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ISU AMS Meeting Minutes
http://www.meteor.iastate.edu/ams/
September 29, 2009

Start Time: 7:07pm

President Hatteberg

Rachel began the meeting with an update on Storm the Dorms. We have been in contact with David Bunker (our contact in the ISU Department of Residence for this project) and are waiting for him get the signs. As a reminder, Storm the Dorms consists of us posting signs around the dorms for severe weather events. If you are interested in helping out, please email Rachel at pres.isuams@iastate.edu .

Next, she discussed the continuation of the HyVee grocery bag project. This is a project we began last year. We printed a template with safety precautions for severe weather events. Last year, it was limited to mostly the Ames area, but we would like to expand it to Ankeny and the Des Moines area. We asked the Central Iowa Chapter of the National Weather Association to help us get the word out and they have agreed to assist us. These bags will be put out around Severe Weather Awareness Week and will stay out until they are gone. We will be using last year.s design but altering the dates.

Lastly, Rachel announced the 90th AMS Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA this January. This meeting is for students, faculty, and weather enthusiast in general. We highly encourage juniors and seniors to apply for the Student Assistant Program at http://ametsoc.org/meet/annual/studentassistantprogram.html. We had one representative go last year but would like to have more go this year. Please email Rachel if you are interested.

Vice President Hoffman

Matt began by thanking everyone on getting their clothing orders in for ISU AMS fall apparel. They should be ready in the next few weeks. Please keep an eye on your email for pick up dates. Also, another way to support the club is by buying a window cling for your car. These are only $5 and help represent the ISU AMS.

Next, the snowfall contest has begun! This is an easy contest that everyone can participate in. This contest involves you trying to predict when the first inch of snow will fall in Ames this year. All you need to do is sign up in Agronomy 3008. Put your name under the date on the calendar and please, only one person per day. Also, the last day to sign up is October 16th. The winner will receive a $25 gift card to a store in Ames!!

Since the ISU AMS homepage has Model Animator, Matt gave a short tutorial on how to use it. At the ISU AMS homepage, click on .Member Resources. then .Model Animator.. The username is .********. and the password is .*****.. There are four model runs and many different models, including the NAM and GFS. You can look at any surface in the atmosphere and can look at up to 16days in the GFS. You do not have to clear your current loop to add another. This way you can compare the similarities and differences in the models.

Lastly, we have been offered the opportunity to tour the Tornado Modulator in Howe Hall. We voted on times and Monday, October 12th at 1pm won. We will probably meet at the hall, but watch for emails for more information.

Treasurer Wittrock

Dues were supposed to be paid by the 29th, so please turn these in as soon as possible!! They can be put in the AMS mailbox in Agronomy 3010 (the office next to the map room).

Our current balance is $3128.

Finally, Justin asked for everyone to look for research surveys on the AMS website. Please fill these out to help the seniors with their senior thesis research work. Almost anyone can take these, but please look at the requirements. Thank you!

Social Chair Witter

Due to the chance of rain, the bonfire was postponed and moved to October 9th. It is still at McFarland Lake Park and rides will be provided in the parking lot across from Agronomy at 6pm.

The Student/Faculty Dinner was a great success! Thanks to everyone that went and thank you Rachael for planning such an awesome event!

Rachael went on to talk about intramurals next. Broomball dues are $5 and curling dues are $3. Please pay these as soon as possible to Justin or the AMS Mailbox in Agronomy 3010. There were also signup sheets for volleyball and dodgeball. If you are interested in either of these intramurals, please email Rachael at social.isuams@iastate.edu .

She then moved on to our upcoming events: a corn maze and ice skating! The corn maze is Friday, October 16th at the Center Grove Orchard in Cambridge. It will cost $8 per person and you will pay this at the corn maze. We will probably leave Agronomy at 5pm and drivers are needed. There will be FREE ice skating at the ISU Ice Arena on Friday, October 23rd from 8-11pm. Please bring your ISU card! Watch for emails from Rachael for more information.

Academic Chair Rabideau

Shannon began by reminding everyone about the ISU AMS forums. These are located at: http://www.meteor.iastate.edu/ams/forums/. They are used for Cy.s Eyes, classes, storm chasing, and general information, so check them out!

She then reminded everyone that you need to send your review leaders the exam dates for your class at least a week or two in advance. This way, the leader can set up a time that works for everyone for a review session. If you have not received an email from your session leader, please check your email again and your junk mail. If you did not receive an email, please contact Shannon to let her know that you would like to sign up or if there is a certain class that you want a review session for.

Shannon created a .Career Page. on the ISU AMS Homepage: http://www.meteor.iastate.edu/ams/careers.php. You can use this page to look for different career paths, scholarships, internships, and other opportunities. Check this out because there are A LOT of opportunities available for meteorologist!

Finally, please email Shannon if there is a certain electives class that you would like to recommend for others. These can be classes that fulfill requirements or that you just really enjoyed.

Webmaster Carletta

Nick first announced that if you do not pay your dues, you will not be on the ISU AMS email list, isuams@iastate.edu. This means you will not get any emails sent to you about meetings, events, and other AMS opportunities, so please pay your dues! We will start using this list within the next two weeks.

He also showed how to sign up for the forums. Go to the ISU AMS Homepage, click on .Member Resources,. then .Forums,. .Register.. Once you click that, put that you are older than 13 (assuming everyone is.), agree to the Terms of Agreement, fill out the information page using your full name (.JoBeth Minniear. for me...), and submit. Nick will then approve you.

Nick has begun a Google Calendar for us! There is a link from the ISU AMS Homepage. If you click on this link, you can see all of the upcoming events. dates and times. If you would like to add the AMS Calendar to your Calendar, click on the +Google Calendar in the bottom right corner of the page. Then accept when the screen pops up.

Historian Lueck

Ryan has updated the AMS picture board outside of Agronomy 3128! Take a look and see pictures from every event so far (including the Student/Faculty Dinner!).

He is also planning on updating the AMS Poster. If you attended the Career Fair, you have seen why this needs updated. The pictures are from at least 3-4 years ago, so we decided they need a little updating. We will have the new poster out for VEISHEA and any other events AMS attends.

Ryan has added a .This Week in Weather History. section to the Map Room. It will be updated weekly so check it out to learn some great weather history!

Finally, he reminded everyone that his goal is to get a picture of every member. Please help him out by bringing your camera to events and getting pictures! You can send the photos to Ryan, add them on the Facebook page, or upload them at http://www.meteor.iastate.edu/ams/Photos/.

Cy's Eyes on the Skies

Ryan and Andy reported that there are a record number of new members attending Cy.s Eyes! Keep it up!!

There are no dues yet for Cy.s Eyes because ISU TV has not contacted Ryan or Andy yet. They will keep you updated if you attend the show.

There are new rules for Cy.s Eyes due to the high numbers of attendees:

1) If you were on air you cannot sign up for the show following the one you were just on.

2) The one exception to 1) is if no one has signed up for a position 24 hours prior to the show, then you can sign up if you were on the last one.

3) If you are in situation 1) and absolutely need to go on air for whatever reason talk to the producers and we will decide if that is alright.

4) If you want to do a theme like show that will exclude certain individuals (ladies show, mens show, Minnesota show) there is a topic thread made to discuss on. Once the show is agreed upon by all members that will be on, talk to the producers and then they will post the show for you.

These rules are also posted on the forums.

If you want to show up for a show, go to the Cy.s Eyes on the Skies forum and respond to Ryan.s message for the four positions.

Cy.s Eyes meets every Monday and Wednesday at 6pm. Check it out!

Forecasting Contests

Ryan gave a WxChallenge update. He showed how to submit a forecast: go to the ISU AMS Homepage, click on Forecast Contest, National Contest, click on .enter contest. in the top left corner of the page. Enter your username and password (email Ryan if you don.t remember), and enter your forecast: max and min temps, wind (in knots), and precipitation (in inches). On the left side of the page, there are a lot of links to help you forecast. Take some time to play around with these links and they will be very useful to you. Ask an upperclassman if you would like help understanding the data. Don.t forget to pay your $5 to Justin if you are participating!

There has been talk on having a Forecasting Workshop. It will give a general idea on how to forecast and what tools to use. If you are interested, please email Ryan at ralliss@iastate.edu.

The Iowa Forecast Contest has also started. Jon was unable to come to the meeting, so Rachel gave an update. They are currently on their second period and Jeff Duda won the first period.

Iowa State Daily forecasting is also going well. The forecasts have looked great! Iowa State Daily is now printing the graphics in black and white, but we may talk to them and see if they will go back to color. There is a new email address for the people managing this project: kim.norvell@iowastatedaily.com. Please start using this email address! Please talk to Ryan if you would like to get involved with forecasting for the Iowa State Daily.

Outreach Chair Suess

Please start submitting pictures for next year.s calendar! Some have been submitted but we need more so we have a lot to choose from. You can turn in printed pictures, but please put your name on the back so Liz can return them after pictures are selected. All pictures need to be submitted by Friday, December 4th. This gives you a chance to take some pictures over Thanksgiving Break of snow if possible!

Calendar sales forms are available on the website. Calendars are $12. You can print off the forms and turn them into Liz or the ISU AMS mailbox in Agronomy 3010 with the total amount due. Liz brought a calendar to the meeting to show. They are awesome!! If you have turned in a form and have not seen Liz to pick it up, please send her an email to set up a time.

If you are interested in helping create next year.s calendar, please email Liz at outreach.isuams@iastate.edu.

Finally, since there has been a debate over the past few years whether a severe weather calendar or a seasonal calendar is better, we voted on the issue. The seasonal calendar won by a landslide, so we will continue having a seasonal calendar.

NCAR Presentation by Shannon Rabideau

We concluded the meeting with a presentation by Shannon about the NCAR Undergraduate Leadership Workshop in Boulder, CO. She attended this workshop this June for a week and met people from a variety of majors from all over the United States. She was nominated by the ISU faculty for this workshop and accepted.

During this great opportunity, Shannon heard from many speakers from different areas of study, including: climate, satellite technology, forecasting, etc. She also participated in many activities during the week. These activities included: tours of many of the NCAR facilities in Boulder, Rocky Mountain National Park, several NCAR labs, and other interesting places in Boulder.

The main ideas Shannon took away from the workshop were:


For more information on this Workshop, email Shannon at srab@iastate.edu or go to

http://www.ucar.edu/educ_outreach/ulw.

Few Last Things...

Rachel ended the meeting by thanking everyone who helped out at Clubfest and the Major Fair and by recognizing Rachael Witter for doing such an awesome job on the Student/Faculty Dinner.

We will once again be holding our Annual Halloween Costume Contest next meeting. There will be a prize for the best dressed, so come in your most creative Halloween apparel!

END TIME: 8:07pm



Next Meeting: Tuesday, October 27th 7:00 pm