My AEC awards!

Another year ... and ... another Annual Educational Conference (AEC). Nothing this organization does involves more time, more staff, more volunteers, more expense, and more planning and coordination than our annual conference. And this year's AEC gets the prize for being our most complicated conference ever.

We had more sessions, more speakers, more business meetings, more important people, more events, and so forth to orchestrate than ever before. I could and probably should spend the rest of this column thanking the many people who made our annual conference the smashing success that it was this year. As meaningful as that might be to those being saluted, however, I doubt that something so personal would warrant the reading time of the Journal's readers. So let me switch gears and make an effort to both entertain and illuminate by presenting some unusual awards (and recognitions) that I hope give you a more meaningful insight into NEHA, our AEC, and our (your) profession.

Based on this year's AEC, my battery of recognition awards reads as follows:

1. Award for Making a Statement

This award goes to Secretary Asa Hutchinson's keynote presentation. While Hutchinson's speech was a sitting-on-the-edge-of-your-seat listening experience, his presence at the opening session was even more of a statement about NEHA and our people. Here was the former undersecretary of Homeland Security--an individual who oversaw well over 100,000 employees within our country's homeland security program and a person who was daily involved in decision making at the White House--standing up before the NEHA audience. That he was at our conference and talking to us in a very personal way made for an incredible statement about how connected and how much of a national player NEHA is.

I might add that Secretary Hutchinson so believes in us that he waived all of his customary speaking fees simply for the opportunity to personally talk to us about our role in terrorism and emergency response.

2. Award for Most Touching Moment at the Conference

There were many worthy contenders for this award. I am giving it, however, to Deborah Clinebell, a teacher from Waterloo Junior High School in the small community of Waterloo, Illinois. Her story and demeanor were "touching" to listen to and take in. Clinebell developed a hands-on curriculum for her junior high school students involving the study of radon in their community. She so energized her students that ultimately they became a political force in her community. Students 12 to 14 years of age prepared and made moving presentations first to their city council and then, in the following year, to their county board of commissioners. As a result, ordinances were adopted that called for the testing of homes for radon before home sales could be made.

What was so touching about all of this was the humility of the teacher. Over and over again, she told us that in her wildest dreams she never thought that she would be speaking before a national audience at a national conference like ours to tell her story. Her work and her humility warmed the heart.

3. Award for Commitment

Again, there were many nominees to consider--such is the level of altruism apparent within this profession. At the top of that long list, however, I would put the American Academy of Sanitarians (AAS). I was fortunate enough to be able to attend their luncheon. Keep in mind that this is an esteemed group of environmental health professionals who have to qualify to even be considered for membership. It is also a small group with modest dues and an even more modest budget. Nonetheless, when the matter of their budget came up, AAS members didn't hesitate to reaffirm and even increase their financial support for the NEHA-AAS scholarship program. For financial reasons, NEHA had to decrease the amount of money that it was able to donate to the program this year. By tradition, NEHA and AAS contribute equally to this program. Fearing that the program would lose some of its effectiveness if both NEHA and AAS lessened their contributions, AAS voted to contribute more than NEHA just to keep the funding level of this program up--such was the group's inspiring commitment to helping needy and deserving students obtain an environmental health education.

4. Award for Best Last-Minute Volunteer

Andy Timm gets this award hands down. At very nearly the last minute, we asked Andy if he could help us put together a video presentation of conference highlights for the concluding dinner banquet. With his deft touch and artistic talent, voila! Suddenly we had a wonderful presentation to present. Thanks Andy. You were great.

5. Award for Personal Determination

Michael Pascucilla, president of our Connecticut affiliate, shared at a meeting of affiliate presidents that he was involved in an effort in his state to develop a continuing-education requirement for the state's R.E.H.S./R.S. credentialing program. He added that, not surprisingly, he was encountering some resistance but that he was determined to go as far as he could. Keep at it, my friend! You are working in yet another way to upgrade, elevate, and enhance the professionalism of this workforce.

6. Award for Biggest Surprise

I had a most interesting experience at the conference that caught me totally by surprise. I don't get to many educational sessions--I'm usually running from one business meeting to another. This year, however, I did manage to get to several. While the quality of the education at the conference was exceptional (as evidenced by the survey results we have from conference attendees), I was struck by a couple of older speakers and audience members who were still advocating for older ideas more appropriate (in my humble opinion) for older times. This so surprised me that I appreciated even more the urgent need for institutions to infuse themselves with the vigor, freshness, and creativity of youth. To be sure, the elder statesmen among us have earned the right to offer their wise reflections based on years of experience and life lessons. Just because a solution worked thirty years ago, however, doesn't mean that it is going to work today. Especially in this fast-paced world, circumstances and contexts change. When this happens, we need to have both the intellectual honesty and the open-mindedness to let some of those old ideas go if they no longer apply. I was surprised at how difficult it seemed to be for some of our older members to embrace more contemporary ideas. (Sorry for being politically incorrect with this award.)

7. Award for How Not to Read an Eagle Putt

Lou Dooley! Sorry, Lou; I couldn't resist. (For everyone else, please know that Lou is a very good golfer and this year was on the team that won our conference tournament. If only he could read an eagle putt, he might someday make the tour!)

8. Environmental Health Award for Children

This award goes to the Mary Fogarty Elementary School in Rhode Island. A number of us from NEHA had the pleasure of meeting a half dozen or so elementary-school students, who were recognized on behalf of their school by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state of Rhode Island at a special press conference. The school was recognized as a national leader for impressing upon students the need to wash their hands properly. The press conference also featured U.S. Congressman Jim Langevin, the Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island, the director of the state's health department, and the deputy commissioner of the state's department of education. It was a great sight to see kids so young taking to the importance of handwashing. (The school was also the first to utilize the recently released Food-Safe Schools Action Guide.)

9. Award for Most Unexpected Stimulating Discussion

This award goes to NEHA's past presidents. At each conference, our past presidents meet to discuss issues of particular interest to them. A lot of teasing tends to take place within associations about life after one's presidency and how such people enter the hall of "has-beens" or "what-was-their-name." I want to assure the membership that in NEHA, while these individuals are quick to honor the presidencies of their successors, they remain vitally interested in their association and eager to contribute wherever they can. This year, I had the pleasure of participating in excellent exchanges with the past presidents on everything from how we might improve the flow of our opening session to how we can organize to better respond to invitations to become more involved in terrorism response programs and discussions. Thanks, past presidents, for your continuing commitment to NEHA and for the energy you continue to expend on behalf of this organization.

10. Award for Most Creative Pronunciations of the Names of Our Foreign Guests!

Hands down, our outgoing president Jim Balsamo gets this award (not that I or anyone else could have done any better!). Each year, NEHA extends a special thank-you to the many attendees who come to our conference from other nations. As you might suspect, the names of these attendees often read a little differently from what we are accustomed to. I thought Jim was pretty creative in the way he pronounced many of these names!

11. Award for Being the Most Electric AEC!

This award goes to everyone associated with this conference. I have now overseen the running of 24 AECs. We've had some great annual conferences. None, however, exceeded in "electricity" the one we just had in Providence. Everywhere you looked, attendees were animated. People walked fast. Presentations were followed with exciting Q & A exchanges. Our registration staff was bombarded with good ideas to consider. We scored a home run this year--and I mention this as food for thought as you contemplate attending next year's conference. Using Providence as a springboard, I can assure you that the NEHA staff and section chairs are already hard at work to make next year's conference in exciting San Antonio even more electric! Hope to see you there--

... which is a great way to say goodbye from Providence. Kudos to my
award winners for pushing the envelope, making us think more deeply, and
providing us with memorable inspirations.

Nelson Fabian, M.S.

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