Minutes of SETI League 1997 Annual Membership Meeting

Membership Services Department

Minutes of the Third Annual Membership Meeting
22 March 1997, Little Ferry NJ

Call to Order
The meeting was convened at 1400 hours EST, at SETI League Headquarters, 433 Liberty Street, Little Ferry NJ, by Executive Director Dr. H. Paul Shuch. Members present:

Richard Factor, President
H. Paul Shuch, Executive Director
Marc Arnold, Trustee
Heather Wood, Administrator
Harlan Abbott
Gloria Albasi
Brian Earle
Daniel Fox

Tom Gilbert
Muriel Hykes
Delilah Jones
Pamela Pinali
Joe Shapiro
Jeffrey Sorensen
Howy Stark
David Zink
plus several 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.

Minutes of 1996 Membership Meeting
The Minutes of the 1996 Membership Meeting having been published in SearchLites Volume 2 Number 2, and posted to The SETI League's World Wide Web site, a motion was passed to accept the minutes as published.
Financial Report
Reported by the executive director, treasurer Martin Schreiber, CPA, being unable to attend this meeting. Preliminary (unaudited) figures suggest that The SETI League spent on the order of $135,000 in 1996, up from $57,398 in 1995, our first year of existence. A pie chart was shown detailing the distribution of these expendatures. It was noted that the present budget represents 1% of that expended annually by the late NASA SETI program. A chart was presented which shows our revenues to come 10% from membership dues and renewals, 4% from interest income, 3% from sale of membership premiums, 1% from gifts, and 82% from grants from foundations and corporations.
Committee Reports
1. Fundraising Committee
  A SETI League member has proposed a commercial venture involving the use of the SETI League logo on T-shirts and other products sold for profit, with a royalty payable to The SETI League. The Board of Trustees is investigating the fiscal and tax-exempt status implications of this proposal.
2. Hardware Committee
  Dr. Shuch demonstrated a new antenna feed offered by Radio Astronomy Supplies, and a new receive downconverter to be offered by Down East Microwave. He reported on two other receive converters, one now available from SSB Electronic GmbH, the other soon to be offered by Radio Astronomy Supplies. The block diagram of The SETI League's new high-technology receiver initiative, STAR-1, was shown and discussed. Dr. Shuch acknowledged a contribution from Merrimac Industries of components for that project.
3. Software Committee
  Chairman Daniel Fox demonstrated his SetiFox shareware program for signal analysis and receiver control.
4. Internet Committee
  Chairman Bob Cutter could not attend, but sent an email report. There are now 49 participants on the unmoderated SETI email list he maintains, about half of whom are SETI League members. Dr. Shuch expressed his appreciation to Cutter for providing this service to our members.
Old Business
1. Newsletter
  Five issues of SearchLites (four regular quarterly issues and one Life on Mars special edition) have been published since the last membership meeting. Regular issues continue to run six pages.
2. Merchandising
  Sales of membership premiums (T-shirts, coffee mugs, pocket protectors, mouse pads, books, and buttons) have totalled $8,744 gross since The SETI League's inception.
3. Membership status report
  The SETI League now has 469 members in 46 US states and 22 other countries. This falls slightly short of our initial membership goal of 500 by January 1997.
4. Membership Directory
  The Spring 1997 membership directory is currently in production, with distribution to all Members in Good Standing anticipated for two weeks hence.
5. Project Argus status report
  Returned Participant Surveys suggest 26 active Project Argus stations at this time. It is expected that there are more participating members who have not yet returned their Surveys.
6. Travel, Conferences and Publications
  The Executive Director reports attending 21 professional meetings and conferences, and making 18 presentations, during the past year. He has had 27 works published since last year's meeting.
7. Publicity
  In addition to the presentations and publications mentioned above, The SETI League has received favorable exposure from a number of magazine and newspaper articles, and radio and TV interviews, in the past year.
New Business
1. Retention of Officers
  The Officers of The SETI League, Inc. serve at the pleasure of the Board of Trustees. Secretary Diana Davidson has stepped down, and Administrator Heather Wood has been nominated to replace her. Election of officers will occur at the Trustees' Meeting immediately following the Membership Meeting.
2. Credit Card Sales
  After two years of banking delays, The SETI League has for the past two months been able to accept Visa and MasterCard dues payments and contributions. Summit Bank of NJ has provided this service at reduced fees. The Executive Director expressed his appreciation to Summit.
3. Proposed Bylaws amendment
  Minor revisions to the Bylaws of The SETI League, Inc. are being proposed to the Board of Trustees by the Executive Director, to bring the bylaws into line with current practices.
4. Mars Global Surveyor satellite
  Last November Mike Cook (AF9Y) and several other SETI League members succeeded in receiving the 1.3 Watt omnidirectional beacon transmitter from the MGS satellite enroute to Mars, at a distance of 5 Million km. This validates the sensitivity of their receiving systems. Work is underway to attempt reception of the MGS upon its arrival at Mars.
5. Executive Director status
  The Trustees and Dr. Shuch are currently negotiating a contract whereby The SETI League might retain the services of its present Executive Director for an additional five (5) years.
6. Presentation of 1997 Bruno Award
  This year's Bruno award was presented to Project Argus pioneer Daniel Boyd Fox, KF9ET, for his significant technical contributions to amateur SETI.
Good and Welfare
The following email message received from SETI League advisor Arthur C. Clarke, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, was read to the membership:
Despite discouragement and false alarms, continue the search for intelligent life in Washington! (And London - and Colombo!!)
Adjournment
The Annual Membership Meeting was adjourned by the Executive Director at 1500 hours EST on 22 March 1997.

Respectfully submitted, A. Heather Wood, Administrator

See 1997 Annual Meeting Photos