04/10/08 Meeting Minutes

Hi All!

Below are the meeting minutes from yesterday's meeting.

Meeting Minutes
April 10, 2008
Room A724 Crabtree Hall
1:00 pm - 2:00pm

Attendees: John Zaharoff, Jillian Williams, Jamie Ferguson, Salma Riaz, Adam Critchlow, Anna Oberacker, Jackie Hughes, Erica Franko, Wade Ebersole, Amy Jones, Janet Fan, Jen Boekeloo, Kristi Powers

I. Elections

President - Nominees were Erica Franko and Kristi Powers; Votes were tallied and Kristi Powers is the new President-Elect

Vice President - Erica Franko will be our new Vice President-Elect

Financial Officer - Adam Critchlow was elected Financial Officer-Elect by an uncontested landslide

Administrator - Anna Oberacker was elected our new Administrator-Elect

II. Socials

End of year social - Jamie will work on reserving a venue for Friday, April 25th at Doc’s in Shadyside. Additionally, Wade will try to see if it is possible to reserve space at the new Harris Grill also in Shadyside.

Bowling - Janet will work on scheduling a bowling event at Fun Fest in Harmarville (a few miles north on Route 28) for the first weekend in May.

Driving Range - Erica is able to set up cheap (really cheap!) social events at a driving range if there is interest.

Bash - Wade suggested having a beginning of the year get-together for a welcome back for the returning students and a welcoming for new members.

III. Career Services update

Interview Workshop - John has been in contact with Joan Anson about interviewing workshops. He also mentioned that the newly elected officers meet with Ms. Anson to introduce ourselves.

IV. Community Service

Post Graduate Promotion - Anna has been in contact with the Pitt undergraduate program, and it was determined that the beginning of next semester (end of August) will be our first scheduled interaction with the students. She is also working on other contacts, such as Duquesne University.

Food Bank - Adam has been in contact with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and is working on a plan for a few summer Saturday volunteer opportunities.

Ronald McDonald House - Erica has been in contact with the Ronald McDonald House representatives and is working on setting up a couple Sundays in the summer.

V. Fundraising/Balance Sheet

Financial Situation - Jamie reported on the specifics of our financial situation:
a) We currently have $800 in our account
b) The goal is to leave $200 in our account for next year
c) All of the money from the Department of HPM has been used
d) We have $300 from SGA
d) Jamie is working on getting gifts of appreciation for support from Department of HPM staff

Bake Sale - Erica is planning a bake sale for the upcoming weeks. Please let her know if you are interested in volunteering to work at the table or baking anything.

VI. Recognition

Dr. Lin's Donation - John recognized the very generous donation of $100 made to HPMA from Dr. Lin. We will also recognize Dr. Lin and the support of others before the end of the year.

VII. National Public Health Week

Children's Museum - John mentioned that next week is the educational program for NPHW; April 15th from 10am – 2:45pm. However, class conflicts with the program, so we will not be able to hold the hand washing demo at the Children’s Museum.

However, there is an opportunity volunteers to be a team leader/chaperone. Please let John know if you are interested in volunteering.

VIII. Summer

New Students - The new elected officers will work on finding out who the new students for next year are so that we can begin welcoming them and including them in some of our earlier HPMA activities.

IX. Other Suggestions

Medical Education Sessions - Anna and Erica brought up some ideas to attend some medical education sessions around Pittsburgh and work on possibly getting Grand Rounds approval. Amy and Jen mentioned the STAHR program that might fit into Anna and Erica’s ideas for attending medical education seminars. The STAHR sessions are close to GSPH in Scaife Hall.

X. More Suggestions

Additional Comments - If anyone has any other suggestions that were not mentioned at this meeting, or any additional comments/corrections about the topics discussed at the meeting, please feel free to post on our website, 3rivershealthleaders.blogspot.com, or contact Erica, Anna, Adam, or myself.

XI. Thank You

Lunch - Thanks to Jamie for providing delicious Subway sandwiches, fruit, vegetables, and pop for our meeting!

XII. Good Luck

Congrats and good luck to our second years!

National Public Health Week CALL TO ACTION!

It is National Public Health Week, and this year the emphasis is on global climate change.

HPMA is challenging you take time this week to take a few EASY steps to decrease the amount of junk mail you receive, which can ultimately lower your “carbon footprint.”

WHAT CAN I DO?
• Go to www.proquo.com or www.catalogchoice.org and follow the easy instructions to remove your name/address from mailing lists!
• If there are catalogs or coupons you would still like to receive, sign up for e-mails from those stores instead of getting paper copies.

WHY SHOULD I DO IT?
• According to the National Resources Defense Council, more than 19 billion
catalogs are published in the U.S. each year. It takes about 53 million
trees to make all that paper.
• These trees not only provide wildlife habitat, they take carbon dioxide
out of the air. But the environmental impact goes well beyond that because
catalog production and distribution create greenhouse gases, about 5
million tons of carbon monoxide each year according to the NRDC. That’s
equal to the tailpipe emissions from 2 million cars.
• Yes, catalogs can be recycled, although not everyone does that. But
reducing the amount of unwanted catalogs printed and mailed in the first
place would have a significantly greater environmental impact.
(MSNBC.com, Federal Reserve Board
• Still, the paper industry is not without its impact. Because of its
consumption of energy, the industry — which includes magazines,
newspapers, catalogs and writing paper — emits the fourth-highest level of
carbon dioxide among manufacturers, according to a 2002 study by the
Energy Information Administration, a division of the Department of Energy.
(nytimes.com)
• The life of a magazine or a newspaper starts with trees being cut down in
a forest and ends with the burning or recycling of old magazines or
papers. The most harmful part of the process is paper production. Breaking
down wood fiber to make paper consumes a lot of energy, which in many
cases comes from coal plants. (nytimes.com)

If you have any thoughts or remarks, feel free to post a comment!