Membership meeting minutes

The annual membership meeting of the National Association of Science Writers was held Oct. 17, 2009, at ScienceWriters 2009 at University of Texas at Austin. About 80 members attended.

The membership meeting was convened on Oct. 25, 2008, as part of the NASW workshop, in Palo Alto, Calif. Approximately 80 people attended. President Robert Lee Hotz called the meeting to order at 8:50 a.m. and reminded everyone that the information being discussed — and more — is available on the NASW website. He praised complete transparency in communication and requested that members recommend to officers and the board additional ways to achieve this goal.

Convened at 5:41 p.m. by Robert Lee Hotz, president, who started by saying: "I'm not one to bury the lede." He then announced that Diane McGurgan will be retiring in June 2009 and called it a "sad but wonderful moment." He talked of Diane as "the heart, the soul, the memory, the sharp tongue and the all-embracing warm hug of this organization."

Acting NASW president Lee Hotz called the meeting to order at 8:10 am. He noted that this would have been Laura Van Dam's last meeting as NASW president, had she not died this spring. "It occurred to me last night during the Science Cabaret how much Laura would have appreciated the energy and joy that was circulating." He asked for a moment of silence in her memory.

The NASW membership met at 9 a.m. Sun., Oct. 22, 2005, during the NASW workshop in Pittsburgh, Pa. About 75 people attended, despite the early hour. Could it have been the free breakfast?

An estimated 80 NASW members attended the news-filled annual membership and business meeting on February 16, 2005, in the Cafritz Conference Center at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The meeting commenced shortly after 5 p.m., at the conclusion of the best-attended NASW workshops ever.

The annual membership/business meeting, on Feb. 14, 2004, was attended by an estimated 150 NASW members packed into a meeting room in the Seattle Convention Center. The topic of the day was the NASW board's decision to separate the NASW national conference from the annual meeting of the American Association of the Advancement of Science, beginning in 2005

At the annual business meeting in Denver on February 15, the NASW board announced plans to dip into the $203,183 we have tucked away in savings, money market accounts, mutual funds, and certificates of deposit. According to the 2003 budget, approved by the board, the organization will draw off approximately $35,000 from its reserves in the coming year.

We are raising dues. That was the decision made at the NASW annual business meeting in Boston on February 16. At the board's recommendation, the members present agreed to raise annual dues for the organization's 2,360 regular members from $60 to $75. Dues for its 250 student members will rise from $15 to $25. There was one dissenting vote.

NASW President Paul Raeburn opened the meeting by presenting certificates of appreciation to Carol Rogers, Dennis Meredith, Earle Holland, Rick Borchelt, and Mary Knudsen for their tireless volunteer work on behalf of the organization. All completed long service on the board of directors.