NOBCChE Gulf Coast Chapter

General Body Meeting Minutes

April 8January 14, 2005, 6:30pm – 8pm, HISD Professional Development Bldg. B Rm. E, 3233 Weslayan, Houston, TX.

Attendees: Reginald Christy, Paul A. Christy, Lonnie Fogle, Tina Newsome, Barbara Foots, Ramon Simon, JohnnyJohnnie Holmes, Crystal LesterRobert Ford, and Gary MorrowKennedy Uyanneh

  • The meeting was called to order, the agenda was distributed, and the welcome was given by the chapter president, Reginald Christy.
  • The minutes from the last chapter meeting were treasurer, Paul A. Christy, discussed and distributed and reviewed. Johnny Holmes moved to acceptcopies of the minutes as written, properly seconded by Crystal Lester and approved. Click on the icon below to view the minutes from March 11,January 2005. Financial Reports
  • The treasurer, Paul Christy, discussed and distributed copies of the April 2005 Financial Report.
  • Elections: Nominations are needed for the election of officers for term of FY 2005-2006/FY 2006-2007. We will hold elections in the near future for President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and Parliamentarian. More information will soon follow. Please consider nominees and make sure that he/she is willing to participate in the election.
  • The following upcoming activities were discussed by committee

1.  Awards/Scholarships (Chair: Sharon Fontaine) – Scholarship, Teacher,Barbara Foots and Engineer/Chemist of the year nominee applicationsJohnnie Holmes have been distributed and needagreed to be extended beyond just HISD. An email will follow soliciting nominations work together on the awards for Chemist/Engineer of the year included additional information about the nominee. An awards selection committee will meet on the second Friday in May after the nominations have been received. For this reason, the NOBCChE Chapter meeting will be held on the first Friday of the month, May 6, 2005!the upcoming Science Bowl/Science Fair.

2.  Membership/Publicity (Chair: Dietrich Irving) – Not reported. Membership forms will be available at the Professional development seminar on January 27, 2005 along with a Gulf Coast Chapter informational brochure.

3.  Competitions (Chair: Barbara Foots) – Not reported.

4.  Professional Development (Chair: Tina Newsome) – Not reported.

5.  Banquet (Co-Chairs: Paul A. Christy and Crystal Lester) – This year’s banquet is Friday, June 10, 2005. Major General Charles Bolden (retired astronaut) has been confirmed as the keynote speaker. Crowne Plaza has been confirmed as the event location. The The keynote speaker has been confirmed to be Major General Charles Bolden. The location has been confirmed to be the Crowne Plaza. Publicitydate for the Science Bowl/ Science Fair is February 12, 2005 at the University of Houston Downtown, and the date for the DOE competition is a key component, and everyone needs to spread the word and encourage others to attend. We will have brochures, flyers and banquet booklets for the event. A Souvenir/Patrons Banquet Booklet will be created by Tina Newsome and Robin Cole to help raise funds for the chapter. One page, ½ page, and business card sized advertisements will be sold to all interested individuals and businesses. The cost of the banquet will be the same as last year at $35 for adults and $20 for students. Invitations will be sent out via email and US Postal mail accordingly, and the RSVP and payment is due by June 6, 2005. A more detailed list of the banquet timeline and outstanding action items can be viewed by clicking on the icon below.February 26th and will be held in Baton Rouge, LA. Set and Orientation for the SB/SF was discussed. Many volunteers are needed for the Science Bowl/Science Fair! If you would like to volunteer, please refer to the “Volunteer Assignments” attachment and contact Barbara Foots at or (713)663-7545. Recruitment of team for the middle school and high school science bowl as well as elementary through high school science fair participants is ongoing. If you know of anyone who might want to organize a team and participate in this event, have them contact Barbara Foots at the contact information above. There is a sample email and general information document to send to teachers/counselors or anyone else who may want more detailed information in the “Sample email attachments below. A Science Bowl subcommittee for questions was formed and will be chaired by Johnnie Holmes, and he can be contacted at for more information.

6.  Partnerships (Chair: Reginald Christy) – Tracey Willis has provided the following information concerning the NOBCChE Gulf Coast Chapter’s symposium at the upcoming ACS Regional Conference to be held in Houston in 2006.

To determine the greatest impact for the symposium for the regional ACS meeting in 2006, we need to determine the following:

1. A theme is fine but not mandatory

2. Goal - recruit students and/or professionals; place students in programs; get name recognition...need to determine this…

3. How many speakers we would we like to have

4. How many attendees estimated for speakers?

5. Do we want to have a booth in the exhibition hall?

There is no sign-up for the symposia, but the contact person is Dr. Monte Pettitt from Univ. of Houston.

His info is as follows:

713-743-3263

7.  Professional Development (Chair: Tina Newsome) – A free professional development seminar will be hosted by the NOBCChE Gulf Coast Chapter on Thursday, January 27, 2005, from 7:00 - 8:30 pm on the campus of TSU. We will have a presentation by the esteemed speaker, Dennis S. Brown, a goal setting exercise and refreshments. This event is for members, potential members, affiliates, and guests. Please see the attached flyer for more detailed information and distribute to all who may be interested! Attendance by chapter members would be greatly appreciated!

8.  Banquet (Co-Chairs: Paul A. Christy and Crystal Lester) – Paul Christy discussed the timeline for the planning of the annual NOBCChE Gulf Coast Chapter Banquet. The banquet committee volunteers were identified and some duties were assigned. Suggestions were made for the keynote speaker for this year’s event, and inquiries for a location will be made by Johnnie Holmes, Reginald Christy, and Paul Christy. Contact Paul Christy if you are interested in working on this committee at . The date of the banquet is June 10, 2005.

9.  Partnerships (Chair: Reginald Christy) – Information was distributed for an ACS seminar on Archeology from a chemist’s perspective. The ACS event was scheduled for January 17th

10.  Outreach (Chair: Robin Cole) – Not reported.

11.  Fundraising (Chair: Lonnie Fogle) – The chapter has received additional donations as a result of fundraising including one from Bayer MaterialScience in the amount of $1,000 (thanks to Ramon Simon) and one from Urban Initiatives in the amount of $500 (thanks to Sharon Fontaine), and one from Dow Chemical, Texas City, in the amount of $1,000 (thanks to Ria Griffin).

12.  Fundraising (Chair: Lonnie Fogle) – Lonnie Fogle discussed letter, response form, and the pictorial brochure that has been sent to several companies in the region for regional and chapter level fundraising. Special thanks to the committee members, Lonnie Fogle, Paul Christy, Robin Cole, and Tina Newsome, for getting this done in a timely manner.

  • The following action items were assigned:

1.  Tina Newsome has will get last year’s information from Robin Cole to complete the assigned the task of creating the Program/Souvenir Booklets for the annual banquet with biographical sketch of the keynote speaker, and all advertisements that have been sold. This needs to be sent to the printers by May 25th, 2005, which is two weeks prior to the event.

2.  Crystal Lester will create and send a nomination form for Chemist/Chemical Engineer awards to be returned via email by April 29, 2005.

3.  Sharon Fontaine will establish committee dates to meet and review submitted scholarship and award applications after the due date. (It was recommended that the meeting be held on May 13, 2005)

4.  Paul will leave the required deposit with Crowne Plaza and thank previously solicited keynote speakers.

5.  Ramon Simon will provide a formal letter concerning the honorarium and possible charitable contribution tax deferment to be signed by the chapter president and given to the speaker.

6.  Johnny Holmes will contact Major General Charles Bolden confirm honorarium decisions, the banquet keynote speaker and provide the signed document from above., and will confirm honorarium decisions.

7.  Paul will create a formal communication for the awards banquet and will send electronic invitations. Some hard copies are to be sent via email and some hard copies to be sent by “snail mail”, as well, which both require RSVP(s)..

8.  Lonnie will confirm entertainment of music and Reginald Christy will follow up with a potential back up.

  • From the Southwest Regional Chair (Lonnie Fogle): Not Reported.
  • From the TSU Student Chapter Advisor (Dr. Douglas Willis): Not Reported.

1.  Dr. Robert Ford will check the possibility of having a room reserved for our February 4th chapter meeting at Texas Southern University.

2.  Johnnie Holmes will contact members of his Science Bowl – Questions subcommittee with information about the first meeting and assignments.

3.  Reginald Christy will send an electronic copy to our email recipients to forward to school contacts recruiting Science Fair/Science Bowl teams.

  • From the Southwest Regional Chair (Lonnie Fogle):

1.  Volunteers are needed to host the next NOBCChE Southwest Regional Meeting in fall 2005. The Brazoria County Chapter has expressed interest in co-hosting with the Gulf Coast Chapter. Members send your vote to participate to your chapter president!

2.  DOE Science Bowl: The Southwest Region DOE Science Bowl will be held in Baton Rouge, LA on February 26, 2005, at 1 pm. More details are forthcoming.

  • Upcoming events:

·  The next NOBCChE Gulf Coast Chapter meeting will be held on Friday, May 6,2005, February 4, 6:30-8 pm at the HISD Professional Development Bldg, 3233 Weslayan Bldg. B Room E, Houston, TX. (consult www.mapquest.com for help with directions). (Note: This is We will be meeting on the first1st Friday of in February to avoid meeting on the month!)

·  March of Dimes WalkAmerica Walk Houston Sponsorship Opportunity – The walk will take place on Sunday, May 8, 2005 at 9am. Tina Newsome will walk atevening before the UH-Central location.Science Fair/Science Bowl!)

·  The next American Chemical Society - Greater Houston Section Meeting, "The Offshore Energy Technology Center: Its Mission and Programs", presented by Kristina Hardwick, Director of the Center,
7:30 PM Monday April 18th, 2005
Ahern Room, Crooker Student Center
University of St. Thomas (Building 29 on map)
http://www.stthom.edu/parking/pdf/ParkingMap121503.pdf *Parking is $2.00/day in garage without a permit. Free parking on streets at all times and in surface lots open to public after 7PM.

·  Dr. Cornell West, author of Democracy Matters, will be speaking at the University of Houston, Tenth Annual Underwood Lecture. Click on the icon below to see more details about this influential and vital event presented by an influential and eloquent African American eloquent public intellectual. and details about the event. April 28, 2005, 6:30-8 pm at the University of Houston, Cullen Performance Hall.

·  A free professional development seminar will be hosted by the NOBCChE Gulf Coast Chapter on Thursday, January 27, 2005, from 7-8:30 on the campus of Texas Southern University! We will have a presentation by the esteemed speaker, Dennis S. Brown, a goal setting exercise and refreshments. This event is for members, potential members, affiliates, and guests. Please see the attached flyer and TSU campus map for more detailed information and distribute to all who may be interested!

Respectfully submitted,

Tina M. Newsome

NOBCChE Gulf Coast Chapter, Secretary

P.O. Box 540922 Houston, TX 77254

www.nobcche-houston.org