Editor's Note: This version is modified from the edition mailed to our membership because of
updated or duplicate information that may be found elsewhere on our web site.

Fall 2000
     

     Despite an early fall snowstorm that paralyzed many parts of our state, the Wyoming Society of Radiologic Technologists was able to go forward with our Annual Conference on September 21 - 24. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend this conference due to the storm but with the help of those people who were there, I’ll summarize the highlights of the conference.
     Annual Board and Business Meetings - All meetings were conducted in accordance with WSRT bylaws and the minutes of such will be or are available on-line at our web site. In summary:
     Lesli and Starla attended the 2000 ASRT House of Delegates in Albuquerque, NM as the Wyoming Affiliate Delegates. Lesli reported that she attended the Leadership Academy that was held in conjunction with the conference. Starla also attended the week long Leadership Conference held last January sponsored by the ASRT For the record, ASRT members no longer need to be nominated by an affiliate society to attend this special conference in January. This conference is a very good in-depth seminar designed to help potential leaders in our profession to guide their affiliate societies into the future. The big plus is that the ASRT will pick up all travel, lodging and registration expenses for those selected to attend. If you are interested, please contact one of our board members or the ASRT and request an application.
     The election results were announced. Peggy Jereb of Casper was elected as the new President Elect, Kelly Hartigan of Cheyenne as the new Vice President, Vera Trimble and Cheryl Peterson, also of Cheyenne were announced as the new Secretary and Treasurer respectively. All were duly installed at the Annual Banquet on Saturday night along with Starla Mason as the President and Lesli Troastle as Past President. Mike Lewis, WSRT Editor will assume a new position as a non-voting member of the WSRT Board. Shelly Breazeale will resume her position as a non-voting member of the Board as she is the RT member of the WBRTE. Starla Mason announced her committee chairpersons for the coming year and you can find their names on the inside of the second page of this issue.
     The Board accepted Mary Bond’s resignation as Executive Secretary. They have decided, at least for the time being, that this position will be eliminated and the duties will be split between the Secretary and Treasurer. Mary was given a specially engraved rock at the Awards Banquet and the WSRT sincerely thanks her for her hard work and dedication over the years.
     Committees - the annual budget was reviewed and accepted. All bylaws changes were approved as submitted to the general membership. Modifications were made to separate policies and procedures from the bylaws and additional changes were made to the policies and procedures manuals to accommodate the modifications. The Cowboy Cathode came in under budget this year, however advertising is still encouraged. As always, I welcome any and all articles submitted for publication.
     Awards - Student Paper Competition - No presentations were made this year. Student Bowl Competition - 1st Place ($25 each): The Incontinents: Leonard Geringer - LCCC, Dave Lupton - LCCC, Shelly Malone - LCCC, Corey Whitlock - Casper College. WSRT Student Grant Winners ($300 each): Carey Kreiling - LCCC. Mickey Patch Scholarship ($300 each): Kelly Hartigan - Cheyenne VA, Vera Trimble - Cheyenne Radiology Group. Escobedo Award of Excellence - Linda Holden and Mary Bond.
     The 2001 WSRT Annual Conference will be held in Cheyenne, September 19 - 22 at the Holiday Inn. The proposed location for the 2002 Conference is Jackson in collaboration with St. Johns Hospital. The proposed dates for this conference are September 12 - 14, 2002. Check with the web site for updates.

  
Membership Statistics

Here are the most current membership statistics as of September 19, 2000:

Life Members - 13

RT Members - 105

Student Members - 26

Non-RT Members - 1

Support Members - 2

Inactive RT Members - 2

Total 149

 

WSRT Membership Fees

     I wish to thank you for electing me to President Elect. I am very honored and will work hard for you in the coming years.
     I plan to spend the next year working closely with Starla and Lesli learning the ropes and seeing how best to serve you, the membership. I want to see this Society grow back to the strength we once were and go beyond. I want to build a strong statewide Society.
     I would like any and all suggestions and ideas you may have. Your ideas and opinions are important to me. You may reach me via e-mail from the WSRT web site. Please let me know how I can help and serve you.
     I am looking forward to serving as your delegate to the ASRT House of Delegates. I have some experience as a Region III Chapter Delegate and hope to use that experience as your Affiliate Delegate from Wyoming.
     I look forward to hearing from you.

National Radiologic Technology Week

     Public Relations Committee - We will be doing an e-mail campaign for National Radiologic Technology Week. We plan to send e-mails to ten people in hopes they will send to ten more and so on. The message will explain what RT week is all about. It will also emphasis the importance of a registered technologist taking your x-rays and encourages people to check the next time they have an exam. We will also mention the CARE act. I am still working out the plan but we hope to contact as many people as possible. I encourage everyone to plan activities for RT week and let people know what a great profession we are in and how proud we are to have RT behind our names. (Laurie Weaver)
     Casper College - Casper College will celebrate National Radiologic Technology week with an open house on November 9^th. The radiography program, in conjunction with the Student Radiography Association, will host the open house which is open to the public. We want to create an awareness of our profession and plan to have tours and exhibits to show off our facility and our great profession. (Laurie Weaver)
     United Medical Center - We will be creating a large bulletin board presentation in the hospital cafeteria explaining the different modalities of radiology and what we do. (Mike Lewis)

From the Editor

     I apologize for the quality of the summer issue of the Cowboy Cathode, as well as it being sent out a few days late. As many of you may already know, I had LASIK eye surgery on July 6 and have been having some difficulty with some minor sight problems in my right eye that made working on the computer difficult. When I was able to finally publish it, I discovered problems with our large format printer, which included paper-feeding jams. That then led to ink bleeds on the paper. In short, things were a mess. I know some of you received less than acceptable copies of the Cowboy Cathode but with the time constraints I felt I had no choice but to send them out anyway. I hope that this issue will be much better.
     The WSRT web site has been overhauled and updated this past month. The look is still basically the same, but there is a lot of new information to check out. Come on by and give us a visit.

Casper College News

     We will be x-raying candy on Halloween. Our x-ray lab turns into a haunted house where children can have their candy x-rayed for free. They get to keep the radiograph and watch as the costumed students x-ray the candy and develop the film. It is great fun for everyone.
     I would like to welcome the first year students who started in June and we are off to a great start. They are: Kelly Calloway, Brynn Collins, Coral Daniels, Teri Fetterhoff, Kyle Haratyk, Anne Willadson, Brandy Segraves, Stacy Pesek, Jaci Oussama, Angela Van Houten and Corey Whitlock.
     Casper College Student Radiography Association elected new officers for the upcoming year. They are: President - Misty Engstrom, Vice President Amanda Woodell, Secretary - Anne Willadson, Treasurer - Brandy Segraves, Senate Representative - Melissa Wolfe, First year student representative - Jaci Oussama, Second year student representative - Misty Engstrom.
     Congratulations to all the recent graduates passed the registry with flying colors. Congratulations also to Nicole Althoff who has gone on to Ultrasound school, Jessica Frisch who works in Wisconsin, Zach Irvine working in Billings, Montana, Valerie Martinez who is studying Nuclear Medicine, Ken Phillips employed by Wyoming Medical Center, and Angie Yeiks continuing her education in Radiation Therapy. We wish you the best as you begin your new and exciting profession. (Laurie Weaver)

Membership

     The membership files have been updated since the last Cowboy Cathode. If we have made an error we apologize and if you have or know of any problems or questions regarding memberships including address changes, please don’t hesitate to contact us on the Internet at http://www.wsrt.org/ or write to:

It’s important that we have a current listing of ALL of our members. I encourage you to pass your copy of the Cathode around to other techs in your departments that may not have received a copy so that we have a chance to correct any errors and also a chance to encourage prospective members to join. If you have paid your membership but have not received a card, if you need to pay and haven’t received notice, or if you can help us locate other members, please notify us ASAP.

     Congratulations to Shelly Breazeale who has been reappointed to the Wyoming Board of Radiologic Technologist Examiners. This will be Shelly’s second term as such as we’re proud to see her continue in this role.
     Dr. Jim Hubbard has been asked by the Governor of Wyoming to assume the reins as the physician member it the WBRTE. We are anxiously waiting to see if he will accept this position.
     Shelly notes that all applications for licensure must be accompanied by a birth certificate or passport and that letters accompanying applications for Special Licenses must be notarized.

WSRT Officers for 2000 - 2001 - Starla Mason - President, Peggy Jereb - President Elect, Lori Detsch (standing in for Kelly Hartigan - Vice President), Vera Trimble - Secretary and Cheryl Peterson - Treasurer

     The American Society of Radiologic Technologists’ House of Delegates, to many members and non-members of the ASRT, is somewhat of a mystery as to what it is and what they do, as well as who they are specifically so let’s take a look to see if we can clear it up a bit.
     The House of Delegates, which meets each June during the annual ASRT Conference, is the governing body of the ASRT. Basically, we set policies, decide position statements, modify bylaws, and discuss guidelines for the direction of our profession for the future.
     The American Society of Radiologic Technologists is the single largest organization for health care professionals in the world and as such, the House of Delegates has a great deal of influence in determining the direction of healthcare in the United States. So what does that mean for you?
     There are two main categories of members of the House of Delegates; Affiliate Delegates and Regional/Chapter Delegates. The Affiliate Delegates are those people selected from each affiliate society such as the WSRT to represent their membership’s interests. Although fewer in number than the Regional Delegates, they almost consistently have nearly 100% attendance at the annual meetings with well over 100 in attendance.
     The Regional Delegates are also known as Chapter Delegates. The geographical area covered by the ASRT is divided into 9 regions and each region, at last count has 13 different chapters bringing the total number of possible delegates to 117. Each chapter delegate is primarily interested in those areas of interest having to do with his or her modality in his or her region. Wyoming is in region 3 which also covers Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.
     For your information, I have included a listing of region 3’s Chapter Delegates and the term of office of each:

Bone Densitometry
6/9/00 – 6/6/01 
Position Vacant

Cardiovascular-Interventional Technology
6/11/99 – 6/6/01
Position Vacant

Computed Tomography
6/9/00 – 6/12/02
Patricia A Richards, R.T.
1007 Cemetery Road
Fort Gibson, OK 74434-8214

Education in Radiologic Science
6/9/00 – 6/12/02
Nadia A. Bugg, R.T., FASRT
2525 Fain St.
Wichita Falls, TX 76308-1935

Magnetic Resonance
6/3/00 – 6/6/01
Position Vacant

Mammography
6/9/00 – 6/12/02
Kaylea E. Massengill, R.T.
6926 Valley View Place
Cheyenne, WY 82009-2545

Management
6/11/99 – 6/6/01
Donald E. Rueschhoff, R.T.
8361 S. Ammons St.
Littleton, CO 80128-6107

Medical Dosimetry
6/11/99 – 6/6/01
Stacy L. Anderson, R.T.
Program Director, Radiologic Technology,
University of Oklahoma
801 NE 13^th, CHB 451
Oklahoma City, OK 73126

Nuclear Medicine
6/9/00 – 6/12/02
David P. Brown, R.T.
PO Box 534
Organ, NM 88052-0534

Quality Management
6/9/00 – 6/12/02
Margaret J. Brown, R.T.
RR 1 Box 2260
Oktaha, OK 74450-9635

Radiation Therapy
6/11/99 – 6/6/01
Lynda N. Reynolds, R.T., FASRT
7017 N. Spoon Terrace
Edmond, OK 73003-1871

Radiography
6/9/00 – 6/12/02
R. Michael Lewis, R.T.
2615 E. 18^th St.
Cheyenne, WY 82001-5510

Sonography
11/15/99 – 6/6/01
Kelly A. Hartigan, R.T.
1940 Cheshire Drive
Cheyenne, WY 82001-1685

     Many people question the value of being a member of a local affiliate society when the ASRT provides everything they may possibly need as a member. This is probably true for those members and that’s fine but I’d like you to keep something in mind.
     Every single member of the ASRT House of Delegates is required to be a voting member of an affiliate society including both Affiliate and Chapter Delegates. This means that members of the ASRT who are not members of an affiliate society essentially have no voting power whatsoever. Now, perhaps if you agree with everything that the ASRT is doing, or if you don’t care at all about the future of your profession, then joining your affiliate society is probably not an important consideration. On the other hand, if you do care about the future of your profession and the direction that it’s going, please join or encourage a non-member to join today!

     It wasn’t announced with a big fanfare and it almost slipped by me, but let it be known that Laurie Weaver of Casper was awarded the Isadore N. Stern Scholarship by the ASRT Education and Research Foundation and E-Z-EM Inc.
     To qualify for this special award, Laurie had to maintain a high GPA, write an essay, been active in her profession at the state and national level, submit letters of recommendation and demonstrate a true commitment to the profession.
     Laurie states that she is working on her master’s degree in Health Administration from Saint Joseph’s College in Standish Maine. Because of this award she was able to travel there this past summer to participate in two on-campus courses. She says that it was a wonderful experience, the courses were excellent, the scenery incredible and relates her thanks to the ASRT for giving her this opportunity. Way to go Laurie and we’re proud of you!

From Starla Mason,
WSRT President

     Greetings! Hopefully everyone made it home safely from the Annual Meeting in Casper. Even though it’s only been a few weeks, a lot has been going on, and I’ve already had to do several “Presidential” things, due to a variety of changes. But first, I want to thank everyone for giving me the opportunity to serve you this coming year.
     Some updates that you’ll find here and/or on the website:
     1. The Board voted to eliminate the Executive Secretary position, so the WSRT Secretary and Treasurer will be taking over most of those duties. The conference preparations, mailings, etc. will be contracted out to an outside agency.
     2. The WSRT now has its own P.O. Box: P.O. Box 5575, Cheyenne, 82003; the Treasurer, Cheryl Peterson, will be checking it weekly at a minimum.
     3. A new draft of WSRT Policies and Procedures is being reviewed by the ad hoc committee - a big thank you to Mike Lewis for already getting this project rolling!
     4. A space for e-mail addresses has been added to the WSRT Application form, so that we can create a data bank for future correspondence purposes. If you have already renewed, and are pretty sure we don’t have your e-mail address, you can add your name to the data bank by contacting the Cowboy Cathode Editor (Mike Lewis) via the website at wsrt.org.
     5. If we have your e-mail address, you should get some mail to forward for NRTW Week. Laurie Weaver is already working on an e-mail PR campaign—we want everyone to be able to participate, so log on!
     6. The CARE bill was introduced into the House on September 25^th. In support of Federal Minimum Standards, a letter from the WSRT was sent to Rep. Barbara Cubin. Letters were also sent to Senators Thomas and Enzi for information purposes.
     7. Jackson 2002 looks like a go! I have been in contact with Leigh Copeland, and the hospital and administrators there are supportive of a collaborative effort, also. So we will be working together to iron out details. If you have any requests for speakers, hotels, or activities, let me know, so that I can get them incorporated. (I love feedback!)
     In addition to all of this, I have been going through WSRT records for a research project I am working on. One of the things I have discovered is that, according to the survey the WSRT conducted in 1998, R.T.s’ average salaries in Wyoming were approximately 22% behind the national average for the same period! Perhaps this is another area the WSRT can become involved in for the betterment of our profession. Do we want to take on this issue? Let me hear from you...
     In the meantime, have a Happy RT Week - this is a time to celebrate us, so give yourselves a treat! 

If you have any contributions to the Cowboy Cathode
please send them to cowboycathode@wsrt.org
or mail them to 2615 East 18th Street, Cheyenne, WY., 82001