Early Fall 2003 The Offi cial Publication of the Professional Ski Instructors of Amer i ca Eastern/Education Foundation Board approves initiatives and action plans Region 7, new youth club approved for member bylaws review By Bill Beerman, PSIA-E President Board approves volunteer leadership appointments Three very full and productive days of Executive Committee and Board meetings this past June in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. At the June 2003 Board of Directors meeting in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the following yielded some exciting results for members. appointments and elections were ratifi ed: With an assist from our Executive Director, • Marty Harrison was welcomed as the newly elected Region 2 Director. Michael Mendrick, I have compiled a list of • Rich Weiss was appointed as Region II Representative. the key initiatives, proposals and action plans • Ray Allard was reappointed as the PSIA-E rep on the PSIA national Board of Directors that were approved during those meetings. I for a new three-year term, beginning in June 2003. thought you’d appreciate getting some insight • Einar Aas was reappointed to another one-year term as SSM Committee chairperson, on how your elected offi cials and committee beginning in June 2003. representatives are carrying the fl ag on your • Peter Howard was reappointed to another one-year term as the Alpine Education & behalf. What follows, then, is a summary of Certification Chairperson. results from the June 20 – 22 meetings. • Joan Heaton was reappointed to another one-year term as the Area Rep Program Approved proposals, policy & procedures: Coordinator. • Approval for the scheduling of a spring • Sherm White was acknowledged as the newly elected Region 2 representative membership trip in 2004 to the Banff/Lake on the Snowsports School Management Committee, to serve a three-year term Louise region of the Canadian Rockies. We beginning in June 2003. received great feedback on the trip this past • Ron Dean was appointed as the Region 2 representative to the Alpine Education April to Whistler, so the Board felt we should & Certification Committee, to serve a three-year term beginning in June 2003. offer such an optional trip again as a great way • The Board appointed a Youth Club Implementation Task Force with to wrap up the season. Look for the fi rst ad chairperson, Marty Harrison; and members – Alison Clayton, Bill Hetrick, Kim NN with trip details later in this issue. Seevers, Michael Mendrick. • The PSIA-E Secretary (currently Peter Lucatuorto) was designated as the • To assure future funding for all Eastern chairperson of the annual EF Scholarship Demo Teams, beginning with the escrows for Review Committee. Pete will do a great job the 2008 national team tryouts, the Board with this (see his article later in this issue), and designated the amount of $3,000 per year to on the inside the designation of this responsibility will give be escrowed from association accounts, with this offi cer position another important duty. a ratio of 60% alpine, 30% snowboard and 10% • In a related motion, the Board approved Nordic until further revision. Editor's Desk 2 • One of the most dynamic moves of the that the deadline for scholarship applications Preview of Premier Events 4 be extended as determined by the Scholarship meeting was the approval of a new Region 7, Review Committee, in order to allow more which will include members in all states south PSIA National News 14 members to apply for this expanding pool of of Pennsylvania and New Jersey (those two Around the Regions 15 funds. See the article on page 32 for details. states will remain as Region 4). This proposal • In a move to demonstrate a was reviewed for more than a year and 2003-04 Event Schedules 21-28 commitment to all of our Eastern Demo comprehensively researched by a task force 20-30-40 Year Members 35 Teams for their training, the escrow of $10,000 led by Immediate Past President Bill Hetrick. for 2004 national team tryouts was allocated For more details, see the article on proposed Your Turn 37 as follows: 60% alpine, 30% snowboard, 10% bylaws revisions on page 38 of this issue. Proposed Bylaws Revisions 38 Nordic. There is no adaptive team tryout in • Another innovative proposal that won 2004. In a related motion, the Board approved support, after considerable research and that adaptive be included in the escrow formula discussion, was the creation of a PSIA-E/AASI when they have a national team tryout. contin ued on page 3 SnowPro N Early Fall 2003 N Page 1 one inch by one column statement, probably up at a corner of the front page Editor’s Desk or down in a corner of the back page. Or, we picked it up at the end of a radio Bill Hetrick, newscast. Even when we began to have weather “shows” on television, they Volume 30, Number 1 Editor were brief and to the point. And, they Bill Hetrick, Editor were represented for what they were, The offi cial publication of the Profes sion al which was weather reporting, not weather Ski Instructors of America-Eastern Education Life’s “Noise” forecasting. Now, with the professional TV Foun da tion. weather channels we manage to have minute- 1-A Lincoln Avenue We’re advised to “not sweat the small by-minute coverage of not only upcoming Albany, NY 12205-4907 stuff ”. We’re told that “life is 10% what happens weather - which is fine, and is sometimes Phone 518-452-6095 and 90% how we react to it”. Actually, I believe helpful - but also sensational coverage of tragic Fax 518-452-6099 that to be true. However, life in today’s world events that happened decades ago. Doesn’t it www.psia-e.org has become so complex that it’s diffi cult to seem like “the weather” has become far too General In for ma tion maintain a levelheaded interaction with all of much of a controlling factor in the lives of most Submission of articles, photos or other the “noise” that we face day in and day out. people? And, that the rehash of past weather items for publication is invited. Com put er The “noise” I’m referring to is the catastrophes can be just another piece of the generated docu ments MUST be in IBM- constant bombardment of talking heads sensational “noise”? Certainly, it’s important to com pat i ble format, and ac com pa nied by that we encounter almost unabated minute know when extreme weather may be currently hard copy. Send all materials directly to: by minute. How many times have you found approaching. However, sensible people are Bill Hetrick, Editor yourself fixated to “Headline News”, or “ able to prepare for that in a sensible way. It 110 Hubler Rd. Court TV”, or other similar programming? It seems like there is often a frenzy over what State College, PA 16801 can happen easily, because we humans seem to is predicted to happen with the weather, and Phone 814-466-7309 be fascinated by sensational news. This is not it actually - if allowed - controls the lives of [email protected] to say that these channels do not provide value. many people to the point of distraction and Certainly, without their availability, along with ineffectiveness. Pro Shop header and Your Turn header pho tos our newspapers, newsmagazines, and similar What’s this all about? Well, it seems that all by Scott Markewitz. Courtesy of PSIA. All submitted material is subject to editing. publications, we would not be able to keep up of this “noise” can become a major deterrent with what’s going on in the world. After all, we Its use, whether so lic it ed or not, is at the to our ability to think rationally, to conduct dis cre tion of the editorial staff. All published don’t want to live in our own world of ignorant our lives in an effective and satisfying manner, ma te ri al becomes the property of PSIA-E/EF. bliss, do we? to prepare in a productive and positive way to Ar ti cles are accepted on the condition that However, the diffi culty is that all of these meet our responsibilities, and, generally, to live they may be released for publication in all various media amount to the creation of a our lives in a peaceful, calm and meaningful way. National and Divisional publications. considerable amount of emotional “noise” Not only can this “noise” become a deterrent to in our lives. Add to this the fact that most all productive living, but it has become not unlike SnowPro is published fi ve times per year by the of the “noise” is of some type of a negative, fast food which, if we allow (yes, we do have Professional Ski Instructors of America-East ern sensational, and often horrendous nature, control of this), can become a requirement in Education Foundation. Permission is hereby given to all National and Divisional pub li ca tions and we fi nd our lives consumed by negative our lives. Heaven help us! “noise”. to copy original material from this newsletter I have a thought I developed some time providing credit is given to PSIA-E/EF and the It seems that the current nature of media ago that I think may sum up this hysteria that author, and the material is not altered. Articles coverage began in the 1960s following the we seem to fi nd in our society today: “When we that contain specifi c copyright notices may not assassination of President Kennedy, and was expect the worst, we’ll never be disappointed.” be reprinted without written permission from further developed and emboldened by the Sadly, this may actually sum up the comfort the author.