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AFDAA
MEETING MINUTES
July
27-28, 2006
DAY
1
The
Association met at the Austin Embassy Suites Hotel for the first
time due to the significant increase in meeting attendance. The
official attendance was 120 for the first day. The meeting was opened
at 8:30 am with a welcoming statement by Chair Joe Warren and an
announcement from the National Forensic Science Testing Center
(NFSTC) clarifying their role in auditing and accreditation.
John
Krebsbach gave the SWGDAM update to include:
-
QPCR
- CODIS
- NIST
SRM 2372 quantitation standards
- Y-STR
- Mass
Disaster / Missing Persons
- Quality
Control
- mtDNA
Rockne
Harmon from Alameda County District Attorney Office discussed how
CODIS has assisted in the prosecution of serial killer Charles Jackson.
Pam
Smith of the Texas DPS, Corpus Christi presented research done on
Low Copy Number DNA clean-up and concentration that resulted in
significant increase in signal.
The
AFDAA business meeting was called to order by Chair Joe Warren at
10:45 who presented service awards to previous Chair George Schiro,
out-going Vice-Chair Brady Mills, and Treasurer Catherine Caballero.
It was noted that Catherine has been the only Treasurer for AFDAA
(since 1999). George Schiro made a motion to approve the minutes of
the January meeting. The motion was seconded by John Planz and was
passed. Catherine Caballero presented the treasurer's report and
pointed out that the increased cost of holding the meeting at a hotel
was covered by dues and registration fees. Brady Mills could not be
present so Catherine also presented the applicants for acceptance.
Applicants that met the criteria for membership include:
George
Schiro moved to accept the above persons for membership in AFDAA.
The motion was seconded by Arthur Young and was passed by voice vote.
Additional qualified applicants were discovered and presented for acceptance:
George
Schiro moved to accept the above persons for membership in AFDAA.
The motion was seconded by John Planz and was passed by voice vote.
In
Old Business, George Schiro reported for the Membership Committee on
the proposed changes to membership levels as listed below. The
"associate member" category would be abolished.
-
Student
- Regular
- Charter
(member prior to 1996)
- Diplomat
- Fellow
- Retired
1.
Student Member: No voting privileges and cannot hold office. This
level of membership has no meeting attendance requirements.
1.
Must be a university student engaged in a curriculum preparing for a
career in forensic DNA analysis
2.
Membership obtained by application
3.
Requires a reference from an AFDAA member or university faculty advisor
4.
2/3 majority vote by members present at meeting of application
2.
Regular Member: Can vote and hold office while active. Must attend
at least one meeting every three years and keep membership dues
current to maintain active status.
1.
Membership obtained by application
2.
Requires a reference from an active AFDAA member
3.
Must attend one meeting prior to or at time of application
4.
2/3 majority vote by members present at meeting of application
3.
Charter member: Can vote and hold office while active. No meeting
attendance requirement; however, must keep membership dues current to
maintain active status.
1.
Must presently be a member
2.
Must have been a member prior to 1996
3.
Status obtained by application
4.
2/3 majority vote by members present at meeting of application
4.
Diplomat: Can vote and hold office while active. Must attend at
least one meeting every three years and keep membership dues current
to maintain active status.
1.
Status obtained by application
2.
Requires at least two years of service as a member
3.
Requires attendance at two or more meetings prior to applying for
Diplomat status
4.
Must present a paper/talk at two different meetings, or serve at
least one term as an officer, or serve on at least two committees, or
in some other service capacity to the organization
5.
2/3 majority vote by members present at meeting of application
5.
Fellow: Can vote and hold office while active. Must attend at least
one meeting every three years to maintain active status.
1.
Status obtained by application
2.
Requires at least four years of service as a member or two years of
service as a Diplomat
3.
Requires attendance at four or more meetings prior to applying for
Fellow status
4.
Present a paper/talk at two different meetings or serve on at least
two committees or in some other service capacity to the organization,
and serve at least one term as an officer
5.
2/3 majority vote by members present at meeting of application
6.
Retired member, charter member, diplomat, or fellow: Can vote and
hold office. No membership dues or attendance requirements.
1.
Status obtained by application
2.
Must presently be a member, charter member, diplomat or fellow
3.
Must be retired from the facility/agency at which they were employed
in the field of forensic DNA analysis
4.
Must be eligible for immediate collection of retirement benefits
5.
2/3 majority vote by members present at meeting
The
proposed changes will be converted to by-law format and submitted by
e-mail to the membership to be voted on at the January meeting.
In
New Business, Joe Warren thanked vendors Promega and Applied
Biosystems for sponsorship of the breaks at the meeting. Aliece Watts
gave a brief history of AFDAA. The Winter AFDAA meeting will be held
again at the Texas Department of Public Safety. Elections for Vice
Chair and Treasurer were held. George Duncan was nominated for Vice
Chair by George Schiro and seconded by Art Eisenberg. Melba Ketchum
was nominated by Carolyn VanWinkle and seconded by John Krebsbach. A
motion to close the nominations for Vice Chair was made by John Planz
and seconded by George Schiro. The motion passed. George Duncan was
elected AFDAA Vice Chair. Emma Swartout was nominated for Treasurer
by Cecily Boyett and seconded by Shane Lumpkins. Melba Ketchum was
nominated by Carolyn VanWinkle and seconded by Gary Molina. A motion
was made by Carolyn Booker to close the nominations and seconded by
John Planz. Melba Ketchum was elected AFDAA Treasurer. A motion to
close the business meeting was made by Arthur Young and seconded by
George Schiro.
After
the lunch break, Catherine Caballero presented an update on Applied
Biosystems products including Quantifiler, validation software and
MiniSTR kit.
Kim
Huston of Promega Corporation offered information on the Maxwell 16
robotic instrument and FSSi3 expert software system.
Arthur
Young of National Medical Services described a technique for
vacuuming items to recover low levels of DNA.
Erin
Donovan from the University of North Texas Forensic Genetics program
told us about some of the challenges of sample testing at a teaching laboratory.
George
Duncan of Broward County (Florida) Lab shared the merits of the
Applied Biosystems LIMS system for managing the samples in the DNA laboratory.
Ray
Wickenheiser of Orchid presented information and asked pointed
questions on DNA mixtures and interpretation that sparked a
discussion among the group.
Friday
began with Bruce Budwole suggesting that appropriate answers to
statistic questions depend on the questions asked.
Tom
Hendrikx, President and CEO of BIOzyme demonstrated a method of
dynamically measuring temperature accuracy in thermal cyclers.
Mark
Powell of Harris County Medical Examiner Lab related a problem with
contamination of consumables and their methods of resolving the problem.
Sean
Walsh of Affymetrix presented information on how array chips are
manufactured and different applications for the chips. The meeting
adjourned at 11:40.
Minutes
respectively submitted by Aliece Watts, Secretary |
