|
AFDAA
MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY
15 - 16, 2004
DAY
1
The
winter meeting of AFDAA was called to order by Chair, George Schiro,
on January 15, 2004. Joe Warren from the University of North Texas
Health Science Center in Ft. Worth began the presentations with a
talk on the Optimization of Multiplex PCR. Following the break
sponsored by Promega, Bill Watson from Orchid/Cellmark spoke on
Paternity Statistics calculations. In the afternoon, Kelly Duffy from
the University of Nebraska presented information on Chimeras and
Mosaics. Brandt Cassidy from DNA Solutions gave some interesting
information on the use of DNA in the White-tail Deer population.
George Schiro spoke about Case Investigations.
Irma
Rios of the Houston Police Department Crime Lab gave us an update on
the lab and announced several openings for experienced analysts.
Dennis Loockerman of the Texas Department of Public Safety CODIS Lab
provided us with current statistics on the number of samples in the
database and the number of cold hits statewide (224) and national
(51). Ron Urbanovosky, Director of the Texas DPS Labs, furnished
information on the latest legislation regarding oversight and
accreditation of forensic laboratories.
Day
2
The
second day of the meeting began with Ray Wickenheiser from the
Acadiana (Louisiana) Lab presenting the Business Case for Using
Forensic DNA. This information makes a strong argument for funding
DNA testing with substantial future cost saving. Lisa Lane from
Promega provided us with information on the Power Plex Y System kit.
Catherine Caballero presented information on the Quantifiler kit and
GeneMapper Identification software.
The
AFDAA business meeting was called to order by George Schiro. The
minutes from the last meeting were accepted with no changes. Motion
by Garon Foster, second by Bill Watson and passed by voice vote. The
treasurer's report was accepted with no changes. Motion by Joe
Warren, second by Gary Molina and passed by voice vote. Wil Young
presented the applicants for membership. Discussion of qualifications
followed and a motion to accept all was given by Gary Molina with a
second by Lonnie Ginsberg and passed by voice vote.
The
Code of Ethics was discussed next with several changes proposed.
These changes will be added to the AFDAA web site for review by the
membership. Ballots will be sent out to the membership for voting.
New
Business - There was discussion about adding a requirement of
recommendation by an AFDAA member to the membership process. Bill
Watson will develop the proposed change to the by-laws. It was
suggested that the students who attend the meeting might want to give
poster presentations of their research at the meetings. Carolyn
VanWinkle asked that a SWGDAM report be given at our meetings. Garon
Foster noted the CODIS statistics were very informative and asked
that they be included at every meeting.
Announcements
- The American Academy of Forensic Sciences meeting will be held in
Dallas. The Southern Association of Forensic Scientists meeting will
be held in Lafayette, LA, April 19-22.
The
motion to close the meeting was given by Carolyn VanWinkle, seconded
by Joe Warren and passed by voice vote.
Minutes
respectively submitted by Aliece Watts, Secretary |
