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Archives
 July 1999 Issue
Cover Story
Cable-Tec Expo '99:
Awards Luncheon:
SCTE Honors its Best and Brightest
By Doug Larson and Jeff Baumgartner
In addition to providing plates of fine vittles, the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers recognized a number of the broadband industrys top professionals during its Annual Awards Luncheon.
SCTE President John Clark shared the stage with Senior Member Les Read during the award presentations. Read kicked off the ceremony by introducing Hugh McCarley, 1999 Chairman of the Board, to present the Chapter Awards, created last year to honor those members who dedicate their time and effort to the SCTE on the local level through their regional chapters.
"These volunteers are often unsung heroes," said Read before handing over the mike, "spending their valuable time administering tests for the certification programs, conducting training seminars for area telecommunications personnel and spreading the word about SCTE membership."
McCarley recognized the elevation of the Mid-Columbia Meeting Group to chapter status, a promotion that occurs only after a meeting group completes 40 hours of technical training within an 18-month period.
McCarley then presented the Chapter of the Year award, which is awarded to the group that has demonstrated innovation, commitment and leadership in efforts to achieve the SCTE mission during the preceding 12-month period, to the New England Chapter. For the second year in a row, the New England Chapter was recognized for its strong support for the Society at the local and national levels.
Torches are passed
As in years past, the SCTE Board of Directors met prior to the show to elect new officers for 1999-2000, whose offices were announced during the luncheon.
After announcing the newly elected Board officers, Clark presented a gavel plaque to outgoing Chairman Hugh McCarley in recognition of his service to the Society. "The past year was an eventful one for SCTE," said Clark, adding that McCarley carried the Society through a changing of the guard "with dedication, diligence and flexibility."
Hall of Fame
Tom Polis, Austin Coryell, Dave Large and Wayne McKinney were inducted into the SCTE Hall of Fame, joining ranks with such luminaries as Communications Technologys Rex Porter and CableLabs Tom Elliot. Established in 1988, the award seeks to permanently recognize SCTE members who, over the years, have made extraordinary contributions to the professional development, ideals, goals and enhancement of the Society and the cable TV industry.
Safety Awards
Presented by Ray Lehr, chairman of the Safety Award Subcommittee, the annual awards were this year went to five operators. The Gold Safety Awards went to Comcast Cable of Dover, Del.; Comcast Cable of Florence, Ala.; Comcast Cable of Georgetown, Del.; and Four K Cable Services. The Gold Award is presented to operators that maintain Occupational Safety and Health Administration reportable incident levels at or below 50 percent of the industrys national rate.
Presented to companies that have an OSHAreportable incident rate at or less than 25 percent, the SCTE Silver Safety Award was conferred to Comcast Cable of Mobile, Ala.
Field Operations Award
Read made the presentations for this years Field Operations Award. Greg McGrath of Paxton Cable TV received $500 and first place honors in this years competition for his submission entitled "Perfect 0," which created a tool that aids installers making same-size loops in a retrofit/rebuild.
Larry Thomas of Cox Communications and Alan Bergman of Time Warner Cable placed second and third, respectively. Thomas received $300 for his entry, which described his development of a ground strap to protect against the potential shock hazard involved with telephony tap installation. Bergman, whose submission was titled "Presenting an Easy-to-Build Cable Caddy Project," won $200.
Established in 1989 for the purpose of rewarding broadband telecommunications personnel for the development of concepts, tools or procedures for improving the work performed by cable TV technicians and engineers in the field, the award has been supported by Telecrafter Products for the past six years.
If you have implemented a great operations idea, or know someone who has, be sure to let SCTE know. Send nominations for the 2000 Field Operations Award to Manager of Membership Services Paula M. Jones at or e-mail . You have until March 1 to make your nomination.
Shapp Scholarship
Established by General Instrument, the Milton Jerrold Shapp Memorial Scholarship Fund each year awards $20,000 to a deserving high school senior. This year, the scholarship was presented to Barry Dillon-Malone from Liverpool High School in Liverpool, N.Y. Dillon-Malone, who carries a 3.79 GPA, recently won a gold medal in physics for his entry on cable TV.
Cox honored for service
The Annual Awards Luncheon also recognized Cox Communications, which received the 10th annual Service in Technology Award for its outstanding service in furthering the goals and ideals of the broadband industry. Annual honorees are selected by Communications Technology magazine, and a donation is made to SCTEs scholarship fund in the name of the recipient. Paul Levine, founder and senior publisher of Communications Technology, made the presentation to Alex Best, Coxs senior vice president of engineering.
"Cox Communications is helping the broadband consumer realize the amazing potential of the truly interactive, high-capacity broadband system," said Levine, who also cited Cox as a leader in the deployment of new technologies over the cable industrys broadband infrastructure.
Cox offers digital TV, telephony and high-speed data services to thousands of customers across the nation, and it does so with some of the highest levels of customer service in the industry. Cox has won a top rating in J.D. Power & Associates customer satisfaction survey in 1996, 1997 and 1998.
Chairmans Award
Presented to Fred Kaiser and Kevin Eicher of Alpha Technologies, the Chairmans Award recognizes the outstanding effort of either a company, organization or individual who has given exceptional support the Society during the current chairmans administration.
"Their entrepreneurial spirit in working with the many operators across the country certainly qualifies them for this award," said McCarley, who made the presentation. "Their entire organization has strongly committed to generator-driven power supplies at the request of operators for the introduction of new services to our customers as we roll out high-speed data, voice and enhanced video services across the country." McCarley added that Alpha has joined with cable TV operators as a partner rather than a vendor.
Member of the Year
The coveted Member of the Year award was presented to Martin Antonio Huerta for his unselfish dedication to the Society. "His enthusiasm for his work, the SCTE and the telecommunications industry is unsurpassed," said Hayes, the 1998 Member of the Year award recipient.
Since translating Ken Simons book, Identifying Picture Problems, into Spanish in 1994, Huerta has translated the SCTE Installer Certification Manual and currently is working on a translation of William Grants Cable Television, one of the SCTEs best-selling training books. Huerta has never asked the Society for compensation for his time-consuming work.
"This years Member of the Year is helping the Society stay in front of telecommunications industry trends," said Hayes, adding that Hispanics are the second-fastest growing ethnic group in the nation.- CT
Doug Larson is senior editor of "Communications Technology." He can be reached via e-mail at .
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