Council members present and proxies: President, Chuck Allen;
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Vice President, Bob Gent; Quorum: The quorum requirement of 10 members, representing a minimum of 3 regions was met. Call to Order: The 53rd Council meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. Minutes: A motion was made by Julia Bachtell and seconded by Mike Benson to dispense with the reading of the 1998 minutes. The motion passed. Executive Committee ReportsPresident’s Award for Meade Instruments: Meade Instruments has donated over $30,000 in prizes, services, awards and cash to the League and it’s various programs. Because of the extraordinary support Meade Instruments has given us, and continues to give us, The Executive Committee voted unanimously to award Meade Instruments Corporation’ Chief Executive Officer, John Diebel, a League President’s Award. Meade has sponsored a $3,500 telescope prize to our NYAA winner every year since (and including) 1995, has sponsored the Leslie Peltier Award, has offered valuable Trust Fund auction items and has assisted with printing and distribution of our Member-At-Large (MAL) brochures. Honorary Membership Recommendations: Four (4) people were nominated for a League Honorary Membership. A motion was made by Matt Ganis to award Meade CEO John Diebel with Honorary Membership. It was seconded by Wayne Johnson, and the motion unanimously passed. A motion was made by Tim Hunter to admit Jack Horkheimer (StarGazer) as an Honorary Member. It was seconded by Dave Bachtell. The motion unanimously passed. A motion was made by Tim Hunter to admit League past President Jim Fox as an Honorary Member. It was seconded by Dave Bachtell. The motion unanimously passed. A motion was made by Janet Stevens to admit MacDonald Observatory Director Dr. Frank Bash as an Honorary Member. Julia Bachtell seconded it; the motion unanimously passed. Annual Donor Program: The Executive Committee voted to create an annual donor program as follows: Patron, $50-99; Sponsor, $100-249; Associate, $250-499; Benefactor, $500-999; Pacesetter, $1,000-2,499; Sustainer, $2,500-4,999; President’s Circle, $5,000+. Annual recognition will be given in the REFLECTOR. Electronic Newsstand and Book Service: The Executive Committee voted unanimously to pursue an electronic newsstand if it is limited to astronomy and science related books. Mailing List Charge Policy: The Executive Committee voted not to give the Prude Ranch our membership list free of charge. They reaffirmed our general policy of charging all outside entities for our mailing list. They also reaffirmed our general policy of selling the mailing list only to astronomy-related organizations and entities. MDA Program Support: Executive Committee voted 4-0-1 (Stevens abstaining) to support a program where observations would be held by League societies to benefit the MDA. The League would make no financial commitment to the program and provide only free coverage and promotion in the REFLECTOR. ISEF Awards: The Executive Committee declined to finance $1000.00 in special awards to the International Science & Engineering Fair. Executive Committee decided this award would be redundant with our NYAA program. Variable Star Manual Printing: The Executive Committee voted unanimously to print 500 copies of the Variable Star Manual. Member-At-Large Program: The brochure being used for the MAL program has been revised. The revision should make it more appealing to the beginning amateur astronomer. Matt Ganis will do a test sampling of the flyer using Sky & Telescope’s mailing list. Meade Instruments graciously donated an 8” LX 200 for auctioning at the business meeting. This will help pay for future printing of the new MAL brochure. The Executive Committee voted unanimously to approve starting an on-line MAL membership page. Matt Ganis will proceed with this when ready. $200.00 is available from budgeted funds for starting this project. League Office Planning: As the League grows, so does the amount of work for this office. Currently the League has 241 member societies. The workload has increased dramatically, as the membership has increased by 50% in the past six years. Occasionally, it will become necessary to hire temporary help. This trend tells us we will need to look into setting up an office. This workload is more then one-person alone can handle. Marion Bachtell, League Sales, and the Executive Committee will be putting a proposal together to present at the Ventura conference. Reports:President: Chuck Allen reported the League has grown from 15,000 to 16,500 members in the last year. It has nearly doubled in size in the last 10 years. Sky and Telescope magazine will be sponsoring our convention next year in Ventera. We need to investigate options for a League office. A paid Executive Director or Administrator would head this. This is now approaching a full time job that cannot continue to be performed by volunteers. As our new MAL program grows the Executive Secretary’s office will become untenable. A permanent office will allow the League to have a permanent address, a workplace for temporary employees to work a central point of communication for all League members. Having a paid Executive Director will allow that person to make League business their primary responsibility. Meade Instruments has generously printed and distributed flyers in over 20,000 telescopes for our new MAL program. By the end of this convention Meade Instruments will have donated over $30,000 in prizes, services printing awards and cash to the League. League sales have continued to grow. Marion Bachtell has done a fantastic job keeping up with the sales. We are planning an on-line catalog and on-line sales of all our products. Vice President: Bob Gent recapped his written report. This year Bushnell will provide the winner of the Horkheimer award with a Bushnell Voyager telescope. Light pollution continues to be a problem; most of the time people don’t know where to start. IDA has had many accomplishments this year and is hard at work on educating people about how to save money and our night sky. Bob also recommended we help support the Stellafane Legal Defense Fund. Our new MAL program is off and running. The new MAL brochures are being shipped out in all Meade Telescopes. The National Young Astronomer Award and the Horkheimer Award have shown just what these young people can do. Congratulations to Jackie Wade, she received the Texas Star Party’s Omega Centauri Award for her service to astronomy. Secretary: Terry Mann reported the By-laws and Standing Resolutions have been updated and new notebooks were made. Treasurer: Jackie Wade has been busy collecting the information needed for all League accounts. Currently there are 20 of these accounts and they total $165,000. With a treasury of this size the IRS requires more detailed accounting. Jackie is completing her two terms as treasurer at next year’s Council meeting. Executive Secretary: Janet Stevens is spending many hours a week working to keep up with the League’s growth. Temporary help will need to be hired from time to time to help with the workload. It is necessary to start to plan for an A.L. office. This will centralize everything and allow a permanent League address and contact person. League Sales: Marion Bachtell reports League sales are growing and have been for the last 6 years. In 1993 annual gross income was $5,000-$6,000 a year. This year alone it is almost $14,000. With sales soaring, it has become necessary to create on-line sales. It would also be used for all dues, REFLECTOR subscriptions and advertisers. Matt Ganis will build the web page. A motion was made by Bob Gent to spend up to $2,000 to implement this project and $1,500 for a lap top computer to take to the conventions. Janet Stevens seconded it. The motion passed. League Home Page: Matt Ganis will make sure the home page will interface with the new MAL memberships and the League on line sales, he has been upgrading the home page continuously. The League page now has it’s own URL and account. The home page will evolve as needed. Bert had spent many hours keeping it up to date. REFLECTOR: Editor Ed Flaspoehler has been awarded the Apex 99 award for publication excellence in the category of a newsletter produced by a single person. There was discussion of a 25% commission to be paid on advertising generated by the editor of the REFLECTOR. The Editor of the REFLECTOR felt this amount was too high. He felt more comfortable with a 15% commission to be paid to the REFLECTOR editor or a specified Ad Coordinator. A motion was made by Bob Gent and seconded by Janet Stevens to pay the editor of the REFLECTOR a 15% commission. The 15% commission passed. ASP Liaison: Kelly Beatty of Sky and Telescope magazine and Barry Beaman, Past President of the League, have been busy this year working on the League’s part of the Pro-Am Cooperation. The Partners in Astronomy meeting in Toronto was the beginning of a working group for Pro-Am Cooperation, it is chaired by Janet Mattei. The database will be on an AAS server and Matt Ganis will work on the database. There are plans to apply for grants wherever possible. Sky and Telescope magazine has been a major support from the start of this project. Publications: The following are printed and copyrighted: Observe and Understand Variable Stars (Kolman); Asteroid Observing Guide (Comba); Planetary Observing (Castle); Leadership Manual (Fox). The AstroNotes have also been copyrighted. Messier Objects: A Beginner’s Guide manual is in the second printing. “Observe” Committees: Brenda and Dave Branchett will not be creating any more Herschel clubs. They do have observing notes that can be donated for the asking. The Herschel II club has awarded nine (9) certificates since the fall of ‘97. The manual should go for its 3rd print this summer. They will make some minor changes. The Messier Club awarded 71 Messier certificates this year, with 21 upgrades from regular to honorary (92 total). These awards went to members of 55 clubs and four (4) MAL’s. The Sunspotter Club had seven (7) awards given out this year. The Meteor Club gave 19 certificates this year. The Lunar Club has been very active 74 certificates and pins were given out this year. The Double Star Club has given out 88 certificates. The Arp Peculiar Galaxy Club has given out 17 certificates, eight (8) for CCD imaging and nine (9) for observing. The Urban Club has issued six (6) certificates to 6 different League clubs. The Binocular Messier Club has given out 381 certificates since its beginning. The Deep Sky Binocular Club has given out 37 certificates in the last 4 years. The Asteroid Club has given out two (2) regular awards and two (2) gold awards since it started in July 1998. Astronomy Day: J. Kelly Beatty, Senior Editor of Sky and Telescope magazine, announced this years winner of Astronomy Day was La Sociedad de Astronomia de Puerto Rico. No members of this club were present, but Kelly awarded certificates to representatives of the runner up clubs. Awards and Recognition’s:The Astronomical League Award was presented to Don Trombino. It was accepted by Don Parker. The Leslie Peltier Award was presented to William Albrecht, of Hawaii. Barry Beaman accepted it for him. The Bob Wright Service Award was presented to Marion Bachtell for her years of service to League Sales. The National Young Astronomer Award was presented to Elizabeth Fernaandez. Elizabeth has a long list of outstanding awards and achievements. She was elected to the National Honor Society in her junior year and has been a top ranked student despite her challenging course load, which included calculus and advanced physics. In 1998, at the regional science fair, she won first place for her project, Spectroscopy, Unlocking the secrets of the Universe. She has also received 6 first place awards from science fairs and science organizations for her outstanding astronomical research. Elizabeth received a plaque from John C. Deibel; CEO of Meade and Scott Roberts of Meade presented her with a 10” LX 200 telescope. She also received a lifetime pass to McDonald Observatory, compliments of the University of Texas. The Jack Horkheimer Award for excellence by a young astronomer was presented to Adam Forte. Adam is the Vice-President of the Back Bay Amateur Astronomers. He is a very skilled astronomer and enjoys sharing his interest with others. Last year, he won an award of Honor from the Virginia Academy of Science for his outstanding achievements. He also conducted a limiting magnitude test for the tidewater area to raise awareness of light pollution problems. The Mabel Sterns Award for Newsletter Editors was presented to Peter A. Leavens, editor of the Celestial Observers. This is the newsletter of the Amateur Observers Society of New York. Planetary Club: This Club began in February. Since that time forty (40) requests have been made from twenty-two clubs. Solar Eclipse and Southern Star Party: The Executive Committee voted not to debate this issue until there was a suitable proposal made. There are on going discussions with interested individuals. Region Reports: Reports from various regions showed they are doing well. Some concern was brought up about regions not having elections. This problem will be looked into before the Ventura convention and corrected. During the ASP Universe 2000 convention, Wayne Johnson, Ed Flaspoehler and Matt Ganis will set up a booth promoting the Astronomical League. Education: Dr. T. Michael Flick spent most of this year developing and publishing the new CD-ROM software package: Eclipses: Presentations for Educators. It is now on sale. IDA: IDA is a growing organization. Bob Gent and Tim Hunter have been running workshops at conventions to help people understand how to deal with the light pollution problem. Most people are overwhelmed when faced with light pollution in their own backyard. IDA can show them where to start. Future Conventions:2000 Convention: This ALCON convention will be hosted by the Ventura County Astronomical Society, July 17-22, 2000. It will be held at Holiday Inn, Ventura Beach Resort. There will be tours to many of the astronomical sites nearby. There will also be a star party at Mt. Pinos. The Chairman is Tim Robertson, Treasurer of the WRAL 2001 Convention: We are going to the East coast. This convention will be held in Fredrick, MD. A motion was made by Ed Flaspoehler to accept the offer from the Tri State Astronomers to host the 2001 convention. Julia Bachtell seconded it. The motion passed. 2002 Convention: This convention will be held in Logan, Utah at the Eccles Conference Center & University Inn, this is on the Utah State University Campus. A motion was made by Matt Ganis to accept the proposal from the Salt Lake City Astronomical Society to host the 2002 convention. Julia Bachtell seconded it. The motion passed. Trust Fund: The fund has received $834.00 in donations. The silent auction at French Lick brought in $2,273.00. Matt Ganis was up for re-election. A motion was made by Dave Bachtell to close nominations and seconded by Janet Stevens. Matt Ganis has been re-elected to this committee. Trust Fund interest can be used for special projects, if the Trust Fund Committee elects to. There is approximately $65,000.00 in the trust fund. Old Business:Bylaws and S.R.s:A motion was made by Tom Traub to repeal S.R. #8, Product Complaints. It was seconded by Mike Benson. The motion passed. (The Bylaw Amendment which created this committee was deleted last year). Repealed 7/13/99, at Cheney, WA. A motion was made by Janet Stevens to change the MAL dues to $25.00 ($35.00 foreign) to reflect last year’s Special Council Meeting increases in S.R. #9. It was seconded by Bob Gent. The motion passed. We will also amend S.R.#9 to read: MAL’s who joined before April 1, 1999 and who wish to retain their MAL membership can continue to do so under MAL policies in effect on March 31,1999. New Business:Proxy Rules: Article 3, Section 5. A motion was made by Mike Benson to add, “no blank proxies will be allowed.” Tim Hunter seconded it. The motion passed. We will also amend By-Law, Art. III, section 5 (continue the existing paragraph): Proxies may not be assigned by a proxy-holder. No person may vote more then one proxy at Council. Proxy-holders are subject to the fiduciary obligations of Council members. Bonding of Accounts Managers: Chuck Allen and Bob Gent will be talking to different regions and answering questions about bonding. The Executive Committee has been directed to check into bonding prices and to discuss how many are to be bonded. We will also amend By-Law, Art. II, Section 4 to read: The League Treasurer shall be bonded at the League’s expense. S.R.#11: Needs to state who appoints the committee on #1. Bob Gent and Barry Beaman will speak to the committee. On all Awards Bylaws and S.R.s, it will be added that proper notification of winners of all awards will be sent to the Editor of the REFLECTOR and to the webmaster of our website. This motion was made by Ed Flaspoehler and seconded by Bob Gent. The motion passed. Add the following paragraph to SR’ s #5, 11, 12, 14, 15, and 16: Award committees shall report award winners, and justification for their awards, to the REFLECTOR editor, League webmaster and League Publicity Chairman within 30 days of presentation of the award. S.R.#1 Section 4c: Add the word “next” before the words “fiscal year”. A motion was made by Matt Ganis to accept this wording and seconded by Julia Bachtell. The motion passed. International Memberships: The A.L. will be accepting international memberships. Their membership fee will be $11.00 higher based on postage. They will not be able to conduct any business in the name of the League because of insurance problems. We will also add a new Section, a4 to Article 1-2 which will read: Member Societies not within the United States, its territories and possessions shall not have privileges set forth in paragraphs a 2 and 3 of this Section 2. Changing the names of Regional Officers: The Executive Secretary received a letter recommending the League’s Bylaws be amended to rename the regional officer position of “Chair” to “President.” After discussion, this change was not approved. Regions are free to establish additional officer positions as they deem necessary. Insurance: Chuck Allen is looking into the insurance questions, there will be further discussion. We will amend SR#2, adding new paragraphs 15 &16 to read: 15, The host(s) shall obtain liability insurance of at least one million dollars for the convention and shall add the Astronomical League as a named insured on such policy. 16, The host(s) agree not to arrange or provide transportation secured by written agreement with a licensed and insured commercial or public transportation provider. In the event such a provider is used, the Astronomical League shall be added as a named insured on the provider’s liability insurance policy. Dues: There was discussion about raising dues for member societies. We will need to start a League office before long and we need to start preparing now. In a very close vote the dues increase was voted down. While we all understand the need for the office, we want to wait and see how much the new MAL program will cover. Budget: A motion was made by Matt Ganis to accept the approved budget. Barry Beaman seconded it. The motion passed. Adjourn: A motion made by Tim Hunter and seconded by Matt Ganis to adjourn the meeting at 9:15 p.m.
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