VOLUME 26, NUMBER 4
WINTER SOLSTICE, 1991 (24 pages in length)
GLPA’s 93rd newsletter and the fourth issue of 1991 contained the following articles and columns:
★ The results of the 1991 GLPA election were announced. Dave Batch was elected President-Elect, David Parker was re-elected Secretary/Treasurer, and Dayle Brown was elected as GLPA’s IPS Representative. Also announced were four new GLPA Fellows – Dayle Brown, David Linton, Georgia Neff, and Barbara Williams.
★ It was announced that GLPA now had a computer bulletin board, courtesy of members Eric Schreur and Carl Wenning. This new service would provide planetarium news and share lesson plans and teaching ideas. Information could be accessed [using the provided telephone number] at either 300 or 1200 baud, 8-bit, one stop, no parity.
★ In a short article titled Hubble Update, Dr. Randy Olson described the problems with the Hubble Space Telescope, which had been placed into orbit in April of 1990. In addition to the spherical aberration of the primary mirror, two of the six gyroscopes were not operating and the High Resolution Spectrograph’s power supply had failed. Dr. Olson noted that a repair mission was planned for late-1993.
★ GLPA’s Executive Committee proposed several refinements to the GLPA By-Laws. These included the creation of a standing Development Committee to seek corporate support, improved procedures for filling vacancies in elected offices or committee chairs, and definition of ranks of authority, as well as extensive cosmetic changes to create consistent language throughout the By-Laws. Members were asked to vote using a ballot printed in the newsletter.
★ Through words and photographs, the 1991 GLPA Conference in Youngstown, Ohio was celebrated and praised. Warren Young and his staff served as conference hosts.
★ A preview of the 1992 GLPA Conference was provided. That conference, which would be a joint conference with the Great Plains Planetarium Association (GPPA), would be held at the St. Louis Science Center. That all-new $34 million facility, which had just opened, boasted a 228-seat planetarium with Digistar projector, 60,000 square feet of exhibit and programming space, a separate Omnimax Theater and Einstein’s restaurant. Director John Wharton would serve as conference host.
★ In a membership survey distributed in the previous newsletter, members expressed strong interest in a GLPA computer bulletin board and an updated edition of the GLPA Sourcebook.
★ GLPA President Dale Smith noted how vulnerable some planetariums had become to closure. He went on to suggest that “if your facility or another one you know of is in danger, please contact your state chair and me. We and your fellow planetarians may be able to help. Even if letters of support are effective only one time in many, it’s well worth the effort.”
