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Annual General Meeting cum Welcome Tea

*** NTU Astronomy Club ***

Annual General Meeting cum Welcome Tea

Date: 15 September 2006 (Friday)
Time: 6.30 to 7.30pm
Venue: LT 19

Dear all!

NTU Astronomy Club warmly welcomes you to attend the AGM cum Welcome Tea on 15 September 2006!

Refreshments will be provided for all members as well as those who are interested in becoming part of the NTU Astronomy Club.

A $10 member's fee will be collected, and a member's card will be issued at the next meeting. This card will entitle you to many privileges in our future activities!

There will also be an informal night observation after the AGM. If you are interested in finding out what you can see in the night sky peering through the telescope, then come join us this Friday!

Cya on Friday!

Interview by Straits Times

Hi all,

Its me, Arjun, once again. Just wanted to inform you guys that I was interviwed by Straits Times about 2 days ago.

It was a phone interview and lasted for about 40 minutes. It was partially regarding my views regarding the demotion of Pluto from Planet to a Dwarf Planet and partially about the the reasons for the general increase in the interest in Astronomy among the local public.

He asked me several other stuff but all are in someway related to the above 2 questions.

What I replied was, in brief, that I am not so concerned with the demotion of Pluto as its just a change in the nomenclature and physically Pluto is still existent. =) I did mention though that several of my friends are "upset" regarding the name change as they (we) have been learning about our Nine Planets & The Sun since we were born. And now all of a sudden, there are only Eight Planets left. I do support the change in classification as otherwise, instead of Nine planets, we would have to increase to a ridiculous 50 planets in the near future! This is because they are continuously discovering Pluto like objects with the constan improvement in the technology.

As for the general interest in Astronomy being on a rising trend, I believe its due to the fact that news is more easily available (internet and word of mouth) and also these events are being publicised more and more by the respective organisations. As we all have witnessed it ourselves, more often then not you get an sms stating about some new event coming up like the proximity of Mars or the transit of Venus across our Sun.

So there you go! News delivered to you before it is published =D
The journalist has interviewed several other people including NUS Astronomical Society's President Leong Jin. The aritcle will be published tomorrow (3rd, Sunday) most probably. So look out for the article!

On an entirely different note, the main committee interviews very a big success. We were skeptical about the turn out after we got a word from other sources that the students are turning out in single digit numbers for the interviews. But in the end we had more then 35 people vying for portfolios from the main committee =)

Thanks one and all for making this a success =)

Best Regards,
Arjun

Astro Talk

Hi all,

I (Arjun) received an email from Dr Phil Chan of NUS informing me about a talk on our nearest star, The Sun.

An excerpt from that forwarded email:

"We have a Visiting Tan Kah Kee Professor, Dr Loh Boon Chye, who will be delivering a public talk on “The Inconstant Sun” on Sep 8 at 2.30 pm in LT19A, NTU. We would like to extend a cordial invitation for you to attend the talk."


So if you are interested you are welcome to attend the talk at the above mentioned time , date and location.

Best Regards,
Arjun

Sub Committee Interviews

Hi all,

As said in the email, NTU Astronomical Soceity will be holding the Sub Committe Interviews next week. The details are as follows:

Dates: 5th and 6th September, Tuesday and Wednesday
Venue: Between TR 61 to TR 69, both days
Time: 6p.m to 8p.m, both days

Interviews will be conducted on a first-come-first-serve basis. They will be conducted by the respective sub-committee heads i.e. the relevant main committee member. For more enquiries, email us at ntuastronomy@ gmail.com or tag here in the blog.

The following Sub Committees are available:
- Business Managers

- Publication Officers

- Publicity Officers

- Logistic Officer

- Research & Resource Managers


**Number of sub-commers required varies from portfolio to portfolio.

Also, please note that The AGM has been POSTPONED. We will update you regarding the AGM date again.

Main Comm Interviews

Hi all,

We will be having interviews to select our new upcoming Main Committee for the academic year 2006/2007.

Details:
Dates: 29th and 30 August, Tuesday and Wednesday
Venue: Between TR 61 to TR 69, both days
Time: 5.30p.m to 7p.m, both days

These are the positions that are open:

- Honorary Treasurer (***Not Available Anymore!***)
In charge of budgetting and controlling the funds of the Society. Will be required to advise on the expenditures of the society for each event.

- Business Managers
In charge of increasing the Soceity's funds so that maintenance of equipment and purchase of new equipment can be carried out frequently. Required to be creative and driven. Will be having a sub committee of 5 to 7 people.

- Publication Officers
In charge of producing articles to publish a quarter-annual publication. Provide articles/materials for NTU Chronicles. Will be having a sub committee of 5 to 7 people.

- Publicity Officers
In charge of publicising all of the Society's events. Required to do flyers/posters/banners/updating of this blog e.t.c. Will be having a sub committee of 5 to 7 people.

- Logistic Officer
In charge of careful transportation of equipment furing observations. Also in charge of keeping track of all the equipment the Soceity has. Will be having a sub committee of 5 to 7 people.

- Research & Resource Managers
In charge of organising observations, lectures (if any), activities at night e.t.c. Must have at least a basic knowledge and practical experience in using a telescope. (any kind, although a newtonian reflector is preferred). Will be having a sub committee of 5 to 7 people.

FAQ Regarding the Interviews.

What if I cannot make it on either of the dates? Can I still join the main committee?
You can come for interview on either of these days depending on your convenience. If you cannot make it for both dates and are still keenly interested in being in the committee then please contact us at our email (ntuastronomy@gmail.com) and we will try to accomodate you by fixing a seperate time and date. This will be decided on Case-by-case basis depending on the availability of the current Main Comm members.

Will it be a group interview or an individual interview?
It will be an individual interview. You will be interviewed by at least 3 different main comm members. So its a 3 to 1 interview.

How long will it take for the interviews?
We really cannot estimate this but from past experiences, it will take about one hour based on a good turnout assumption.

What if I cannot get into the post I want to? Will I still be considered for other open posts?
Yes, the current main committee might still consider you for other posts currently availble if you prove yourself to be worth it.

Er.. Where are Tutorial Rooms 61 to 69?
Click here!

So which tutorial room is it exactly?
We will choose either of the tutorial rooms in the range 61 to 69. We will posting a notice on the door of the interview room(s).

The blog skin will be soon updated and a tag board will be added as well for easy communication =)

Have a nice day!

Welcome to NTUAS!

Hi all,

Welcome to Astronomical Society of NTU!

We will be updating all our members regarding our upcoming activities through this blog =)
Hope you all will have a nice stay here and a nice semester ahead!

Best Regards,
Arjun