Re: MCM - Education

[krombhol@teclink.net (Paul Krombholz)]

>Hi Paul,
>
>Here are the work items that I have gathered together that I think your
>committee needs to work on before the next meeting.  Please feel free to
>add anything I've missed!
>
>* Start fleshing out your subcommittees and getting them organized and on
>track

Olga is working on a survey form.  She has a Macintosh, and so when she
gets the form fleshed out, I can put it in Filemaker Pro, a good database
manager for Macs that I am quite familiar with.  She says she thinks she
can get hold of a copy of Filemaker.  Rather than grade lab reports one
afternoon, which I should have done, I made up my own database form, and
can send you and Olga a copy via snail mail.

Diana Walstad is willing to head the research subcommittee and she wants to
recommend who else will be on the subcommittee.  Money is a troublesome
issue, and I recommend that we move very cautiously, perhaps starting with
a budget of $200.00, as suggested by Diana, to be used on things like
hard-to-obtain chemicals, small samples of which could be sent to people
willing to try an experiment where they supply their own aquaria, lights,
etc.




>* Continue to develop your vision of what the Ed. committee should encompass

I feel that most efforts of the Ed. committee should result in articles for
TAG.  Stuff for web pages should be lower priority.

Articles for beginners in TAG?  Does AGA have members who would like to
read these?  These articles should be heavily illustrated like the planted
tank-in-progress that is on Tropica's web site.

I have these pictures you sent me, Karen, and I am assuming that the intent
was for them to be available for speakers.  I can be a repository for lots
of pictures, but I think that they should be digitized, at least the good
ones, and that could become a little expensive.

I have noticed that most local fish stores have really bad labels, if they
have anything at all, for the plants in their tanks.  Do you suppose that
AGA could get some publicity as well as a little money by selling small,
nicely done labels that have a picture of the plant (not necessarily color)
and some growing information, as well as, of course, an address for
contacting AGA?  We would, of course refuse to do labels for purple waffle
and those other plants that belong in pots on the windowsill.  These would
be labels for pasting on the outside of the tank.

It occurs to me that Eric Olson is doing highly useful educational work in
his sifting of the APD for materials on various plant subjects that he has
on the Krib.  Is there any chance that some of his collections could be
printed in TAG?  Would getting permission of all the authors be a
nightmare?


>* Develop working draft of guidelines for your committee. (This of course
>will be a work in progress at this point!)

I can see that the research subcommittee may need a set of guidelines, but
what others?

It is final exam time, and I will be able to think some more about other
education committee issues after next week.
>

Paul Krombholz, in central Mississippi where brood XIX of the periodical
cicada is beginning to show up.