President's Message:
Volunteers Make It So

By Craig E. Ward

We have a new editor starting with this edition of the newsletter. We should all give a warm welcome to Lisa Kaspin. We should also give a hearty thanks to the out-going editor, Kat Tanaka, for more than two years of outstanding volunteer work. The chapter could not function without volunteers such as these.

In addition to holding the reigns of the newsletter Kat also organized the 2003 Student Art Contest and had started plans for a special children's supplement to the newsletter and a follow-on art contest for 2004. These and other great ideas ran into a common problem with volunteer groups: too little time.

A group like OASIS only works well to the extent that volunteers coordinate their efforts with everyone picking up a bit of the load. It's very easy to let someone else do it, but if too much of that happens, things don't get done at all.

In September, we have a special event to be held in conjunction with the release of the IMAX film Magnificent Desolation, about the Apollo Moon landings. OASIS will be providing an educational display and we need people to staff it. We have a core of volunteers to start, but we cannot always rely on the same people to do the job.

In November, OASIS will be providing science programming and staffing an information table at LOSCON. This has become a tradition over the years and everyone who participates always has a good time. Next year, the International Space Development Conference will be in Los Angeles. Our parent organization, the National Space Society, needs volunteers to help make the ISDC a success. These are great projects and opportunities to get involved. Other possibilities are also available. All they need is someone to step forward and champion them.

Do you feel like a champion?

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