2004 Preliminary Business Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah
Section-D Chair Jan Conn called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m on Monday, 15 November. Vice-Chair Nancy Hinkle assisted, and Secretary Roger Moon recorded minutes.
Minutes of the 2003 preliminary and final business meetings, recorded by then-Secretary Hinkle, were approved (Bill Reisen moved, Dave Taylor seconded).
Chair Conn reviewed and previewed program events for Section D. Most of Section D’s sessions were scheduled in Room 251A. Greg Lanzaro will present Highlights of Medical Entomology and Sandra Allan will present Highlights of Veterinary Entomology on Tuesday.
Numbers of submitted posters and 10-minute papers were on par with last year. The program included 42 posters in sessions on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and 42 ten-minute presentations in three sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday. Conn thanked Brad Mullens, Jamee Hubbard, Phil Lounibos, Bill Reisen, Shahid Karim and Maria Diuk-Wasser for moderating the paper sessions. Thirteen students competed in Monday morning’s 10-minute paper competition, and eight students entered posters in the poster competition. Glen Scoles and Michael Levin led judging of papers and posters, respectively.
Conn also noted the program included five symposia sponsored or co-sponsored by Section D. Thanks were expressed to Donald Yee and Steven Juliano for one on container mosquitoes, Rebecca Bullard and Bob Kimsey on medico-forensic entomology, Frederic Tripet and Greg Lanzaro on malaria-fighting mosquitoes, Sharon Spradling and Michael Zyzak on research in the U.S. military, and Jan Conn and Rick Weinzierl on West Nile virus and emerging diseases.
Governing Board Report, Ed Schmidtmann
Schmidtmann reported that ESA completed sale of its headquarters building and moved into new, leased space in 2004. Memberships are exceeding overall targets, but deficits are occurring in the category of full members. Attendance at the present meeting is strong with approximately 1,700 papers and posters. Attendance at Branch meetings has also been strong, except in the Eastern Branch. Improvements in ESA’s web services include online voting and Annual Meeting registration with credit card security are as good as can be. Other website improvements are in the works too. Income in 2004 from meeting and memberships will likely exceed budget projections, and the surplus will be devoted to savings and reserve funds. The Governing Board has decided to continue to publish handbooks, and ESA is seeking a publisher for one on companion animal ectoparasites. Schmidtmann concluded with a presentation on ESA’s strategic planning process and led discussion of implications for Section D.
Publications Council Report
Report pending council meeting.
Editorial Board Reports
Journal of Medical Entomology, Joe Piesman (substitute editor-in-chief)
Piesman reported that numbers of manuscripts (198) received in 2004 exceeded numbers in 2003. Thus far, the acceptance rate for reviewed manuscripts is approximately 72 percent, and 105 articles in 1,212 pages have been published. There were 761 subscriptions to the journal in 2004. The manuscript review process is running smoothly. The average time from submission to decision was 10.7 weeks, and time to publication was 43 weeks. Three new subject editors (Howard Ginsberg, Tim Lysyk and Gary Clark) were appointed to replace three outgoing editors (Joe Piesman, Brad Mullens and Charles Apperson). More than half the papers are on mosquito ecology and control and mosquito-arbovirus interactions. More papers are sought in areas of molecular entomology, GIS and remote sensing.
Outgoing chair of the JME Editorial Board, Bradley Mullens, reported that the Editorial Board had thanked Joe Piesman for service while substituting for John Edman. The Governing Board voted to increase page charges for all ESA journals from $48 to $52 per typeset page. Journals will be open-access (and therefore comply with NIH requirements), including pre-press versions of accepted papers once typeset. The Editorial Board discussed upcoming tri-annual review and will be addressing distribution of papers among subject areas. An editorial policy on protocols for human and animal subjects use is also pending.
Annals of the Entomological Society of America
Report pending Editorial Board meeting.
Environmental Entomology
Report pending Editorial Board meeting.
Journal of Economic Entomology, Tim Lysyk
Lysyk reported that JEE has the highest impact factor of all ESA journals. The journal received 450 manuscripts, accepted 58 percent of those reviewed, and has 1,400 subscribers. The time to first notification averaged 12.1 weeks, and the time to publication was 43.5 weeks. Two rejections were appealed, and the Editorial Board ruled in favor of the authors in both cases.
American Entomologist, Jerry Hogsette
Hogsette described recent changes in journal content and format and invited Section D members to consider publishing short, general interest articles in this widely read journal. He also noted his term on the Editorial Board would expire, so a replacement needs to be appointed.
Arthropod Management Tests, Jim Cilek
Cilek announced that the Editorial Board hired David Kearns as editor-in-chief. The 2004 volume contained 337 reports, but none were from authors in Section D. The submission deadline for the 2005 volume will be in December.
Thomas Say Publication, Bruce Eldridge
Report pending Editorial Board meeting.
Book and Media Reviews
Report pending Editorial Board meeting.
Committee Reports
Education and Youth, Glen Scoles
Scoles reported the committee is working to promote entomology in K-12 curricula by compiling lists of teaching resources and is developing ways to evaluate those resources. The committee discussed a proposal to reduce attendance fees for teachers to attend ESA’s teaching symposia, in light of reduced honoraria for speakers in teaching symposia.
Ethics, Cynthia Lord
Lord noted that the main issue before the committee was implications for ESA’s electronic journals due to NIH’s requirement for open access.
Fellows
Founders' Memorial Award
Strategic Planning
Systematics Resources
No reports.
New Business
Chair Conn noted the 2005 ESA Annual Meeting will be in Fort Lauderdale, November 6–9. Sandra Allan has been elected Section D Secretary. Vice-Chair Nancy Hinkle announced that Carl Jones had been elected to represent Section D on the Governing Board and that Jerry Hogsette had been elected to represent Section D on the Publications Council. Conn reflected on the absence of nominees from Section D for ESA Founders' Memorial Award and for appointments as ESA Fellows. All agreed several Section D members are meritorious, and Conn consented to instigate nominations as appropriate.
From the floor, Grant Kinzer rose to question the appropriateness of incoming ESA President Ivie’s proposed theme for the 2005 meeting, Sex, Bugs and Rock 'N Roll. After some discussion, Fred Knapp moved and Nancy Hinkle seconded a motion that “Section D urges the President to reconsider the theme for the 2005 meeting.” Further discussion delved into Ivie’s rationale for the theme and possible press and public misperceptions about ESA’s professionalism. When the question was finally called, the resolution was approved unanimously.
Chair Conn reminded all that the final Section D business meeting would begin at 3:00 p.m. in Room 251A on Wednesday.
Conn adjourned the meeting at 6:10 p.m.