Membership Services Department
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Richard Factor, President H. Paul Shuch, Executive Director Marc Arnold, Trustee Heather Wood, Administrator Gloria Albasi Brian Earle Tom Gilbert |
Orville Greene Ricky & Janet Kagan Pamela Pinali Debra Poenisch Joe Shapiro Debra Spencer plus nine invited guests. | |
Our Bylaws requiring one percent of the current membership to be in attendance for the conduct of SETI League business, the above represents a quorum.
Election of Officers:
Richard Factor, to continue as President: nominated by Heather Wood, seconded by Gloria
Albasi, elected by acclamation.
Diana Davidson (not present) was unanimously re-elected as secretary.
Treasurer's Report:
In the absence of treasurer Marty Schreiber, summarized by Richard Factor. We have enough
money to continue operations, and are working to achieve more in memberships, donations, and sale of
merchandise.
Membership:
At this point, we have 309 members in good standing, including 8 Life Members, in 39 states and 15 other
countries. Our goal for the first full year was 150 memberships, including 15 life memberships.
Correspondence:
A fax from Alfred Mosser, member in Switzerland, was read. Several other greetings from
dignitaries and members were posted on the wall for all to read.
Fifteen Project Argus participant survey forms have been returned to date.
Our World Wide Web site has been continuously operational on a UNIX server for 16 months.
Through the Internet we have received around 1,000 membership inquiries. Many others have been received by
mail and phone.
Tax Status:
Trustee Marc Arnold reminded us that The SETI League is a [501(c)(3)] non-profit educational
and scientific corporation, and therefore contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Personnel:
H. Paul Shuch, our Executive Director, has joined us on a one-year sabbatical from Pennsylvania
College of Technology. The College has graciously extended his leave for a second year, through 15
August 1997, that he might continue his service to The SETI League.
Technical:
The low-noise microwave preamplifier designed by Dr. Shuch is being manufactured by Down
East Microwave, with royalties being paid to The SETI League for each unit sold.
The Technical Manual (explaining how to set up your own SETI station) is available in printed
form, although the most up-to-date version is available on The SETI League's web pages.
Publications:
Twenty-five years ago, NASA convened a summer study group and designed Project Cyclops, the
blueprint for a SETI search of unprecedented magnitude. In cooperation with The SETI Institute, we are
reprinting this original historic document in facsimile edition, which will be available for in June $20.
The head of the Project Cyclops group, Bernard M. Oliver, who went from being Vice President of Engineering at Hewlett Packard to heading the
NASA SETI program, wrote an introduction to the second edition of Project Cyclops just before he died.
The new edition also includes a tribute to Dr. Oliver by Dr. John Billingham, plus some introductory
material by Richard Factor and Dr. H. Paul Shuch.
Conferences:
We had to cancel the projected conference in Trenton because of scheduling difficulties with the
BioAstronomy Conference in Capri.
Dr. Shuch reported on his travels: he has attended 42 conferences, from scientific to ham radio to
science fiction. The expenses of attending these conferences is just about covered by the new members
we attract, merchandise we sell, and Dr. Shuch's honoraria as guest speaker, which he turns back to The
SETI League.
The first BioAstronomy Conference took place in 1961, at NRAO Green Bank. Frank Drake,
Barney Oliver, Otto Struve, Carl Sagan, John Lilly, Philip Morrison, Dana Atchley Jr., J. Peter Pearman, Su
Shu Huang, and Melvin Calvin were present. The second of these Conferences was held in Byurakan,
Soviet Armenia in 1971, the third in Montreal, Canada in 1979, the fourth in 1991 at U. C. Santa Cruz.
Since we now know how to detect planets orbiting faraway stars, the conference will now be held every
five years. Dr. Shuch's paper on Project Argus has been accepted for this year's Conference, to be held in
Capri in July. Only six SETI papers were accepted out of 300 total abstracts.
Publicity:
We have received quite a lot of press attention, including articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer,
Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Morris County Daily Record, Newark Star-Ledger, the Daily Telegraph and Evening Gazette (UK),
Outside magazine and Air and Space Smithsonian. Dr. Shuch has also been interviewed on radio and television in the US,
the UK, and Canada, and authored articles for QST and Analog.
Concluding Remarks and Adjournment:
Richard Factor then spoke, thanking Dr. Shuch for his endeavors on behalf of the League.
We watched a videotape of Dr. Shuch's interview on WNEP- TV, then he sang his latest
composition, "Jansky's Song," and the meeting adjourned at 1615 hours EDT.
See 1996 Annual Meeting Photos
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