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Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seds-l
Date:         Sun, 10 Jan 1993 13:52:28 EST
From:         DJKALMAN@COLOSPGS.BITNET
Subject:      CBL PART 5

SEDS PROJECTS OVER ONE YEAR OLD, Cont. yet again


6. SEDSAT.  Dennis and the group have been working very hard on this, and have
posted updates on it.  Generally, this has been excellent for SEDS as a whole,
and especially for publicity.   I congratulate the entire UAH crowd for this
project.

However, just to be fair, I do have a few more questions to bring up:

A.  What happened with the SEDSAT design contest?  (maybe I just forgot)

B.  Are funding requests going out in SEDS USA name, or just SEDS UAH?  Also,
are you getting any Space Grant Funding?  Are you having problems with other
groups taking your funding from you, since a company will only give to SEDS
once?

C.  What is the status of subcontracting out the subcomponents to other SEDS
groups for work?  I know Tiawan was working on part, as was Weber State.  What
is the current status of this?


If you could send me any information you have on your Attitude Determination
System (ADS), I could use in on our CSOAR II project.  NOW THIS IS WHAT SEDS IS
ALL ABOUT!!  Helping each other out, sharing information, particularly sharing
help about how to actually get into space instead of just dreaming about it ...
makes me teary eyed, I tell ya ... sniff, sniff  :)!!


7. Jobs Database.  I started to work on one a year ago last fall, and I posted
my results to the L last spring.  I said that I was willing to continue this
work, if I received A LOT OF HELP.  However, I received none.

When I brought this up for discussion this fall, people suggested that we join
some other groups resume database, as well as possibly have Carlos
Niederstrasser at Princeton help us out.  Carlos had run for a board spot, but
since these spots were saved for MIT people, he was not able to join our
national board.  However, we have heard nothing as to what he has done, or if
we can join his database, or whatever.

Because of indifference on the part of the national board, no one individual
was assigned to coordinate these contacts and do the research needed, and then
report back to the board.  I clearly stated that I would not have time to also
undertake this task, since I was in the middle of my second wave of tests, and
things were looking bleak.  However, someone (and I'm sorry, but I don't
remember who) said that they would contact AIAA and some other groups and
inquire about their databases.

Can we assign this task to a national board member who doesn't have a pet
project?  Or maybe expand the national board (in the constitution) saying a
minimum of 10 people, a maximum of 20 people, and then add Carlos to the Board?
I think that it is a shame that we have people on the board who we have not
heard from all year, and whose time is being spent entirely on local SEDS
concerns.  If the local chapter is taking up so much time that one cannot
dedicate 5 hrs/week to SEDS Natl., then they should resign and let someone else
take their spot, so that the needed national work can be done.  Last spring, I
spent 25-40 hrs/week on SEDS stuff, of which 10-15 was normally on the national
level.


8. Chapter retention/contact.  This is still an on-going problem with SEDS, as
shown by the recent re-discovery of SEDS Arizona.  The problem is, we have not
kept up with old chapters, nor have we tried to maintain contact with chapters
in our areas.  Furthermore, we claim to have started chapters at various
school, but people cannot provide me with any details, and very few people are
helping me maintain a current chapter list (MIT is actually hindering me here).

Dennis, the NSF students that you gave info to over the summer, and said they
were starting chapters, have you followed up on them?  What about that South
Dakota chapter?  I still have no details on any of these.  CalSEDS, what about
San Diego, Stanford, etc.?  I don't have details for them either.  George
Washington SEDS, what about you attempts to locate old SEDS chapters in the DC
area?

I have been in contact with CSM SEDS about once a month, and am working on UCCS
SEDS.  I have been attempting to contact Golden HS SEDS once a month as well.
I contacted the Wyoming prospect twice during the semester, and will give him a
hard-sell job this Xmas break.   I finally have a way of getting a hold of the
CSU contact point (he moved from his snail mail address), and hopefully this
spring SEDS CSU will start up.

I sincerely believe that this constant nagging does work ... it got CSM SEDS to
stop talking and actually hold a speaker meeting, knowing that I was checking
up on them.  Also, Mark Fister and I have been talking to people at Purdue
continuously for the past year and a half, and whoa-and-behold, a new SEDS
chapter!!  We had first approach Bill about starting one over one year before
Purdue SEDS became a reality, and it appears that our constant "encouragement"
appears to have paid off (Bill, please tell us if "encouragement" is the wrong
word :)!

My proposal is this:  since we have reps from every 'region', assign one board
member to be in charge of that region.  Make that person responsible for
contacting once a month all of the chapters in his region, either by mail,
phone, or email.   Have that individual post a region update on SEDS activities
to the L, so everyone can read them.  That way, everyone knows what everyone
else is doing, and where everybody is (hopefully, not in a grave!).

If it is a densely packed region (like California), maybe the person can form a
committee to help him, but the responsibility will still ultimately lie upon
that one person.  This lead to better accountability, and shows better concern
on the behalf of the SEDS Natl Board for the problems of the local chapter.
Sigma Nu Fraternity has a representative for each region, who is the point of
contact if there are any local problem .... why shouldn't SEDS do the same
thing?   I am not asking people to flying out to discuss problems with local
chapters (although that would be nice :), but to get to talk to the region you
represent, to actually show that you are also representing their concerns.

Yes, I too have been lax in this regard, but I am hoping to make up for the
busy semester by doing it now, over break.  Everyone needs to help out on this,
if we are to maintain a viable community of SEDS chapters.
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