Atlanta, Georgia. The meeting of the Executive Committee was called to order by President Bob Lane at 7:35 p.m. on December 11, 1999. Members present were Hans Klompen (President-Elect) Norman Fashing (Secretary/Treasurer), Gary Mullen (Board Member), Carl Childers (Board Member), Marilyn Houck (outgoing Newsletter Editor), Joel Hutchenson (incoming Newsletter Editor), Jim Keirans (Archivist), Ellen Dotson (Chair, Student Competition Committee), Vik Prasad (invited guest), Indira Prasad (invited guest).
International Journal of Acarology
President Lane turned the meeting over to Dr. Vik
Prasad for a discussion of the International Journal of Acarology. Dr.
Prasad would like to see the ASA become more involved in the journal.
A lengthy discussion ensued which Dr. Prasad requested be kept confidential.
Dr. and Mrs. Prasad then left the meeting and the Executive Committee further
discussed the issue. It was decided that the Secretary/Treasurer should
poll the ASA membership concerning involvement in the International Journal
of Acarology.
Experimental and Applied Acarology
President Lane then reported on his negotiations
with Kluwer Academic Publishers regarding a reduced price ASA member subscription
rate for Experimental and Applied Acarology. He has been attempting
to get the normal annual subscription rate for individuals reduced from $453
per year to $60-70. Lane and the head of Kluwer have made several offers
and counteroffers over the year. Earlier this year Kuwer offered a
non-compulsory annual subscription rate of $90 for ASA members. When
Lane polled the executive committee and officers, however, the majority felt
that the entire ASA membership should be polled and the matter then discussed
further at the meeting in Atlanta. Several also wondered if Kluwer
would be willing to consider a rate of $70 per year.
In September, Renee van Leeuwen contacted Lane with another offer. She indicated that she was willing to offer a special rate of $70 if at least 70 ASA members subscribe. Under this proposed agreement, she wanted the fees to be collected by the ASA and forwarded to Kluwer in batches along with the names and addresses of members. Lane told her we would consider the offer at the ASA meeting this year.
Last month, Renee contacted Lane again with yet a different offer. Kluwer offers an electronic service known as Kluwer Online. This means that Kluwer gives licensed institutions electronic access to the full-text of their journals. Subscribers to Kluwer Online may provide campus- or company-wide access to their journals. Users may download and print single copies of a reasonable number of individual articles for personal use. Access is based on domain names or IP numbers. If ASA disposes of a server with password management, this could serve as a domain. Under this agreement, Kluwer would be able to offer their electronic version of Experimental and Applied Acarology at $60 per society member.
The Kluwer offers were discussed at length. With the first offer, Committee members were concerned about the 70-member subscription requirement as well as the requirement that the ASA collect the journal subscription payments. The question was raised as to whether these same requirements would be imposed for the Kluwer Online offer. President Lane said he would discuss this with Renee van Leeuwen when she arrived at the ESA meeting, but that her arrival would be after the ASA general business meeting on Sunday. He also said he would ask ASA members for input at the general business meeting for opinions on the matter.
Secretary/Treasurer's Report
President Lane then requested a report from Secretary/Treasurer
Norm Fashing. Fashing asked if there were any corrections to the minutes
of the 1998 meetings. None was noted. He then presented the financial
report for 1999. Dues invoices were mailed in mid-October, and included
mailings to those in arrear for 1997,1998 and 1999 dues. According
to ASA policy, those in arrear for 1997 dues will be dropped from the membership
list in year 2000. As of December 11, 1999, the balance in the ASA
bank account is $6,298.73. Income (dues and interest) to date amount
to $1,985.21), and expenditures to $139.54. Since invoices for the
1999 newsletter expenses have not yet been received, deductions for newsletter
costs are not included. Dr. Marilyn Houck then presented invoices for
the 1999 newsletter amounting to $448.51. She stated that the printer
(Print Tech, Texas Tech University) had made several mistakes with the first
newsletter and therefore billed the ASA a much reduced cost of $100.00 for
that newsletter. Norm Fashing reported that our expenditures this year
will not be as large as usual since we published only two newsletters rather
than three, and one was at the much reduced cost.
Newsletter Editorship
President Lane then stated that Dr. Joel Hutchenson
had volunteered to take over as newsletter editor and welcomed him to the
Executive Committee. He thanked Dr. Houck for her efforts in producing
two excellent newsletters during 1999.
Nominating Committee Report
Since Past-President Lewis Coons was unable to attend
the meeting, President Lane gave the Nominating Committee report in his behalf.
Dr. Coons was able to find only one candidate to run for President-Elect
(Carl Childers), three for Executive Committee (Barry OConnor, Ron Ochoa,
and Glenn Needham), and none for Secretary/Treasurer. The addition
of more candidates was discussed by the Executive Committee. Archivist
Jim Keirans agreed to run for Secretary/Treasurer, and Dr. Lance Durden was
contacted and agreed to run for President-Elect. In addition, Dr. Angela
James was contacted and agreed to run for Executive Committee.
International Congress of Acarology Report
Gary Mullen then gave a report on the Acarology Symposia
to be presented at the 2000 International Congress of Entomology to be held
at Iguassu Falls, Brazil, from August 20-26.
Only two symposia were organized for the Acarology Session: (1) "Dispersal
in the Acari" organized by Marilyn Houck and Maurice Sabelis, and (2) "Molecular,
Physiological and Biochemical Processes in Acarines" organized by John Sauer
and Lewis Coons. The Acarology Session will be held in the Bourbon
and Towers, one of the three Congress hotels. Only a listing of the
symposia is currently posted on the Congress homepage. It is anticipated
that the speakers and titles of individual presentations in the symposia
will be posted shortly.
Details about the Congress are available on the XII ICE homepage: http://www.embrapa.br/ice and includes information on registration, hotel accommodations, visa requirements, sites to see, and travel arrangements. A listing, with room rates, is provided for 29 hotels, including the three hotels in which the Congress activities will be held. In making travel plans, individuals may contact the Congress's official travel agent - PJEventos (pjeventos@pjeventos.com.br, fax +55 41-371415) for all inquires regarding ICE reservations, hotels, and airline tickets.
Everyone is encouraged to make room reservations and travel arrangements as soon as possible.
Convenors for Acarology Session: The convenor and co-convenor of the Acarology Session are Gary Mullen (Auburn University, USA) and Gilberto de Moraes (Universidade de Sao Paulo, Escola Superior de Agricultura: Luis de Queiroz, Piracicaba, Brazil).
Report on Recruitment of New Members
President Lane asked Hans Klompen if there was any
success in recruiting new ASA members from the summer Acarology Program at
Ohio State University. Hans reported no success thus far.
Year 2000 Symposium Topics
President Lane then asked for possible symposium
topics for the 2000 meeting in Montreal. Hans Klompen suggested a symposium
concerning soil mite ecology. Carl Childers suggested one concerning
new techniques for scanning electron microscopy. Since the later topic
would be too restrictive, it was decided that talks on new SEM techniques
should be included in the submitted papers session, and that Hans would arrange
a symposium on soil mite ecology.
Acarology Submitted Papers Section
Problems concerning the scheduling of submitted papers
for ESA informal conferences were discussed. Under current ESA policy,
informal conference papers must be submitted in April, and they must be submitted
by the conference organizer in behalf of the presenters. They can no
longer be submitted by individuals to the ESA by the July 1 deadline of regular
submitted papers. This presents an awkward situation, and needs to
be dealt with by the ASA.
Final Business
The possibility of an ASA mixer at the Montreal meeting
was discussed, but it was dismissed since a convenient time for a mixer could
not be determined. President Lane then asked if there were persons
other than Howard Sengbusch to be remembered at the Necrology section of
the ASA general business meeting. Since there was no other new business
to take up, the meeting was recessed at approximately 9:40 p.m. until Monday,
13 December 1999, at noon.
The Annual Business Meeting was called to order at 4:20 p.m., 12 December 1999, by President Bob Lane.
President Lane welcomed everyone, and thanked the speakers and moderators for an excellent program. He then called for a moment of silence in memory of Howard Sengbusch and Sobhy Gaber who passed away this year.
Secretary/Treasurer's Report
Norm Fashing presented the Secretary/Treasurer's
report. Minutes from the 1998 ASA Business Meeting (published in the
newsletter and on the ASA web page) were approved as written. Fashing
reported that dues invoices were mailed in mid-October and requested that
any members wishing to make dues payments could do so at any time during
the ESA meeting dates. At the present time, the balance in the ASA
bank account stands at $6,298.73. Income (dues and interest) to date
amount to $1,985.21, and expenditures to $139.54. However, the cost
of the 1999 newsletters ($448.51) as well as the $150.00 student travel award
still needs to be deducted from the balance. Expenditures this year
will not be as large as usual since we published only two newsletters rather
than three, and one was at the much reduced cost.
International Journal of Acarology
President Lane reported that the Executive Committee
had met with Dr. Prasad concerning involvement of the ASA with the International
Journal of Acarology, but that no conclusions had been reached. He
stated that the ASA membership would be polled to determine how many members
currently subscribe to the journal as well as to solicit opinions from
the membership on an ASA association with IJA. Cluff Hopla asked if
there was a need for a journal such as IJA, and Hans Klompen responded that
it filled a definite niche.
Experimental and Applied Acarology
President Lane then reported on his negotiations
with Kluwer Academic Publishing concerning a reduced ASA member subscription
rate for Experimental and Applied Acarology. The current rate for subscribers
is $453. Over the course of the year, Lane was given three offers by
Kluwer (see Executive Committee minutes above for more detail):
1. A non-compulsory annual subscription rate of $90.
2. A subscription rate of $70 if at least 70 ASA members subscribe. Under this proposed agreement, the fees are to be collected by the ASA and forwarded to Kluwer in batches along with the names and addresses of ASA members.
3. A subscription to Kluwer Online for $60 which provides electronic access to the full-text of the journal. Users may download and print single copies of a reasonable number of individual articles for personal use.
Those who commented thought the $60 Kluwer Online offer was quite reasonable. Carl Childers asked if Kluwer would impose the ASA collection requirement and the 70 member restriction on the Kluwer Online offer. Lane said he had not been told of such conditions but would ask when he meets with a Kluwer representative later in the week. He will report the results of this meeting in the ASA newsletter.
Joseph H. Camin Fellowship
Jim Hoy and John George presented an update on the
Joseph H. Camin Fellowship that was endorsed by ASA members at the 1998 Annual
Business Meeting (see 1998 minutes for details). The award will be
sponsored by the Entomological Foundation (subject to approval by the ESA
Governing Board) and will support one or more graduate students at the Ohio
State University summer acarology program or a similar program at another
institution. Jim Hoy stated he mailed letters to a number of acarologists/entomologists
on November 26 requesting their inclusion on the letterhead of a solicitation
for funds letter; ten have agreed thus far. He requested that anyone
interested in being included on the letterhead contact him as soon as possible.
John George reported on his negotiations with Jim Frazier of the Entomological
Foundation Board. The Board approved the Camin fellowship (see 1998
minutes for details) subject to the following revisions of the submitted
procedures:
1. Change the deadline date to July 1 and the notification date to September
1.
2. Add one ESA member to the selection committee. (While this person may usually also be an ASA member, the board felt it was good to insure that at least one member is an ESA member)
3. Modify the Award Procedures as follows: The award will be presented at the Acarology Annual Meeting and will be acknowledged at the ESA Annual Meeting by the Entomological Foundation President. (The Board felt it would be most enjoyed by having the Acarology members see the award presented during their meeting and then it can be acknowledged during the ESA meeting as a part of the Ent Foundation award presentation.)
Since these revisions are minor, John George told Jim Frazier to make the changes and submit the Camin award proposal to the ESA Governing Board at the Atlanta meeting. The ASA has five years to raise the $10,000.00 corpus necessary to make a yearly award of $800.00. The Entomological Foundation will take a one-time fee of 5% to administer the award. Jim Hoy reported that he currently has $6,500.00 in promised commitments to the fund, so there should be no problem in raising the necessary corpus.
The current description of the fellowship is as follows:
The purpose of this award is to assist students at the graduate level to attend the Institute in Acarology at Ohio State University or an equivalent institution where they can obtain training in the systematics of acarines. This fellowship was established in Honor of Joseph H. Camin who was an internationally recognized authority on the systematics and biology of the Acari and the mentor of many aspiring acarologists and entomologists. The award is intended to support graduate students interested in research on the systematics of mites and ticks. The award is made annually. The value of the award will be approximately $800.
Award procedures. All members of the ESA or the Acarological Society of America (ASA) are eligible to nominate candidates for this fellowship. An application must contain the following information:
1. Name, address, telephone number of nominee
2. Description of nominee's academic studies including academic plans
for the coming school year
3. Current official transcript of college grades (May be sent separately)
4. Brief statement of nominee's research interests and goals in acarology
5. A letter of recommendation from nominee's academic advisor
Three copies of each application and supporting information must be forwarded to the ESA National Office, 9301 Annapolis Road, Lanham, MD 20706-3115 by July 1. Selection of the fellowship recipient will be made by a committee consisting of the current president of the ASA and the two most recent past presidents. If neither the current president nor the past president is a member of the ESA, an ESA member will be appointed to the selection committee. The current president of the ASA will select alternatives to the selection committee if one or both of the past presidents cannot serve, or to insure that an ESA member is on the committee. Formal selection will be forwarded to the Executive Director of ESA by September 1.
Award Procedures at the ESA Annual Meeting. The award will be presented at the Annual Business Meeting of the ASA during the ESA Annual Meeting and will be acknowledged during the ESA meeting as a part of the Entomological Foundation award presentation.
USDA Acarology Position
Barry OConnor then presented an update on the status
of the acarology position in the USDA. Ronald Ochoa, holding a post-doctoral
rather than a permanent position, will be funded for only one more year.
At the 1998 ASA business meeting in Las Vegas, the membership unanimously
passed a resolution that would put badly needed outside pressure on Congress
and the USDA officials to reinstate one or two permanent positions for acarologists
in the USDA (for a copy of the resolution, see the Fall 1999 Newsletter or
visit /biology/mites/resolution98.htm on the web). To follow
up on the issue, OConnor requested that the ASA initiate a letter writing
campaign to USDA officials and congressmen. John George said it would
be better to write to those who require the services of an acarologist (e.g.,
growers) and have them put pressure on government officials. An ad
hoc committee consisting of Barry OConnor (chair), Carl Childers and Hans
Klompen was appointed to develop and administer the letter writing campaign.
Election of Officers
President Lane next took up the election of ASA
officers and presented the following recommendations from the Nominations
Committee:
President-elect: Carl Childers and Lance Durden
Secretary/Treasurer: Jim Keirans
Executive Committee Members: Angela James, Glen Needham, Barry OConnor, and
Ron Ochoa
Nominations were solicited from the floor. It was moved and seconded that the nominations be closed. Ballots were dispersed and the results tallied. Lance Durden was elected to serve as President-elect, Jim Keirans as Secretary/Treasurer, and Angela James and Barry OConnor as members of the Governing Board.
Newsletter Editorship
President Lane then announced that Joel Hutcheson
has volunteered to take over the editorship of the Newsletter, and thanked
him for his dedication to the ASA.
International Congress of Entomology
President Lane gave an update on the acarology program
at the International Congress of Acarology that will be held in Brazil in
August 2000. There will be two acarology symposia:
"Dispersal in the Acari" organized by M.A. Houck, USA and M. Sabelis, The
Netherlands , and
"Molecular, Physiological and Biochemical Processes in Acarines" organized
by J. Sauer and L.B. Coons, USA. There is still time to submit a paper
for the Congress.
International Congress of Acarology
Glen Needham announced that the long anticipated
second volume of the proceedings for the 9th International Congress of Acarology
held in Columbus in 1994 is printed and will be delivered to OSU on December
22nd. It will then be mailed to those who attended the Congress.
It was announced that the next International Congress of Acarology will be held in Merida, Mexico, in 2002.
Student Awards
Ellen Dotson, Chair of the Student Awards Committee,
then took the floor to present the 1999 student awards. She thanked
Jim Keirans and Lance Durden for their help in judging applications for the
Student Travel Award. That award, a check for $150, was then presented to
Ashly Dowling, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan. Dotson then
thanked Carl Childers, Joel Hutcheson, Angela James and Doug Norris for judging
the presentations for the ASA Student Competition. The judges found
all papers to be of excellent quality, and the plaque for the best student
paper was presented to Katya Ledin, Department of Entomology, University
of Georgia.
Final Business
President Lane then honored Marilyn Houck and Norm
Fashing with plaques for their dedicated service to the ASA, Houck as newsletter
editor and Fashing as secretary/treasurer.
President Lane thanked the ASA membership for allowing him to serve as President over the past year, and then installed Hans Klompen as 2000 ASA President. President Klompen then presented a plaque to Bob Lane for his dedicated work in behalf of the ASA during his term as president. He reminded Executive Committee members that there would be a meeting of the incoming Executive Committee on Monday at noon, and adjourned the Annual Business Meeting at 5:03 pm.
Minutes respectfully submitted,
Norm Fashing, Secretary/Treasurer
Atlanta, Georgia. The meeting of the Executive Committee was called to order by President Hans Klompen at 12:15 p.m. on December 13,1999. Members present were Hans Klompen (President), Lance Durden (President-Elect), Bob Lane (Past President), Jim Keirans (Secretary/Treasurer and Archivest), and Cal Welbourn (Committee member). Absent were Executive Committee members M. Lee Goff, Denese Johanowicz, Angela James, J. Mathews Pound and Barry Oconnor, and Newsletter Editor H. Joel Hutcheson.
Year 2000 Symposium and Future Symposium Topics
President Klompen discussed next year's Montreal
ASA symposium on soil mite ecology, and the possibility of jointly holding
it with the Section A symposium on taxonomy. It would showcase mites
in a larger venue by being held with Section A. President Klompen said
he would discuss this possibility with Barry Oconnor. The question then
arose regarding a acarological symposium, and the subject reverted to a discussion
held in the December 11, 1999 Executive Committee meeting. At that
time, Carl Childers discussed a new specialized scanning electron microscope
technique being used by USDA. President Klompen said he would contact
Carl Childers and Ron Ochoa (USDA, Beltsville) and see if a Montreal symposium
on this topic can be scheduled.
A discussion was held on future topics for ASA symposia and Secretary/Treasurer Jim Keirans said he would list those held over the past several years. The list for the last nine years is as follows:
1999 - Emerging Diseases associated with Ticks and Mites
1998 - Novel Approaches for Controlling and Preventing Acarine-Borne Diseases
1997 - Host-Parasite Interactions in Acari
1996 - Acarine Borne Diseases of Plants and Animals
1995 - Title not listed but a mixture of "Acarine Physiology and Phylogeny"
1994 - Acarology in Agricultural Systems
1993 - Modern Acarology's Contributions to Society
1992 - Acarology - The Next Generation (Varied topics)
1991 - Molecular Acarology
Experimental and Applied Acarology
The question was discussed on whether or not Kluwer
Academic Publishers online electronic service for Experimental and Applied
Acarology requires at least 70 ASA members to subscribe in order to receive
the reduced rate of $70.00. Past President Lane said he would contact
Renee van Leeuwen of Kluwer to find out the answer.
Because there was no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 1:00 p.m.
Minutes respectfully submitted,
James Keirans, Secretary/Treasurer