2003 Preliminary Business Meeting, Cincinnati, Ohio
Present: Beckage, Beckemeyer, Brown, Chen, Chen,Chippendale, Coudron, Cox Foster, Denlinger, Dunkel, Fallon, Gelman, GundersenRindal, Immaraju, Keena, Lan, Lawrence, Lee, Leopold, Loudon (Secretary),Mankin, Miller, Min, Musser, Oppert, Palli, Park, Pszczolkowski, Raina,Ramaswamy (Chair), Schal, Schmidt, Shelby, Sheppard (Vice-Chair), Shields,Stanley (Secretary-Elect), Telang, Valles, Vinson, Webb, Yocumg, Zhu-Salzman
Sonny Ramaswamy called the meeting to order at 5:05 pm. Heexpressed thanks to the symposium organizers and speakers, the studentcompetition judges, the moderators, and the committee and board members. Sonnynoted that the minutes from the 2002 meeting had been published on the web andasked if there were any corrections. None were mentioned.
Old Business
Sonny Ramaswamy asked if there was any old business. Therewas none.
Standing Committee Reports
Common Names
Kent Shelby reported that seven names had been approved. The common names will bepublished on the ESA server so that members can access the information. Kentreported that the usefulness of common names was being questioned bysystematists who feel that the practice is antiquated, and that it is moreuseful to defer to international taxonomic conventions.
Education/Youth (Richard Musser)
Musser reported that the Entomological Foundation was interested in encouragingresearch by high school teachers. The other item for discussion was whether theLinnaean games should count as "education" or as another category.
Ethics (Helen Nichol)
Not present.
Fellows
Lynn Riddiford was not present. Michael Chippendale pointed out that becausethe nomination deadline will be earlier, the Section Awards CanvassingCommittee needs to make decisions soon. He also noted that there were nofemale nominees last year.
Finance
Jeff Shapiro was not present. Salient points were covered by ElizabethBeckemeyer (see Governing Board report below), who also wanted to point outwhat a fantastic job the finance committee has done.
Founders Memorial Award
David Denlinger reported that the committee was making decisions for next yearnow, but had not yet decided. He encouraged nominations. In answer to aquestion, he stated that the incoming ESA President chairs the committee.
Honorary Membership
No report.
International Affairs
Bernard Philogene was not present. Florence Dunkel stated that the committeewould not meet until later.
Membership
Nancy Beckage stated that the committee would be meeting the following day.
Program
Carol Sheppard described four different symposium proposals that were submittedfor consideration for the 2004 meeting in Salt Lake City.
Public Information
No report.
Rules
Elizabeth Beckemeyer has already reported on this topic (see Governing Boardreport below).
Strategic Planning
Tom Coudron reported that the committee had 4-5 teleconferences and onemeeting in Cincinnati. The committee has been developing an organizationalstructure, making decisions about priorities, and developing a decision tree.The committee is grappling with issues such as, "Who does this societyserve?" and "What is the magnet that is pulling us together?"
Student Affairs
No report.
Systematic Resources
Melody Keena reported that their meeting was the next day and that she wouldreport at the final business meeting.
Publications Council
No report.
American Entomologist Editorial Board
Florence Dunkel noted that a new editor was being nominated. The manuscriptrejection rate was 35 percent. She noted that two new sections are coming:Insect Watch and Linnaean Games questions. The journal is moving to electronicsubmission.
Annals Editorial Board
Michael Strand was not present. No report.
Arthropod Management Tests Editorial Board
Kent Shelby reported no activity.
Book and Media Reviews Editorial Board
Diana Cox-Foster did not attend that meeting. No report.
Environmental Entomology Editorial Board
Richard Lee reported that the journal is believed to be in good shape. Thenumber of submissions last year was 225. There are already 265 submissions thisyear, and 300 submissions are expected by the end of the year. The rejectionrate is 48 percent. New subject editors are being brought in. One issue thatwas discussed by the board was what to consider prior publication (e.g. online dissertations).Reviewers are needed. Sonny Ramaswamy asked whether appropriate reviewers couldbe identified by the online member directory. Richard Lee responded that thereis insufficient information in the directory on the specific subjects that couldbe reviewed by members.
Journal of Economic Entomology EditorialBoard
Richard Mankin reported that there was turnover on the board, with twosubject editors needing replacing (Forestry and Chemical Ecology &Behavior). The board discussed the possibility of having a place in the journalfor biotypes. The rapid review process is working, although there have been afew software glitches due to the generic nature of the software. It isexpected that the number of pages will go up. The rejection rate is at 50percent.
Journal of Medical Entomology EditorialBoard
Ann Fallon reported that there was a new editor. The acceptance rate is at70 percent. There are several subject categories covered by the journal thatare relevant to Section B members.
Thomas Say Publications Editorial Board
Bruce Webb did not attend that meeting. No report.
Other Publications
Liaison to the Archives of Insect Physiology and Biochemistry RussJurenka was not present. David Stanley reported that submissions were up, thatthe rejection rate was 20-25 percent, and that Wiley is piloting an electronicsubmission/review system.
Sonny Ramaswamy noted that the Journal of Insect Sciencewas an excellent journal with very good papers on a variety of topics, hadmultimedia capabilities, and was free.
Section B Awards Canvassing Committee
Lynn Riddiford was not present. Nancy Beckage stated that there had been noactivity. Pauline Lawrence asked if Bayer CropScience intended to supportan award every year. Sonny Ramaswamy confirmed this, and said that thathad been communicated to Paula Lettice. Sonny is interested in contacting othercompanies for sponsorship of awards for young scientists.
Section B Nominating Committee
Florence Dunkel noted that all positions would be voted for at the final businessmeeting except for two positions that will appear on the summer ballot:secretary and the member of the publications council. There were twonominations from the committee: Kent Shelby and Richard Lee. Florence invitedmore nominations from the floor. There were none. Florence stated that therewould be another chance for nominations before the vote at the final businessmeeting. Steven Valles was nominated for the publications council by SonnyRamaswamy (Richard Mankin seconded). Ann Fallon was nominated for thepublications council by Coby Schal (Brad Vinson seconded). Other nominations(and nominators):
Tom Coudron for Annals Editorial Board (John Brown, BradVinson)
Justin Schmidt for Ethics Standing Committee (SonnyRamaswamy, Carol Sheppard)
Richard Mankin for Finance Standing Committee (Florence Dunkel, Sonny Ramaswamy)
Lynn Riddiford was already nominated for the Founders'Memorial Award Standing Committee by the Section B Nominating Committee
Coby Schal for Founders' Memorial Award Standing Committee(Sonny Ramaswamy, Michael Chippendale)
Marian Allynne for Membership Standing Committee (SonnyRamaswamy, Carol Sheppard)
Richard Musser was already nominated for Education and YouthStanding Committee by the Section B Nominating Committee
Andy Chen for Rules Standing Committee (Sonny Ramaswamy,Richard Lee)
Qisheng Song for Rules Standing Committee (ElizabethBeckemeyer, Tom Coudron)
Kathleen Shields suggested that everyone think aboutnominations for ESA President and Secretary.
Section B Symposium Committee
See Program Committee report above.
Governing Board
Elizabeth Beckemeyer noted that the Governing Board had met over the previousthree days. The Governing Board is assessing the value of the society to itsmembers. The budget was also discussed; Elizabeth noted that the fiscal healthof the society has improved greatly from 1999 (deficit of $100,000) and 2000(deficit of $400,000) through 2001 (surplus of $18,000), 2002 (surplus of$340,000) and 2003 (surplus of $18,000). The goal is to have a $250,000 surplusfor emergencies. One cost cutting measure has been the reduction of the numberof employees at the national office. The current seven staff members are allexcellent. In addition, the ESA building in Lanham is being readied for sale.One expense coming up is that staff will need to upgrade their computers(office in Lanham is currently running on Pentium II computers). Oneanticipated improvement in the future will be the ability of credit cardtransactions to be processed immediately online; this will cost $38,000 to getand $15,000/year to run. One expense from this meeting is that the number ofparticipants staying in the designated Cincinnati hotels is below the number guaranteedby the society. Unfortunately this means that the society will have to pay foralmost 600 rooms. Elizabeth asked that all individuals staying at the hotelsensure that they are being counted as ESA attendees. Next year, the societyshould be able to save on postage because the registration for the meeting willbe entirely electronic. Other items:
Presentations at the next ESA Annual Meeting in Salt LakeCity will be completely PowerPoint (no 35 mm slides).
Some of the deadlines for award nominations will be earlierthis year. Most of the award deadlines will be June 1, although nominations forFellows and Honorary Members will be March 15. Nominations will be electronicand must be submitted as PDF or DOC files. There were no Section B Fellows thisyear; Section B members need to be more aggressive with nominations.
A new editor is needed for the Annals.
Another point under discussion by the Governing Board washow to assign the geographic branch to which members belong (e.g. foreignmembers, temporary reassignment of members who are making extensive visits tolaboratories in other geographic regions).
There is concern about the decrease in ESA membership, and19-20% of the current members are expected to retire in the near future.
Certification Board
No report.
Judging Panel for the ESA Recognition Award in InsectPhysiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology
Pauline Lawrence said that there were 5-6 excellent candidates, and that DavidDenlinger had been chosen for the award. There was a round of applause forDavid Denlinger. Bayer CropScience was acknowledged with appreciation fordonating the money for the award. Sonny Ramaswamy was acknowledged and thankedfor contacting the donor.
Judging Panel for the Entomological Foundation's Lillianand Alex Feir Travel Award
Coby Schal reported that there were only three applicants but that all werevery good and that the decision was difficult. He encouraged more applicationsin the future. The winner, Mei-Er Chen, was introduced and congratulated.
New Business
Sonny asked if there was any new business. ElizabethBeckemeyer suggested that any new people stand up and introduce themselves.They did. Dale Gelman mentioned that $10,000 had been donated to theEntomological Foundation to recognize excellence in research by students inphysiology, molecular biology, or toxicology.
Andy Chen acknowledged the valuable service that ElizabethBeckemeyer provides with her timely and valuable e-mail messages to Section Bmembers on Section B business. There was general agreement.
There was a motion to adjourn at 6:38 p.m. by KathleenShields, which was seconded by Tom Coudron.