M. A. S. N. A. BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Meeting Minutes For June 13, 2001

Meeting was held electronically 9:00 PM EST

Board Members Present:

  Nancy Swart  -          President/Webmaster
Dennis Gallagher -    Vice-President
David Adkins -           Treasurer
Connie Hannon -       Membership/Public Relations
John Brandt -             MAC/USCRTF
Tim Tucker -               Scholarship/Fundraising

Absent:

David Sinn -              Secretary
Eric West -      At Large
  Other Delegates Present:           

  None

  June 2001 BOD Meeting Agenda

  1.         Approval of May Minutes
  2.         Officers’ Reports

Prez
VP
Secy.
Treasurer
Editor
USCRTF/ MAC Rep
Public Relations
Scholarship/Fundraising
Web

  3.         Committees

Membership
(Membership Renewal Notices to go with Annual Notice on July 15th)

  4.         Old Business

MACNA 13 & 14 Status Report
Speaker Database

  5.         New Business  

Begin preparation for Annual Meeting

 6.         Open Discussion

 7.         Adjournment  

Meeting called to order 9:15 PM EST

Approval of April Minutes                         Tabled due to absence of Secretary

  Officers’ Reports

  President – Nancy Swart:          All of my time this month was spent completing and mailing Newsletter, pursuing ads, booth and donations for M13.

  Vice-President – Dennis Gallagher:       Working on M13 and M14.

Secretary – Dave Sinn                                 Absent

  Treasurer – Dave Adkins:            Treasurer’s report for this meeting -  Balance is $38,000.00.

  Editor – Nancy Swart:                   See President’s Report

  At Large and MACNA XIII Editor – Eric West: Absent

 MAC/USCRTF – John Brandt:    There is no news to announce from MAC since the publication of the First Quarter 2001 News. This has been reproduced in the Summer 2001 issue of Marine Scene.  Two members of the USCRTF will be speaking at MACNA XIII in Baltimore. Andrew Bruckner from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) - Department of Fisheries will be speaking on the issue of coral harvest sustainability in Indonesia.   He was recently added to the speaker list as a replacement for the cancelled Dr. Paul Jokiel.  The USCRTF will soon be announcing that over one million dollars will become available for small grants to NGOs (non-governmental organizations) for research on coral reef conservation.  The USCRTF's plans to designate 20% of US reefs as no-take marine sanctuaries has met tremendous backlash from the fishing industry.  Attorneys from the fishing industry have gone as far as writing legislation that they will present to the government. It is a "right to fish" bill that would allow fishing anywhere.  On to another matter…the California Caulerpa Law has been modified.  According to Mary Middlebrook's website (http://www.reefsource.com/currentcampaign.htm) the law will now only target Caulerpa taxifolia, its lookalikes (about six species), and Caulerpa racemosa.  Mary is satisfied with this, but is opposing the ban on racemosa by challenging the State (or anyone) to show evidence that this alga will survive in temperate conditions. 

Public Relations - Connie Hannon:       Working on MACNA XIV graphics 

Scholarship/Fundraising - Tim Tucker: Program book is SOLD OUT!!! (still time for front and back inside covers).  MACNA booths are next big concentration & donations.

  Web - Nancy Swart:                  Beginning work on M14 website.                                                            

  Committees

Membership:                                   Three (3) new members since May meeting: Mary H Middlebrook, Brad Kretzmeier, and Sandra L. Shoup.  Total stands at 50 individual members and 14 Clubs.

Old Business               M13: Last month we picked up about 30 full regs (5 students, 13 dailies and 13 banquets only)
    New Business   a)     Contract decided for MACNA XIV, David to sign and return....
                                           Need to capture for future and present a speaker database
c)                                           Need input from each individual and club delegate at annual meeting in form of report which should include what they expect from MASNA and suggestions to help MASNA run more smoothly and productively.
d)                                           MASNA BOD should have reports to offer and will be allowed time to speak at the annual meeting.
e)                                           Discussed fee schedule for clubs, individual members and possible organization (commercial) level membership.
ff)                                             Idea of separate entities/committees/BOD etc. running MACNA / MASNA so both can be more productive and prosper.

  Open Discussion   Spoke about how to better plan, budget for coming projects (MACNA etc.)

         Progress to date:   Not doing too bad but we still need about 340 more full registrations for Baltimore.  Have had wonderful response from corporate donations for the raffle and commercial booths are looking very good.  MASNA merchandise (shirts, hats) are set to go.

  Adjournment

              Meeting was adjourned at 11:36 PM EST.