Western North Carolina (WNC) Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR)
Minutes of monthly chapter meeting on Friday, Feb. 15, 2013
Present: Dr. Terry Clark, Dr. Stan Dienst, Steve Gilman, Bob Howarth, Dr. Lew Patrie, Dr. Don Richardson
The meeting began at 12:00 PM with the showing of a 19 minute video produced by The Stanley Foundation. There was consensus that the information provided was quite helpful in describing nuclear material issues and recommended steps to address them.
KEY BUSINESS:
1. The minutes from the Jan. 2013 WNC PSR meeting were approved; these minutes are now available on our web site, WNCPSR.ORG.
2. Treasurer’s report: Our chapter treasurer was not present; however, Terry provided information about this chapter’s financial activity from Nov. 2012 to present.
3. Our WNC PSR chapter organization was discussed. The proposal that we formalize annual WNC PSR chapter elections for Chair, Treasurer and Secretary was approved. Formalizing the WNC PSR chapter Steering Committee was discussed, and there was consensus to continue this discussion at a later date.
4. Terry and Brita Clark participated in the PSR Leadership Meeting in Tampa, FL. Terry provided notes from that meeting and much discussion followed. It was decided that a subcommittee chaired by Terry will review these notes and recommend actions for our WNC PSR chapter.
5. Terry provided a handout regarding our Oct. 2012 WNC PSR retreat, and we decided to continue this discussion at a future meeting.
6. There will be a public lecture and discussion on “Atomic Appalachia: Uranium and Nuclear Weapons in Our Back Yard - What You Should Know.” Time is 7 to 9 pm on March 2 , and it will be held on the top floor of the Battery Park Apartments in downtown Asheville. We approved a motion to co-sponsor this event.
7. In regard to the previously reported CTS local contamination and health issue, Terry will be attending a meeting later this month (Feb. 2013) and will provide us additional details.
8. Our newly elected NC governor, Pat McCrory, has plans to appoint commissioners to the NC Utilities Commission, even though much of his professional career has been in the NC utilities industry. There was consensus that Mr. McCrory should recuse himself from these appointments. Bob and Terry each provided a draft on this subject. Bob and Irma have sent a letter to the Governer prior to this meeting. Terry and Bob will keep us informed of updates on this subject.
9. Safe Carolinas is sponsoring a bus trip to Charlotte on Feb. 28 to participate in a NC Utilities Commission open hearing regarding their proposed long term energy plans for our state. Beth Gilman will participate. (Note: in short we like their plan to reduce coal use; however, we reject their plan to not only keep nuclear power as a key provider of NC energy, but increase it to nearly half of NC’s energy source.)
10. Steve proposed that he provide a monthly minutes draft to meeting attendees before the end of each month and provide a subsequent four-day window for changes. Steve will incorporate the changes and provide a final version shortly after developing the final minutes draft (usually within a week).
Next meeting: 12:00 pm, Mar. 15, 2013 at the home of Steve and Beth Gilman (18 Birchwood Lane, Asheville).
Submitted by Steve Gilman, WNC PSR chapter secretary
