December, 1999 
SCAMIT Newsletter 
Vol. 18, No. 8 
years. Many other outside experts (and 
“inside” experts, since some are SCAMIT 
members) have also contributed to our growth 
as taxonomists by speaking to our group, 
answering questions about particular taxa, or 
working with SCAMIT members to resolve 
vexing problems. 
We have had continuing institutional support 
from SCCWRP, and from the Cabrillo Marine 
Aquarium, our mailing address and erstwhile 
organizational home-base. Cabrillo has helped 
us since before they were an Aquarium, when 
they were known as the Cabrillo Marine 
Museum. They served as our usual meeting 
place for many years. In the last few years we 
have not been able to use their facilities for 
many meetings because of scheduling conflicts 
with other educational uses of the Aquarium. 
Hopefully we can return more often in future. 
We have continued our tradition of having the 
SCAMIT Christmas Party at the Aquarium, a 
great boon to us, and a unique opportunity for 
SCAMITeers to enjoy the facility in a leisurely 
fashion. They also have offered us storage 
space for our library and specimen collections 
over the years, and continue to do so. Without 
this support we would have been in 
considerable difficulty, and would probably 
have had to rent a space, or dispose of the 
materials (neither appealing options). We have 
also benefitted from use of the Natural History 
Museum of Los Angeles County, SCCWRP, 
MBC Applied Environmental Sciences, the 
Marine Lab of the City of San Diego 
Metropolitan Wastewater Department, MEC 
Analytical Systems, the Santa Barbara 
Museum of Natural History, Orange County 
Sanitation District, the San Diego Natural 
History Museum, the Marine Biology Lab of 
the County Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles 
County, and Dancing Coyote Ranch as venues 
for meetings and workshops. 
All of the above individuals and organizations 
have contributed to our continuing existence 
and success. We thank them all for their 
gracious assistance to our fledgling 
organization and their furthering of our 
organizational goals. The real core of SCAMIT 
and its accomplishments is, however, the 
volunteer work of its officers, active members, 
and committee persons over the years. In the 
beginning I was a doubter. John Shisko 
(CLAEMD) circulated a prospectus calling for 
the establishment of the organization which 
became SCAMIT among local agency and 
consultant groups. I immediately rejected the 
idea as impractical; monthly meetings on 
taxonomic issues - nobody could possibly do 
that!!! 
How glad I am that I was very wrong. All of 
the people who worked to make SCAMIT 
happen deserve our thanks, as do the 
employers who allowed (and even sometimes 
encouraged) their participation. That it has 
continued to survive is a tribute to the many 
who have participated by volunteering their 
time, or by just being there. As the traditional 
stalwarts age we need some new blood to come 
forward. Secretary Megan Lilly is one of these 
new recruits, and hopefully will continue to 
contribute for some time. Others in the 
audience need to try and find the time to 
become involved in the organization and its 
continuance. Wider involvement has been a 
priority over the years, and remains so. The 
broader the spectrum of opinion represented by 
the active participants the better SCAMIT 
fulfills its purpose. A big THANK YOU to 
those who have served in the past, and those 
who are doing so now. SCAMIT would not be 
possible without you. It can’t continue unless 
those who have not yet served fill the positions 
left by departing functionaries. Finding the 
hands to receive the passed torch is likely to be 
the most significant challenge of the new 
millennium for our organization. 
[The above has been the Editor’s attempt to 
briefly summarize what he sees as SCAMIT’s 
pertinent history. Comments from others who 
have been a part of it are welcome, as are 
divergent views of our future direction. Voice 
‘em if you got ‘em. - Don Cadien (CSDLAC)] 
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