LPC Environmental Club

Environmental Club

 

Las Positas College

3033 Collier Canyon Road

Livermore, CA 94551

 

September 25, 2006

 

Meeting Minutes

 

I.           Call To Order

The meeting was called to order at 2:30 p.m. All officers were present except for Parag Saraf, Club Vice President. Christian Blanco, Club Treasurer, arrived soon after. Dr. Ansell, our advisor, was not present at this meeting. However, Dr. Klaschus, our co-advisor, was present for about the first 30-45 minutes of the meeting.

 

II.         Amendment Of Constitution

Lori Myers, Club President, explained that at this meeting, we had to vote to amend and adopt our constitution. After passing around copies of our potential constitution, Lori explained that if the motion passed, we would adopt the old Earth Club’s previous constitution with the amendments of changing the club name to Environmental Club and adding a scholarship for at least one club member. Lori read the new section about the scholarship aloud. At least one club member will be awarded a scholarship at the end of the year on the basis of their participation, cooperation, and perpetuating the club to achieve its goals. Our club advisor will choose the recipient along with our club President if he/she is not in the running. Lori reminded everyone that she has chosen to be ineligible for the scholarship. Steve Linney, Club ICC representative, motioned to approve our constitution. Numerous club members seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.

 

III.        Welcome New Members 

       This club meeting we had six new members: Atlund Smith, Cameron Close, Lynn Hansen, Arish Aziz, Lindsay Smith, and Esther Waltz. Lori welcomed the new members and asked that everyone go around the table and introduce themselves. Lori also brought delicious brownies for everyone. Tiffany Breger, Club Secretary, passed around a sign-in sheet. Dr. Klaschus, our co-advisor and our guest speaker, introduced herself at this time too. Dr. Klaschus mentioned that she is also the advisor of the new philosophy club incase anyone is interested in joining. However, the club is currently looking for a new president as the previous one has some other obligations. Dr. Klaschus is a Humanities teacher at Las Positas, the director of the Honors Transfer Program, and an environmentalist. During the introductions, Lori mentioned trying to see if it would be possible to bring in animals for our next Club Day.

 

IV.        Approval Of Minutes

       The minutes from our first club meeting on September 11^th, 2006, were not approved at this time. Later, Dr. Klaschus had to leave the meeting to teach a class, and because Dr. Ansell was not present, we were unable to motion for the minutes to be approved. We will motion for the approval of the minutes from our first club meeting, as well as this one, at our next meeting, October 9^th.

 

V.         Guest Speakers

       Lori introduced and welcomed Dr. Klaschus, our guest speaker. Dr. Klaschus explained that she would be talking about the Sierra Club, but she also wanted to get a feel for our club and what it is about. To start things off, Dr. Klaschus showed us a bumper sticker she got from a jousting championship which read, “Earth first, we’ll strip mine the other planets later.” She also invited Gary Perdue, who is a fellow Sierra Club member, to chime in. Dr. Klaschus told us that she has begun to collect books, one of which she brought to show us. (Naturally Clean: The Seventh Generation Guide to Safe and Healthy Non-Toxic Cleaning) It’s about different ways to clean without using chemicals. Dr. Klaschus offered to put the book on reserve for us at the library. Another book she brought for us was Al Gore’s book, The Inconvenient Truth. Not only is it informative and interesting, but the last chapter of the book explains what readers can do to get involved. Dr. Klaschus suggested that we create a handout made from different sources that dictates possibly 5-10 things individuals can do to help. She explained that everything starts with individuals, because it’s when lots of individuals start doing things that we can make a difference. The Las Positas landscape planning committee, which Dr. Klaschus is a part of, is already thinking about our landscape plan and such things as water control, so we should give them more of our input. Then, Dr. Klaschus passed around Sierra Club magazines and let us know that student memberships cost $15. For more information, go to www.sierraclub.org. She played a short video for us called “We Are the Sierra Club,” which is about the history of the Sierra Club and what it’s about. If you’d like to view the video, go to www.sierraclub.org/membership/video/. Lori commented that the outings talked about in the video sounded interesting. Gary said that he is part of the Delta group but it’s not very active and most of the members are older. Dr. Klaschus then discussed the problem of there being many members in our chapter, but many members are not active in their membership. Also, we do not have to be members to go on the outings; however, we must still sign a waiver not holding Sierra Club responsible for injuries that we might incur. Dr. Klaschus passed around information she had printed out with future outings near us. She said that the Motherlode chapter is very active and has many activities planned for each month. However, she also explained that even with only a membership to the Sierra Club, you can’t be inactive, because the membership itself gets politicians to pay attention. Dr. Klaschus told us that just as citizens, we can have a say in issues, but at times it can be helpful to have an organization like the Sierra Club behind us. She then talked about the campaign to protect the Hetch Hetchy Valley which led to the creation of the Sierra Club by John Muir. At this time, she also mentioned the possibility for us to visit John Muir’s house. Dr. Klaschus said if we are interested in doing the Sierra Club outings, we can consider joining and taking the training to become outing leaders. She mentioned that there are lots of urban activities too, and it’s important to think of our own backyards as our environment. Upon Dr. Klaschus’ request for comments or questions, Gary said that at the National Coastal Cleanup Day, his group was certified by the Guinness Book of World Records.

 

VI.        Officer Reports

                 A. President – Lori Myers

                           Lori had wanted to see if we had a motion to reimburse her for Club Day; however, because Dr. Ansell was not present, we were not able to vote on it. Lori thanked everyone for helping out with Club Day. Then, she talked about possibly seeing the documentary, “The Inconvenient Truth.” There is a free showing of the movie on October 6^th from 6:30-9:30 p.m., and those who are interested in it can find more information on the Acterra website. She said that there’s another showing at the Parkway Speakeasy Theater, but only those 21 years and older can get in. We can also rent the movie to watch at one of our club meetings. Christian then suggested opening up the club room to the cafeteria and inviting all students to come watch the movie.   

          B. Vice President – Parag Saraf

                           Parag was not present at this meeting.

          C. Secretary – Tiffany Breger

                           Tiffany had nothing to add at this time.

          D. Treasurer – Christian Blanco

                           Christian announced that he will need everyone’s $10 membership fee by the end of the semester.

          E. ICC Representative – Steve Linney

                           Steve had nothing to add at this time.

 

VII.      Public Forum

                    No one had anything to say at this time.

 

VIII.     Unfinished Business

                    There was no unfinished business.

 

IX.        New Business                                 

              Lori mentioned that we will be forming a committee for recycling, because on campus, we recycle, but we don’t have recycled products available. David Darlington will be chairing the committee, and Lori wanted to know if anyone else would be interested in co-chairing the committee with him or being involved in it. Both Christian and Steve expressed interest in being involved in it. The committee will try to get the campus to deal with a company that can provide recycled paper and products. Steve mentioned the possibility of us having our own recycling as a way to raise funds. Lori discussed getting candy in bulk to sell around Halloween.

 

X.         Faculty Advisor – Dr. Ansell

                    Dr. Ansell was not present at this meeting.

 

XI.        Open Discussion/Announcements

       Upon Steve’s request, Lori spoke about our trip to Muir Woods next month. We need to find a new advisor to go with us, as Dr. Ansell is busy this semester and will not be able to attend group outings. We will probably try to do the ocean kayaking trip in the spring since the weather will be better then. Esther mentioned having someone in mind as a possible guest speaker for us. We then discussed other free trips we could do. Lori spoke about going hiking behind her house. Gary mentioned Coyote Hills and Point Reyes. We also discussed possible horseback riding trips. Steve suggested everyone think of 2 or 3 different ideas of places they’d like to go and we could vote on it at our next meeting.

 

XII.      Adjournment

                    Christian motioned for the meeting to be adjourned. Gary and several other members seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 3:28 p.m. Our next meeting will be on October 9^th, 2006 from 2:30-3:30 p.m. in the Club Room.