Champaign-Urbana Astronomical Society
Champaign, IL. 61820

Minutes of CUAS Club meeting held on
Thursday April 12th, 2007 7:00PM
Parkland College, Staerkel Planetarium
2500 West Bradley Avenue Champaign, Ill 61820

CLUB ITEMS OF BUSUNESS AND DISCUSSION

Observing this month

04-13,14-2007 Bob Rubendunst made arrangements for observing at Middle
Fork Waterfowl site just north of the main preserve area at Middle Fork,
near Penfield, Illinois. This would occur on Friday, 4-13-07 with a
rain date of Saturday, 4-14-07. He handed out a map of the park at the
meeting. Number 7 on the map is the spot we want to observe from. Bob
mentions how to get there:

    To get there from C-U, head east on I 74 to exit 197. Go north
    (Champaign county Route 22, aka County Road 2700E) about 19 miles. Go
    past the Middle Fork Preserve Entrance, and about 100 yards north of the
    entrance, is county road 3500 N. Turn left (West) onto County Road
    3500N, and drive about 3/5 a mile east, then turn right at the brown
    forest preserve sign. There is an area where 10-20 cars could park.

05-03-2007 Thursday. The Orpheum Children's Science Museum and Parkland
will host a get together with children's activities at Parkland Staerkel
Planetarium. The club might want to consider having an information
table at the event. The table would need to be staffed and Dave Leake
will be busy with activities in the dome so we would need other club
volunteers. Mike Conron has volunteered to man a table with some exhibits
on them.

05-05-2007 Saturday, Allerton Park Observing 8PM to 11PM.

06-21-2007 Thursday. Summer Solstice Event with Professor James Kaler.
More info to come.

Other Items

Mike Rosenberger: Mowers are ready to be used. He also noted that a
ladder had been left outside at the dome.


PROGRAM FOR THE EVENING

The program for the evening was presented by Bob Holmes, John Pratt,
both from Charleston, Illinois and Mike Lockwood. We all fouind the
presentation very interesting and thank these guys very much for sharing!

Bob Holmes is the founder of Astronomical Research Institute in
Charleston, Il. And recently upgraded his observing equipment to a 32
inch reflector. John Pratt and Mike Lockwood were instrumental in their
contributions to the project. Each one of the three presented aspects
of their involvement in creating the scope. Bob also gave an overview
of the ARI's mission.

You can go to their website at:

    http://ari.home.mchsi.com/new_page_1.htm

For those not having an Internet link, here is ARI's mission:

    Astronomical Research Mission:

    Our goal at the Astronomical Research Institute is to encourage
    students to think like scientists as they explore the universe. We
    work with students and instructors throughout the United States in
    astronomy, providing hands on research projects that can lead to actual
    discoveries. Teachers and students use specialized software to study
    star images and reduce these pictures into usable data. It is our aim
    to extend this opportunity to as many schools and students as possible.

    Our second goal is to inspire students to work smarter than they ever
    thought possible. Since the late 1970's interest in astronomy among
    people under the age of 30 has decreased dramatically. According to the
    Astronomical League, in 1979, over 34% of all subscribers to Sky and
    Telescope magazine were individuals under the age of 30. Today less than
    4% of subscribers come from this same age group. High school students
    now comprise less than 0.005% the total subscriptions to this publication!

    After judging the 2005 Illinois State Science Fair, it was noted that of
    the 1,700 science projects on display, only 7 involved astronomy. We
    believe that by offering teachers the opportunity to conduct real
    scientific research in their classrooms, we will be able to motivate
    students to seek out opportunities in science and education, ultimately
    changing these statistics.

    Mission In Research:

    The goal of Astronomical Research is to help teachers and students become
    more actively involved in astronomy. By placing the proper research grade
    tools in the hands of students, we can show them how to take current
    up-to-date images and turn it into data that makes a real contribution
    to the filed of astronomy. Helping teachers and students with projects
    like these, will result in positive results that will motivate students
    to continue on into higher education.

    We also believe that by providing students with exciting research
    projects, they will become better students with exceptional study skills
    with an emphasis on detail. These types of learning skills will allow
    students to become better role models preparing them to become leaders
    among their peers.

There being no further business to be brought before the officers,
the meeting was adjourned at 8:30PM

Michael T. Conron, Secretary