Minutes of Meeting s2

Minutes of the Meeting of the San Fernando Valley Engineer’s Council Executive Board Lamplighter Family Restaurant, Chatsworth, CA. May 6th, 2003

The meeting was attended by, Bob Tarn, John Guarrera, Roger Belt, Mike Garland, Chuck Olsefsky, Ken Futernick, Ray Straub, and Larry Dalton.

The meeting was called to order by Bob Tarn (President) at 6:14 PM.

The Agenda for the meeting was discussed, and two items were inserted into the agenda. A report from the Communications Committee Chair was inserted after item V., (the report from Bob Tarn regarding activities at the LACES (Los Angeles Council of Engineers and Scientists) meeting. An item of business regarding a Technical Symposium was inserted at the end of the report by the Honors & Awards Committee.

Minutes of the April 1st meeting of the San Fernando Valley Engineer’s Council Executive Board were approved as submitted, with minor discussion as to their accuracy. Motion to approve: Ken Futernick, Seconded by Mike Garland, carried unanimously.

The Treasurers Report was accepted as submitted. Motion to approve: Ray Straub, Seconded by Chuck Olsefsky, carried unanimously.

Other financial business discussion centered around the possibility of the Engineer’s Council acquiring a “Rewards” type credit card for use to pay for large expenditures such as the Awards Banquet. Mike Garland (Treasurer) indicated that he would investigate the possibility, depending upon the advantages and liabilities of this arrangement. The Treasurer reimbursed the President for his expenditures of $75.00 to renew the domain name from Network Solutions for a period of three years for the Engineer’s Council web site. The President alerted the Treasurer to the forthcoming need to reimburse him for the renewal of the contract with the hosting service for the web site. This business was tabled until the invoice and documentation of the billing for this expenditure comes to the President.

The Treasurer also distributed an updated contact list for the Executive Board members to all present.

Correspondence:

The President distributed copies of his correspondence to Brigadier General Chuck Yeager thanking the General for his contribution to the 2003 Awards Banquet celebration, and a reply to Victoria Yeager’s solicitation of supporting the Yeager Foundation fundraiser in Plano, Texas, on 5/1/2003 at $1000 per admission, explaining that the council could not afford the $1000 per plate admission. The President also informed the Board of his attendance at the General’s birthday gala celebration in Plano, Texas, at the reduced admission price of $200/couple (Air Force Alum rate), and would report on progress made at that event under the topic of Honors & Awards Committee Report. Larry Dalton suggested that the board entertain the idea of establishing a “Chuck Yeager” scholarship award for local recipients. Bob Tarn informed the board of an opportunity to support the Young Eagles Program (Yeager is national chair) subsidizing first time airplane rides for future engineering students through the activities of the EAA, the Experimental Aircraft Association.

Affiliation Activities:

Bob Tarn gave a brief report on his attendance and presentation at the April LACES Dinner Meeting. He informed the Board that approximately approximately 6-8 people, including Larry Dalton, attended the meeting. He also informed the board that the LACES organization might be interested in the possibility of a joint, or combined Awards Banquet with the San Fernando Valley Engineer’s Council. There was vigorous discussion about this, and it was decided to carry this topic over to a future meeting.

Communications Committee Report: Ken Futernick, Chairman of the Communications Committee, informed the Executive Board that he had contacted the cable television public access channel, channel 25 in regards to presenting a half hour broadcast segment promoting all the activities of the San Fernando Valley Engineer’s Council. There was great interest expressed in the leveraging of this medium, and Ken was encouraged to develop this program further. Ray Straub informed the Board that he had compiled a listing of local media outlets, and was in the process of contacting them to establish communication channels with them.

Charitable Giving Committee:

Bob Tarn distributed the minutes of the Charitable Giving Committee Meeting of April 14th, 2003 for examination by the full board.

Bob also distributed an Email Correspondence from Bob Egermeier, the Advisor to the Canoga High School Explorer Post sponsored by the San Fernando Valley Engineer’s Council. In this email, Bob Egermeier explained that the activity level of the Post was low at this time of year, due to AP testing, and other academic obligations.

Bob Tarn distributed Correspondence describing the San Fernando Valley Engineer’s Council involvement in the Los Angeles County Science Fair. All were pleased to be informed that our support of this event was well received.

Bob Tarn distributed a preliminary draft of a letter of solicitation to encourage participation in the establishment of the “Lloyd & Mary Higginbotham Scholarship Endowment Fund” administered by California State University, Northridge. Bob informed the Board that Ernest Schaeffer, founder of Schaeffer Magnetics, has seeded the fund with $3,000. Bob informed the board that the goal of the fund is $30,000, to establish it in perpetuity.

Bob distributed a package of the local High School Scholarship Program recipient recommendations. This year, the Charitable giving committee has decided to expand the number of $250 scholarships awarded from three to six, due to the success of the Awards Banquet. Included with the letter were applications from graduating seniors from Canoga High School, Taft High School, Birmingham High School, and El Camino Real High School. Bob reported that the Charitable Giving Committee is waiting on Paul Landry to provide a recommendation from a high school in the Antelope Valley, and on Larry Dalton to provide a recommendation from the Los Angeles area, and that we should approve these at the June meeting. Bob Tarn, representing the Charitable Giving Committee, recommended the acceptance of four of the six awards be granted to Tara Goldberg (Canoga Park High School), Manuel Sobrino (Birmingham High School), Joshua Park (El Camino Real High /School), and Karan Ramchandani (William H. Taft High School)

Ray Straub volunteered to produce the award certificates for the above-mentioned honorees.

A motion to accept the Charitable Giving Committee’s recommendations was put forth by John Guerarra, seconded by Larry Dalton, and passed unanimously.

Bob Tarn distributed a list of the six winners, two in the junior Division, and four in the Senior Division, at the Los Angeles County Science Fair that the San Fernando Valley Engineer’s Council has determined to award prizes to.

Patrick Saris and Alex Doo in the Junior Division, and Connie Leung, Zack Anderson, Amanda Marshall, and Shant Joukjian in the Senior Division. Ray Straub volunteered to produce the award certificates for the above-mentioned honorees.

Student Awards Update, Larry Dalton:

Larry Dalton presented a report on his proposal to establish an “Education Engineering Banquet”, to be held tentatively the first Saturday in June, 2004, to honor a variety of Middle School, High School, and College students who have achieved excellence in the council’s scholarship, mentoring, and educational outreach programs. The banquet would be funded through corporate support.

The board agreed that the idea has merit, and further refinement of the proposal should be undertaken by Larry, and presented back to the board for discussion.

Honors & Awards Committee Report: The replacement Skunk Works Award for General Hough was passed around the table. Bob will ship it to the General. Larry Dalton Informed the board that replacement awards for the “Team Awards” members had been produced, as requested, and were ready for distribution.

Bob Tarn elaborated on his attendance at the Chuck Yeager Birthday Bash in Plano, Texas, and informed the board that he had accomplished his mission to make sure the Yeager’s knew he was there to represent the Engineers’ Council, and to discuss with Joe Engel re next year’s Awards Banquet Keynote Speaker. Victoria Yeager seemed very pleased that Maria & Bob supported the fundraiser, and Joe Engle said that he would plan to be our keynote speaker in Feb. Bob reported that his total travel expenses were approximately $391 (airfare, hotel, ground transportation, etc.), in addition to Maria’s portion of about $224.

Tabled until the next meeting were:

Discussion of banquet participation guidelines (recognition received vs. table purchases). Discussion of the By Laws Review Committee, an Ad Hoc Committee Chaired by John Guarrera. Discussion regarding a “Technical Symposium” by Bob Tarn.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Ray F. Straub, CMfgT, SME Secretary, 2003 San Fernando Valley Engineer’s Council 4/7/2018