May 2025 Business Meeting Summary
by Andy Thompson, MSDC Secretary
Dan Teich, MSDC President, began the business meeting on May 7 by thanking everyone for coming and thanking for their service the club’s former presidents who were attending.
Dan called for approval of the “April Business Meeting Minutes” as published in our May newsletter. He received a motion to approve the minutes and the motion was seconded. No discussion surfaced and the motion passed unanimously.
Reports from MSDC Officers
VP for Programs Kenny Reynolds had already reported on the speakers who will be presenting in the upcoming months and Dan thanked Kenny and Laura for their excellent work in lining up great programs. He also thanked the club Treasurer, John Weidner who phoned in his report: “We’re fine.”
Next, Dan called on Secretary Andy Thompson who said he was looking forward to having a board of directors meeting to improve our communications and address other important issues. Dan concurred and encouraged members to submit their suggestions for BOD agenda items to him via his email: msdcdan@gmail.com.
Mineral Minutes newsletter Editor Ken Rock encouraged everyone to take ownership of the newsletter and consider submitting an article about any mineral-related topic, whether about a field collecting trip, new mineral acquisitions, or a topic of their choosing. Dan reinforced that by saying club members are adventurers and encouraged all to share their stories.
Old and New Business
Dan noted there were no old business items to address but did have a new business item. He shared his success at finding a possible meeting place, the Hill Center, located on Capitol Hill, where he hoped the club could have a few in-person events, including a possible social on some summer evening, or even an occasional club meeting in the fall and beyond. For now, the club will continue to meet online via Zoom. When a future monthly in-person meeting does take place, that meeting will be hybrid and so Zoom participation will continue to be available.
Dan will be discussing this possibility with the BOD. The Hill Center is located at 921 Pennsylvania Ave, SE, Washington, D.C., one block from the Eastern Market Metro station, served by the blue, orange, and silver lines. We will let members know, well in advance, if and when such an in-person meeting is scheduled.
Geology in the News
Stan, a scientist who worked at NASA, reported on bad news for science, that the NASA budget of $25 billion was being reduced to $20 billion. The majority ($3.9 billion) of that loss will be taken from scientific research pertaining to astro physics, as well as planetary, sun and earth sciences. He gave as an example the significant cut being made to the “Mars Sample Return Project.” The decrease in funding, Stan said, was supposedly justified by the proposal to send astronauts to Mars, rather than robots, to collect the mineral samples. Stan suggested such “savings” were contrary to his experience. He suggested if you think those cuts are a bad idea, write to your congressional representatives.
With no further news items to discuss, Dan called for, and received, a motion to close the business meeting, with members voting unanimously in favor. He turned the microphone over to Laura to introduce the evening’s presenter, Dr. Scott Braley.