MARCO Annual Membership
Meeting
March 20, 2015
The annual Membership Meeting of the
Medical Amateur Radio Council was held on March 20, 2015 at the
Western Museum of Flight in Torrance, California.
Present were Malin Dollinger (KO6MD),
Arthur Kahn (W6NJY), Jay Garlitz (AA4FL), Bernard Krasowski (KD5QHV),
Linda Krasowski (KE5BQK), T. "Chip" Keister (N5RTF), Bruce
Small (KM2L), Joe Breault (WB2MXJ), Paul Lukas (N6DMV), President
Jeffrey Wolf (K6JW), Newsletter Editor Warren Brown (KD4GUA), and
MediShare Director Arnold Kalan (WB6OJB).
The meeting was called to order at 9:05
AM, PDT.
Those in attendance introduced
themselves.
In the absence of the Secretary, the
minutes of the last meeting were read by N5RTF and approved.
The Secretary's report was presented by
Jeff due to the absence of Secretary Marcia Lochner. The report
included three donations to MediShare. There are 221 members of
MARCO, including 20 with complementary membership. We have 124 paid
up members. The President does not have the names of those who are in
arrears. The Secretary has reserved a block of rooms for MARCO during
Hamvention at the Clarion in Dayton.
The Treasurer's report was presented by
Jeff due to the absence of Treasurer Mary Favaro (AE4BX). Due to
Mary's efforts, MARCO's funds were transferred from the account
formerly managed by the late WA1HGE to a Wells Fargo Bank near Mary's
home. MARCO's principal officers are all now signatories. MARCO's
General Fund balance as of March 6, 2015 was $11,600.73. The
Medishare account balance as of March 6, 2015 was $6074.18. AA4FL
clarified that the disbursement to him listed as “expedition”
was, in fact, reimbursement of the fees for hosting our web domains.
WB6OJB indicated that his figure ($775: see below)) for member
contributions did not agree with the amount reported. It was not
clear what fiscal year was used in the Treasurer's calculation.
The status of the Secretary was
discussed. Our by-laws specify that officers must be regular members
of MARCO. Marcia, the current Acting Secretary, is not a licensed
amateur radio operator, and thus is not eligible. She was informally
appointed Assistant Secretary last year and has filled the role since
the resignation of W4DAN from the Secretary's position. A motion to
formally appoint Marcia Lochner as Assistant Secretary was made,
seconded, and carried. At the MARCO Membership in 2016, it will be
necessary to elect a Secretary who is a regular (i.e.,
licensed) member.
N5RTF moved that we appoint N7NLN as
Director for the 7th call area. This motion passed. K6JW
indicated that he would contact him to be certain that he would
accept the position.
MediShare report: WB6OJB reported that
since the last meeting, donations to MediShare totaled $775.
Aether and Grand Rounds Report: KD4GUA
would like more radio-oriented submissions to the newsletter. He will
recognize those donating $100 or more to MediShare in the Newsletter,
although will not list the specific amounts donated. Those receiving
the .pdf copy of the Aether gave it a positive review, and he will
continue to mail it via our email list. KE5BQK suggested that one
issue per year contain an envelope for members to use to donate to
MediShare. KD4GUA was concerned that this would increase our postal
cost. The issue was deferred and left unresolved. K6JW recognized
Warren for his reliable, high-quality work in producing both the
Newsletter and Grand Rounds.
Web Committee: The MARCO Website is
edited and managed by Dave NT8E, and KM2L should not be listed as
“Webmaster” in MARCO's publications. Discussion ensued over the
listing of a Webmaster as opposed to the Web Committee. The issue was
not actually resolved, and it appears that KM2L will be listed as
Webmaster until resolution can be obtained. The Web Committee has,
over the years, received misdirected email intended for Medi-Share, a
health insurance company. AA4FL set up an auto-forwarding response,
so that these communications go to the proper recipient without our
intervention. The software also sends notification of the forwarding
to the original sender. So far, this has worked well. KM2L continues
to maintain MARCO's blog.
Radio-Internet Coordinator report:
N5RTF provides streaming audio of Grand Rounds when he can hear net
control. Bobbie W1BEW acts as an alternate receiving site. KM2L also
hosts a Skype conference call and patches in the audio of the lecture
as heard at his station. N5RTF also acts as net control for the CW
net that precedes Grand Rounds. He states that there are usually
about four check-ins.
Old Business: None.
New Business:
WB6OJB relayed a request for support by
MediShare from “Shoulder-to-Shoulder.” This organization runs a
dental clinic in an underserved area of Honduras. MARCO Director
Roger W8CRK will be volunteering there later this year, and initiated
the request for support. It was moved by AA4FL and seconded by KE5BQK
that we donate $250 to support W8CRK's effort, with a request that he
provide feedback after his return. The motion was carried.
AA4FL shared a number of his thoughts
about the organization's future. He stated that it is important to
attract younger membership, and that our weekly on-air lecture series
may not be appealing to this group. Medical/Dental DXpeditions may be
a way to introduce younger practitioners to ham radio. Jay may be
involved in a 2016 expedition to Kiritimati along with a Brazilian
group and Pacific Medical Aid.
Another thought is to involve MARCO,
perhaps through ARRL, with academically-affiliated hospitals to
assist in developing emergency communications capability.
AA4FL also recommended that MARCO
become involved in social media. He moved that we establish a
Facebook group, to be maintained by the Web Committee.. This motion
was passed.
N5RTF moved that MARCO establish a $500
scholarship for licensed ham operators who are applying for
graduate-level training in the medical arts. This would be run
through the ARRL. This motion was passed. AA4FL will contact ARRL on
this matter.
N5RTF suggested that we set up a Paypal
button on our web pages for MediShare donations. The details will be
worked out by the Web Committee.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:05 PDT
on KD5QHV's motion.
