Executive Committee MeetingMinutes
Monday, March 1, 2010
The meeting was held at PARC in Palo Alto. It was called to
order by Chair Bruce Raby at 7:30 p.m.
Members present: Linda Brunauer, Ihab Darwish,
Lois Durham, Floyd Hobbs, Abby Kennedy, Mark Kent, George Lechner,
Howard Peters, Sally Peters, Bruce Raby, Peter Rusch, Harry Ungar and
Karl Marhenke.
Italicized names indicated voting members; a quorum was present.
It was MSC to approve the minutes of the meeting of February 1, 2010 as distributed.
I. Karl Marhenke (Secretary) announced that the annual
report for 2009 was completed and Councilor-approved well before the deadline,
although not quite as long before as has been the case in recent years.
The printed copy in its 3-ring binder was displayed, and Karl noted that
the report is available on the website. He thanked everyone for the cooperation
and help.
Karl left Alternate Councilor Credential Cards for the coming
Council meeting in San Francisco with Bruce, who can issue them, if needed,
more quickly than Karl can. Karl pointed out that the letter from national
that accompanied the cards stressed that they must not be issued unless
the Alternate Councilor is actually substituting for a Councilor. They
are not to be used simply as admission tickets to the Council meeting.
Karl said that information regarding dinner meeting speakers
must be obtained well in advance of the meeting. For example, the April
meeting must be announced in the March newsletter, the deadline for which
is February 10, which means that the request needed to be made before the
end of January. Future Chairs Elect should be aware of this.
Finally, Karl passed along information obtained from Phil
Monti about advertising rate for the newsletter. There is both a flat monthly
charge, and a per-page charge which varies depending on how many pages
a given issue needs. In 2009 we spent $9916 to publish 78 pages; this works
out to an average of $127.13 per page. Karl suggested $35 or $40 as an
advertising rate for a 1/4-page advertisement for one issue. Other amounts
ranging up to $80 were also suggested by members of the group.
It was moved and seconded that we charge $80 for a 1/4-page
ad per month. During the discussion, questions were raised about the rate
for 1/6-, 1/2- and full-page ads, so it was MSC to table the motion. Peter
agreed to return in April with a set of specific proposals.
II. Ihab Darwish (Treasurer) distributed the budget summary for 2010 to date. Copies will be included with the hard copy of these minutes.
III. Bruce Raby (Chair) received a note from National
about a contact for our women chemists group; we have none.
There were questions about grant funding from National for
projects. A Section can have only one grant-funded project at a time; no
grant money will be given for a new project until the final report about
the preceding one has been submitted.
Questions were received from Natalie about the national meeting
activities.
There will be a charge of $25 per easel per day levied by
the Moscone Center for the poster project at the National meeting. For
25 easels and 5 days, this amounts to $3125. Union rules prohibit our bringing
in our own easels. Kristen McCaleb of Roche is helping to try to persuade
National to pay part of this cost; it was completely unexpected.
National will provide booklets for the hospitality booth,
as well as a computer for checking hotel and restaurant reservations. A
note from Natalie asked about free dinners at dinner meetings for volunteers
who staff the booth. Last time we were involved in hosting a National meeting,
most of the booth staffing was done by ExComm members from both our section
and the CalACS Section.
Many volunteers will be needed for the outreach event at
the California Academy of Sciences on Saturday, March 20. The notice for
this request seems to have been very short. CalACS people are working on
it.
Sally noted that 19 high schools are signed up for the Olympiad.
Sally will ask the 19 teachers about attending the national meeting, with
the 92-dollar registration fee being covered by us.
IV. Abby Kennedy (Chair Elect) said that the famous chemical demonstration show presented by Don Showalter and Marv Lang will be a National Chemistry Week activity for us. The show will be at a local Community College.
V. Howard Peters (Councilor) gave a brief progress
report on the Intel Science Fair. The ACS will present $10,000 to winners.
Judges are needed for the general division, and chemistry judges are needed
for the chemistry projects.
Judging for the Synopsis Championship will be on Wednesday,
March 17.
At the national meeting, Howard will be busy working on the
Committee on Committees; there are three days of meetings scheduled.
VI. Peter Rusch (Councilor) will be working at the national meeting to present a symposium sponsored by the Committee on Nomenclature, Terminology and Symbols.
VII. Ean Warren (Councilor) sent word that he is he
is looking for a CPA to "discuss" our financial procedures and controls.
In CPA terms, a "review" would be about $10,000, and an "audit" would be
even more, so Ean has ruled these out. A "discussion" will be much less.
Since most CPAs are working on income tax returns now, Ean may have to
wait until after April 15 to find one.
It was noted by the group that there is no legal or ACS mandate
for even a "discussion", but Ean feels it would be a good idea. What is
needed is some sort of manual of procedures that we should be following.
George Lechner mentioned that he has relatives who might be able to advise
us.
VIII. Floyd Hobbs (Nominations and Elections) is working on the ballot for the 2010 election. We will need to elect two Councilors, two Alternate Councilors, and the usual Chair Elect, Treasurer and Secretary. Statements and photos will be needed from the candidates.
IX. Sally Peters (Councilor) noted that 19 high schools are participating in the Olympiad this year. For the first time, Bellarmine Preparatory School will participate.
X. George Lechner (Councilor) gave a progress report on the computer purchase. The computer will be used at dinner meetings (along with the projector, which we already have), and for other purposes such as National Chemistry Week activities. Cost range of laptops is about $300-$2000. An HP-Compaq Presario that would meet our needs is $480; case, remote, security (anti-virus, etc.) and necessary software (e.g., presentation) would put the total cost in the $800-$900 range. George will continue to research the issue.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:04 p.m.
The NEXT MEETING will be on Monday, April 5, 2010, at 7:30 at PARC. Those needing directions or a map should contact