MINUTES for Southern Arizona International Dark-Sky Association (SA-IDA)  OCTOBER 9, 2002 


Meeting called to order at 5:35 PM by John Polacheck (acting President)

 Numbers below correspond to the Agenda numbers:
1. September minutes were handed out but not read, approved by the members present with the
provision changes could be made at next meeting if corrections are needed.

2. Treasurers report was given by Byron the Treasurer, Balance in checking account same as previous
month which is $1,026.54  , but there are some outstanding expenses to be reimbursed including
awards, brochure printing, and some sa-ida.org web site expenses.

3. Old business
          Letter from SA-IDA to Home Depot about selling illegal outdoor lights, no response to SA-IDA. 
     Joe agreed to draft a letter to follow up on original correspondence.  May need to meet with Home
     Depot and set up a good lighting display.

4.  Next meeting in November to be a field trip.  John to coordinate a possible walk around the U of A
campus to look for good and bad lighting, meeting place and details to be announced.

5. Science Fair prizes for projects regarding good lighting and/or light pollution to include cash prizes
from SA-IDA ($100, 50, 25) and gift prizes from others such as Starizona and Skyworks.  Joe to check
and see if  Southern Arizona Engineering and Science Fair web site lists our awards to be given on their
web site www.sarsef.com. 

Saturday October 12th Project Astro will be conducting train the trainer all day at the Girl Scout Hacienda
facility on Sabino Canyon Road near River Road.  Several club members to give a brief overview of Light
Pollution issues and hand out brochures since there is not a lesson plan in their handouts dealing with
light pollution.  IDA is working on one to be included in next years materials.

6. Home Depot follow-up.  See old business item above.

7. November "Excellence in Lighting Award" to be awarded to St. Francis Church on River Road at
Craycroft during church service or coffee hour, Sunday, Nov 17th.  The minister is very happy about the
award to be presented.

8a.  Kitt Peak - Two telescopes are being used for evening programs with about 35 people per night who
come from all over the country (by reservation only).   SA-IDA needs some presence or some material
needs to be made available to be sure and include information on light pollution.  There was much
discussion about how and who to contact.
 
8b. Telephone Tree - use Email for those that have it and use telephone calls for those who doo not
have Email to notify members of special events, etc.  Need to update the Email addresses.

9.  Special Arizona license plates and plate frames, etc.  Joe presented cost information for license plate
frames ( about $8 to $15 depending on quality and quantity) and vanity plates for the front of vehicles
(about same cost as frames).  No costs we obtained for bumper stickers.  No decision to proceed with
either frames or vanity plates.

10. Bad Lighting Complaints - No official complaint forms have been turned in the past month.Oct. 9th SA-IDA minutes continued


11. Dark Sky Meter - Avery gave updates and estimated costs (about $12 for digital voltmeter, body
plumbing pieces about $8, PC board $10, components about $10).  Most of the assembly drawings have
been completed (4 sheets).  Plans are to assemble 4 of the proto types by end of January for club
members to test and evaluate.  A test procedure needs to be developed.

12.  Large Public Meeting - Audubon Club is interested in a joint meeting to focus on light pollution.  Will
schedule for sometime next year.

13.  Report from IDA - No discussion

14. Media Publicity - David Levy often mentions Light Pollution issues and the importance of dark skies
on his "Let's Talk Stars" weekly Astronomy Talk Radio show.

15. SA-IDA Web site improvements - Always interested in member input for improvements.

16. Glare Buster Shields - No word from GE about shields.

17. Revising our pamphlet - A new brochure "You Can help Restore and protect the Nighttime
Environment" was developed and proofed at the meeting.  This one is green in color, the blue one "You
Can Make a Difference with 'Good' Outdoor Lighting..." remains unchanged.  Also a plum colored sheet
was developed to hand out to kids.  It folds into a "fortune teller" game with 8 questions and answers
about light pollution.

There was also some discussion and interest in developing a list of "one liners" about light pollution that
could be handed out.  Several members shared information they had collected.


Meeting adjourned at 7:05 PM


Respectfully submitted, Joe Frannea