Wyoming ASCE Section

Winter 2001 Meeting Minutes

February 1, 2001
Parkway Plaza, Casper
WES Convention

I. Call to Order

At 1:50 PM the meeting was called to order by President Sandy Buckstaff. Other officers present were Treasurer Murray Schroeder and Secretary Bill Johnston.

II. Old Business

Approval of Minutes: It was moved by Rick Estes and seconded by Philip Stuckert to approve the minutes as submitted. It was voted on and approved by the membership present.

Treasurer’s Report: Murray presented the treasurer’s report for period ending 12-31-2000. Total assets equaled $25,051.37. It was moved by Marc Eatinger and seconded by John Bishop to approve the treasurer’s report as presented. The motion was approved.

III. New Business

ASCE Seminar at WES: Murray reported that income from the morning seminar on Engineering Leadership brought in $3010.00. The seminar cost the chapter $5500.00 (at the time of the writing of these minutes that price is $5090). A discussion ensued about the desirability of getting more seminars versus going through UW for presenters. Various opinions were stated. One was that the presentation was not worth the cost. Another thought was that either way was fine. One said we should revisit the amount going to UW as there seems to be a great discrepancy in the amount presenters are paid. One said that the low rate by UW and its representatives is one reason why the chapter budget is increasing every year. One said that it is hard to find speakers and topics from ASCE that are four hours and fit our format. In resolution to this, it was moved by Philip Stuckert and seconded by Marc Eatinger to continue with the four hours of education classes with the source to be determined. This motion was approved. Generally in this regard a motion was made by Thom Edgar and seconded by Frank Page to set up an education committee to address the above stated issues. The motion was approved. Thom Edgar and Frank Page volunteered to serve on the committee.

Section Funding Discussion: Past president Rick Estes stated that many of the ASCE officers were new to the operation of ASCE and were not willing to spend moneys, not wishing waste of these funds. A discussion ensued on this topic. It was stated one reason for the high budget amount is that no officers went to national this year. It was stated that a good amount of reserves is desirable, but too much isn’t. Dave Schropfer made a motion to create a committee to determine the amount to have in reserves in order that the rest can be used beneficially. This was seconded by Dave Pendelton and approved by the membership. Volunteers for this committee are Philip Stuckert, Treasurer Murray Schroeder, and Dave Schropfer.

Newsletter Preparation: President Sandy Buckstaff congratulated Jerry Crews for his preparation and distribution of the newsletter. The membership applauded Mr. Crews in this regard.

Student Chapter Report: Professor Thomas Edgar reported on the student chapter. He stated the student officers were in Duluth MN at ASCE National training. Charles Dolan, UW Civil Department head, is working with local governments to have the Student Section design and perform construction coordination for a bridge that will span the Laramie River. Student chapter meetings take place the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays at 5:00 PM. Section members are welcome to attend and pizza is served. Roughly 25 to 30 students attend these sessions. ASCE did a video series entitled "Thinking Small-Building Big " about Civil Engineering Projects. The Students are talking and presenting the video to Elementary School and Junior High School students during Engineers Week. The web page includes both Student Chapter and the State Section at wyoasce.org. Information to put on this page is desired. If you have information for this page, contact Thom at his e-mail address: tvedgar@uwyo.edu.

Life membership presentations: four life memberships were presented only one member was present to receive the awards. The four are George Barnes, Richard McQuister, Robert Harrower, and John Bishop the present member.

ASCE 150 year Anniversary: Ideas for this anniversary were solicited; none were forthcoming.

State Public Affairs Grant: The amount of the grant is roughly $400 to $500. Some of the discussion on this item involved giving half this grant to Jim Gores who runs engineering appreciation ads in the Riverton paper. The other half was to go to annual water festival in Casper. A motion was made to do this but was rescinded when Mr. Gores said he was willing to run do the Riverton newspaper ads on his own. John Bishop reported that WSPE is going to advertise during Engineers Week of next year in 17 - 27 newspapers around the State and asked if ASCE would like to contribute to that cause. This was considered a good use, possibly for next year’s grant. In resolution to this issue, it was moved by Jim Gores and seconded by Thom Edgar that this year’s grant be used for the annual water festival in Casper.

IV. Meeting Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 2:55 PM.