topic could be life on other planets/moons. John H. suggested Planetary Society as cosponsor also. There was a long discussion about workshop issues: need for publicity, what audience are we aiming at, are we charging too much--shouldn't we just break even,...
Dennis T: Does anyone know about getting insurance for events. Don named a company that provides insurance coverage for about $3/person ($600). Mount Diablo has insurance through A.L. State Park issues are similar at Mt. Tam, Mt. Diablo, Fremont Peak.
Adjourned: 4:40.
4/27/97 AANC Board Meeting Minutes
AANC Board Meeting Minutes
4/27/97
Present: Paul Collier, John Hewitt, Carter Roberts, Alan Gould, Dennis LeClert
Called to order 1:30.
Minutes of previous meeting.
Alan: Those clubs that have web pages can simply link an appropriate page for the club report.
Carter: Most of EAS newsletter is on web page.
Dennis: Web pages would not constitute an archive since web pages change frequently.
Carter: We probably do not need to archive club reports, since they are basically ephemeral.
Alan: Could hand on box of archives from president to president.
Dennis: We could store archives electronically.
Carter: Hard copies of all the stuff in the past we should leave in hard copy.
Dennis: Let's keep minutes electronically from now on. We'll keep club reports ephemeral.
Alan: emailing of club reports has been only partially successful--mostly NOT.
John: How about a club report form?
Alan: We DID get club report from Morrison!
No Treasurer's report.
OLD BUSINESS
Astronomy Day
SAS didn't. Mall wanted $1,000,000 insurance policy. MDAS clouded. LHS daytime activities included info table and lots of visitors due to special event-- MESA day at LHS Chabot, Meritt clouded out. (Carter read list) Need backup activities for cloudy conditions. Have "fake objects" for people to look at through telescopes.
Carter showed FANTASTIC photos of the comet: in Siberia, Berryessa, over Golden Gate bridge,
Workshop Comets and Crashes
Went very well--lot's of compliments. But turnout was not good, considering subject.
John: Several elements were added that were school and family and "non-amateur astronomer" folks that were very positive change in normal workshop focus. I f we made it cheaper, we'd get more people.
Dennis: D. Tye bailed out on donuts--Alan was able to step in and bring CostCo stuff. Jose Olivarez was no show--got lost. How much difference would publicity make?
Alan: Not sure this organization can actually make an event that is more successful. It was embarrassing to have a small turnout for such excellent speakers.
Do we want to do one next year, and if so, what subject?
Carter: Perhaps if we chose subject that was relevant to project astro and teachers and amateur astronomers we would have more successful turnout.
Dennis: if we don't have AANC people helping out, it is an issue of major concern.
Dennis will contact Morrison Planetarium and ASP
WAA Blair Award goes to Bob Stevens of Riverside Telescope Makers Conference
Next WAA meeting will be at RTMC. WAA is still considering setting up a web page.
NEW BUSINESS
Star-B-Que will be on Aug 2
AANC Award Nominations
Joel Goodman for Amateur category Paul--MDAS member. Strolling Astronomer (ALPO), gave lectures.
From last year: Amateur: Steve Overholt, Cindy McGill, Mike Ryan, Joe Disch, Chuck Vaughn, Jeff Baldwin, Marnie Bernisen, Rich Combs.
Professional: Keith Strong
Alan: nominated David Morrison, Scott Sandford
John Hewitt nominated Chris McKay
Commercial: Tectron (from last year)
Special: AAVSO, SETI Institute (from last year)
John Hewitt nominated Nancy Kassover
Paul: Marnie Berendson (MDAS) is looking for speaker such as those at Comets and Crashes to have speak at MDAS meetings
Adjourned: 3:50.
2/2/97 AANC Board Meeting Minutes
Called to order by President Dennis LeClert.
Present: Paul Collier, Dennis LeClert,, David Harris, Dennis Tye, Carter Roberts, Alan Gould, John Hewitt
Minutes of previous meeting were handed out by Dennis.
Newly elected AANC Secretary, Alan Gould proposed that for future meetings, club reports be submitted email from those for whom it is convenient. Dennis said that he could call for reports when he sends out the meeting reminder/agenda via email. In that regard, it is conceivable that reports could be put on the web page even BEFORE each AANC board meeting.
Blair Award Nomination
Carter moved to nominate Bob Stevens of Riverside Astr. Soc. who has been instrumental in organizing RTMC. Paul seconded. Motion passed unanymously--nomination will be made at WAA meeting on Feb 15.
AANC Workshop Plans
Alan reported that Susie of the LHS Galaxy Cafeteria confirmed that lunches can be prepared as per last year and at last year's price.
We discussed adding Paul Mortfield to the workshop agenda to speak on astrophotography. Carter reported that Mortfield is now in touch with Conrad Jung. Presumably, we can adjust the program according to their wishes.
Tasks for that day: Dennis T.--donuts; Jon Wilson--coffee; Don Stone--registration; Alan Gould and John Hewitt--LHS hosts.
Alan and John will arrange for there to be foam boards for astrophoto display.
Alan will check that there be two slide projectors available.
Re: door prizes, we divvied the task of contacting various companies for donation of door prizes.
Carter Roberts, Dennis LeClert, Paul Collier, John Hewitt, Dennis Tye, David Harris, Ilona Magyary, Alan Gould (taking minutes)
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