Highlights of August 9th, 2010 ECA Meeting
President Deaver opened the meeting
at 8:00 AM. Directors in attendance: Deaver,
Jamison, Pickard, Welling. Others present:
Johnstone, Kiernan, Losoncy, Torres, Uhazy,
Williams.
ECA PROJECT STATUS
Land Use Compatibility: Mr. Welling said he
attended a meeting of the Desert Advisory Council
and requested that the military be invited to
participate in these meetings. It is Mr. Kiernan’s
belief that the military will not be a participant
at these Advisory Council meetings but they are
working very closely with the Barstow office of BLM.
EDUCATION
Teacher/Counselor Visits: A tour of the
California City Wastewater Treatment Facility is
planned for September 8th immediately following the
EKERN meeting. October 29, 2010 has been reserved
for a future school administrator/teacher tour of
Edwards. This repeat tour is to allow folks that
were unable to attend the first tour to experience
the educational requirements and job opportunities
at the base. A formal announcement of this tour and
sign-ups is scheduled for around the first of
October in order to meet the base security
requirements.
Mojave Air & Space Port: A repeat tour of
Mojave Air and Spaceport is being considered for the
November time period. Mr. Deaver will contact Stu
Witt to arrange the details.
Southern California Gas and Edison: A tour of
So. Cal. Gas and Edison facilities is also in the
planning stages. Edison Grant: Mr. Johnstone said he
has received an Edison Grant for $250 that must be
used for the Bridge program, either at a Kern County
school or the Antelope Valley College. So far he has
not received any request for the grant.
CSULB Visit: Hopefully a visit to CSU Long
Beach on August 18th will result in the final
approval for the Lancaster University Center
engineering program. All meetings/conference calls
have been positive to date. It was suggested by Ms.
Losoncy that a public announcement of the final
approval recognize all the efforts that have gone
into bringing this program to the High Desert for
our students and industry.
Salute to Youth: Just a reminder the annual
Salute to Youth program will be September 24th at
Site 9 in Plant 42. The event will once again host
middle and high school students. Schools and
businesses desiring to participate in the event
should contact Rosalinda Garcia at rgarcia@avhsd.org
as soon as possible.
OPEN DISCUSSION
Edison Speakers Bureau: Southern California
Edison has announced their Speakers Bureau program
to provide Edison speakers to schools, business, and
senior and consumer groups to discuss a variety of
topics related to electricity. Organizations
desiring to request a speaker should contact:
speakers@sce.com. Make the subject of your e-mail:
speaker request and include the organization name
and type, presentation date, time and location,
estimated audience size and contact information. Ms
Losoncy suggested it would be a good idea to
establish an energy panel to discuss various energy
projects with appropriate organizations in the area.
For Profit Colleges: For-profit colleges are booming
as the unemployed turn to education, but some
members of Congress and the Obama administration
officials say they are growing at the expense of
taxpayers and that students are often exploited. The
average profit among such publicly traded higher
education companies soared to $229 million in 2009,
up from $150 million the year before, with the
lion’s share of their revenue coming from federal
student aid. Investigators believe a high proportion
of students drop out, and those who do graduate find
their money wasted because their programs are not
accredited. The Senate panel report noted that the
schools devote about a third of their budgets to
advertising. Excerpts from: Los Angeles Times, by
Julia Love, Tribune Washington Bureau, July 25,
2010, Reporting from Washington.
Plane Crazy Saturday: President Deaver said
Plane Crazy Saturday on September 25th will
celebrate the 75th anniversary of Mojave.
ADDITIONAL NEWS NOT PART OF ECA MEETING
On August 9, 2010 Secretary of Defense Gates
authorized the services to consider consolidation or
closure of excess bases and other facilities. It is
a measure of Gate’s determination to save money that
he has proposed this, he noted, since Congress has
made it almost impossible to close bases. “But hard
is not impossible, and I hope Congress will work
with us to reduce unnecessary costs in this part of
the defense enterprise”, he said. Gates Puts Meat on
Bones of Department Efficiencies Initiative,
American Forces Press Service, By Jim Garamone,
August 9, 2010.
NEXT MEETING
The next ECA meeting will be on
September 13, 2010 at the Mojave Air and Space Port.
Sincerely,
Robert Johnstone, Technical
Advisor
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