From robhawley at earthlink.net Mon Apr 2 11:10:38 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Mon Apr 2 11:10:42 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Auction Results Message-ID: <00d401c77552$381ea910$0300a8c0@robathome> 62 Bidders 70 Items (115 copies) $8444.99 Gross Sales $2928.00 Donations Wow!! The Orion donation was significant, but the two next largest donors contributed $810. $2528 was contributed by people giving more than the 10% default. A whopping 41 items were contributed with 50% or more going to SJAA. To see how this compares to previous years see http://www.sjaa.net/rh/Auction%20History.htm Thanks to all members that helped make yesterday possible!!! Rob Hawley From reade at stanford.edu Mon Apr 2 12:35:52 2007 From: reade at stanford.edu (Gordon Reade) Date: Mon Apr 2 12:35:56 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Auction Results In-Reply-To: <00d401c77552$381ea910$0300a8c0@robathome> References: <00d401c77552$381ea910$0300a8c0@robathome> Message-ID: <1175542552.46115b18a1dac@webmail.stanford.edu> Rob That's great news but you left out one thing. How much did we make from the donuts and soft drinks? Clear Skies Gordon Quoting Rob Hawley : > 62 Bidders > > 70 Items (115 copies) > > $8444.99 Gross Sales > $2928.00 Donations > > Wow!! > > > The Orion donation was significant, but the two next largest donors > contributed $810. $2528 was contributed by people giving more than the > 10% > default. A whopping 41 items were contributed with 50% or more going to > SJAA. > > > To see how this compares to previous years see > http://www.sjaa.net/rh/Auction%20History.htm > > Thanks to all members that helped make yesterday possible!!! > > Rob Hawley > > > > _______________________________________________ > SJAABoard mailing list > SJAABoard@sjaa.net > http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard > From wb6yru at aenet.net Mon Apr 2 16:31:58 2007 From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell) Date: Mon Apr 2 16:32:05 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Auction financial report Message-ID: <4611926E.4030106@aenet.net> Financial report for the SJAA Auction 2007 Cash inflow: -------------- Swap: 92.00 donations: 18.00 auction buyers: 3152.10 ----------- total cash inflow: 3262.10 Checks: --------- auction buyers: 4905.50 (checks received) auction sellers: -5129.10 (checks written) ----------- total checking: -223.60 Total net for the auction: 2928.50 Total net for the day: 3038.50 At the end of the day, I was handed a can of money ($41.75) from the refreshments. I have yet to find out if that?s net or gross. The relatively high inflow of cash was partially due to some people mistakenly thinking the event was cash only. OK, that?s what I?ve got in the cash box. My records all match to the penny, (i.e. my notes and the actual money counted all match). We have two discrepancies with the results from the program: 1) Treasury shows a total net of 2928.50, the program says 2928.00. 2) Treasury shows a gross of 8057.60, the program shows 8444.99. There were some corrections made during the auction. It?s likely that?s where some of the discrepancies occurred. Stay tuned for updates. Gary Mitchell SJAA Treasurer From wb6yru at aenet.net Mon Apr 2 15:27:35 2007 From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell) Date: Mon Apr 2 16:32:15 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Auction Results In-Reply-To: <00d401c77552$381ea910$0300a8c0@robathome> References: <00d401c77552$381ea910$0300a8c0@robathome> Message-ID: <46118357.6040706@aenet.net> Rob Hawley wrote: > 62 Bidders > > 70 Items (115 copies) > > $8444.99 Gross Sales > $2928.00 Donations > > Wow!! > > > The Orion donation was significant, but the two next largest donors > contributed $810. $2528 was contributed by people giving more than the 10% > default. A whopping 41 items were contributed with 50% or more going to > SJAA. And I was worried that switching to a voluntary donation scheme (from commission) was going to be a bust. Gary > > To see how this compares to previous years see > http://www.sjaa.net/rh/Auction%20History.htm > > Thanks to all members that helped make yesterday possible!!! > > Rob Hawley > > > > _______________________________________________ > SJAABoard mailing list > SJAABoard@sjaa.net > http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard > From robhawley at earthlink.net Mon Apr 2 17:46:57 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Mon Apr 2 17:46:43 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Auction Results In-Reply-To: <46118357.6040706@aenet.net> References: <00d401c77552$381ea910$0300a8c0@robathome> <46118357.6040706@aenet.net> Message-ID: <00f901c77589$95cc1de0$0300a8c0@robathome> It was a realistic fear. Pulling these kind of returns year after year is going to be hard. It means beating the bushes for donations and then getting buyers willing to pay a fair price. There was only one case where someone flat out refused to make a donation. Rob Hawley From jvn at svpal.org Mon Apr 2 18:02:08 2007 From: jvn at svpal.org (Jim Van Nuland) Date: Mon Apr 2 18:03:26 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Auction Results References: <00d401c77552$381ea910$0300a8c0@robathome> <1175542552.46115b18a1dac@webmail.stanford.edu> Message-ID: <4611A790.7DC2@svpal.org> Gordon Reade wrote: > That's great news but you left out one thing. How much did we make > from the donuts and soft drinks? By now Gary has posted the total in the can: $41.75. Let him know what is owed for buying the donuts and sodas. -- Jim Van Nuland, San Jose (California) Astronomical Association JVN's web site From jvn at svpal.org Mon Apr 2 17:59:39 2007 From: jvn at svpal.org (Jim Van Nuland) Date: Mon Apr 2 18:03:27 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Auction Results References: <00d401c77552$381ea910$0300a8c0@robathome> <46118357.6040706@aenet.net> <00f901c77589$95cc1de0$0300a8c0@robathome> Message-ID: <4611A6FB.5F3@svpal.org> Rob Hawley wrote: > > It was a realistic fear. Pulling these kind of returns year after year is going to be hard. Rob, results will always go up and down. Do not get distracted with trying to have ever-increasing results. This was an exceptionally good year, and not likely to happen again any time soon. > There was only one case where someone flat out refused to make a > donation. That's okay too! During the time when we had that $1 for a bidder number, there was one person who refused to pay it. He contributed too, but in another way. Clear Profits! -- Jim Van Nuland, San Jose (California) Astronomical Association JVN's web site From jvn at svpal.org Mon Apr 2 17:48:26 2007 From: jvn at svpal.org (Jim Van Nuland) Date: Mon Apr 2 18:03:28 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Auction Results References: <00d401c77552$381ea910$0300a8c0@robathome> <46118357.6040706@aenet.net> Message-ID: <4611A45A.6DE4@svpal.org> Rob Hawley wrote: ... > > The Orion donation was significant, but the two next largest donors > > contributed $810. $2528 was contributed by people giving more than > > the 10% default. A whopping 41 items were contributed with 50% or > > more going to SJAA. Gary Mitchell wrote: > And I was worried that switching to a voluntary donation scheme > (from commission) was going to be a bust. Oh ye of little faith! Nor for a second did I worry about that -- I'd seen many people round their commission up to the next 5 or 10 $. I had expected the great majority would simply stay with the old 10% with $50 cap, so I *am* surprised that more than half of the items were above the default. I was not surprised that a few chose to make no donations at all. BTW Rob, does the program properly handle that case, apart from the "restore function" (donno what that means)? You could enter that as zero percent, or set the max to zero. Test both. > > Thanks to all members that helped make yesterday possible!!! ... And especially to the man who was willing to rewrite a program that's used only once a year! Clear Skies! -- Jim Van Nuland, San Jose (California) Astronomical Association JVN's web site From robhawley at earthlink.net Mon Apr 2 18:22:24 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Mon Apr 2 18:22:07 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Auction Results In-Reply-To: <4611A45A.6DE4@svpal.org> References: <00d401c77552$381ea910$0300a8c0@robathome><46118357.6040706@aenet.net> <4611A45A.6DE4@svpal.org> Message-ID: <010f01c7758e$894a4420$0300a8c0@robathome> > BTW Rob, does the program properly handle that case, apart from the > "restore function" (donno what that means)? > I am currently listing it as a bug although I don't know whether it works or not. That will give me a means of tracking the testing. > ... And especially to the man who was willing to rewrite a program >that's used only once a year! Your welcome. I have a fairly long bug/change list for next year, but I think it will settle down after that. I was surprised how easy executing the actual auction was! It was actually easier than in the two life data tests I did. Being able to hold a piece of paper up to the screen and compare numbers helped a lot. Having Gary look at all of the sales before I committed them helped, but the two of us still got one transaction wrong. I even wondered into my edit functions. An easier program makes it less likely you will make a mistake, it does not prevent it. WRT the post about the high numbers this year. I was trying to say the same thing. We were lucky this year. I was in the market for a scope like Orion gave us and was willing to bid it up...to a point. We had a rather large estate sale. Neither of those will probably happen again. The numbers will be the numbers. Rob Hawley From areopagus125 at yahoo.com Mon Apr 2 23:31:40 2007 From: areopagus125 at yahoo.com (David Smith) Date: Mon Apr 2 23:31:47 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Upcoming speakers Message-ID: <812028.34940.qm@web38413.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Upcoming attractions: Apr 28 Karrie Gilbert Andromeda galaxy halo stars May 26 Jeffrey Cuzzi The Rings of Saturn Jun 30 John Dillon Searching for the First Telescope Jul 28 Bryant Grigsby Lick AO Aug 25 Graeme Smith Globular Clusters Sep 22 --- photo & equipment night Unfortunately, my daughter's college graduation collides with the April 28 meeting, so I will be out of town. I really regret missing Karrie's presentation. Could someone do her introduction for me? I believe the Ephemeris article should be material enough. -- David ____________________________________________________________________________________ Finding fabulous fares is fun. Let Yahoo! FareChase search your favorite travel sites to find flight and hotel bargains. http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097 From jvn at svpal.org Tue Apr 3 13:52:13 2007 From: jvn at svpal.org (Jim Van Nuland) Date: Tue Apr 3 15:46:36 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Upcoming speakers Message-ID: <4612BE7D.2789@svpal.org> David Smith wrote: > > Upcoming attractions: > > Apr 28 Karrie Gilbert Andromeda galaxy halo stars > May 26 Jeffrey Cuzzi The Rings of Saturn > Jun 30 John Dillon Searching for the First Telescope > Jul 28 Bryant Grigsby Lick AO > Aug 25 Graeme Smith Globular Clusters > Sep 22 --- photo & equipment night Most of these names were on year2007.htm, but I added a few words about each speaker. Dr. Cuzzi spoke to SJAA several times -- after each flyby of the Grand Tour, he told us of the new discoveries. At the Uranus talk, he presented the spacecraft's first image, and someone commented "That's just what it looks like!". Jeff was surprised to learn that Uranus can be seen in amateur telescopes -- he came into astronomy via engineering, and had never been an amateur astronomer. My telescope was in the bus, Uranus was in the evening sky, and at a break I ran outside, only to be greeted by clouds. *&^%$#@! > Unfortunately, my daughter's college graduation collides with the > April 28 meeting, I feel for you! I'd been sort-of-planning my Wisconsin visit in late May. Will anyone offer to sit in at my sister' house, while I attend Dr.Cuzzi's talk? Or videotape it? :-) Seriously, if anyone knows where else he'll be giving this talk, let me know! Clear Skies! -- Jim Van Nuland, San Jose (California) Astronomical Association JVN's web site From Nelsonastro at aol.com Thu Apr 5 21:10:10 2007 From: Nelsonastro at aol.com (Nelsonastro@aol.com) Date: Thu Apr 5 21:10:39 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] AANC seeing monitor? Message-ID: $2 K for a shared piece of equipment, I noticed that an astro friend from mine at UC Berkeley was one of the founders of AANC back in the day. And that one of the original tasks for AANC was to compare seeing at different No. Cal. sites. In some ways the "Observing Reports" of TAC have taken over that function - it's really facinating to understand how well observing places like Dino Pt., Coe and Coyote Lake Park are understood in terms of fog, humidity, light pollution and windy seasons. We are still using rather subjective criteria to compare astronomical seeing. SBIG has a very nice Polaris Seeing monitor. Attached to a laptop, it can give measured values of Zenith corrected stellar motion measurements. The interesting things about the SBIG unit: it is very portable - can be used at several sites in one night (intercomparisons) it uses a technique very well known for astronomical site surveys it is starting to be avaliable at many sites over the WWW. So, something to think about (on a good clear night how do Coyote and Coe compare? Is Willow Springs 25% better seeing than Mercy Hot Springs? Is there any difference between Chews Ridge and Fremont Peak? How do these compare to Mt. Hamilton on a good night? How steady is Mt. Diablo?) Steven ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070406/ca47dbd5/attachment.html From leebizz at aol.com Fri Apr 6 13:22:42 2007 From: leebizz at aol.com (leebizz@aol.com) Date: Fri Apr 6 13:23:06 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] AANC seeing monitor? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8C946A0769B3E0A-1648-71EE@WEBMAIL-RC04.sysops.aol.com> After observing from most if not all the mentioned locations. Mercy Hot Springs and Willow Springs are about equally dark and clear although Willow is a lot harder to get to. The last 3 miles of road are really bad and it is often very windy. Considering the factors of darkness, clarity and easy good road access is why I am building my observatory there. Rating 8 Coe Lots of light and a bad windy road Rating 4 Dinosaur Point Some light around but reasonably dark and pretty close by Rating 6 Coyote Some lights from Gilroy and Morgan Hill. Obscured horizons "in a bowl effect" Rating 5 Fremont Peak I don't go there much because I go to better places but suspect light intrusion is quite a problem Rating 6 Chew's Ridge Nice and dark although not as dark as it used to be and the Southern horizon is obscured from many observing sites and the road is BAD Rating 8 LSA Dark but low elevation also 3+ hours to get there Rating 7 -----Original Message----- From: Nelsonastro@aol.com To: sjaaboard@sjaa.net Sent: Thu, 5 Apr 2007 9:10 PM Subject: [SJAABoard] AANC seeing monitor? $2 K for a shared piece of equipment, I noticed that an astro friend from mine at UC Berkeley was one of the founders of AANC back in the day. And that one of the original tasks for AANC was to compare seeing at different No. Cal. sites. In some ways the "Observing Reports" of TAC have taken over that function - it's really facinating to understand how well observing places like Dino Pt., Coe and Coyote Lake Park are understood in terms of fog, humidity, light pollution and windy seasons. We are still using rather subjective criteria to compare astronomical seeing. SBIG has a very nice Polaris Seeing monitor. Attached to a laptop, it can give measured values of Zenith corrected stellar motion measurements. The interesting things about the SBIG unit: it is very portable - can be used at several sites in one night (intercomparisons) it uses a technique very well known for astronomical site surveys it is starting to be avaliable at many sites over the WWW. So, something to think about (on a good clear night how do Coyote and Coe compare? Is Willow Springs 25% better seeing than Mercy Hot Springs? Is there any difference between Chews Ridge and Fremont Peak? How do these compare to Mt. Hamilton on a good night? How steady is Mt. Diablo?) Steven See what's free at AOL.com. _______________________________________________ SJAABoard mailing list SJAABoard@sjaa.net http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard ________________________________________________________________________ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070406/f02a33e3/attachment.html From Nelsonastro at aol.com Fri Apr 6 17:42:25 2007 From: Nelsonastro at aol.com (Nelsonastro@aol.com) Date: Fri Apr 6 17:42:43 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] AANC seeing monitor? Message-ID: Actually Lee I was thinking in the 'seeing' survey mode rather than "site survey" I was reading a Colorodo amatuer's description of his very nice backyard observatory (observered Pluto occultation). Talks about 4-5 arc second normal seeing because of jet stream and Rocky Mountain turbulence. We are so used to 'the good stuff' here along the Ca. coast. But how good do we have it (measured in arc -sec)? So I'm thinking of a table, done in the good days of summer-fall. site sky back ground (mag/arc-sec2) seeing FWHM (arc-sec) Mt. Diablo Chabot Mt. Hamilton Coe Coyote Dino Pt. Fremont Pk. WS Mercy Chew's We have the 'theory' for background in the Clear Sky version of the Dark Sky map. The meters for the background are in-hand (doesn't SJAA have one?) but I don't think any individual or club has an arc-sec seeing meter. PS There was a very interesting comment about the Orange County Anza site and Mt. Pinos having one of the darkest Messier Marathons in memory. 5,000 ft of fog and low clouds over all of costal So. Calif will do that for you! And we thought the after-midnight at Coe was "good fog". ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070406/dfd7e1a2/attachment.html From rnapo at znet.com Fri Apr 6 18:38:20 2007 From: rnapo at znet.com (Rich N) Date: Fri Apr 6 18:38:43 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] May not go to Houge tonight References: <00d401c77552$381ea910$0300a8c0@robathome> Message-ID: <001f01c778b5$6cf4e170$e8f61345@180edt> Hi guys, Sorry, I likely won't be going to Houge tonight. I have a house guest, and from the GOES10 images it looks as if the clouds will be getting thicker this evening. . Rich From Nelsonastro at aol.com Sat Apr 7 09:50:17 2007 From: Nelsonastro at aol.com (Nelsonastro@aol.com) Date: Sat Apr 7 09:50:32 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] request for Board Agenda Item, CalStar 2007 at fixed time of 7:30 PM Message-ID: Hi, There has been a lot of discussion of the next CalStar but no Board action. I'm asking for an item to be put on the agenda to just discuss this item. I would like to have a fixed time, towards the end, so that our members will have an easy opportunity to express their comments. I think it is important for as many members as possible to participate in this discussion, and volunteer at this time if they are Really Interested. I would like a second for this please! (little SJAA member interest and no volunteers = I'm much less inclined to 'sponsor' it) ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070407/be8e02f9/attachment.html From robhawley at earthlink.net Sat Apr 7 09:58:46 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Sat Apr 7 09:58:45 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] CalStar will be on the next agenda In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <00a501c77936$023103b0$0300a8c0@robathome> A lot has been happening behind the scenes. I plan to continue as lead for CalStar and discuss my plans during the next board meeting. Rob Hawley From robhawley at earthlink.net Sat Apr 7 10:00:44 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Sat Apr 7 10:00:42 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] FW: Star party in August query. Message-ID: <00a601c77936$4894ba90$0300a8c0@robathome> Any interest in this? Rob Hawley -----Original Message----- From: Dave Goggin [mailto:dave65536@earthlink.net] Sent: Friday, April 06, 2007 2:29 AM To: robhawley@earthlink.net Subject: Star party in August query. Hi Mr. Hawley, I saw you as a contact person for SJAA and not knowing who else to ask figured I would write to you... I am planning a vegetarian lunar eclipse viewing event in August. The idea being that I round up a bunch of people (mainly from S.F.)and we go out to a dark area where people can see the outer milky way and lots of stars like the sky is supposed to look like around the eclipsed moon. What a spectacle. Anyway, in perusing the light pollution maps it seems the darkest area that is anywhere within reasonable distance is rural San Benito Co., southeast of Hollister along road 25. (There are others north of SF but knowing the tendancy of coastal low clouds to extend far inland the very night something interesting is going on leads me to want to go as far inland as possible) I wonder if your club is doing anything similar and/or would like to collaborate on this. Also, whether there are any astronomy friendly people in the rural parts of San Benito Co. who would be amenible to having us set up at their lettuce ranch. Thanks, -DG From Nelsonastro at aol.com Sat Apr 7 11:10:00 2007 From: Nelsonastro at aol.com (Nelsonastro@aol.com) Date: Sat Apr 7 11:10:15 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] CalStar will be on the next agenda (7:30 PM ?) Message-ID: Ah yes, "behind the scenes". My request is that the item be at 7:30 PM, and that less be done by the President on his own without Board approval (President's CalStar Committee excepted - if there is going to be one). :-) I guess it wouldn't be appropriate for an astronomy club to have a "sunshine" policy, unless it was into solar observing! ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070407/cc900ca4/attachment.html From robhawley at earthlink.net Sat Apr 7 11:47:57 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Sat Apr 7 11:47:56 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] CalStar will be on the next agenda (7:30 PM ?) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <00cc01c77945$4305b3e0$0300a8c0@robathome> It will be the third or fourth item on the agenda. We need to review the auction and clarify the club's privacy policy first. There may be one or two other items that I may want to slip in before this. I expect that we will dispose of it long before 7:30PM. I also expect that it will not take a lot of time. I need board votes on starting another contract with Valley Catering, but Mike has an alternative that needs serious consideration. There is no need to have a specially designated committee just like we do not have a specially designated committees for the school program, Yosemite trip, or the Ephemeris. SJAA operates by people willing to take responsibility for a problem and make something happen. If the board likes what I say I will proceed, if they don't I won't. And I don't intend to start a long email battle over this. The torrent of emails that the board has been subjected to since March is why I decided to do this again. It will simply be less work to organize CalStar then to deal with the fall out of not organizing it. I have already spent more time on CalStar 2007 than I spent in the entire 2006. Rob Hawley From Nelsonastro at aol.com Sat Apr 7 12:17:22 2007 From: Nelsonastro at aol.com (Nelsonastro@aol.com) Date: Sat Apr 7 12:17:37 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] items on "to buy" list ? Message-ID: Board buyers list? I was noticing some items on sale in an Orchard Supply advertisement and woundered if it might be good if we had an "Items to Look For" list. Especially since we did well at the auction! These are a few inexpensive items that we have done without - but might especially help in publicity and times we are out with the public. If we had 'a list' we could all keep aware of free deals (best) or the lowest cost items we could find. The particular item I noticed was an 'orange security fence' of open plastic mesh. 100' long (but cut to 1/2 height it would be (2) 100' for marking areas). I think the cost was $21. Plastic tape or plastic chain would do a similar job but might not last as many years or be as visible. 1. "SJAA Star Pary" fence banner (plastic, about $95 for a 3'x 4' ) or "SJAA EVENT" or "Star Party" ? 2. orange plastic cone set (? high, #) 3. barrier tape, or chain or fence (which and how much?) 4. folding 'street signs' (i.e those nice plastic ones the real estate agents use) 5. "SJAA" orange safety vests My neighborhood association used some of the money we got from our city to get about 6 of these (#4)signs. I don't know if someone made (drill plastic) or found a good cheap source. In our neighborhood these have been used with 8 paper clamps on the corners of printed paper (11" x 17") to announce various events over the last two years. It seems easy and cheap to change the signs, they are light and are easy to cart around in cars, yet they don't blow over and seem to hold up to reasonable weather in a reasonable way. They normally will sit out for about a week before an event (i.e just fine for our needs). I tend to like the plastic stuff because it tends to mess up the inside of my car upholstery less when I am in a hurry and less carefull! Steven ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070407/89ca6afb/attachment.html From rnapo at znet.com Sat Apr 7 13:55:27 2007 From: rnapo at znet.com (Rich N) Date: Sat Apr 7 13:55:54 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] items on "to buy" list ? References: Message-ID: <000e01c77957$12dae700$dd54f842@180edt> Hi Steven, We have done nicely for years without that stuff. I see no need to buy it.. Rich ----- Original Message ----- From: Nelsonastro@aol.com To: sjaaboard@sjaa.net Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2007 12:17 PM Subject: [SJAABoard] items on "to buy" list ? Board buyers list? I was noticing some items on sale in an Orchard Supply advertisement and woundered if it might be good if we had an "Items to Look For" list. Especially since we did well at the auction! These are a few inexpensive items that we have done without - but might especially help in publicity and times we are out with the public. If we had 'a list' we could all keep aware of free deals (best) or the lowest cost items we could find. The particular item I noticed was an 'orange security fence' of open plastic mesh. 100' long (but cut to 1/2 height it would be (2) 100' for marking areas). I think the cost was $21. Plastic tape or plastic chain would do a similar job but might not last as many years or be as visible. 1. "SJAA Star Pary" fence banner (plastic, about $95 for a 3'x 4' ) or "SJAA EVENT" or "Star Party" ? 2. orange plastic cone set (? high, #) 3. barrier tape, or chain or fence (which and how much?) 4. folding 'street signs' (i.e those nice plastic ones the real estate agents use) 5. "SJAA" orange safety vests My neighborhood association used some of the money we got from our city to get about 6 of these (#4)signs. I don't know if someone made (drill plastic) or found a good cheap source. In our neighborhood these have been used with 8 paper clamps on the corners of printed paper (11" x 17") to announce various events over the last two years. It seems easy and cheap to change the signs, they are light and are easy to cart around in cars, yet they don't blow over and seem to hold up to reasonable weather in a reasonable way. They normally will sit out for about a week before an event (i.e just fine for our needs). I tend to like the plastic stuff because it tends to mess up the inside of my car upholstery less when I am in a hurry and less carefull! Steven ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ See what's free at AOL.com. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ SJAABoard mailing list SJAABoard@sjaa.net http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070407/ef7f3301/attachment.html From mark.wagner at resource-intl.com Sat Apr 7 14:29:01 2007 From: mark.wagner at resource-intl.com (Mark Wagner) Date: Sat Apr 7 14:30:00 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] FW: Star party in August query. In-Reply-To: <00a601c77936$4894ba90$0300a8c0@robathome> References: <00a601c77936$4894ba90$0300a8c0@robathome> Message-ID: <46180D1D.4030306@resource-intl.com> Rob Hawley wrote: > Any interest in this? > This event makes no sense to me... 1. There's no need to be at a dark site for a lunar eclipse. 2. Once the eclipse is over, its going to be pretty bright, being full moon. 3. I don't understand the benefit of being in a lettuce field.. 4. The is no such thing as a vegetarian lunar eclipse. From rnapo at znet.com Sat Apr 7 14:39:20 2007 From: rnapo at znet.com (Rich N) Date: Sat Apr 7 14:39:41 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] FW: Star party in August query. References: <00a601c77936$4894ba90$0300a8c0@robathome> <46180D1D.4030306@resource-intl.com> Message-ID: <004801c7795d$3439a160$dd54f842@180edt> > Rob Hawley wrote: >> Any interest in this? >> > > This event makes no sense to me... > > 1. There's no need to be at a dark site for a lunar eclipse. > 2. Once the eclipse is over, its going to be pretty bright, being full > moon. > 3. I don't understand the benefit of being in a lettuce field.. > 4. The is no such thing as a vegetarian lunar eclipse. Any excuse for a party? Maybe DG would like to come to one of our dark sky star parties? From rnapo at znet.com Sat Apr 7 14:59:29 2007 From: rnapo at znet.com (Rich N) Date: Sat Apr 7 14:59:55 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] FW: Star party in August query. References: <00a601c77936$4894ba90$0300a8c0@robathome><46180D1D.4030306@resource-intl.com> <004801c7795d$3439a160$dd54f842@180edt> Message-ID: <004d01c77960$046d1ef0$dd54f842@180edt> >> Rob Hawley wrote: >>> Any interest in this? >>> >> >> This event makes no sense to me... >> >> 1. There's no need to be at a dark site for a lunar eclipse. >> 2. Once the eclipse is over, its going to be pretty bright, being full >> moon. >> 3. I don't understand the benefit of being in a lettuce field.. >> 4. The is no such thing as a vegetarian lunar eclipse. > > Any excuse for a party? > > Maybe DG would like to come to one of our dark sky star parties? Just thinking, an eggplant could represent the fully eclipsed moon. Then someone could peel the eggplant to show the moon coming out of the shadow. Or, you could eat Moon Pies. You could only eat chocolate Moon Pies while the moon is in total eclipse? From jvn at svpal.org Sat Apr 7 16:12:53 2007 From: jvn at svpal.org (Jim Van Nuland) Date: Sat Apr 7 16:22:46 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] FW: Star party in August query. References: <00a601c77936$4894ba90$0300a8c0@robathome> <46180D1D.4030306@resource-intl.com> Message-ID: <46182575.2B8E@svpal.org> Mark Wagner wrote: > > Rob Hawley wrote: > > Any interest in this? > > > > This event makes no sense to me... > > 1. There's no need to be at a dark site for a lunar eclipse. They want to watch the stars come out at the onset of totality. That's pretty cool to watch. I've done so from Coe, after making crater timings during the partial phase. It was remarkable to see the dark lanes in the Trifid with the full moon just a few degrees away. OTOH -- one can watch the stars come out on any clear evening. If the moon is down, one can see the fids in the Trifid (in summer). > 2. Once the eclipse is over, its going to be pretty bright, being full > moon. Yes, and as the eclipse ends, astronomical dawn begins. > 3. I don't understand the benefit of being in a lettuce field.. > 4. The is no such thing as a vegetarian lunar eclipse. -- Jim Van Nuland, San Jose (California) Astronomical Association JVN's web site From wb6yru at aenet.net Sat Apr 7 16:41:06 2007 From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell) Date: Sat Apr 7 16:49:07 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] items on "to buy" list ? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <46182C12.5040604@aenet.net> Nelsonastro@aol.com wrote: > Board buyers list? > > I was noticing some items on sale in an Orchard Supply advertisement and > woundered if it might be good if we had an "Items to Look For" list. It seems like you want to buy stuff just because you think it'd be good to have on hand. Assuming we went along, where would we keep it all, at your place? We only buy things when the need is recognized, and then only those specific items to solve whatever problem is at hand. Unless it's an ongoing thing that the board has already approved, the board would have to approve each item or approve the whole list after agreeing what should be on that list. > Especially since we did well at the auction! Nonsense. Are you one of those people for whom money burns holes in your pockets? ;) Just because we made money at our annual fund raiser doesn't mean we have to run out and spend it. Quite the opposite, your treasurer has been busy squirreling away most of the club's money in higher interest bearing CDs. (Our general fund now has four 1-year CDs, spaced three months apart.) Gary From robhawley at earthlink.net Sat Apr 7 18:16:17 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Sat Apr 7 18:16:21 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] FW: Star party in August query. In-Reply-To: <46180D1D.4030306@resource-intl.com> References: <00a601c77936$4894ba90$0300a8c0@robathome> <46180D1D.4030306@resource-intl.com> Message-ID: <00fc01c7797b$82ae5570$0300a8c0@robathome> I guess I did not read this closely enough. I think I will just thank him for thinking of us. Rob Hawley >-----Original Message----- >From: sjaaboard-bounces@sjaa.net [mailto:sjaaboard-bounces@sjaa.net] On >Behalf Of Mark Wagner >Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2007 2:29 PM >To: Business list for SJAA board of directors and members >Subject: Re: [SJAABoard] FW: Star party in August query. > >Rob Hawley wrote: >> Any interest in this? >> > >This event makes no sense to me... > >1. There's no need to be at a dark site for a lunar eclipse. >2. Once the eclipse is over, its going to be pretty bright, being full >moon. >3. I don't understand the benefit of being in a lettuce field.. >4. The is no such thing as a vegetarian lunar eclipse. > >_______________________________________________ >SJAABoard mailing list >SJAABoard@sjaa.net >http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard From rnapo at znet.com Sat Apr 7 18:25:46 2007 From: rnapo at znet.com (Rich N) Date: Sat Apr 7 18:26:10 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] items on "to buy" list ? References: <46182C12.5040604@aenet.net> Message-ID: <000501c7797c$d6ff9c50$4b52f842@180edt> -snip > raiser doesn't mean we have to run out and spend it. Quite the > opposite, your treasurer has been busy squirreling away most of the > club's money in higher interest bearing CDs. (Our general fund now > has four 1-year CDs, spaced three months apart.) > > Gary Way to go Gary! Rich From Nelsonastro at aol.com Sun Apr 8 07:26:55 2007 From: Nelsonastro at aol.com (Nelsonastro@aol.com) Date: Sun Apr 8 07:27:13 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] items on "to buy" list ? nuts? Message-ID: > let's squirrel away money, way to go! [why not a 'duesgiveback'] A SJAA banner, SJAA signs, yellow cones, and cordon-off tape It's easy to tell the "no new spending, no new taxes" guys! (or is that "the squirrels") This list of items was in fact mainly suggested to me by Rob in a message he sent me about how anyone taking over CalStar should do things. His off-the-cuff suggestion was that $200 would have to be spent for this (or should be). It's my opinion also (Rob and I agree probably more than we disagree) that SJAA often does itself poorly by not having adequate signage. CalStar last year was pretty pathetic (sorry Rob - of course you know this!) Poor public signage CAN lead to POOR PUBLIC information and POOR PUBLIC (or member) action. Even jerks like the one in the white pickup at Coe, after twilight on the night of the MM might heed a sign or tape across a gate. Durable stuff that might last 5 years can be a good investment. The list suggested is just about in the $200 range if it was bought new retail. Having a list and looking for bargins and free donations would reduce the cost. Let's see 200/17000 is what percent of our nut reserves? It's good to know we have vigilant squirrels looking after our nuts : ) , or is that nuts looking after our squirrels : ), or are these a part of the 'vegetarian observers' we have been hearing rumors about! Steven An easter bunny thought - what happens to the eggs that are hidden away and never found? ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070408/e8c6b1bc/attachment.html From mark.wagner at resource-intl.com Sun Apr 8 10:57:02 2007 From: mark.wagner at resource-intl.com (Mark Wagner) Date: Sun Apr 8 10:55:37 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] items on "to buy" list ? nuts? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <46192CEE.90105@resource-intl.com> Nelsonastro@aol.com wrote: > A SJAA banner, SJAA signs, yellow cones, and cordon-off tape I too do not see the need for such things. For where? > It's easy to tell the "no new spending, no new taxes" guys! I think that's a mischaracterization. What I saw was you proposing spending without defining a purpose or need. You identified a few things on a "want to buy" list, but not why anyone should be interested in buying them. Not until your last reply, at 7:26 a.m. today, when it became apparent that the list is related to CalStar (perhaps). I also find the logic of the subsequent replies difficult to follow. Here is a synopsis: Yesterday 9:50 a.m. Steven: "There has been a lot of discussion of the next CalStar but no Board action. I'm asking for an item to be put on the agenda to just discuss this item." Yesterday 9:58 a.m. Rob: "A lot has been happening behind the scenes. I plan to continue as lead for CalStar and discuss my plans during the next board meeting" Yesterday 11:10 a.m. Steven: "Ah yes, "behind the scenes". My request is that the item be at 7:30 PM, and that less be done by the President on his own without Board approval" Today 7:26 a.m. Steven: "This list of items was in fact mainly suggested to me by Rob in a message he sent me" Your last posting yesterday requested that less be done behind the scenes, per se. Today you indicate you are receiving, or having, private e-mail discussions with Rob regarding the same item. Sorry, but on the surface it appears to be okay between you and Rob, but not for Rob and others. Indeed, even for Rob to decide on his own to continue as CalStar lead, including the proviso that his plans will be discussed and open for approval/disapproval at the next board meeting. I find your objections confusing. Why object? Mark -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070408/2d948bab/attachment.html From robhawley at earthlink.net Sun Apr 8 11:11:12 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Sun Apr 8 11:11:17 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] items on "to buy" list ? nuts? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <001401c77a09$4b1d8a70$0300a8c0@robathome> Just to be clear SJAA has not authorized you to purchase supplies for CalStar. If you purchase them on your own the board is under no obligation to use them. I already discussed some purchases with the board last fall. Unfortunately by tying these needed purchase to the auction results this has confused what should have been a simple decision. Rob Hawley From wb6yru at aenet.net Sun Apr 8 22:50:35 2007 From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell) Date: Sun Apr 8 22:49:48 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] items on "to buy" list ? nuts? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4619D42B.8030200@aenet.net> Nelsonastro@aol.com wrote: >>let's squirrel away money, way to go! [why not a 'duesgiveback'] > > > A SJAA banner, SJAA signs, yellow cones, and cordon-off tape > > > It's easy to tell the "no new spending, no new taxes" guys! (or is that > "the squirrels") This list of items was in fact mainly suggested to me by Rob > in a message he sent me about how anyone taking over CalStar should do things. > His off-the-cuff suggestion was that $200 would have to be spent for this > (or should be). > > It's my opinion also (Rob and I agree probably more than we disagree) that > SJAA often does itself poorly by not having adequate signage. CalStar last > year was pretty pathetic (sorry Rob - of course you know this!) > Poor public signage CAN lead to POOR PUBLIC information and POOR PUBLIC (or > member) action. Even jerks like the one in the white pickup at Coe, after > twilight on the night of the MM might heed a sign or tape across a gate. > Durable stuff that might last 5 years can be a good investment. > > > The list suggested is just about in the $200 range if it was bought new > retail. Having a list and looking for bargins and free donations would reduce > the cost. If you think we need to buy something, present your case to the board and we'll vote on it. It's just that simple. If there are several things, and the board approves them, *then* you'll have your list. > Let's see 200/17000 is what percent of our nut reserves? It's > good to know we have vigilant squirrels looking after our nuts : ) , or is > that nuts looking after our squirrels : ), or are these a part of the > 'vegetarian observers' we have been hearing rumors about! > An easter bunny thought - what happens to the eggs that are hidden away and > never found? If you expect your purchase requests to be taken seriously, I'd suggest using a different strategy than this. I, for one, am not impressed by attempts to justify purchases based on the percentage of our treasury they may cost, nor by wise cracks, and certainly not by insinuations that we might want to spend money before the treasurer hides it away and loses it. Gary From areopagus125 at yahoo.com Mon Apr 9 15:25:31 2007 From: areopagus125 at yahoo.com (David Smith) Date: Mon Apr 9 15:25:40 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Oct 27 Peter Dunckel Message-ID: <972473.8177.qm@web38410.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Our speaker for October 27 will be Peter Dunckel. He will speak on amateur/professional cooperative research, and in particular, his involvement in the project mapping asteroid 90 Antiope -- see http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2007/03/29_antiope.shtml . I am open to suggestions for speakers for November and beyond. Although, when it comes to offering 2008 dates, I guess I will have to quote provisional dates, since the calendar hasn't been opened yet, to my knowledge. -- David Smith ____________________________________________________________________________________ Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to find your fit. http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097 From Nelsonastro at aol.com Mon Apr 9 16:24:32 2007 From: Nelsonastro at aol.com (Nelsonastro@aol.com) Date: Mon Apr 9 16:24:45 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Suggestion - list of items to put on 'to get list" Message-ID: Serious topic It is useful to advertize and better sign some of our events (in my opinion). In the past there have been some suggestions, both on this list and between different Board members and project volunteers. The suggestion is to make and keep such a list of materials that we could use to support our programs. This could be a very small list that is a part of the minutes (or not) and might be put as a small box in the newsletter. My suggestion of four items on the list were 1) SJAA banner 2) SJAA "real estate sign boards" (2'x2') 3) yellow cones 4) "area marking" lines or tapes (perferably reusable) Gee, these seem pretty self-evident to me in how they would be used at several types of events. They are used in many types of public events for many types of organizations. They are not necessarily used at all events, or would be used or useful to all people doing every kind of SJAA event. My guess is that there may be several free sources other directors or other members might be able to tap. I do not think cost is a particular issue. If there are several of each item, it does not seem to be unsurmountable to keep them in a few places for easy access. Steven ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070409/7aed6b6a/attachment.html From Nelsonastro at aol.com Mon Apr 9 16:27:25 2007 From: Nelsonastro at aol.com (Nelsonastro@aol.com) Date: Mon Apr 9 16:27:54 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] items on "to buy" list ? Message-ID: Note - There was no suggestion in any form of going out and buying anything! That is why the title was "list". ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070409/d1ed9e1d/attachment.html From wb6yru at aenet.net Tue Apr 10 02:49:14 2007 From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell) Date: Tue Apr 10 02:48:21 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] items on "to buy" list ? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <461B5D9A.4040203@aenet.net> Nelsonastro@aol.com wrote: > Note - > There was no suggestion in any form of going out and buying anything! You called it the "to buy list," that sure sounds like you were suggesting it. > That is why the title was "list". And the two preceding words? Gary From robhawley at earthlink.net Wed Apr 11 20:00:09 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Wed Apr 11 20:00:10 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] FW: NIAC Board Approves a $3.7 Million Dividend for Members Message-ID: <015101c77cae$aeae22f0$0300a8c0@robathome> Rob Hawley ________________________________________ From: pameladavis@insurancefornonprofits.org [mailto:pameladavis@insurancefornonprofits.org] Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 6:05 PM To: membership@sjaa.net Subject: NIAC Board Approves a $3.7 Million Dividend for Members Sometimes dreams do come true.?As the founder of NIAC, one came true for me at the end of March when the board of directors of the Nonprofits' Insurance Alliance of California (NIAC) authorized a $3.7 million dividend payment to NIAC members. That's right. Beginning June 1, and over the course of the next 12 months, 2,707 NIAC members qualify to receive a check from NIAC when they renew their coverage with us.?For those who have been with us for many years and who have excellent claims records, those checks will be sizeable! The largest check we write will be for more than $82,000. Insurance is inherently difficult to price.?Claims take many years, sometimes decades, to be reported, negotiated or litigated, and ultimately settled.?Given this uncertainty, NIAC charges the lowest possible price that can be sustained over the long-term and shares the benefits of better than expected claims experience with members. We want the only surprises you receive from NIAC to be good ones! We have concluded that our claims experience for the years 2000, 2001 and 2002 will be better than expected and it's time to return $3.7 million of that success to you, our members.?So if you were insured with us during that time period and meet the loss ratio and loyalty criteria, your organization is eligible to receive a dividend. We appreciate the work you do to serve our communities by operating safe and effective nonprofit organizations. If you are not one of the NIAC members receiving a sizeable check this year, remember that while our Dividend Plan is based on premiums paid for the dividend period, the plan rewards members for length of continuous coverage with NIAC as well as favorable claims experience.?So every year you stay with NIAC and maintain favorable claims experience you build up credits under the plan. Why can't we apply the dividend towards your premium for this year? For accounting purposes we must charge the annual premium and send the dividend in a separate check. To find out whether your organization is eligible for a dividend check this year contact your insurance broker or contact one of the individuals listed below. Susan Bradshaw - sbradshaw@niac.org; 831-621-6041 Steve Moody - smoody@niac.org; 831-621-6054 Pamela Davis - pdavis@niac.org; 831-621-6018 Pamela E. Davis President and CEO Alliance Member Services (AMS) serving Alliance of Nonprofits for Insurance, Risk Retention Group (ANI-RRG) Nonprofits' Insurance Alliance of California (NIAC) P.O. Box 8507 Santa Cruz, CA 95061-8507 Tel: 800-359-6422 extension 18 Direct Dial: 831-621-6018 Fax:? 831-459-0853 ________________________________________ We respect your privacy. If you would like to be removed from our mailings please click here. 11-Apr-07 - NIAC 2000 Contact ID: 209587 From pkohlmil at best.com Mon Apr 16 00:30:12 2007 From: pkohlmil at best.com (Paul Kohlmiller) Date: Mon Apr 16 00:30:43 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] May Ephemeris Proofread Message-ID: <005b01c77ff9$12983e20$37c8ba60$@com> Hello, The May Ephemeris is now available for proofing at http://ephemeris.sjaa.net/0705/EphMay07.pdf . Please send any corrections or comments. This edition will go to the printer around 8 a.m. Tuesday. Thank you. Paul and Mary Kohlmiller -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070416/e3bec6b3/attachment.html From robhawley at earthlink.net Mon Apr 16 07:27:33 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Mon Apr 16 07:27:26 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] May Ephemeris Proofread In-Reply-To: <005b01c77ff9$12983e20$37c8ba60$@com> References: <005b01c77ff9$12983e20$37c8ba60$@com> Message-ID: <006201c78033$60044b10$0300a8c0@robathome> I object to the Scope City ad being on the auction page. Orion was the largest contributor. Rob Hawley ________________________________________ From robhawley at earthlink.net Tue Apr 17 15:12:13 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Tue Apr 17 15:12:14 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] April Member counts Message-ID: <00d601c7813d$740018a0$0300a8c0@robathome> ******************Monthly Expirations********************* Last SJAA Meeting 3/3/2007 Report Date 4/17/2007 expired 76 Mar-07 9 Apr-07 7 May-07 18 Jun-07 42 Jul-07 19 Aug-07 27 Sep-07 19 Oct-07 18 Nov-07 19 Dec-07 16 Jan-08 17 Feb-08 17 Mar-08 20 Apr-08 11 May-08 6 more than 13 months 22 complementary 33 expiring 9 paid(current) 278 email delivery 35 Labels Generated 286 S&T Members 161 New Members since last report 4 current + complementary 311 *********************Retained Members ************************ Starting this month I will use a different metric to measure our member retention. I will be reporting the years in which current members joined compared to the number of new members at the end of that year. We started collecting data on when members joined starting in 2002. paid only Members at end of year Members retained 2007 12 2006 58 51 2005 64 32 2004 68** 24 2003 61** 29 2002 26** 17 < 2002 148** 113 ** based on 12/04 total 278 Rob Hawley From Nelsonastro at aol.com Wed Apr 18 10:59:25 2007 From: Nelsonastro at aol.com (Nelsonastro@aol.com) Date: Wed Apr 18 11:00:06 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] April Member counts Message-ID: Percent San Jose residents >From last month's member list I was able to determine an approximate answer to a question posted on the percentage use of the SJ park facilities by SJ residents. According to our lists about 43% or our members in Santa Clara, Alemeda, and San Mateo (and several closer cities in other counties) have mailing addresses in the city of San Jose. Considering the propensity of people to attend meetings closer to the meeting place - I think it's a good assumption to believe that we are within the 50% resident-use request of the city of San Jose. I know Mike had been doing some meeting attendance sampling - but I don't think this is any problem or priority item that needs to be adressed further (at least % wise). Steven Nelson ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070418/c8bdef2d/attachment.html From Nelsonastro at aol.com Wed Apr 18 11:05:24 2007 From: Nelsonastro at aol.com (Nelsonastro@aol.com) Date: Wed Apr 18 11:05:47 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] cheap SJAA signs & a visit to RAS Observing Site -for [off-list] Message-ID: If anyone else is interested in continuing a discussion on cheap signs - it's continuing off-list. I also had a nice visit to a southern California club observing site last Friday. If you'r interested in the writeup, contact me. For this year I no longer consider site purchase/use issues a matter of general SJAA Board interest. Steven ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070418/608d0672/attachment.html From robhawley at earthlink.net Wed Apr 18 13:48:28 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Wed Apr 18 13:48:35 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] April Member counts In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <012a01c781fa$eb408630$0300a8c0@robathome> Percent San Jose residents is not an interesting figure. The form asks for the percentage of "users". That is a different question then the number of members. Rob Hawley From robhawley at earthlink.net Wed Apr 18 13:49:24 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Wed Apr 18 13:49:21 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] cheap SJAA signs & a visit to RAS Observing Site -for[off-list] In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <012b01c781fb$0c6357c0$0300a8c0@robathome> Your help is not required to obtain signage as I am handling that. Rob Hawley From Nelsonastro at aol.com Wed Apr 18 15:51:49 2007 From: Nelsonastro at aol.com (Nelsonastro@aol.com) Date: Wed Apr 18 15:52:01 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] cheap SJAA signs Message-ID: Gee, we actually have more than one volunteer for a project! You do your thing on signs Rob (I guess it is for CalStar?), and I''ll ignore the buracracy and do my own thing. But if the standard to improve upon is last year's LSA signs - it won't take much to make a significant improvement! I'm only working on free generic signs* - absolutely not CalStar! viva la difference Steven * interested parties [off-list] _nelsonastro@aol.com_ (mailto:nelsonastro@aol.com) ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070418/d328c9fd/attachment.html From koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net Thu Apr 19 13:34:39 2007 From: koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net (Michael Koop) Date: Thu Apr 19 13:34:51 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Ephemeris Labeling Tonight at Houge Message-ID: <20070419142558.A19632@koopm.best.vwh.net> I called Accuprint at Lunch today to see if the Ephem. were ready and he just finished them 10 min. before I called. I have them in hand now. It takes Accuprint 2 to 4 days to print an issue, and typically the hold up is when the "folding guy" has enough business to come in. After proofreading the Ephem, note when Paul says he is sending the issue. The mailing team will get together 2 to 4 days after that. So, if you do not have any other plans, come on over tonight (4/19) to Houge at 8:30 PM. Typically, they take about an hour to to. I'll leave a phone message with Gary to make sure the labels are there. Mike From rnapo at znet.com Fri Apr 20 07:51:26 2007 From: rnapo at znet.com (Rich N) Date: Fri Apr 20 07:52:01 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Ephemeris Labeling Tonight at Houge References: <20070419142558.A19632@koopm.best.vwh.net> Message-ID: <000201c7835b$5fe69cc0$595ef842@180edt> Hi Mike, Since you knew to call the printing company at lunch yesterday, why couldn't you have given us a heads up the day before that the Ephemeris may be ready on Thursday? At least we would be more likely to keep a closer eye out for your email about the labeling "party". I would have been happy to help last night with the labeling but didn't see your notice until after 10pm and you guys are usually done by then. Sincerely, Rich ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Koop" To: Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2007 1:34 PM Subject: [SJAABoard] Ephemeris Labeling Tonight at Houge >I called Accuprint at Lunch today to see if the Ephem. were ready and he > just finished them 10 min. before I called. > I have them in hand now. > It takes Accuprint 2 to 4 days to print an issue, and typically the hold > up is when the "folding guy" has enough business to come in. > After proofreading the Ephem, note when Paul says he is sending the issue. > The mailing team will get together 2 to 4 days after that. > > So, if you do not have any other plans, come on over tonight (4/19) to > Houge at 8:30 PM. Typically, they take about an hour to to. > I'll leave a phone message with Gary to make sure the labels are there. > > > Mike > > _______________________________________________ > SJAABoard mailing list > SJAABoard@sjaa.net > http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard > From Nelsonastro at aol.com Sat Apr 21 17:55:49 2007 From: Nelsonastro at aol.com (Nelsonastro@aol.com) Date: Sat Apr 21 17:56:04 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Ephemeris Labeling Tonight at Houge Message-ID: I want to add some to Rich's note. Are we who can't easily make it to every 'mailing party' letting you guys down? I'm a little bit farther than most - and sometimes family activities can prevent me from comming unless I have more notice. Or course, my wife was flying back from a trip that night and I had the kids - so sometimes even notice isn't enough! - discussion - mailed vs emailed newsletter, Riverside Astro. Soc experience Last Friday when I was at the RAS observing site they mentioned HOW MUCH MONEY they save by not having to mail all their news letters. HOWEVER, to do this they had to add more time to two other areas. 1) Keep the email for distribution up-to-date. NOT EASY, some people change their e-mails every month! So had to try to track them down. 2) Emailed newsletter was much larger and contained color pictures (we are half way there). An example is the full 'observing list" file could be included and many more pictures of events could be added. SO, GAIN SOME $, MAYBE LOOSE SOME time. Would depend on split of paper and email. It turns out the incentive of a more detailed and robust newsletter was enough incentive by itself to get most people to change over to email. I guess they also limit the size of their paper version to keep costs controlled.. Not proposing anything, just some more background on other's experience. Steven ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070421/4039fb32/attachment.html From robhawley at earthlink.net Sun Apr 22 08:48:34 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Sun Apr 22 08:48:39 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] FW: Upcoming Major Postal Changes Message-ID: <023401c784f5$af991e50$0300a8c0@robathome> As you may be aware, postal rates will be increasing on May 14. This is an email from the author of the sorting program we are using. To summarize my take on what will change a. Mailing will be more expensive b. We will need an update of the sorting program c. It sounds like we will still produce 3 trays, but we should look at the preparation instructions to be sure d. New forms are required. e. The bulk mail personnel will not be fully trained. Note that the PO has reduced the difference in cost between bar-coded and non bar-coded mail. The author recommends we mail before the 14th, which is not possible with our production schedule. Rob Hawley -----Original Message----- From: scott@savepostage.com [mailto:scott@savepostage.com] Sent: Friday, April 20, 2007 3:50 PM To: robhawley@earthlink.net Subject: Upcoming Major Postal Changes Dear Postage Saver User: As you may know, there are major changes coming to the bulk mail process. I want you to know that as a registered user of Postage Saver, you will receive updated software to cover the changes as soon as it is available. WHEN ARE THE CHANGES OCCURRING? Changes to FIRST CLASS and STANDARD CLASS will take effect on May 14. Until then, you should use the current version of Postage Saver (v7.1.5) for all of your mailings. We expect to distribute the new version shortly before May 14. You will be notified by email that the update is ready to be downloaded. If you normally receive your updates by CD-ROM, they will be mailed at the same time. Changes to PERIODICAL CLASS have been postponed until July. When we release the May update, we will let you know whether you need to download it for periodical class mailings, as there may be routine changes to routing lists that you may need to have. Otherwise there will be another round of updates to take care of periodical class changes in July. RATE CHANGES Rates are, of course, going up, but rate categories are also changing. For most mailing categories, you will now get a discount for your ADC or AADC sacks and trays, where these were generally considered part of the basic rate in the past. The current 3/5-digit rate will no longer exist, replaced by a 3-digit rate and a lower rate for 5-digit trays or sacks. So for some mailings, the new categories will partially offset the rate increases. However, there will be less of a difference between barcoded and nonbarcoded rates than there is now. Where the difference is now as much as 5 cents, it will be more like 3 cents. And, for letters, there will be less than a penny difference between barcoded and machinable non-barcoded mail for pieces in AADC and MIXED AADC trays. So, if you are paying to have your list CASS-certified so that you can barcode, and you have a fairly small list, you will want to run some comparison runs using the new version of Postage Saver to see whether it is still worthwhile to barcode or whether you should just take the non-barcoded discounts. Mailers who send flats that cannot be bent will face significant increases. If you are mailing flats that are not flexible, please talk to your local postal business service center about what the changes may mean to your rates. You may want to redesign your packaging to avoid steep rate increases. Mailers who are sending nonmachinable letters (those with irregular shapes, etc.) that weigh over 3.3 ounces will find that their mail is now in a new category that is much more expensive. If you are sending this kind of mail, please drop us a line for info about the new "not flat-machinable" category. The USPS has posted the new rate charts at http://pe.usps.com/RateCase2007/DMM300_HTML/RatesAndFees.htm SORTING CHANGES The sorting will be getting more complicated for some mailings, and much easier for others. For standard machinable (non-barcoded) letters, you will no longer make 5-digit trays, and will only make 3-digit trays for your local area. Everything else will be in AADC or MIXED AADC trays. Of course, that also means that you won't be getting the discount that you currently get for mail in 3-digit or 5-digit trays. For most other categories, you will be required to create your 5-digit and 3-digit trays, sacks, and bundles, in "schemes", meaning that some 5-digit trays might actually contain two or more 5-digit zip codes that actually are located in the same post office. So, for example, instead of creating a tray for zip 77002 and a different tray for 77010, they will both go in the same tray. The scheme lists will be included in Postage Saver so this will all be done automatically, but you will have to get used to seeing (for example) 77002 and 77010 in the same 5-digit tray. 5-digit schemes change every two months, so updates will be much more frequent than they have been in the past. For now, we are not adjusting our pricing to cover this extra cost. FORM CHANGES ALL postage statement forms have been redesigned. The new version of Postage Saver will include these new forms. The good news is that the postage rate calculation sections are much larger, so folks my age can actually read them without having to hold them 2 feet away. Note that the new forms for periodical class mail will not take effect until the new periodical rules take effect in July. BE PATIENT While the USPS has been planning these changes since last year, they did not release the final changes until just last month. The USPS PAVE certification department couldn't even begin setting up the testing process until the rules were final, and it will be impossible for them to thoroughly test every vendor's software in time for the changes. Likewise, none of us could begin programming changes until we knew the final rules. And, of course, retraining of USPS bulk mail personnel is also on a very short timeline. Bottom line, this may be a mess for a while. We will do our best to have a reliable and accurate product in your hands by May 14, but we will not be able to do as much testing as we would like, and we likely will not have completed the USPS certification process. (The USPS is giving all current vendors temporary certification if we start the testing process, whether the product has passed or not.) Please be patient with us and with your local bulk mail folks and we'll all get through this. MAIL BEFORE THE 14TH!! The best way to avoid problems, and to save postage, is to make sure you get that next mailing done and mailed before May 14! Then sit back, relax, and watch everyone else hassle with the new rules for the rest of the month until everyone gets it figured out. As always, we appreciate your business. Scott Hochberg Postage Saver Software savepostage.com From wb6yru at aenet.net Mon Apr 23 01:02:53 2007 From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell) Date: Mon Apr 23 01:01:53 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Ephemeris Labeling Tonight at Houge In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <462C682D.4040809@aenet.net> Nelsonastro@aol.com wrote: > I want to add some to Rich's note. Are we who can't easily make it to every > 'mailing party' letting you guys down? I'm a little bit farther than most - > and sometimes family activities can prevent me from comming unless I have > more notice. Earlier notice would be nice for all of us. But my experience has been that we aren't really hurting too much for more help. Gary From robhawley at earthlink.net Wed Apr 25 17:35:55 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Wed Apr 25 17:35:59 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Changes in S&T Procedures Message-ID: <000f01c7879a$da6d2d90$0300a8c0@robathome> I received this letter from Sky and Tel today. This is the OCR of it. My comments a) This may make things easier for members. It may also cause confusion. I will put an article in the Ephemeris. b) It will likely be more work for us. Since we don't know when members renew by themselves we will send them reminders that are not necessary. c) It does not specifically say where to send the group renews. d) S&T has not mailed us a membership list in over a year (although they sent one in November when I requested one. The 800 number no longer is connected to Cambridge. I will try this person on Friday and see if I can get an updated member list. --------------------------- Dear Club Treasurer, Thank you for being a participant in our club program. We wanted to take a moment to tell you about some changes we're making to our Club Plan. Sky&Telescope subscription orders and service have been transferred to an off-site location. We have reviewed our current procedures and have made the following adjustments to accommodate this change. 1. Club members will now be able to renew directly via mail or phone. You will not be required to validate club memberships at the time of renewal. The subscribers may mail in the renewal notices with payment or renew via phone at 1-800-253-0245. (Outside US 386-597-4277) Payment at the time of renewal is required. 2. Club Treasurers may continue to submit group renewals but must submit full address and payment information with the order. 3. You will be asked to annually review a list of the current Sky&Telescope subscribers in your club to validate their membership. This will also give you the opportunity to review the accuracy of the information we have for your club members. The club must maintain 5 member subscriptions to Sky&Telescope to be eligible for the special club subscription rates. 4. Treasurers will be asked to send NEW club subscribers to me for processing. New member subscriptions may be sent at any time during the year. SKY Publishing Attn: Jane O'Brien 90 Sherman St Cambridge, MA 02 140-3264 Fax 617-864-6117 Phone 866-644-1377 (US&CAN) 617-864-7360 Ext 168 Email jobrien@skyandtelescope.com Give me a call if you have any questions or encounter any problems during this transition. We are trying to make your job as Treasurer a little easier, and we are pleased to support you and your fellow enthusiasts in the exploration of our universe. Best Regards, Jane O'Brien Customer Service Director 90 Sherman St. Cambridge, MA 02140-3264 1-866-644-1377 US/CAN 1-617-864-7360 ext.168 Rob Hawley From robhawley at earthlink.net Wed Apr 25 18:16:53 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Wed Apr 25 18:16:56 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Agenda for board meeting Message-ID: <002101c787a0$939c7550$0300a8c0@robathome> Please send reports to the board mailing list for all routine activities that do not require board action. We want to capture what happened, but will not necessarily spend time unless board action is required. http://www.sjaa.net/agenda_07_04_28.pdf Rob Hawley From north at znet.com Wed Apr 25 20:01:28 2007 From: north at znet.com (Dave North) Date: Wed Apr 25 20:01:47 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Changes in S&T Procedures In-Reply-To: <000f01c7879a$da6d2d90$0300a8c0@robathome> References: <000f01c7879a$da6d2d90$0300a8c0@robathome> Message-ID: Rob Hawley wrote: > It will likely be more work for us. Since we don't know when members > renew by themselves we will send them reminders that are not > necessary. I'd bet S&T will be sending reminders, so probably SJAA won't have to bother. It looks like a much easier system to me, and members should be encouraged to re-up through S&T. If S&T doesn't send a list for us to review then we need take no action, which is generally pretty easy. I don't see that it causes SJAA any harm if someone is getting a deal from S&T without paying their dues ... though that one could (and probably will) be argued nearly endlessly. All that's really left is making sure new subscribers know they have to deal through the club. Anyway, actually seems easier to me... Dave From jvn at svpal.org Wed Apr 25 19:43:45 2007 From: jvn at svpal.org (Jim Van Nuland) Date: Wed Apr 25 21:39:34 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] School star party summary, 2006-7 school year Message-ID: <463011E1.4114@svpal.org> Hi, All, I've changed the format of the report, to show a breakdown of events that were less than successful. The numbers assume that Friday Apr.27 will have been clear. The Yosemite star parties are not included. Houge Park public events are included only if specific pre-arrangements have been made. There is just one, in May, to support a YMCA group of up to 50 people. Cumulative list of school events for 2006-7 school year Total Good Part. Cloudy Cancel sched sky succ. fail at noon Aug 1 1 - - - Sep 1 1 - - - Oct 7 6 - 1 - Nov 12 5 - 2 5 Dec 6 1 - - 5 Jan 8 6 2 - - Feb 7 1 3 2 1 Mar 14 9 4 1 - Apr 6 5 - 1 - Coming attractions, including part of 2008 Total Firm Makeup Negotiating May 5 2 - 3 also: Andy Hill High has not yet asked. ... Aug 3 3 - - Nov 1 1 - - Feb 1 1 - - 2008. "Makeup" are firm dates. They will be dropped from this list if the primary event is successful. If primary fails, the makeup event will be moved from 3rd to 2nd column, and the name of the school will be added on the Current Events page. Clear Skies! -- Jim Van Nuland, San Jose (California) Astronomical Association JVN's web site From Nelsonastro at aol.com Thu Apr 26 08:17:41 2007 From: Nelsonastro at aol.com (Nelsonastro@aol.com) Date: Thu Apr 26 08:18:16 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] CalStar 2006 information? School's summary Totals Message-ID: I'm still waiting on summary information on CalStar 2006. (enquiring minds want to know :) How many SJAA members registered (or attended, if avaliable) the 2006 event that we sponsored? How many SJAA members purchased meals that we sponsored? Both these items have to do with legitimate information that has to be avaliable to directors to understand how their club is operating. My guess is that there are also a quite large number of these "SJAA attendees" that would be actually willing to help volunteer and improve the event for all. (but who knows what an Offical Secrets act will hide!) (or..does this need an Freedom of Information Act filing?) =============== School events Good work again Jim, maybe could add a Total line to the 2006-7 table? Apr 6 5 - 1 - TOTAL 62 35 9 7 11 = 44 completed, 18 canceled P.S. just BS discussion - so ignore if you wish! So glad I live in city like Mt. View, where you can just walk up to City Hall and just get the Police Chief's financial confict of interest filing (how do I know - I'm actually the kind of citizen who went and checked!) Hang in there citizens of San Jose! ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070426/54c3943d/attachment.html From robhawley at earthlink.net Thu Apr 26 09:13:05 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Thu Apr 26 09:13:06 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] CalStar 2006 information? School's summary Totals In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <005501c7881d$c63d3e40$0300a8c0@robathome> http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/2006-September/003256.html Rob Hawley -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070426/047ab740/attachment.html From craigus at rocketmail.com Thu Apr 26 09:27:53 2007 From: craigus at rocketmail.com (Craig Scull) Date: Thu Apr 26 09:28:01 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] February 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes Message-ID: <673051.6156.qm@web54504.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Here are the prior meeting minutes that we have yet to call "final" but which should reflect final edits... ====================================================== February 3, 2007 - SJAA Board Meeting Minutes - Craig Scull ====================================================== January's minutes were approved by a motion from Mike and seconded by Rob. All were in favor. There were no abstentions or oppositions. ------------------------------------- Members present ------------------------------------- *-Mike Koop *-Rob Hawley *-Rich Neuschaefer *-Gary Mitchell *-Lee Hoglan *-Gordon Reade *-Craig Scull *-Dave Smith ------------------------------------- Treasurer's report ------------------------------------- Accounts: 5,237.02 CD 1 5,167.51 CD 2 5,000.00 CD 3 4,299.30 Checking 3,100.51 Observatory Fund 223.76 PayPal 403.81 Savings 41.83 Petty Cash - - - - - - - - 23,473.74 OVERALL TOTAL An inventory of assets must be reported once a year. We will meet this requirement by sending a report to the remailer. Mike will provide this list to Gary by May. ------------------------------------- Membership report ------------------------------------- We are continuing the downward trend of the last year. After dipping in the May of 2005 to 268 the paid membership increased to a peak of 298 in January 06. Since May 06 it has been declining to the current level of 281. Report Date 2/20/2007 34 complementary 7 expiring 281 paid (current) - - - - - - - 315 (current + complementary) email delivery 31 Labels Generated 291 S&T Members 159 New Members since last meeting 2 ------------------------------------- Loaner scope program ------------------------------------- We discussed several ideas related to liquidating some of the unused assets in the loaner telescope program. In prior meetings we had talked about selling the unused telescopes. In this meeting several new alternatives were discussed, some pertaining specifically to Evergreen (college): Donating telescopes to teachers Donating telescopes to groups Also, we talked about the advantages of extended loans which could encourage more use than a donation. At the next meeting Mike will bring a list of the unused telescopes that we should consider liquidating. The conclusion was that all of the above "need" scenarios discussed for groups, teachers, and Evergreen could all be met with the existing loaner telescope program, and that new procedures or new approaches may not be necessary. This brings us back to the beginning again with unused assets in the loaner program and no final direction as to how they should be liquidated. ------------------------------------- Astronomy Class ------------------------------------- 2/9 Jay Freeman on binoculars. 3/9 Messier Marathon talk by Rob Hawley 3/23 Akkana Peck on the Moon. ------------------------------------- General Meeting Programs ------------------------------------- Note from secretary- I didn't record the upcoming speakers, but they can be found in the calendar if it is up to date. ------------------------------------- ATM Class ------------------------------------- Mike, Gary and Tom are working on mirrors but are in need of expert assistance in reading mirrors and doing strokes for parabolizing the mirrors. ------------------------------------- Houge Park ------------------------------------- One good event recently, one bad. The crowds have been not too big lately. Regarding the park's status - use of the the Houge park facility has been extended through June. ------------------------------------- School star parties ------------------------------------- There was a recent star party with 500 people! The 10th of the month is the target for getting an article in the ephemeris that notifies people of upcoming star parties. ------------------------------------- Observatory committee ------------------------------------- Bob Ayers has agreed to another series of weekend summer star parties. The schedule is for Friday + Saturday of the following weekends: May 12 - Sset 8:07 pm, 17% moon rises 3:50 am Jun 16 - Sset 8:30 pm, 6% moon sets 10:32 pm Aug 11 - Sset 8:05 pm, 1% moon rises 5:57 am Note: July is not a good month as it overlaps with Shingletown As for the bathroom, the primary plan is to utilize Lee Hoglan's RV, and a porta-potty on a trailer will be the back up plan. We will drive Lee's RV up to Bob's land the week before the first star party as a test. Craig needs to look for someone who can rent us a porta-potty on short notice in case a backup plan is needed. Rob said he needs to be able to speak to Bob directly about issues related to planning the upcoming star parties (such as the plan to clear the land) and Craig agreed to try this. ------------------------------------- Calendar ------------------------------------- 3 -Sa- General Meeting. Our speaker is Doug Brown of the Fremont Peak Observatory Association, who will tell of the history of Mars Exploration. In the hall at Houge Park, 8:00 pm. Board meeting at 6:00; General Meeting at 8:00 8 -Th- Mirror-making workshop at Houge Park. 7:30 pm 9 -Fr- Houge Park star party. Sset 5:41 pm, 52% moon rise 1:11 am. Star party hours: 7:00 to 10:00 pm. 9 -Fr- Astronomy Class at Houge Park. 7:30 pm. Binocular Astronomy. 10 -Sa- Dark-Sky weekend. Sset 5:42 pm, 42% moon rise 2:13 am. 17 -Sa- Dark-Sky weekend. Sset 5:50 pm, <1% moon sets 6:11 pm. Not visible. 23 -Fr- Houge Park star party. Sset 5:56 pm, 49% moon sets 1:34 am. Star party hours: 7:00 to 10:00 pm. 24 -Sa- Mirror-making workshop at Houge Park. 7:30 pm ------------------------------------- AANC Meeting ------------------------------------- Mike is going to call in to the upcoming AANC meeting. ------------------------------------- Elections ------------------------------------- Craig, Gordon, Rich and Lee are all up for reelection at the general meeting. There is one open position that needs to be filled. Notes will be taken separately that record the outcome of these elections in the general meeting. ------------------------------------- Legal Documents of the Club ------------------------------------- It was noted that Easy Valley astronomy club has all of their legal documents available on their club's web site. We need to move the address for the club from Jim's address to Rob's address. ------------------------------------- School Star Party Forms ------------------------------------- West Valley college treats star parties as an extension of their classes. There was some discussion over how best to inform schools of our school star party policies, such as whether they should be "actively" informed at the time when the reservation is made or "passively" through an information page on the SJAA web site, or both. Gary put forth a star party policy for approval that he, Gordon and Jim had created. Rob made a motion that this policy be approved. Gordon seconded the motion. All but one were in favor. There was one abstention. No one opposed the motion. ------------------------------------- Auction ------------------------------------- Mike is going to an article for the Ephemeris to generate interest. Jim's rolodex is a good resource and Steve volunteered to create a database from this so that it could be more accessible. Other ideas discussed included: visiting jr. college astronomy classes and Foothill College lectures, dropping off posters and/or flyers to these, and putting up notices at SETI, NASA. How many items should we accept in the auction? Around 100 is a good limit so that people don't become bored. Previous experience has shown that interest starts to wane by then. We will encourage people to pre-register. Rob is going to look over the auction forms to ensure the efficiency of the procedures in conjunction with the new software. Donations are where the money is made. ------------------------------------- Coyote Star Parties ------------------------------------- Chris has asked for dates. SJAA annual picnic on Aug 18th? Suggested dates: Jun 9 (3rd qtr) Jul 21 (1st qtr) Aug 18 (1st qtr) Sep 8 (3rd qtr) Parties will be at the boat dock. These events have previously been very well attended by SJAA members. ------------------------------------- Messier Marathon ------------------------------------- Rob will be doing an article for the Ephemeris describing the Messier marathon and in it he will inform people that he is doing a class as well. ------------------------------------- Gregory award for outstanding contribution in amateur astronomy ------------------------------------- A side discussion ensued with Bob Fingerhut around the idea of having an entity outside the SJAA board that accepts and suggests nominations for this award. Bob agreed to head up such a committee. The SJAA board will vote on the recommendations that come from this nominating committee. Mike made a motion to revise the Gregory award instructions to include the possibility of awarding a person twice, such as when sufficient time has passed since the first time they were awarded. The amended wording suggested was "Normally given once per person" with the word "Normally" being the only real adjustment. Craig seconded this motion. All were in favor. There were no absentions or oppositions. For the present year - Mike made a motion was made to award Jim Van Nuland the Gregory award. Gordon seconded the motion. All were in favor. There were no abstentions or oppositions. The meeting was adjourned at 7:54pm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070426/e27da925/attachment-0001.html From craigus at rocketmail.com Thu Apr 26 09:29:08 2007 From: craigus at rocketmail.com (Craig Scull) Date: Thu Apr 26 09:29:17 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Feb 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA General Meeting Minutes Message-ID: <200286.54617.qm@web54509.mail.yahoo.com> And finally... ---------------------------------------------- Minutes from the election held at the General Meeting on Feb 3, 2007 ---------------------------------------------- The following board members were up for reelection for two year terms, beginning in 2007: *-Craig Scull *-Rich Neuschaefer *-Lee Hoglan *-Gordon Reade There was also one open position on the board from Bill O. who stepped down in 2006. This opening expired, and Steve Nelson ran for the new two year position opening. All board members were nominated unanimously, including Steve Nelson to fill the open slot for a two year term starting 2007. The following board members will continue their two year terms which began in 2006. *-Mike Koop *-Rob Hawley *-Gary Mitchell *-Dave Smith Mike announced that he is stepping down as president. Also, the Gregory award was given to Jim Van Nuland. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070426/98b9a6af/attachment.html From craigus at rocketmail.com Thu Apr 26 09:26:38 2007 From: craigus at rocketmail.com (Craig Scull) Date: Thu Apr 26 09:33:24 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes Message-ID: <697966.63992.qm@web54515.mail.yahoo.com> Here are the final meeting minutes which reflect all of the updates to date... ====================================================== March 3, 2007 - SJAA Board Meeting Minutes - Craig Scull ====================================================== February's meeting minutes came out late so they will be approved at the next meeting once people have time to review them. ------------------------------------- Members present ------------------------------------- *-Mike Koop *-Rob Hawley *-Rich Neuschaefer *-Gary Mitchell *-Lee Hoglan *-Gordon Reade *-Craig Scull *-Dave Smith *-Steve Nelson ------------------------------------- Officer elections ------------------------------------- All of the officer positions were up for reelection. Mike stepped down as president. Rob and Steve ran for president. Steve positioned himself on a platform of a very strong observatory site effort and Rob positioned himself on a platform against the idea of the club taking ownership of land anytime soon. A ballot vote was held. Rob received the majority of votes. Craig was reelected for secretary by unanimous votes. Rich ran for vice president and was elected by unanimous votes. Gary was reelected for treasurer by unanimous votes. ------------------------------------- Transition plan for president ------------------------------------- Names listed below. Names will be placed next to every event to ensure there is no confusion about who is leading each event. If the leader is unable to attend an event they are signed up for, then it is their responsibility to find a replacement who can attend in their place. Upcoming Events GARY Mar 8 -Th- Mirror-making workshop at Houge Park. 7:30 pm ROB Mar 9 -Fr- Houge Park star party. Sset 6:09 pm, 68% moon rise 0:01 am Star party hours: 7:00 to 10:00 pm. ROB Mar 9 -Fr- Special Astronomy class at Houge Park, 7:30 pm. Rob Hawley Messier Marathon preparation class. Mar 10 -Sa- Dark-Sky weekend. Sset 6:10 pm, 59% moon rise 1:03 am. Mar 11 -Su- DST begins. Advance clock at 1am ->2am ROB Mar 17 -Sa- Dark-Sky weekend. Messier Marathon at Henry Coe park. Sset 7:17 pm, 1% moon rises 7:00 am. 16th is backup date in case weather looks poor for 17th ROB Mar 23 -Fr- Astronomy Class at Houge Park. 7:30pm Akkana Peck will discuss lunar observing. ROB Mar 23 -Fr- Houge Park star party. Sset 7:22pm 34% moon sets 1:31 am. Star party hours: 8:30 to 11:30 pm GARY Mar 24 -Sa- Mirror-making workshop at Houge Park. 7:30 pm Apr 1 -Su- SJAA/Bay Area Annual Auction XVII Noon to late afternoon. GARY Apr 5 -Th- Mirror-making workshop at Houge Park. 7:30 pm ROB Apr 6 -Fr- Astronomy Class at Houge Park. 7:30pm Guest Instructor to be announced. ROB Apr 6 -Fr- Houge Park star party. Sset 7:35pm 82% moon rise 11:54 pm. Star party hours: 8:30 to 11:30 pm Apr 7 -Sa- Dark-Sky weekend. Short Sset 7:36 pm, 74% moon rise 0:54 am. Apr 14 -Sa- Dark-Sky weekend. Sset 7:42 pm, 7% moon rise 4:57 am. ROB Apr 20 -Fr- Houge Park Astro Day Sset 7:47 pm, 20% moon sets 0:20 am. Star party hours: 8:30 until 11:30 pm MIKE Apr 21 -Sa- Mirror-making workshop at Houge Park. 7:30 pm Apr 28 -Sa- General Meeting. Speaker to be announced. Board meeting at 6:00; General Meeting at 8:00 ------------------------------------- Henry coe discussion ------------------------------------- Jim Van Nuland has been sending letters to the park service at Coe each month for the past many years stating the club's intent to use the site for dark sky observing. Should Jim continue this practice? We decided yes. It does no harm, and this is a frequently attended site. ------------------------------------- Messier marathon ------------------------------------- A second session on the 16th will be planned in case bad weather is forecasted for the 17th. For the Messier marathon preparation class Rob will bring his checklists to hand out and also his observing guide for sale at $10. ------------------------------------- Auction ------------------------------------- Rob is going to set up a second computer screen so that Gary can verify entries before they are committed to the system. Should the Swap continue to take place after the auction? General agreement was yes. It is not too difficult to manage because it's largely self-running and requires only a spreadsheet to track items. We are required to record donations. The responsibility for estimating fair market value lies with the seller. The seller may use a variety of informal and formal methods, including checking for asking prices of comparable items on Astromart. When it comes to tracking items in the action, there is normally a single item per assigned number. The exception is when there are "identical" items being sold by the same seller, and in this case they are listed under a single item as "copies." The donation by default is 10% or $50, but any value can be specified. We will not inform sellers of any "caps" or "limits" we will simply let them decide what they want to donate. For discussion next year: Should buyers have option to donate above the cost of an item? Volunteers for upcoming auction: Rob, Gary handling inventory and data entry; Rich, Mike handing pre-registrations; Gordon bringing sodas to sell for $1 each; Jay Freeman serving as the auctioneer Mike is also handling the publicity for this event and will be taking a posters + flyers to the upcoming Foothill college lectures. Rob will contact the park to explore the idea of getting more chairs for this one time basis. Rehearsal for the auction will be on March 31st at 7:00pm. ------------------------------------- Private board mailing list ------------------------------------- Rob made a motion to have an internal board discussion list that will not be indexed by search spiders. Rich seconded the motion so it could be discussed. The motion was later withdrawn after discussion. It was felt that more harm than good could arise due to the fact that people do not track carefully what list they are on when they make comments or initiate discussion. It was also mentioned that on very occasions have there been any problems with the current "open" system, and that certain problems arising from people forwarding messages to non-list members would still not be avoided with a private list. Mark Wagner cautioned earlier in the week that private elists can / may result in too many things being done that are out of sight of the rest of the club membership. The rest of the board agreed with the caution and so the private list was idea was dropped for now. ------------------------------------- AstroSPAM to SJAA announce list ------------------------------------- In certain cases there are commercial interests we want to support and in other cases there are some we will not. The decision is made on a case by case basis. Criteria for the decision include personal experience (direct or from a trusted source) or direct contact with the commercial entity to verify their authenticity and credibility. When in doubt- don't send a commercial announcement to the list. ------------------------------------- Astronomy day ------------------------------------- 1999 was the last time that the club did something for Astronomy day- they build a telescope in one day a the Tech Museum downtown. This year's Astronomy day is on April 21. There was no real interest in doing anything special for this event, but Steve volunteered to think about this some more. ------------------------------------- General meeting programs - Dave Smith ------------------------------------- Cary Gilbert will talk Apr 28. Cary is a doctoral candidate at UC Santa Cruz and will talk about the stars in the halo of the Milky Way and what we can learn by studying them. Apr 28 Karrie Gilbert- Andromeda galaxy halo stars May 26 open Jun 30 open Jul 28 Bryant Grigsby- Developing adaptive optics for Lick Observatory Aug 25 Graeme Smith- Globular Clusters Sep 22 members- photo & equipment night ------------------------------------- Observatory committee - Craig Scull ------------------------------------- Craig to author and submit article by April 10th in the Ephemeris advertising the upcoming May star party at Bob Ayers land. This article may include an invitation for members to submit their feedback or complete a survey to explore their interest. There was discussion (at the beginning of the meeting, used to frame the presidential candidates positions) about: *Whether we should continue discussions with Bob Ayers regarding it as a possible donation. We did not arrive at a final decision, but the general consensus seemed to be going in the direction that we have a vision mismatch with Bob Ayers. The SJAA wants to support a more grassroots, evolving plan that begins with establishing a permanent toilet, expanding the areas for portable telescope use, adding some concrete pads, and then private observatories. Bob on the other hand seems to have more grand and formal intents for something much larger. This is not a critique against either party, only to suggest that it's not a good fit. *Whether we should pursue land in general (e.g. BLM, park service, lease, etc.) regardless of any incompatibility issues with Bob Ayers. There is a mixture of opinions on this topic, ranging from concerns that we do not have the culture or manpower or funding to make such a site happen, to opinions that slow growth and maintenance are possible with a much more limited budget and manpower (perhaps only 1- 2 motivated individuals really required) and the benefits are substantial to the bay area community. *It is not really known what the membership wants, therefore it's hard to use this to either qualify or disqualify our ideas at this point. The summer star party schedule is for Friday + Saturday of the following weekends: May 12 - Sset 8:07 pm, 17% moon rises 3:50 am Jun 16 - Sset 8:30 pm, 6% moon sets 10:32 pm Aug 11 - Sset 8:05 pm, 1% moon rises 5:57 am ------------------------------------- Loaner telescope program - Mike Koop ------------------------------------- There was some discussion about whether we should add more binoculars and/or bino mounts to our loaner telescope program since they are such an excellent resource for beginners. ------------------------------------- Treasurer's report - Gary Mitchell ------------------------------------- All Accounts, as of March 1, 2007: CD 1 5,251.66 CD 2 5,167.51 CD 3 5,000.00 Checking 4,184.65 Obs. Fund 3,100.51 PayPal 396.36 Savings 403.81 Petty Cash 22.17 ------------ TOTAL Accounts 23,526.67 ------------------------------------- Membership report - Rob Hawley ------------------------------------- We are continuing the downward trend of the last year. After dipping in the May of 2005 to 268 the paid membership increased to a peak of 298 in January 06. Since May 06 it has been declining to the current level of 281. Report Date 2/20/2007 34 complementary 7 expiring 281 paid (current) - - - - - - - 315 (current + complementary) email delivery 31 Labels Generated 291 S&T Members 159 New Members since last meeting 2 ------------------------------------- Astronomy Class ------------------------------------- 2/9 Jay Freeman on binoculars, not well attended (only 2 non-board members showed up). A concern was raised that beginners may not be able to easily make the "leap" to understand why binoculars are the best first instrument. This may explain the poor attendance at a recent "observing with binoculars" talk. A better way to speak to this topic may be to have a talk about "choosing your first telescope" in which the topic of binoculars is introduced. 3/9 Messier Marathon talk by Rob Hawley 3/23 Akkana Peck on the Moon. ------------------------------------- General Meeting Programs ------------------------------------- Note from secretary- I didn't record the upcoming speakers, but they can be found in the calendar if it is up to date. ------------------------------------- ATM Class ------------------------------------- No updates ------------------------------------- Houge Park ------------------------------------- No updates ------------------------------------- School star parties - Jim Van Nuland ------------------------------------- Here are the tallies as of Mar.2 at 1 am, for the school star party program, 2006-7 school year. We have a request from West Valley College, and will need to negotiate away the paperwork (March 20). 2006: Events conducted in Aug: 1 Events conducted in Sep: 1 Events conducted in Oct: 6, plus 1 mostly cloudy event Events conducted in Nov: 5, plus 1 mostly cloudy, 1 rained on, 5 cancel at noon. Events conducted in Dec: 1, plus 5 cancelled at noon. 2007: Events conducted in Jan: 8, of which 2 were partly cloudy but scored successful. Events conducted in Feb: 1, plus 3 partly/mostly cloudy plus 2 clouded out, 1 cancel @ noon. I distinguish between cancelled (decision at noon is to scratch); verses cloudy, clouded out (we go to the school but the sky is bad). Coming attractions: Firm Provisional (explanation) Mar 11 1 (working) Apr 2 1 (rain date) Aug 4 0 including Yosemite and Calero Parks Nov 1 0 next school year ------------------------------------- AANC Meeting ------------------------------------- No updates The meeting was adjourned at 7:52pm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070426/c1d3d481/attachment-0001.html From Nelsonastro at aol.com Thu Apr 26 14:39:56 2007 From: Nelsonastro at aol.com (Nelsonastro@aol.com) Date: Thu Apr 26 14:40:21 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes Message-ID: Odd requirement of our Bylaws - "Officers shall be elected by the Board of Directors by a two-thirds (2/3) vote, at any time, ..." perhaps the minutes should be changed (before adoption) to reflect this requirement? (Article. 4, Sect. 2) Steven PS I don't come to the Party (Star or Board) without reading the rules! ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070426/615baf6c/attachment.html From rnapo at znet.com Thu Apr 26 15:14:41 2007 From: rnapo at znet.com (Rich N) Date: Thu Apr 26 15:15:00 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes References: Message-ID: <001801c78850$4a6b0f80$4ff71345@180edt> Steven, what's your point? Did you read Craig's email earlier today? If not here is the interesting part. Rich Officer elections ------------------------------------- All of the officer positions were up for reelection. Mike stepped down as president. Rob and Steve ran for president. Steve positioned himself on a platform of a very strong observatory site effort and Rob positioned himself on a platform against the idea of the club taking ownership of land anytime soon. A ballot vote was held. Rob received the majority of votes. Craig was reelected for secretary by unanimous votes. Rich ran for vice president and was elected by unanimous votes. Gary was reelected for treasurer by unanimous ----- Original Message ----- From: Nelsonastro@aol.com To: sjaaboard@sjaa.net Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 2:39 PM Subject: Re: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes Odd requirement of our Bylaws - "Officers shall be elected by the Board of Directors by a two-thirds (2/3) vote, at any time, ..." perhaps the minutes should be changed (before adoption) to reflect this requirement? (Article. 4, Sect. 2) Steven PS I don't come to the Party (Star or Board) without reading the rules! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ See what's free at AOL.com. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ SJAABoard mailing list SJAABoard@sjaa.net http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070426/bf1430be/attachment.html From jvn at svpal.org Thu Apr 26 13:46:54 2007 From: jvn at svpal.org (Jim Van Nuland) Date: Thu Apr 26 15:34:19 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] School's summary Totals References: Message-ID: <46310FBE.2BB9@svpal.org> Nelsonastro@aol.com wrote: > =============== > School events > > Good work again Jim, maybe could add a Total line to the 2006-7 table? > > Apr 6 5 - 1 - > TOTAL 62 35 9 7 11 = 44 completed, 18 canceled Probably a good idea, but we're not done yet. I ought to put this into a spreadsheet so the totals would be automagically calculated. As it is, it's hidden text on the Current Events web page (look at the source). -- Clear Skies! -- Jim Van Nuland, San Jose (California) Astronomical Association Current Events From rnapo at znet.com Thu Apr 26 16:37:31 2007 From: rnapo at znet.com (Rich N) Date: Thu Apr 26 16:37:50 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes References: <001801c78850$4a6b0f80$4ff71345@180edt> Message-ID: <002b01c7885b$dc770ea0$60f71345@180edt> Steve, if your point is we don't need to follow our usual timing for electing officers... ok. Although it also sounds as if an officer could be nearly "an officer for life" unless removed, etc. Rich ---------------------------------- Any member may serve as an officer of this corporation. Officers shall be elected by the Board of Directors by a two-thirds (2/3) vote, at any time, and each officer shall hold office until he or she resigns or is removed or is otherwise disqualified to serve, or until his or her successor shall be elected and qualified, whichever occurs first. ----- Original Message ----- From: Rich N To: Business list for SJAA board of directors and members Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 3:14 PM Subject: Re: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes Steven, what's your point? Did you read Craig's email earlier today? If not here is the interesting part. Rich Officer elections ------------------------------------- All of the officer positions were up for reelection. Mike stepped down as president. Rob and Steve ran for president. Steve positioned himself on a platform of a very strong observatory site effort and Rob positioned himself on a platform against the idea of the club taking ownership of land anytime soon. A ballot vote was held. Rob received the majority of votes. Craig was reelected for secretary by unanimous votes. Rich ran for vice president and was elected by unanimous votes. Gary was reelected for treasurer by unanimous ----- Original Message ----- From: Nelsonastro@aol.com To: sjaaboard@sjaa.net Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 2:39 PM Subject: Re: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes Odd requirement of our Bylaws - "Officers shall be elected by the Board of Directors by a two-thirds (2/3) vote, at any time, ..." perhaps the minutes should be changed (before adoption) to reflect this requirement? (Article. 4, Sect. 2) Steven PS I don't come to the Party (Star or Board) without reading the rules! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- See what's free at AOL.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ SJAABoard mailing list SJAABoard@sjaa.net http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ SJAABoard mailing list SJAABoard@sjaa.net http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070426/cf095c25/attachment.html From rnapo at znet.com Thu Apr 26 16:42:01 2007 From: rnapo at znet.com (Rich N) Date: Thu Apr 26 16:42:11 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes References: <001801c78850$4a6b0f80$4ff71345@180edt> <002b01c7885b$dc770ea0$60f71345@180edt> Message-ID: <003f01c7885c$7d0fe170$60f71345@180edt> ----- Original Message ----- From: Rich N To: Business list for SJAA board of directors and members Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 4:37 PM Subject: Re: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes Steve, if your point is we don't need to follow our usual timing for electing officers... ok. Although it also sounds as if an officer could be nearly "an officer for life" unless removed, etc. Rich ---------------------------------- Any member may serve as an officer of this corporation. Officers shall be elected by the Board of Directors by a two-thirds (2/3) vote, at any time, and each officer shall hold office until he or she resigns or is removed or is otherwise disqualified to serve, or until his or her successor shall be elected and qualified, whichever occurs first. ----- Original Message ----- From: Rich N To: Business list for SJAA board of directors and members Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 3:14 PM Subject: Re: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes Steven, what's your point? Did you read Craig's email earlier today? If not here is the interesting part. Rich Officer elections ------------------------------------- All of the officer positions were up for reelection. Mike stepped down as president. Rob and Steve ran for president. Steve positioned himself on a platform of a very strong observatory site effort and Rob positioned himself on a platform against the idea of the club taking ownership of land anytime soon. A ballot vote was held. Rob received the majority of votes. Craig was reelected for secretary by unanimous votes. Rich ran for vice president and was elected by unanimous votes. Gary was reelected for treasurer by unanimous ----- Original Message ----- From: Nelsonastro@aol.com To: sjaaboard@sjaa.net Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 2:39 PM Subject: Re: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes Odd requirement of our Bylaws - "Officers shall be elected by the Board of Directors by a two-thirds (2/3) vote, at any time, ..." perhaps the minutes should be changed (before adoption) to reflect this requirement? (Article. 4, Sect. 2) Steven PS I don't come to the Party (Star or Board) without reading the rules! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- See what's free at AOL.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ SJAABoard mailing list SJAABoard@sjaa.net http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ SJAABoard mailing list SJAABoard@sjaa.net http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ SJAABoard mailing list SJAABoard@sjaa.net http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070426/16644059/attachment-0001.html From rnapo at znet.com Thu Apr 26 16:44:50 2007 From: rnapo at znet.com (Rich N) Date: Thu Apr 26 16:45:12 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes References: <001801c78850$4a6b0f80$4ff71345@180edt><002b01c7885b$dc770ea0$60f71345@180edt> <003f01c7885c$7d0fe170$60f71345@180edt> Message-ID: <004901c7885c$e2214b30$60f71345@180edt> Maybe we should look into changing part of the Bylaws. Rich ----- Original Message ----- From: Rich N To: Business list for SJAA board of directors and members Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 4:37 PM Subject: Re: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes Steve, if your point is we don't need to follow our usual timing for electing officers... ok. Although it also sounds as if an officer could be nearly "an officer for life" unless removed, etc. Rich ---------------------------------- Any member may serve as an officer of this corporation. Officers shall be elected by the Board of Directors by a two-thirds (2/3) vote, at any time, and each officer shall hold office until he or she resigns or is removed or is otherwise disqualified to serve, or until his or her successor shall be elected and qualified, whichever occurs first. ----- Original Message ----- From: Rich N To: Business list for SJAA board of directors and members Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 3:14 PM Subject: Re: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes Steven, what's your point? Did you read Craig's email earlier today? If not here is the interesting part. Rich Officer elections ------------------------------------- All of the officer positions were up for reelection. Mike stepped down as president. Rob and Steve ran for president. Steve positioned himself on a platform of a very strong observatory site effort and Rob positioned himself on a platform against the idea of the club taking ownership of land anytime soon. A ballot vote was held. Rob received the majority of votes. Craig was reelected for secretary by unanimous votes. Rich ran for vice president and was elected by unanimous votes. Gary was reelected for treasurer by unanimous ----- Original Message ----- From: Nelsonastro@aol.com To: sjaaboard@sjaa.net Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 2:39 PM Subject: Re: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes Odd requirement of our Bylaws - "Officers shall be elected by the Board of Directors by a two-thirds (2/3) vote, at any time, ..." perhaps the minutes should be changed (before adoption) to reflect this requirement? (Article. 4, Sect. 2) Steven PS I don't come to the Party (Star or Board) without reading the rules! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ See what's free at AOL.com. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ SJAABoard mailing list SJAABoard@sjaa.net http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard -------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ SJAABoard mailing list SJAABoard@sjaa.net http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ SJAABoard mailing list SJAABoard@sjaa.net http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ SJAABoard mailing list SJAABoard@sjaa.net http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070426/319784a8/attachment.html From rnapo at znet.com Thu Apr 26 20:01:51 2007 From: rnapo at znet.com (Rich N) Date: Thu Apr 26 20:02:06 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes References: <001801c78850$4a6b0f80$4ff71345@180edt><002b01c7885b$dc770ea0$60f71345@180edt><003f01c7885c$7d0fe170$60f71345@180edt> <004901c7885c$e2214b30$60f71345@180edt> Message-ID: <001f01c78878$6809e340$a8f71345@180edt> I missed reading the amendments to Article 4, Section 2. It looks as if we are conducting the board and officer elections correctly. Steve, why were you bringing this up? Thanks, Rich ----- Original Message ----- From: Rich N To: Business list for SJAA board of directors and members Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 4:44 PM Subject: Re: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes Maybe we should look into changing part of the Bylaws. Rich ----- Original Message ----- From: Rich N To: Business list for SJAA board of directors and members Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 4:37 PM Subject: Re: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes Steve, if your point is we don't need to follow our usual timing for electing officers... ok. Although it also sounds as if an officer could be nearly "an officer for life" unless removed, etc. Rich ---------------------------------- Any member may serve as an officer of this corporation. Officers shall be elected by the Board of Directors by a two-thirds (2/3) vote, at any time, and each officer shall hold office until he or she resigns or is removed or is otherwise disqualified to serve, or until his or her successor shall be elected and qualified, whichever occurs first. ----- Original Message ----- From: Rich N To: Business list for SJAA board of directors and members Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 3:14 PM Subject: Re: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes Steven, what's your point? Did you read Craig's email earlier today? If not here is the interesting part. Rich Officer elections ------------------------------------- All of the officer positions were up for reelection. Mike stepped down as president. Rob and Steve ran for president. Steve positioned himself on a platform of a very strong observatory site effort and Rob positioned himself on a platform against the idea of the club taking ownership of land anytime soon. A ballot vote was held. Rob received the majority of votes. Craig was reelected for secretary by unanimous votes. Rich ran for vice president and was elected by unanimous votes. Gary was reelected for treasurer by unanimous ----- Original Message ----- From: Nelsonastro@aol.com To: sjaaboard@sjaa.net Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 2:39 PM Subject: Re: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes Odd requirement of our Bylaws - "Officers shall be elected by the Board of Directors by a two-thirds (2/3) vote, at any time, ..." perhaps the minutes should be changed (before adoption) to reflect this requirement? (Article. 4, Sect. 2) Steven PS I don't come to the Party (Star or Board) without reading the rules! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- See what's free at AOL.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ SJAABoard mailing list SJAABoard@sjaa.net http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ SJAABoard mailing list SJAABoard@sjaa.net http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard -------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ SJAABoard mailing list SJAABoard@sjaa.net http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ SJAABoard mailing list SJAABoard@sjaa.net http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ SJAABoard mailing list SJAABoard@sjaa.net http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070426/db4ec71d/attachment.html From Nelsonastro at aol.com Fri Apr 27 07:16:55 2007 From: Nelsonastro at aol.com (Nelsonastro@aol.com) Date: Fri Apr 27 07:17:45 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] CalStar 2006 information? School's summary Totals Message-ID: thanks Rob for data link (Sorry - boy I must have gotten up on both the wrong side of the bed - and taken a Nasty Pill). You usually try to provide such accurate and exact information in your reports and they can be very useful to try to spot trends and problems. I probably must have taken the Stupid Pill also. I can't figure out the tables so I can figure the % that SJAA membership represents at the CalStar events. So I don't know if that's 10% or 50%. oh well, enquiring minds will have to wait Steven the loyal opoosition ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070427/00c860d2/attachment-0001.html From Nelsonastro at aol.com Fri Apr 27 07:30:22 2007 From: Nelsonastro at aol.com (Nelsonastro@aol.com) Date: Fri Apr 27 07:30:46 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] March 3 , 2007 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes Message-ID: - Officier election - For some reason, the Officer election portion of the Bylaws state 2/3. Usually "majority" implies >50%. By just deleting the word "majority" in the minutes, and leaving it at "elected" it makes it clear. Or maybe it could be changed to "supermajority". Why did Prop 13 make a 2/3 property tax win necessary? Why did the previous Boards make a 2/3 officer election majority the standard? Usually those choices are made for a good reason. Steven the loyal oposition, who tries to read the rules! ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070427/d968a174/attachment.html From robhawley at earthlink.net Fri Apr 27 07:35:29 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Fri Apr 27 07:35:26 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] CalStar 2006 information? School's summary Totals In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <011401c788d9$4df19ff0$0300a8c0@robathome> Unfortunately, the board mailing list is set to plain text. It mangles tables. The numbers were presented at the board meeting. Here is an HTML copy of the email message http://www.sjaa.net/calstar/Final_CalStar_2006_Counts.htm We don't keep stats on the number of SJAA members that attend. That figure is not relevant since SJAA and TAC co-sponsor the event. Rob Hawley From mark.wagner at resource-intl.com Fri Apr 27 08:30:57 2007 From: mark.wagner at resource-intl.com (Mark Wagner) Date: Fri Apr 27 08:31:08 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] CalStar 2006 information? School's summary Totals In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <46321731.1010702@resource-intl.com> Nelsonastro@aol.com wrote: > the loyal opoosition Huh? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070427/fbeeedaa/attachment.html From mark.wagner at resource-intl.com Fri Apr 27 08:38:08 2007 From: mark.wagner at resource-intl.com (Mark Wagner) Date: Fri Apr 27 08:38:07 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Request for posting to this list. Message-ID: <463218E0.8090309@resource-intl.com> I'm getting loads of e-mail footers as attachments from the SJAA board list. Does anyone have an idea why this is happening. I have to clean out about 80 of them just piling up on my HD. Its an easy job if you keep up with it, but I've never been much of a housekeeper... any idea how to avoid getting these? Thanks, Mark From mark.wagner at resource-intl.com Fri Apr 27 08:39:49 2007 From: mark.wagner at resource-intl.com (Mark Wagner) Date: Fri Apr 27 08:39:50 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Request for posting to this list. In-Reply-To: <463218E0.8090309@resource-intl.com> References: <463218E0.8090309@resource-intl.com> Message-ID: <46321945.4090003@resource-intl.com> I didn't get a footer on this one that I sent. So it looks to me like it may be Steve Nelson and occasionally Paul K that generate them. Mark Wagner wrote: > > I'm getting loads of e-mail footers as attachments from the SJAA board > list. Does anyone have an idea why this is happening. I have to > clean out about 80 of them just piling up on my HD. Its an easy job > if you keep up with it, but I've never been much of a housekeeper... > any idea how to avoid getting these? > > Thanks, > > Mark > > _______________________________________________ > SJAABoard mailing list > SJAABoard@sjaa.net > http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard > > From robhawley at earthlink.net Fri Apr 27 09:01:25 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Fri Apr 27 09:01:26 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard]Footers on SJAA messages In-Reply-To: <463218E0.8090309@resource-intl.com> References: <463218E0.8090309@resource-intl.com> Message-ID: <011f01c788e5$4f0e8b30$0300a8c0@robathome> Please send only plain text messages to the SJAA mail lists. Otherwise, junk data accumulates on the server and for those of us that retain message traffic. Rob Hawley >-----Original Message----- >From: sjaaboard-bounces@sjaa.net [mailto:sjaaboard-bounces@sjaa.net] On >Behalf Of Mark Wagner >Sent: Friday, April 27, 2007 8:38 AM >To: SJAA Board >Subject: [SJAABoard] Request for posting to this list. > > >I'm getting loads of e-mail footers as attachments from the SJAA board >list. Does anyone have an idea why this is happening. I have to clean >out about 80 of them just piling up on my HD. Its an easy job if you >keep up with it, but I've never been much of a housekeeper... any idea >how to avoid getting these? > >Thanks, > >Mark > >_______________________________________________ >SJAABoard mailing list >SJAABoard@sjaa.net >http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard From akkana at shallowsky.com Fri Apr 27 09:25:50 2007 From: akkana at shallowsky.com (Akkana Peck) Date: Fri Apr 27 09:25:54 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Request for posting to this list. In-Reply-To: <011f01c788e5$4f0e8b30$0300a8c0@robathome> <46321945.4090003@resource-intl.com> References: <463218E0.8090309@resource-intl.com> <011f01c788e5$4f0e8b30$0300a8c0@robathome> <463218E0.8090309@resource-intl.com> <46321945.4090003@resource-intl.com> Message-ID: <20070427162550.GA10883@shallowsky.com> Mark Wagner writes: > I didn't get a footer on this one that I sent. So it looks to me like > it may be Steve Nelson and occasionally Paul K that generate them. Rob Hawley writes: > Please send only plain text messages to the SJAA mail lists. Otherwise, > junk data accumulates on the server and for those of us that retain message > traffic. Steve is sending messages in both html and plaintext (two copies). Looks like he's using the AOL mailer, which doesn't make that turnoffable, so there's probably not much he can do about it except switch to a different mailer. Maybe Mark's mailer is showing both versions for some reason? Neither version looks like mail headers, though, at least not in his last two messages as they arrived here. ...Akkana From mark.wagner at resource-intl.com Fri Apr 27 09:32:48 2007 From: mark.wagner at resource-intl.com (Mark Wagner) Date: Fri Apr 27 09:32:53 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Request for posting to this list. In-Reply-To: <20070427162550.GA10883@shallowsky.com> References: <463218E0.8090309@resource-intl.com> <011f01c788e5$4f0e8b30$0300a8c0@robathome> <463218E0.8090309@resource-intl.com> <46321945.4090003@resource-intl.com> <20070427162550.GA10883@shallowsky.com> Message-ID: <463225B0.6050005@resource-intl.com> Akkana Peck wrote: > Maybe Mark's mailer is showing both versions for some reason? > Neither version looks like mail headers, though, at least not > in his last two messages as they arrived here. > What I get is this in an attachment: > _______________________________________________ > SJAABoard mailing list > SJAABoard@sjaa.net > http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard This appears to be text only. I also see in body of e-mail message the same thing, but formatted like this: > _______________________________________________ > SJAABoard mailing list > SJAABoard@sjaa.net > http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard Perhaps I have both plain text and html turned on? I'm using Mozilla Thunderbird... Thanks for the help... Mark From rnapo at znet.com Fri Apr 27 09:46:47 2007 From: rnapo at znet.com (Rich N) Date: Fri Apr 27 09:51:31 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] Request for posting to this list. References: <463218E0.8090309@resource-intl.com> <011f01c788e5$4f0e8b30$0300a8c0@robathome> <463218E0.8090309@resource-intl.com> <46321945.4090003@resource-intl.com><20070427162550.GA10883@shallowsky.com> <463225B0.6050005@resource-intl.com> Message-ID: <003b01c788eb$a5c8f090$345bf842@180edt> I also get in an attachment. Rich > Akkana Peck wrote: >> Maybe Mark's mailer is showing both versions for some reason? >> Neither version looks like mail headers, though, at least not >> in his last two messages as they arrived here. >> > What I get is this in an attachment: > >> _______________________________________________ >> SJAABoard mailing list >> SJAABoard@sjaa.net >> http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard > > > This appears to be text only. I also see in body of e-mail message the > same thing, but formatted like this: > >> _______________________________________________ >> SJAABoard mailing list >> SJAABoard@sjaa.net >> http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard > > Perhaps I have both plain text and html turned on? I'm using Mozilla > Thunderbird... > > Thanks for the help... > > Mark > > > _______________________________________________ > SJAABoard mailing list > SJAABoard@sjaa.net > http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard > From robhawley at earthlink.net Fri Apr 27 10:05:33 2007 From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley) Date: Fri Apr 27 10:05:33 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] HTML messages sent to board list In-Reply-To: <003b01c788eb$a5c8f090$345bf842@180edt> References: <463218E0.8090309@resource-intl.com> <011f01c788e5$4f0e8b30$0300a8c0@robathome> <463218E0.8090309@resource-intl.com> <46321945.4090003@resource-intl.com><20070427162550.GA10883@shallowsky.com><463225B0.6050005@resource-intl.com> <003b01c788eb$a5c8f090$345bf842@180edt> Message-ID: <013701c788ee$452cb3e0$0300a8c0@robathome> Ok guys the bottom line is if your tools support sending plain text and you are not sending something that specifically requires formatting then send plain text. In Outlook you can click a box that says send to this address using plain text. If your web based tools don't then laws of physics apply. If you do send something formatted in HTML then don't assume everyone's email program will be capable of retaining the formatting. Some programs strip the HTML and just display the plain text. That is why both are sent. If there is a need for additional banter about how email operates may I suggest we take that discussion offline. Rob Hawley From jvn at svpal.org Fri Apr 27 10:16:06 2007 From: jvn at svpal.org (Jim Van Nuland) Date: Fri Apr 27 10:33:32 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard]Footers on SJAA messages References: <463218E0.8090309@resource-intl.com> <011f01c788e5$4f0e8b30$0300a8c0@robathome> Message-ID: <46322FD6.6B0@svpal.org> Rob Hawley wrote: > Please send only plain text messages to the SJAA mail lists. It is also useful to have one's reader set to use a monospaced font -- that way, number columns remain legible. > Otherwise, junk data accumulates on the server and for those > of us that retain message traffic. When doing a Reply, delete most of the original, and all of the footers. Retain only as much of the original as you are replying to. In the present case, I deleted two footers and all of the message to which Rob had replied, as the latter is no longer relevant to my reply. Clear Skies (and messages!) -- Jim Van Nuland, San Jose (California) Astronomical Association JVN's web site From wb6yru at aenet.net Sat Apr 28 02:16:02 2007 From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell) Date: Sat Apr 28 02:14:38 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] financial report for SJAA board meeting Message-ID: <463310D2.6010606@aenet.net> For the SJAA Board Meeting April 28, 2007 Treasury Report Accounts CD 1 5,251.66 CD 2 5,167.51 CD 3 5,000.00 CD 4 5,000,00 Checking 3,000.49 Observatory Fund 3,100.51 PayPal 365.20 Savings 343.49 Petty Cash 37.27 ----------- TOTAL Accounts 27,266.13 The general fund now has the fourth of four certificates of deposit, each with a one year term and arranged so they'll expire at three month intervals. So, if we need more money for something than is in the checking account, we'll have to wait no more than three months before one of them expires, (to avoid early withdrawal penalties). Any large purchase we are likely to make will probably be debated for a while, so I don't think we'll have any problems. Gary Mitchell Treasurer From Nelsonastro at aol.com Sat Apr 28 07:50:13 2007 From: Nelsonastro at aol.com (Nelsonastro@aol.com) Date: Sat Apr 28 07:50:47 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] problems with my postings Message-ID: Gee, most of my problems with postings are "human protocol" : -( the LEAST of my problems are HTML or IP addresses! (i.e. technical problems are usually easier to fix). I like Rich's way of just 'snipping' out the portion of the message he wishes to talk about. It seems JVN does a similar thing. Steven ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070428/465cd2ca/attachment.html From Nelsonastro at aol.com Sat Apr 28 08:36:57 2007 From: Nelsonastro at aol.com (Nelsonastro@aol.com) Date: Sat Apr 28 08:37:21 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] absentee votes (was - "the loyal opposition") Message-ID: I'm going to be absent tonight but want to record my vote (i.e. opposition) with the presiding officer --------------- Privacy Policy (if it is seconed) I vote no. I consider it is against the ByLaws and State law. ------------------------ CalStar - There was a suggestion by the President and a member to engage a TAC committee as officials for CalStar or to put TAC under the SJAA insurance umbrella. If this is introduced as a motion and seconed I vote no. I wish to have this recorded in the minutes as "Director Nelson voted no for personal liability reasons." From an insurance article Rob kindly sent me, it seems that this will help isolate me from any insurance issues that other directors may take on by approving extending SJAA insurance to "agents". _______________ Article 3, Sec 14 (b) The absent Director may designate his or her vote on a specific issue prior to the meeting. The absent Director shall deliver the vote and the issue to be proxied to the presiding officer before the meeting is called to order. ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070428/1d966b2d/attachment.html From craigus at rocketmail.com Sun Apr 29 20:43:59 2007 From: craigus at rocketmail.com (Craig Scull) Date: Sun Apr 29 20:44:12 2007 Subject: [SJAABoard] April 28 , 2007 - Draft SJAA Board Meeting Minutes Message-ID: <185487.87812.qm@web54509.mail.yahoo.com> Here are the meeting minutes... thanks to Rob and Gary for submitting edits on a pre-release first draft, in addition to giving me a sanity check on the formatting/linespacing... /Craig ====================================================== April 28, 2007 - SJAA Board Meeting Minutes - Craig Scull ====================================================== Rob made a motion to approve the February and April meeting minutes and the February general meeting minutes as amended. The motion was seconded by Mike and approved by normal vote, and it was unanimous. There were no abstentions or oppositions. ------------------------------------- Members present ------------------------------------- *-Mike Koop *-Rob Hawley *-Rich Neuschaefer *-Lee Hoglan *-Craig Scull *-Gary Mitchell *-Steve Nelson (not present but excused) *-Dave Smith (not present, not excused) *-Gordon Reade (not present, not excused) ------------------------------------- Coverage for upcoming events ------------------------------------- 5 -Sa- Mirror-making workshop at Houge Park. 7:30 pm (Gary Mike) 11 -Fr- Astronomy Class at Houge Park. 7:30 pm (Rob) 11 -Fr- Houge Park star party. Sset 8:06 pm, 27% moon rises 3:23 am. Star party hours: 9:00 to midnight. (Rob/Rich) 17 -Th- Mirror-making workshop at Houge Park. 7:30 pm (Gary Mike) 25 -Fr- Houge Park star party. Sset 8:17 pm, 72% moon sets 2:52 am. Star party hours: 9:00 to midnight. (Rob/Rich) 26 -Sa- General Meeting. Dr. Jeffrey Cuzzi of NASA/Ames will tell us of the rings of Saturn. (Rob) ------------------------------------- Auction Recap ------------------------------------- $8444.99 total sales $2928.00 donations Exceedingly good year. Some lessons learned. No major problems. Huge donation from Orion. Large donation from Scope City. Estate sale contributed to the success of the event. There was a large scope donation. Big problem was that we didn't have enough bidders. Cave telescope went for $125. Club scope went for $50. These scopes were sold shortly after the event for profit by the auction buyers. ------------------------------------- Treasurer's report - Gary Mitchell ------------------------------------- Treasury Report Accounts CD 1 5,251.66 CD 2 5,167.51 CD 3 5,000.00 CD 4 5,000,00 Checking 3,000.49 Observatory Fund 3,100.51 PayPal 365.20 Savings 343.49 Petty Cash 37.27 ----------- TOTAL Accounts 27,266.13 The general fund now has the fourth of four certificates of deposit, each with a one year term and arranged so they'll expire at three month intervals. So, if we need more money for something than is in the checking account, we'll have to wait no more than three months before one of them expires, (to avoid early withdrawal penalties). Any large purchase we are likely to make will probably be debated for a while, so I don't think we'll have any problems. ------------------------------------- Insurance update - Rob Hawley ------------------------------------- Club was told they could not hold a star party at Simonds school unless the school was listed on our insurance policy. This school was explicitly added to our policy for an additional $25. We also added to the policy that we are holding school star parties. This event was an exception. The insurance company said we do not need to list our individual events unless the venue specifically requires a certificate naming them Additional Insured. We previously have been asked to show our insurance policy to a school, but this was considered "normal" procedure. If additional school ask to be added to our policy, then we will think about this situation some more and how it can be handled better. ------------------------------------- Messier marathon - Rob Hawley ------------------------------------- Rob turned in $80 to the club for proceeds from the sales of his Messier marathon book. ------------------------------------- Privacy policy - Rob Hawley ------------------------------------- Mike and Rob have previously been contacted by varying parties asking for contact information for SJAA members. Our policy has been to refuse to share contact information with outsiders citing a non-existing privacy policy. It was important to put the policy in writing. The privacy policy has occasionally been challenged, such as when a board member wanted to get the contact information for the former Calstar attendees. Rob makes a motion to approve the new Privacy Policy which reads as follows: "SJAA respects the privacy of its members. SJAA (including its officers, board, and people acting on behalf of the club) will only use personal information for club business. It will not be disclosed to any outside party unless required by law. Any use of personal information requires approval by the board. The motion was seconded by Rich and approved by normal vote, and it was unanimous. There were no abstentions or oppositions, aside from Steve Nelson's proxy vote of no against the original policy because he considered it against state law. ------------------------------------- Membership report - Rob Hawley ------------------------------------- ******Monthly Expirations****** Last SJAA Meeting 3/3/2007 Report Date 4/17/2007 expired 76 Mar-07 9 Apr-07 7 May-07 18 Jun-07 42 Jul-07 19 Aug-07 27 Sep-07 19 Oct-07 18 Nov-07 19 Dec-07 16 Jan-08 17 Feb-08 17 Mar-08 20 Apr-08 11 May-08 6 more than 13 months 22 complementary 33 expiring 9 paid(current) 278 email delivery 35 Labels Generated 286 S&T Members 161 New Members since last report 4 current + complementary 311 ******Retained Members****** Starting this month I will use a different metric to measure our member retention. I will be reporting the years in which current members joined compared to the number of new members at the end of that year. We started collecting data on when members joined starting in 2002. paid only Members at end of year Members retained 2007 12 2006 58 51 2005 64 32 2004 68** 24 2003 61** 29 2002 26** 17 < 2002 148** 113 ** based on 12/04 total 278 ------------------------------------- Calstar - Rob Hawley ------------------------------------- At the present time no one is running Calstar. Rob has contacted a group of people and will be leading a team this year to run Calstar on behalf of the SJAA. Rob has asked for someone to help him with the Calstar web site design. Mark Wagner volunteered to find someone who will do the site design. Rob has consulted with a number of people and come up with a plan this year to make the event run smoothly. Gary made a motion to approve the following plan: The board delegates the planning and operation of Calstar to Rob Hawley. He has full authority for Calstar including selection or exclusion of staff to work with him. The board holds him fully responsible for the results. The board will review and approve any contracts or payments. The motion was seconded by Rob. The motion was approved by normal vote, and it was unanimous. The board felt a proxy vote by Steve on CalStar was not applicable since it did not apply to the specific proposal that was discussed. Additional points discussed: -Roads within the Calstar event area will be closed from 8pm until twilight. -100% registration -Green lasers will be banned -publicity will be handled by posting to SJAA, TAC, and AANC email lists -CCAS was separately advertising Calstar. We will ask them to refer people to our website so everyone receives the same information, especially since we have changed how the event is being operated. -We may relocate the dark area. -School groups may attend as long as they follow the rules and people register individually ------------------------------------- Loaner Scope Program ------------------------------------- Albert offers to convert two 13" club loaner scopes to Highe designs in exchange for him keeping one of them. Albert's design requires extra care to transport via plane. A number of members were not comfortable that the average loanee could do this without damage. In the next meeting we will revisit the goals of the loaner program as well as the above offer. ------------------------------------- Sky and Telescope changes ------------------------------------- Sky and Telescope has proposed that club members renew directly with them and have the SJAA tell them who its members are. Gary will follow up with Sky and Telescope because their proposal is not workable for the SJAA. ------------------------------------- Willow Springs Star Party at Bob Ayers property ------------------------------------- A discussion ensued to suggest that Bob should lead his own star parties this year and that the SJAA would help him with this as requested. This plan would replace the prior plan where the SJAA would have lead all aspects of the summer star parties. ------------------------------------- Chew's Ridge ------------------------------------- Lee is moving his 30" from a location at Chew's Ridge and suggests that his roll off roof observatory and the SJAA could operate it instead. It is not known yet whether or not the native americans who gave Lee permission to build his observatory would also welcome the SJAA, but Lee feels it is likely should the SJAA be interested. The SJAA expressed interest in visiting this site to explore the idea further. There may be up to an acre of usable land. The southern sky is blocked by Chew's ridge up to 15-20 degrees, and there may be some dust in the air, but it is expected that the seeing would be spectacular. ------------------------------------- Los Gatos Vasona County Park ------------------------------------- This location may be suitable for 3rd quarter moon star parties. There is a possibility that it may be prone to wetness because it is in a depression. Mark Wagner will follow up with Denny Wooligan about this opportunity. ------------------------------------- School star parties - Jim Van Nuland ------------------------------------- I've changed the format of the report, to show a breakdown of events that were less than successful. The numbers assume that Friday Apr.27 will have been clear. The Yosemite star parties are not included. Houge Park public events are included only if specific pre-arrangements have been made. There is just one, in May, to support a YMCA group of up to 50 people. Cumulative list of school events for 2006-7 school year Total Good Part. Cloudy Cancel sched sky succ. fail at noon Aug 1 1 - - - Sep 1 1 - - - Oct 7 6 - 1 - Nov 12 5 - 2 5 Dec 6 1 - - 5 Jan 8 6 2 - - Feb 7 1 3 2 1 Mar 14 9 4 1 - Apr 6 5 - 1 - Coming attractions, including part of 2008 Total Firm Makeup Negotiating May 5 2 - 3 also: Andy Hill High has not yet asked. ... Aug 3 3 - - Nov 1 1 - - Feb 1 1 - - 2008. "Makeup" are firm dates. They will be dropped from this list if the primary event is successful. If primary fails, the makeup event will be moved from 3rd to 2nd column, and the name of the school will be added on the Current Events page. The meeting was adjourned at 7:54pm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.sjaa.net/pipermail/sjaaboard/attachments/20070429/4eb84be6/attachment.html