July 23, 2015

About 30 members attended the meeting

Lecture:

Dr. Becker, a scientific historian, gave a wonderful talk on “Unraveling Starlight” which went through the life of William Huggins and his rise from an uneducated silk merchant to President of the Royal Society.  The talk was recorded and available on YouTube.

 

Business Meeting:

Introduction of new Officers

  • Phyllis Lang – CoChair
  • Chris Cole – CoChair
  • Michael Mantini – CoChair
  • Steve Izzo – Treasurer
  • Matt Lochansky – Secreatary

 

There are several committees within RAC.  If interested in joining, send an email to the club listserv or email the chair directly.

Observing Committee:

Chair:  Matt Lochansky

Backup:  Michael Mantini

This committee receives outreach requests, organizes events ensuring no conflicts, and getting them posted to the club calendar.

ALCOR Committee:

Chair: Doug Lively

Backup:  Steve Izzo

This committee serves as the primary communication between RAC and the Astronomical League

Telescope Loaner Committee:

Chair:  John Sadler

Backup:  Michael Keefe

This committee coordinates the loaner scope program by helping members get scopes they requested and maintaining the inventory

Website Commitee:

Chair:  Ian Hewitt

Commitee responsible for keeping website content up to date, posting status updates for events, and is currently working on a new version of the website.

Treasurer’s Report:

  • Club Balance:  $13622.97 across accounts
  • Membership roster being updated, currently 119 active/paid memberships
  • Welcome to New Members!  Robert and Carol Schreiber and Michael Meiners

Eyepiece Cleaning Clinic this Saturday, July 25, 2-4PM at NCSU Arts and Crafts center.  Bring a couple eyepieces to clean.

RAC Telephone line has been discontinued.  Many thanks to Jerry Watson for many, many years of maintaining the phone line.  However, due to high cost and lack of use, the phone line was eliminated.

Club Picnic:  A picnic is being planned for September.  Details to follow.  Main course will either be a pig pickin’ or midwestern style BBQ.  Please let organizers know if you have special dietary needs.

Club Campout:  The club is looking to plan a fall campout, possibly at Medoc Mountain.  Details to follow soon.

Name Badges:  Poll was conducted to see if name badges were still useful.  14 voted to continue badges, 1 vote to discontinue.

About 20 members continued on to Tripps for dinner.