April 16, 2003 – General Meeting

The North Florida Chapter of the AMS held its annual spring meeting to elect officers on Wednesday, April 16, 2003, at 6:30pm in room 353 of the Love Building on the campus of Florida State University. Present at the meeting were approximately fifteen members, including the entire executive board: President Stephanie Abrams, Vice-President Jeff Wood, Secretary Clark Evans, and Treasurer Joe Smith.

President Abrams opened the meeting just after 6:30pm with a short farewell speech as she introduced and called for consensus on the only candidate for the office of President, current Secretary Clark Evans. With no dissenting votes, Clark was introduced as the new President and the meeting was turned over to him.

At that time, President Evans introduced the candidates for the remaining officer positions of Vice-President and Treasurer. Running for Vice-President was Joe Marzen and Robert Banks; for Treasurer, Ariel Rodriguez and Johnathon Conant. The candidates for Vice-President were called upon to state their case as to why they should be elected Vice-President. Following speeches by Joe Marzen and Robert Banks, the candidates for Treasurer were called upon to state their case as to why they should be elected Treasurer.

Afterwards, ballots were distributed to the present members for the voting procedures. By a vote of 13-1, Joe Marzen was elected Vice-President, and by a vote of 11-3, Ariel Rodriguez was elected Treasurer. At this point, with the office of Secretary unfilled, President Evans offered the position to the runner-up in the Vice-President race, Robert Banks. He accepted, though outgoing President Abrams noted that there should be a vote between Robert Banks and Johnathon Conant for the office of Secretary, since both showed interest. Finally, by a vote of 8-5, Robert Banks was elected as Secretary.

In summary, the new executive board of the North Florida Chapter of the AMS is as follows:

The new chapter president is Clark Evans. Formerly chapter secretary, Clark is a rising senior in the meteorology department at Florida State. He can be reached via e-mail at acevans@met.fsu.edu.

The new chapter vice-president is Joe Marzen. Joe is a second year graduate student in the meteorology department at Florida State. He can be reached via e-mail at jmarzen@met.fsu.edu.

The new chapter secretary is Robert Banks. Robert is a rising senior in the meteorology department at Florida State and works for the Center for Ocean-Atmosphere Prediction Studies (COAPS) at Florida State. He can be reached via e-mail at banks@coaps.fsu.edu.

The new chapter treasurer is Ariel Rodriguez. Ariel is a rising senior in the meteorology department at Florida State. He can be reached via e-mail at rodlenert@yahoo.com.

At tonight’s meeting, beyond officer elections, Treasurer Ariel Rodriguez spoke of his experiences at the 2003 AMS Conference in Long Beach, California. In addition, President Clark Evans’ goals for the forthcoming year were outlined, and these will be implemented this summer. Primary examples of these goals include:

* Scheduled meeting times. This has been a big request from the membership and we will be soliciting your input over the coming weeks to determine what time works best for everyone. The intended effect is to increase student membership and attendance at chapter meetings and functions.

* Involvement of the community in general. This includes increased frequency of featured speakers at chapter meetings, enhanced visibility of the chapter in the local meteorological community, and special events designed to target our non-student membership.

* Organization. One of the things the old officer core had hoped to do (but was unable to accomplish) was to have meetings and events organized well in advance. With a full summer to prepare (as opposed to having to go on the fly like the past year), we hope to start the fall with a bang come next year.

* Increased social functions. This includes (but certainly isn’t limited to) tailgating and seat sections for football games, further dinners, and events yet to be determined.

* Potential for a summer meeting. Depending on interest and membership level present in Tallahassee over the summer, the chapter may hold a meeting in July or August in order to better prepare for the new year.

* Revamped webpage, as soon as problems with the FSU Meteorology Dept. webserver are fixed and upgrades are implemented.

The new group of officers would also like to thank and commend the outgoing officers – President Stephanie Abrams, Vice-President Jeff Wood, and Treasurer Joe Smith. Their efforts in helping to develop the chapter from the ground up should not go without commendation.

The North Florida Chapter of the AMS will work behind the scenes over the coming months, with a potential meeting tentatively scheduled for early August.

With elections completed, President Clark Evans closed the meeting at 7:20pm.