News of the California Association of Criminalists • News of the ...

The President’s Desk
Something Something f ffor
f or Ever Every Ever y Member
Member
I just want to start my year as President by stating what an honor it is to
follow some of the great names in criminalistics. I look at the signatures on the
coconut and see people who have influenced me in the field, people with whom I
have gone to school or worked, the authors of many papers and developers of analytical
methods, and people I have spent time with at conferences, meetings, and
training classes. I hope to carry on the tradition with the energy and commitment
needed to follow in their footsteps. I want to thank Pennie Laferty and Ray Davis
for leaving the presidency in good shape and the organization running smoothly. I
must also thank Dean Gialamas for his contributions and leadership as our treasurer
these last two years. I believe his knowledge of financial matters and guidance
in changes we made will impact us in a very positive way in the years to come.
Lastly, those that attended the Oakland meeting have to thank the Oakland Police
Department staff for their hard work in putting on a successful meeting. Tom
Abercrombie, the most active non-CAC member, and Brian Karp were in the forefront
but I know the rest of Mary Gibbons’ staff contributed to the success of this
meeting.
This year I intend to challenge you with my messages. My intent is to encourage
conversation and action. Where are we and where are we headed in our profession.
The four topics I will address will be participation in the CAC, quality assurance/accreditation
issues, analysis of samples for which there is no interpretation
or the interpretation can be misconstrued (gunshot primer residue on clothing or
cars, for instance), and leadership in the field. In the future I hope to stimulate
discussion and responses in favor or against my opinions, in the CACNews.
Participation in the CAC
I find it very disturbing that we have not been able to find more than one
person willing to take on the tasks of president-elect the past two years. I want to
encourage ALL members of this association to begin the process of learning about
the CAC. The best way is to begin small, become a committee member on a larger
committee, then take an elected board job or move your committee membership to
one of the more difficult committees.
I will outline a good method for learning about the association before you
take on the task of president-elect. This is a path that one can take to becoming
comfortable enough to become president (you must have served on the board to be
eligible for president-elect). Start on a committee like Training and Resources or the
Awards Committee. These are larger committees that will get busy only periodically
with the work spread out among the committee members. A good way to
learn a board member’s job is to volunteer to help a board member who is in your
lab or a neighboring lab. For example the treasurer’s job has an assistant position
that helps with the dues collection and tracking. The nominating committee is an
excellent way to get started allowing you to learn the names of members. The Southern
or Northern Regional Directors jobs are not time intensive if you are organized.
These are two excellent ways to be introduced to the Board of Directors.
The next committees can get very busy during certain times of the year but
they also provide incredible insight into this organization. They are the Endowment,
the Financial Review, and the Ethics Committees. Other committees that probably
require a little experience or at least specialized experience include the ABC,
By-laws, Historical, and Merchandise Committees. Some of these committees are
multi-year commitments and vary in the times they get busy.
Please turn to page 26
I find it very
disturbing that
we have not been
able to find more
than one person
willing to take on
the tasks of
president-elect
the past two
years.
Jim Jim Stam
Stam
CAC President