Committee Report
Credentials
At the 2008 annual meeting in San Antonio, Patrick J. Gooding, Chair of the Credentials Committee, acknowledged the members of his committee: Sigrunn Johnsen and Erik P. Mason, candidates for Secretary/Editor, and Deborah K. Sacrey and Steve Sonnenberg, candidates for Chair of the House.
He reported that the 232 elected Delegates to the House represents the following Societies and Regions:
| U.S. Affiliated Societies | 178 |
| Canada Region | 13 |
| Asia / Pacific Region | 11 |
| European Region | 18 |
| African Region | 0 |
| Latin America Region | 9 |
| Middle East Region | 3 |
Gooding reported that 189 delegates had been cleared by the Credentials Committee. In addition, fifteen people who did not submit documentation on time, or who did not have any documentation from their society, requested to be seated in the House.
A motion was made by Patrick to the Chair of the House and it was seconded, to seat as delegates the following individuals:
- Ameed Ghori , Asia/Pacific Region,
- Keishi Nakashima, Asia/Pacific Region,
- Abul Shamsuddin, Asia/Pacific,
- Andrew Barrett, Asia/Pacific Region,
- Jim Tucker, Middle East,
- Valary Schultz, Dallas Geological Society,
- George Eynon, Canada Region,
- Tim Hunt, West Texas Geological Society,
- Kimberly Wright, South Texas Geol. Society,
- David Cook, Europe Region,
- Bill Harrison, Michigan Basin Geol. Society,
- Nilo Azambuja, Latin America,
- Bob Shoup, Asia/Pacific Region,
- Harsh Gupta, Asia/Pacific Region,
- Istvan Berczi, Europe Region.
After the motion was carried, Gooding reported there are 232 delegates elected to the House and the total required for a quorum is 117. He reported that 204 delegates were present and seated in the House for a quorum.
Patrick J. Gooding, Chair of the Credentials Committee, provided an update to the Credentials report stating two additional delegates have been seated in the House raising the total to 206 seated delegates.
Final Delegate Count:
An elected Delegate to the House arrived late to the meeting, but before voting began and was seated. An alternate from the Baton Rouge Geological Society was checked in and later the elected delegate arrived. The society is allowed only one delegate. The credentials committee did not realize the discrepancy until late in the proceedings. This keeps the total number of Delegates present at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the House to 206. This number represents 88.9% of the total eligible delegates, the largest representation present in ten years.
In a perfect world, if all the U.S. Affiliated Societies and International Regions held elections for their delegates and submitted their paperwork in on time to AAPG Headquarters potentially there could be a total of 250 eligible delegates. Present at this years Annual Meeting were 153 elected delegates, (66%), and 54 alternates and appointed representatives, (34%). U.S Affiliated Societies had 167 representatives out of 178 eligible delegates, a (93.8%), attendance presence. International Regions had 40 representatives out of 59, a 67.8% attendance. Asia/Pacific had 83.3% attendance, African 25%, Canada 76.9%, European 77.8%, Latin America 22.2%, and Middle East 100%.
Twelve U.S Affiliated Societies had no representation; either the delegate did not attend or the society had not held elections in time to get their paperwork into AAPG Headquarters. These geological societies include:
- Alabama,
- Everglades,
- Fort Smith,
- Fort Worth,
- Graham,
- Iowa,
- Miami,
- New York,
- North Dakota,
- San Angelo,
- South Eastern, and the
- Professional Geologist of Indiana.
The Credentials Committee recommends that every effort should be made to encourage Societies and International Regions to have 100% representation. U.S. Affiliated Societies that consistently do not have representation should be dropped from the rolls.