Secretary Ron Pearson read the Oct. minutes. They were approved as read.

DU Report: Dave Trott presented a memo from Dr. Stencel that requires a $1.00 per person charge be collected by DAS for all public access. For Public Nights the $1 can come out of the $3.00 now charged. Dave also notified the board that they will be rekeying the observatory locks, date has not been scheduled but after sometime after Jan. 1, 2004. DU will list of who DAS wants to reissue keys to. Re; DAS draft calendar dates for 04, Dave would like to reschedule eboard Friday meetings except for Jan. 23rd and Sept. 17th. The rest need to be moved due to use by DU. Dates were quickly reviewed and Joe Gafford will redraft the calendar. The regular meeting for Jan. will be at Olin Hall since Carla has not been able to schedule a planetarium night at DMNS as planned.

PN Report: Ron Mickel reported a young volunteer age 14 wants to help with PN. Would not be an operator. Asked Dave Trott if there would be any other limitations? Dave suggested we should get good legal permission from her parents. Will check with Dr. Stencel if anything else is of concern, but encourages involvement by students/teens.

Treasurer Report: Chuck distributed a monthly balance sheet.

VP Report: Frank reported Fiske Planetarium is having 50th anniversary party with silent auction Nov. 14th to 16th. Distributed flyer with info and has posted on listserv. May be planning special open houses for Saturn and Jupiter, discussed options for speakers in upcoming months. Asked if a tour of Ball Aerospace would be of interest, will contact Gary Emerson to see what can be arranged.

Pres. Report: Carla said she would like to cancel the Alphapage contract, that the DU answering machine is working well. Motion made to cancel Alphapage was approved. Asked if Jack Eastman could do a 'skygazers almanac' for 5-10 minutes at a meeting. Jack consented. Carla suggested doing an Open House afternoon for new members in basic astronomy topics. Have scheduled another Majestic View Star Party in Feb. Last couple have been clouded out.

Wayne Kaaz reported he did the OASIS two groups on one day. DanWray also reported school presentations he had done and had one rescheduled coming up.

List Serv: no problems reported.

Newsletter: Pat Ryan has taken over from Patti Kurtz as editor.

PN Comm: need a 90 deg. Diagnol and visual back for Meade 10 SCT, will announce in newsletter to see if any donations.
Dark Sky Site: new toilet in and fully operational. May not need to use chemicals. Rental outhouse is gone. Inspection for Tri-County health is good to go.

Restoration & Maint. Comm: discussion of some ideas Carla listed. Question of whether lead paint might be an issue for floor was brought up. Safety lighting on the gantry and an l.e.d light strapped on railing was discussed. Wayne Green talked about his plan for installing a Short tube 80 finder on the Clark. Weak spots in the dome room floor and offset in balcony floor were brought up as potential maintence items. Ron said he'd pass the reports on to Dave Trott. Dan Wray suggested the balcony floor may need to be recoated.

Old Business: the calendar was reviewed and dates redone.

New Business: A.L. dues increase doesn't take effect until June 04, so discussion of whether it can be covered in DAS dues was tabled until next month.

Meeting adjourned at 10:05pm

Minutes as approved Dec. 6th Eboard Meeting.

Ron Pearson, Secretary DAS Inc.

Attachement: DU Memo Re; One dollar per person fee for Chamberlin:

Here is the memo from DU.
In a message dated 11/6/03 1:23:35 PM, rstencel@du.edu writes:


MEMO 11/6/03
To: Ms. Carla Swartz, President, Denver Astronomical Society
From: Dr. Robert Stencel, Director, Chamberlin Observatory
Cc: Mr.David Trott, Deputy Director, Chamberlin Observatory

We at the University of Denver are very appreciative of the wonderful volunteer work the Denver Astronomical Society has done over many years at Chamberlin Observatory, and welcome the ongoing relationship that reaches even more people in the Denver area and actively supports the continued operation of the Observatory with its many needs for maintenance, upkeep and potential improvements.

It is my responsibility to grow the Chamberlin Observatory programs in the future, both academic and outreach -- the latter decidedly including the DAS. To raise necessary funds for program staffing, maintenance and eventual endowments, we therefore will be reverting to a more traditional arrangement of income sharing with DAS. Historically, DAS provided 25% of public night revenues directly to DU in support of these missions. Rather than a percentage, we are going to implement a per person observatory admission charge [general public] effective Jan. 1, 2004. The charge will be $1 per person. If the DAS wishes to charge more than this amount, the club can make use of the additional amounts. Please consult with Dave Trott regarding specific implementation questions you might have.

These payments are to be made quarterly in order to allow proper budgeting of their use, effective starting January 1, 2004 with the first payment invoiced on March 31, 2004, the second on June 30, etc.

As we recently have been doing, we will invoice the DAS for year 2003 phone charges in December, but those charges will be subsumed under this new arrangement next year.

Also, FYI, we will be re-keying the Observatory after the first of the year. We are working on a revision of the key-holder agreement to clarify access and safety issues. Keys will be issued to the current president of the DAS, lead Public Night operators and for special needs as they arise. In all cases the issuance of a key is subject, of course, to DU approval of the key-holder.

Together, DAS and DU can continue and improve our crucial outreach efforts to the community. I am always available to talk with you about how we can do things better. Thank you for your continued support of the University of Denver's historic Chamberlin Observatory!

Astronomically,
/Dr.Bob/
Dr. Robert Stencel, Wm. Herschel Womble Professor of Astronomy
303-871-2135


Ron Pearson, Secretary, DAS, Inc.Ron Pearson, Secretary DAS