^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ AWG E-MAIL NEWS No. 2000-13, March 13, 2000 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ CONTENTS: 1) VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR AAPG MEETING GUIDED TOURS 2) TOP TEN SIGNS YOU MIGHT BE A GEOLOGIST 3) AGI GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS PROGRAM CONGRESSIONAL ACTION ALERT: 3-7-00 4) POSITION ANNOUNCEMENTS **California Council of Geoscience Organizations: Part-time Executive Director ***Don't forget to check the AWG JobWeb at www.awg.org*** *Thanks to everyone who contributed to this issue of AWG E-Mail News* For submissions to AWG E-Mail News, contact Editor Joanne Kluessendorf at editor@awg.org. For advertising, contact Ad Editor Kata McCarville at ads@awg.org. PLEASE SEND AD COPY OR OTHER SUBMISSIONS AS RTF FILES OR AS PART OF AN E-MAIL MESSAGE E-mail or address changes? Send to office@awg.org, please. For more information about AWG, contact office@awg.org or visit the AWG website at www.awg.org. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1) VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR AAPG MEETING GUIDED TOURS During the AAPG Annual Convention being held in New Orleans (April 16-21, 2000), the AAPG Science Education Program Committee is arranging guided tours of the exhibitors hall for area high school teachers and outstanding juniors and seniors. This program will introduce outstanding science and math students and their teachers to career opportunities with local, national and international petroleum industry companies. We need approximately 35 industry professionals to volunteer as guides to take small groups of students and teachers on walking tours of the exhibitors hall on the evening of Sunday, April 16 (approximately a 1 hour commitment during the icebreakers) and from 9 to 11 on Wednesday morning, April 19. Our goal is to introduce high school students and their teachers to career opportunities in the geological sciences by giving them a chance to view and discuss the educational requirements needed to obtain jobs in the fields represented at the exhibitors booths. We are looking for volunteers who are currently professionals working in the geological sciences or are graduate students majoring in the geological sciences. As a female in an historically male-dominated industry, I would like to have a strong showing of female geoscience professionals as tour guides. I think this would encourage young women who are preparing to enter college to consider the geosciences as a career. For participating, volunteers will receive a free lunch on Wednesday and/or a free dinner on Sunday evening. Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Lisa Rhoades, Chairman, Science Education Tours Committee, 935 Gravier St., New Orleans, LA 70112; Work phone:504-592-6117; FAX:504-592-6692; e-mail: lrrh@chevron.com ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 2) TOP TEN SIGNS YOU MIGHT BE A GEOLOGIST 10. You have had to respond "yes" to the question, "What have you got in here, rocks?" 9. You have taken a fully-loaded 15-passenger van over "roads" that were really intended only for cattle. 8. You have found yourself trying to explain to airport security that a rock hammer isn't really a weapon. 7. Your rock garden is located inside your house. 6. You have hung a picture using a Brunton as a level. 5. Your collection of beer cans and/or bottles rivals the size of your rock collection. 4. You consider a "recent event" to be anything that has happened in the last hundred thousand years. 3. Your photos include people only for scale and you have more pictures of your rock hammer and lens cap than of your family. 2. You have been on field trips that included scheduled stops at gravel pits and/or a liquor store (preferably gravel pits just down the road from the liquor store). And the #1 sign you might be a geologist: 1. You have ever uttered the phrase "have you tried licking it?" with no sexual connotation involved. --Carolyn Rindosh Miller ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 3) AGI GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS PROGRAM CONGRESSIONAL ACTION ALERT: 3-7-00 *** Senators Needed for Newly Created Natural Hazards Caucus IN A NUTSHELL: Senators Ted Stevens (R-AK) and John Edwards (D-NC) last week sent out a letter inviting their colleagues to become charter members of the Congressional Natural Hazards Caucus. The two senators recently agreed to co-chair this informal organization of members of Congress focused on finding ways to better prepare for and help mitigate the costs of natural disasters. Creation of this caucus has been the goal of a working group of organizations seeking to raise congressional awareness of natural hazards issues. AGI, the American Geophysical Union, and several other AGI member societies are part of the work group. In order to make this caucus a success, we need geoscientists to contact their senators and encourage them to join. The text of the Dear Colleague letter is included in this message along with supporting information to be used as talking points or for letter-writing. For over a year, AGI has been working with member societies AGU, the Geo-Institute of ASCE, and the Seismological Society of America along with many other organizations to establish a Congressional Natural Hazards Caucus. The caucus concept arose from the Public Private Partnership 2000 forum series, specifically a forum on real-time hazard information co-sponsored by AGI, AGU, and the IRIS Consortium. The forum series was a joint effort by the White House Subcommittee on Natural Disaster Reduction and the Institute for Business and Home Safety to explore how the federal government could establish partnerships with state and local government, the private sector, and academia to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters. Establishing a congressional caucus--an informal organization of senators and representatives with shared interests--was seen as a way to foster partnerships between these entities and Congress in order to build lasting support for hazard mitigation as a public value. Already, Senators Frank Murkowski (R-AK) and Thad Cochrane (R-MS) have joined the caucus. To maintain this momentum, additional senators need to hear from their constituents. The rationale and plans for the caucus can be found in the appended "Dear Colleague" letter, an accompanying fact sheet, and a handout developed by the work group. This material may be useful as talking points or the basis of a letter to your senators. Please reference the "Dear Colleague" letter, which includes contacts in Stevens and Edwards offices whom staffers can reach for further details. Telephone numbers and addresses for your senators can be found on the web at http://www.senate.gov. Letters should be brief and use the format: The Honorable __________ U.S. Senate Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator: Please let us know of any contacts you make -- govt@agiweb.org, fax 703-379-7563, voice 703-379-2480 ext. 212, or AGI Govt Affairs Program, 4220 King Street, Alexandria VA 22302. And if you are from either Alaska or North Carolina, please take a moment to thank Senators Stevens and Edwards for their leadership on this issue. A list of work group organizations is also appended -- if your society is interested in joining this effort, please contact either David Applegate (703-379-2480, ext. 228; applegate@agiweb.org) or Peter Folger at AGU (202-777-7509; pfolger@agu.org). ************** Dear Colleague: We write to ask you to join with us in forming the Natural Hazards Caucus. We have been working with a variety of groups including the American Red Cross, the Institute for Business and Home Safety, the American Geological Institute, and the American Geophysical Union to examine what concrete steps should be taken to improve our disaster preparedness and responses. Our goal is to provide ways the local, state and federal government can better prepare for and help mitigate the costs of natural disasters. Each year, Congress appropriates billions of dollars in emergency assistance to states hit hard by earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters. We invite you to join us as we begin this important dialogue on steps the federal, state and local governments can take to lessen the severity of these disasters. Over the course of the next few months our goal is to hold several fora on the issues of disaster preparedness, mitigation and response. Through meetings and consultation with outside groups we hope to develop some constructive proposals that we can all support. Please join us. For more information, please contact Butch Burke of Senator Stevens' staff at 224-3004 or Laura Godwin of Senator Edwards' staff at 224-3154. Sincerely, Ted Stevens John Edwards *** Natural Hazards Fact Sheet Accompanying the Stevens/Edwards Letter * The cost of natural disasters is rising. During the past two decades, natural disaster damage costs have exceeded the $500 billion mark. Only 17 percent of that figure was covered by insurance. (Dennis S. Mileti, Disasters by Design) * Almost 135 million people, which accounts for almost half of the U.S. population, are now living on or near the nation's coastline. (Amanda Levin, The National Underwriter Company). Noted hurricane forecaster William Gray, Colorado State University professor, predicts hurricanes will be the nation's greatest threat during the next 20 to 30 years. * From 1976 to 1998, the U.S. experienced almost 800 declared major disasters (Federal Emergency Management Agency statistics) * From FY1990 to FY1997, damage from U.S. flooding alone topped $33 billion. (FEMA statistics) * One of the nation's most expensive disasters, the 1994 North Ridge Earthquake, cost FEMA more than $5.5 billion in relief funds alone (FEMA statistics) * 1998 was one of the costliest for the U.S. That year, the U.S. sustained seven disasters, each costing more than $1 billion. (The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) * Not only did the eastern drought and heat wave of the summer of 1999 result in more than $1 billion in agriculture losses, but 256 people lost their lives. Just one year before, the Southern drought and heat wave resulted in almost $9 billion in agriculture and ranching damage. Two hundred people perished that summer. (NOAA) *** Work Group One-Page Handout on Caucus The primary goal of establishing a congressional natural hazards caucus is to develop a wider understanding within Congress that reducing the risks and costs of natural disasters is a public value. That requires educating Members and staff about the costs of natural disasters to their districts and states, and the benefits their constituents will realize through greater efforts to understand, prevent, and mitigate natural disasters. The caucus would provide Members with an opportunity to demonstrate their concern and commitment to reducing hazard losses. Jurisdiction for natural hazards programs is spread among many committees in Congress. Each committee only handles a piece of the overall efforts to prevent and mitigate natural disasters. A caucus can provide the "big picture" to interested lawmakers and their staff, and give them the opportunity to see how the issues that fall within individual committee jurisdictions fit within a larger national effort. Typical caucus events include Capitol Hill luncheon briefings, roundtable discussions, special forums, receptions, and events targeted to a subgroup of the caucus. Events can also be structured so that they also provide a forum for raising the visibility of a hazards-related topic with the media and American public. A successful caucus reflects a strong partnership between its congressional members and groups outside Congress that share similar interests. A working group of organizations has come together with a common desire to reduce the toll --both human and financial--of natural hazards and to enhance the nation's ability to recover from those events. We plan to work together to help our nation become more resilient to natural hazards. Shared objectives for the caucus include: * Focus greater attention in Congress on the natural and man-made hazards facing the nation and improve understanding of the need to mitigate against the impacts of floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, landslides and land subsidence, tornadoes, volcanoes, wind storms, drought, fire, and tsunamis. * Foster better land-use planning and optimize building codes. * Strengthen public and private support for science and engineering research by demonstrating how application of advances in science and engineering research can contribute to saving lives and money. * Support the implementation of new technologies, such as geographic information systems, to address societal challenges faced by state and local government and the private sector. * Identify additional areas of consensus and common interests related to natural hazards. The working group is currently seeking charter members of this caucus. We would be happy to discuss this proposal further or provide additional information. Please contact David Applegate at the American Geological Institute (703-379-2480, ext. 228; applegate@agiweb.org) or Peter Folger at the American Geophysical Union (202-777-7509; pfolger@agu.org). *** Congressional Natural Hazards Caucus Work Group * American Geological Institute * American Geophysical Union * American Meteorological Society * American Red Cross * American Society of Civil Engineers * Association of American State Geologists * Association of State Flood Plain Managers * Geo-Institute of ASCE * Institute for Business & Home Safety * IRIS Consortium * National Emergency Management Association * Reinsurance Association of America * Seismological Society of America * Structural Engineering Institute of ASCE * State Farm * University Corporation for Atmospheric Research * USAA ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 4) POSITION ANNOUNCEMENTS **California Council of Geoscience Organizations: Part-time Executive Director The California Council of Geoscience Organizations (CCGO), a non-profit mutual benefit corporation, seeks a part-time Executive Director to support a statewide organization comprised of twelve organizations (representing 3300 members) and 28 business members. CCGO advocates the use of sound geologic knowledge and practice in California by proposing, reviewing, and monitoring laws, regulations, and public policies. The Executive Director works with the Board of Directors (representatives of the member organizations) to assist in implementing CCGO's Strategic Plan and its goals in the areas of Legislation, Regulatory Review, Governmental Relations, Professional Practice, Public Outreach, and Member and Contributor Services. In addition, the Executive Director performs administrative duties and responsibilities prescribed by the Board of Directors. Member retention and recruitment is a key goal for the position. Interested persons should send resume and a statement of qualifications by April 15, 2000, to: CCGO, Attn: Executive Director Search Committee, 1275 W. 14th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731 Compensation approximately $800 per month, assuming a mimimum level of effort of 8 hours per week. The compensation and hours required are expected to increase during the coming year as membership grows. For more information visit our web site, , or contact CCGO President Betsy Mathieson at (650) 688-6755 or emathieson@exponent.com