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CFAS Monthly Board Meeting Minutes

CFAS Monthly Board Meeting Minutes

October 20, 2005


Attendees:

Paul Kronenwetter

Tony Urzi

Ray Jones

Walt Hamler

David Furrow

Derek Demeter

Larry Lurie

Alan Hoffberg


Guests: (None)


  1. President's Call to order. Welcoming remarks.

    1. The meeting was called to order at 6:58pm


  1. Secretary's Report

    1. A request was made for comments and changes to the September board meeting minutes. Ray mentioned that the number of UCF students trained last month was actually 4, not 5. Ray moved to accept the minutes as amended, Derek seconded. The minutes were approved unanimously.


  1. Treasurer's Report

    1. Alan reviewed the balance sheet and income statement with the board. Larry made a motion to accept the treasurer's report, David seconded. The motion was passed unanimously.


  1. Agenda Items

    1. Mars Observing Week

      • Robinson: Wednesday – Friday 10/26-10/28 (Tom)

      • OSC: Friday & Saturday 10/28 – 10/29 (Larry)

      • SCC: Saturday 10/28 (Derek)

      • David will put a request on the Yahoo group site requesting volunteers specifically sign up for a night at one of the three venues. Paul will put a note on the main CFAS site pointing to the Yahoo group information as well.

    2. Christmas Party Planning

      • Folding chairs would be useful for expanding the party outside.

      • Additional tables for food would allow for better organization.

        Board agreed to the previous menu, but asks members to bring a dessert or Hors d'oeuvres this year. In the past we have had too many desserts. Dave Furrow agreed to pick up the sandwiches.

    3. Budget submission date & information needed (Alan)

      • Alan will be unavailable for the November board meeting so the board will need to agree on a preliminary budget and submit it to Alan for final massaging. Budget inputs are needed from each board member at the November meeting.

    4. Changing of CFAS.org email addresses

      • The board decided to close the observing@cfas.org and president@cfas.org email address due to the quantity of spam and limited use. Paul will contact the ISP.


  1. Committee Reports

    1. Membership -

      • New Members for October:

        • Shawn Lyon

        • Lonnie Cottell


    Ray moved to accept the new members, Tony seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

    1. Review new member package

      • Francisco was not present to discuss.


  1. Programs

    1. November (OSC)

      • Gadget night

      • NASA Night Sky Network presentation

      • Tony will also do a constellation of the month

      • Ray has requested Dr. Campins to present during the November meeting. Dr. Campins hasn't responded as of the time of the board meeting.

    2. December (Robinson)

      • Robinson party

    3. January (SCC)

      • History of the Cosmos (Dr. Costas Efthimiou)

      • Derek suggested a larger venue for Dr. Efthimiou's presentation and better advertising to attract more of the general public to the presentation.

    4. Ray has asked all of the Astronomy professors at UCF to make presentations throughout the year.

    5. Ray suggested more technical presentations for otherwise unfilled meetings. Derek was asked to present a lecture on the efforts of the Dark Sky Committee and how members can help protect the night sky. Derek also agreed to present the next new SCC planetarium show.


  1. DSAC/Library

    1. An electronic tracking system is being planned for the library.

    2. Paul Gardner & Derek are starting an initiative to reduce ambient light around the Robinson observatory.

    3. Portable DSAC demonstrations are also in the works to improve public awareness of DSAC issues.


  1. Publicity

    1. Mars Viewing release will go out this weekend.


  1. Orlando Science Center

    1. There has been no additional information received regarding the new outreach program.


  1. Board Members at Large

    1. No members have made contact with the BMAL this month.

    2. Walt asked about creating a survey again this year.


  1. Observing

    1. Loaner telescopes

    2. Education & Outreach

    3. Volucia county event

      • Ray & Walt have not been able to make contact with the group.

    4. Tosahachee event on December 3rd.

    5. English estates elementary school event is slated for February, 2006.

    6. Harmony Site

      • Impending road construction will prevent us from using our normal site for over a year.

      • Walt will contact the SCC star range custodian to see if that is a possible site for our use again.

    7. Tom wants to provide our membership with an observing guide from our website.

    8. Tom also wanted to bring up the topic of hosting Astrofest at Chiefland again in 2006. The board members going to Chiefland in a few weeks will start the dialog with Tom. Astrofest will be held the weekend of March 29th unless CAV will be hosting a party that weekend.


  1. Robinson

    1. Operational status

      • RA encoder slipped off the axis again. Paul Gardner is investigating.

    2. Package to National Science Foundation for complete rebuild submitted by UCF

      • There will be no status on the request until next year.

    3. Visitor night

      • Started in September

      • Need liaison

    4. Training: 3 completed, 2 CFAS, 1 UCF

      • The training policy should be updated to reflect the new agreement of CFAS training UCF students.

      • The board discussed a recertification policy for the Robinson observatory. Paul will research and report for the next meeting.


  1. Astrolog Editor

    1. Fall edition distribution

    2. Need deadline for January 2006 submissions

      • November 20th will be the due date.


  1. Scientific Committee

    1. Inactive


  1. NASA Night Sky Network

    1. NNSN has changed their website. Member clubs can log any NNSN related event on the website and receive credit. Another change allows us to log any sort of event on their site.

    2. November 30th NNSN teleconference with an astronaut - Janice Voss.

    3. On October 21st NNSN will post new information about the Mars opposition.

    4. The next toolkit will be issued in January – Telescopes – Eyes on the Universe.


  1. Webmaster

    1. Requested updates and comments from board members to improve the site.

    2. Paul offered that any presentations made during the general meetings could be posted to the website.

    3. Alan will send Paul a copy of the 2004 IRS 990 form for CFAS.


  1. Old Business

    1. 3 Lakes Wilderness Area

      • On hold

    2. Harmony observatory

      • On hold

    3. Orlando Museum of Art Program

      • Although the submissions for this exhibition will be shown for a short time, it could be a start for a more long-term or permanent display.


  1. New Business

    1. Larry suggested moving the refreshments table out the hallway outside the planetarium to encourage people to stay and talk with us.

    2. Larry also suggested providing color name tags for guests and a plain name tag for members to improve the potential for interaction with them.

    3. Tony noted that we lost the “greeter” at the entrance to issue name tags when Frank stopped coming to meetings. The board will ask Francisco to resume that function.


  1. Motion to Adjourn

    1. Ray motioned to adjourn the meeting, Walt seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 8:49pm.


/s/ Paul Kronenwetter