2005 Preliminary Business Meeting, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Present: Allen, Anelli, Beckemeyer (Governing Board Rep.), Chen, Coudron, Denlinger, Gelman, Keena (Secretary), Leopold, Mankin, Musser, Palli, Pszczolkowski, Ramaswamy, Shapiro, Shields, Song, Stanley (Vice-Chair), three of Dr. Song’s students
Vice Chair David Stanley called the meeting to order at 5:38 p.m. in the absence of Chair Catherine Loudon. He thanked the symposium organizers and speakers, student competition judges, moderators, and committee and board members.
Congratulations were extended to:
David Denlinger: Awarded title of Distinguished University Professor from The Ohio State University
Walter Leal: Elected a AAAS Fellow and secretary-elect for Section B
Sonny Ramaswamy: Promoted director of the Purdue Agricultural Research Programs and Associate Dean of Agriculture at Purdue University, and elected an ESA Fellow
Tony Grace: Received the Entomological Foundation Lillian & Alex Feir Travel Award
Richard Beeman: Received the ESA Recognition in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology
Zhen Zou: Received the Entomological Foundation's International Congress on insect Neurochemistry and Neurophysiology Student Recognition Award
Special thanks were also extended to Elizabeth Beckemeyer for her service as Section B Governing Board Representative and to Kathleen Shields for serving as Program Co-Chair this year.
Standing Committee Reports
Common Names (Qisheng Song)
Song reported that 8 or 9 new names were approved and one was declined by the Governing Board.
Education and Youth (Richard Musser)
The committee put on a symposium yesterday on Using Insects in Science-Based Inquiry that went over well. They will put together another symposium next year and work on having an outreach activity for kindergarten through eight grade kids next year. They are also developing a webpage for kindergarten through 12th grade kids. Richard volunteered to be vice chair of the committee next year, which would require that his term be extended so he could serve as chair the following year.
Ethics (Justin Schmidt)
Schmidt was not present, but sent an e-mail report. He said the committee had not been very busy, which was good. There were only two issues they dealt with this year: (1) A Governing Board member with a potential conflict of interest, and (2) whether it appropriate to have three members of the Committee on the Common Names of Insects from the U.S. Forest Service.
Fellows (David Denlinger)
Denlinger reported that there was a good group of nominees this year and we should think about nominations for next year.
Finance (Melody Keena)
Keena reported revenue projections for 2006 were ~$2,400,000. These included decreases in membership, subscriptions, and advertising, and increases in handbook sales, dues rates, and subscription rates. For expenses, the request was $33,798 higher that the projected income and included all program increases submitted from the budget call.
The committee believes that the headquarters’ 2005 projections are credible and that the Society should support a current services budget so that the cost of providing services in the coming year is known in advance and that the budget proactively accommodates these increased prices. The committee believes that, in addition to raising dues and subscription rates in 2006, Annual Meeting registration rates should also be increased to keep up with the cost of staging the meeting and to accommodate technology improvements that are being added. Raising Annual Meeting rates by 2% would produce an additional $12,169. The committee also felt that the percentages used for membership retention might be a little too low and increased the number of members in 2006 by 36 which added $2,540.
For expenses, the committee felt that the Society could not afford a consultant to review the membership database and make recommendations on other potential commercial products ($-25,000), that the amount needed annually to capitalize a computer replacement fund need only be $6,000 ($-3,000), and that additional food and beverage ($-5,150) and tote bags ($-5,000) for the Annual Meeting were not a high priority. The committee felt it was more important to provide additional Program Enhancement Funds and maintain many of the technological enhancements introduced in 2005
Founder's Memorial (Lynn Riddiford)
Riddiford was not present, but sent an e-mail report. She nominated both Fred Nijhout and Ron Hoy for honoring Wigglesworth and Roeder respectively. Fred Nijhout won the nomination hands down. She suggests that it would be good to have a Section B symposium that deals with hormones to go along with Fred’s address.
International Affairs (Florence Dunkel)
Dunkel was not present, so there was no report.
Membership (Marianne Alleyne)
Alleyne was not present so there was no report
Rules (Andrew Chen)
Chen was not present, so there was no report.
Strategic Planning (Tom Coudron)
Coudron reported that the restructuring meetings took the place of the normal strategic planning meeting this year.
Systematic Resources (Hugh Robertson)
Robertson was not present, so there was no report.
Publications Reports
American Entomologist Editorial Board (Carol Anelli)
Florence Dunkel could not attend the meeting, but Carrol Anelli reported on subscription rates and rejection rates. Now have enough submissions after a special call for them went out this year. Two symposium where highlighted in this year’s issues.
Annals Editorial Board (Tom Coudron)
Coudron reported that this journal is in good health. There were five new subject editors appointed this year to fill vacancies. The acceptance rate was 62% and the average time from submission to publication was 40 weeks this year. There were 1000 pages published. Tom commented that all journals have funds to waive the publication charges and this journal spends all of the funds, usually by September. The journal hopes to revitalize the forum article section again. They discussed rapid communications as a new class of publications but no decision was made. Discussion of Blackwell proposal for publishing all our journals was discussed. They publish all the other entomology journals and have a world wide distribution and appeal which could enhance our journals. Elizabeth Beckemeyer commented that we should all review the proposal and talk to the Blackwell group in the exhibit hall about it. The Governing Board is seeking feedback on the proposal.
Arthropod Management Tests Editorial Board (Kent Shelby)
Shelby was not present, so there was no report.
Book and Media Review Editorial Board (Carol Anelli)
Diana Cox-Foster was not present, but Carol Anelli gave a brief summary. There have been several books to review and a greater consistency in the review write-ups. Next year reviews of spectacular web pages will also be included.
Environmental Entomology Editorial Board (George Yocum)
Yocum was not present, so there was no report.
Journal of Economic Entomology Editorial Board (Richard Mankin)
Mankin reported that there was an all time high on articles published in the journal and that the impact factor was 1.28 which is the highest of all ESA's journals. The time from submission to publication is mixed; some take a long time and others a much shorter time. Many subject editors stepped down this year but all have been replaced. Open access to the journal was discussed and 60% of the editorial board was in favor of it. They also discussed the Blackwell proposal.
Journal of Medical Entomology Editorial Board (Kent Shelby)
Shelby was not present, so there was no report.
Thomas Say Publications Editorial Board (Bruce Webb)
Webb was not present so there was no report
Liaison to the Archives of Insect Physiology and Biochemistry (David Stanley)
Jim Baker was not present but David Stanley reported that it was a wonderful year, with increases in submissions and quality was maintained. The journal is very healthy. Qisheng Song and Reddy Palli will join the journal editorial board to bring expertise in additional areas.
Section Committee Reports
Section Awards Canvassing Committee
Steve Valles and Ann Fallon were not present, so there was no report.
Section Symposium Committee (David Stanley)
Stanley reported that Bugs Did It First: Insect-Inspired Technology (Karen Kester and Felix Wäckers) was elected for inclusion this year, but had to be cancelled when the meeting was postponed. Also, the symposiumImpact of Hormone Research on Science and Economy: A Symposium to Honor Contributions of Professor Lynn Riddiford will honor Riddiford’s 70th birthday (Reddy Palli, Bruce Webb, Nancy Beckage). Giving Something Back” will be next year's theme. They have a list of 50 people to be invited; some of which will be asked to speak. There will also be posters, and they will apply for NRI funds to cover any extra costs. It is planned as an all-day symposium, and they would like it to be considered for a program symposium.
Section 2005 Nominating Committee (Jeff Shapiro)
Shapiro noted that all positions would be voted for at the final business meeting except for the position of Secretary that will appear on the summer ballot. Shapiro stated that he was not prepared with nominations at this time and asked for input to assist in completing the list before the final business meeting. We need to have at least two nominations for each position. The positions we need nominations for are:
Section Secretary
ESA Standing Committee on Ethics
Judging Panel for the ESA Recognition Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology
Journal of Economic Entomology Editorial Board
Section Awards Canvassing Committee
Judging Panel for the Entomological Foundation ICINN Award
David Stanley will need to select people to serve on the following committees:
Section Symposium Committee (2 positions)
Judging Panel for the Entomological Foundation Lillian & Alex Feir Travel Award
Section Nominating Committee
Other Reports
Governing Board Report (Elizabeth Beckemeyer)
Beckemeyer noted that the Governing Board had met over the previous three days. She shared about the new proposal to restructure the Society that has come out of a 5-year analysis which incorporated more than 500 members. The proposal would allow Sections to function more like branches, have their own funds and more autonomy. The proposal would create four new Sections that don’t correspond directly to the current ones: Evolution; Structural, Veterinary, and Public Health Systems; Plant-Insect Ecosystems; and Suborganismal systems. Each individual person would decide which Section they fit best and would even have the option to join more than one, for a fee. The path we would take to make the transition to the new structure still has to be worked out should the membership desire to proceed with the proposal. She thinks it is a win-win proposal and we should all read the information on it and fill out a survey form.
There have been two resolutions about intelligent design. We had previously endorsed the AAAS position about a month ago which states that science is one thing and intelligent design is another. At this meeting, a similar resolution was submitted by CSREES, which we were asked to endorse. Their resolution, which expands the discussion of this issue, will be posted for review.
Judging Panel for the ESA Recognition in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology (Karl Kramer)
Kramer was not present, so there was no report
Judging Panel for the Entomological Foundation Lillian & Alex Feir Travel Award (Walter Leal)
Leal reported that Tony Grace was this year’s recipient.
Judging Panel for the Entomological Foundation International Congress on Insect Neurochemistry and Neurophysiology Student Recognition Award (Dale Gelman)
Dale Gelman reported we did have a winner, Zhen Zou, who is here. There were four people on the panel this year and two will be rotating off. The panel recommends that Pauline Lawrence be the 2006 chair of the panel. We will need to come up with suggestions for replacements on the committee. The award amount has been raised to $1,500 and attendees of the Entomological Foundation dinner can have the cost of their tickets designated to go to this fund.
Old Business
Chair Stanley asked if there was any old business. There was none.
New Business
First-time attendees and graduate students of our Section meeting were asked to stand up and introduce themselves.
There was a discussion of the Liaison to Archives of Insect Physiology and Biochemistry (4-person committee) as to whether we still needed it and what their duties and responsibilities of committee members should be. Shapiro reported Stanley proposed that he could be the liaison, but there is a possible conflict of interest in that he is the editor of the journal. Stanley reported that the committee has been inactive for the 6 years he has been editor, other than reporting at the Section B business meetings. Dale Gelman reported that there is no job description for committee members so they did not know what they were expected to do. Maybe all we need is a job description. Stanley stated that Wiley publication had needed an editor and several people had turned it down before he took it. Stanley took position partly because his wife is a professional editor and helps him.
Elizabeth made some announcements: (1) The women’s breakfast will be at the cyber café in the convention center at 7 am on Sunday morning, and (2) there was no planned Section B breakfast this year.
There was a motion to adjourn at 6:42 p.m. by David Stanley. There were multiple seconds, and so the meeting was adjourned.