SAAHJ General Meeting

April 17, 2004

Our Lady of the Lake University – Main Bldg #410

Members and guests present (per sign-in sheet) – Maclovio Perez, Joe Sandoval, Mary Anthony, Ed Tijerina, Veronica Serrano, Roxanne Reyes, Carol Schliesinger-Cura, and guest Ashley Parades.

Call to Order: President Maclovio Perez called the meeting to order at 10:50 a.m. He welcomed everyone to the SAAHJ office at Our Lady of the Lake University. We will meet at OLLU, on a regular basis, so members can see the office we share with the National Society of Hispanic MBAs. It is OLLU’s goal to have professional organizations on campus to interact with their students.

Approval of March Minutes – Ed Tijerina moved the minutes be accepted as submitted. Veronica Serrano seconded the motion.

Treasurer’s Report – Ed reported the following balances: SAAAHJ Scholarship Fund Checking, $4,271.59; SAAHJ Scholarship Fund Savings $40,511.59; Operating Checking Account, $964.84; Regular Savings Account $5,166.37.

Ed mentioned the Operating Checking account is the lowest it has ever been in years. Since membership dues are the only source of funding for this account, we should consider doing a fundraiser or dip into the savings.

Ed informed the group we paid a $17.26 tax to the State Comptroller Office for the TABC permit we purchased for the Halloween Party. SAAHJ was responsible for a TABC 14% tax plus a $3 late penalty on the $103 we sold in alcohol at the party.

Old Business

Banquet -- The banquet will be held on Thursday, August 19, at the Westin Riverwalk Hotel. Ed wrote a $1000 check to secure the ballroom. The presenting sponsor will be State Farm. In return for the $7,000 donation, State Farm will set-up a booth, hang a banner and distribute their materials at the banquet. In addition, State Farm requested access to our membership/donor mailing list. The members present strongly objected to giving out personal information; Maclovio will inform State Farm the mailing list will NOT be made available. Sixty save-the-date letters were mailed to potential donors. Maclovio asked members to submit names and addresses of additional businesses/individuals we should contact. Tables may be purchased for $2000, $1000 or $600. The individual price for non-members is $75; the member price is $45. Ed reported we have received a $1,000 check from Express-News. Carol Schliesinger-Cura volunteered to handle the silent auction. Mary Anthony will give Carol a copy of the 2003 donor solicitation letter and value form. Carol will contact Rebecca Minjarez for additional information on last year’s silent auction. Joe mentioned all SAAHJ members help in gathering silent auction items. We still need a designer and printer for the invitations. Maclovio will set up voice mail for the SAAHJ office phone, 431-3996.

Four nominations for the Henry Guerra Lifetime Achievement Award were submitted via e-mail: Henry Cisneros (American CityVista), Cortez Family (Mi Tierra), Amparo Ortiz (KWEX-TV) and Logan Stewart (broadcaster.)

The bios were read and the pros and cons of each nominee were discussed before the ballots were distributed. Maclovio asked for any additional nominations. Veronica suggested Martha Brinkman of Today’s Catholic. The votes were as follows: Cortez Family – 5 votes, Henry Cisneros – 1 vote, Logan Stewart – 1 vote, Amparo Ortiz – 0 votes, Martha Brinkman – 0 votes. Maclovio will call the Cortez Family to inform them of the honor and follow up the conversation with a letter.

Webmaster (webmaster@saahj.org) – Roxanne Reyes will check for e-mail messages and update the website. The website can only be updated on-site.

Student Section – No students were present to give a report. Joe mentioned Francisco Vara-Orta has received another state award and scholarship.

High School Writing Contest – Committee Chair Bertha Lopez was not present to give an update. Veronica said we have received 2 entries, so far. The deadline is Friday, April 30. Reminder calls should be made to encourage participation. Maclovio will ask Francisco to help him with the calls.

College Media Workshop Recap – Approximately 60 students attended this first- time event. Maclovio thanked SAAHJ members for participating. OLLU will continue to host the event.

Poynter Update – Ed distributed a handout for the national writers’ workshop being sponsored by the Express-News and the Poynter Institute. The workshop will be held on Saturday and Sunday, May 22 - 23, at the Gunter Hotel. To register go to http://www2.mysantonio.com/promotions/nww/.

New Business

The journalism program at OLLU will hold its first journalism mini-camp for high school students on June 14 – 15. Kay O’Donnell, journalism instructor, would like SAAHJ’s help in leading a few of the workshops. Maclovio will check with Irene Abrego at SAC about a possible conflict with the Urban Journalism Workshop.

Adjournment

Carol Schiesinger-Cura will host the next meeting on Saturday, May 15 at Southwest Mental Health Center, 8535 Tom Slick Drive.
The meeting was adjourned at 12 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Anthony

SAAHJ Secretary

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