Comments From the Chair
Southeastern Chapter Officers
Special Announcment!!
Minutes of the SEC/ESA Annual Meeting, 18 April 1997-Greenville, SC
SEC/ESA Budget Information, Statement of Revenue and Expense
SEC/ESA Odum Award Recipient
Contributions to the Odum Award Solicited
National Odum Award Check-off Anticipated
ESA National Meetings
The 1997 SEC/ESA Chapter Luncheon was held in Greenville, SC at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists on April 18. The minutes of the meeting are included in his issue of the Newsletter.
On behalf of the Chapter, I would like to thank Andy Ash, the out-going member of the Odum Award Committee for his service on the committee and many hours of organizing and judging student papers. Dr. John Aho is the current chair and Dr. Ken Marion is this year's new appointee to the committee. I also would like to thank Dr. Niki Nicholas for her work as Vice-Chair of the Chapter, particularly for her efforts in organizing field trips, symposia, and serving on the By-laws Committee. Dr. Mark MacKenzie was elected Vice-Chair for the next two years.
The program for the August 10-17, 1997 combined annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America and The Nature Conservancy will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Check out the latest information about the 1997 ESA annual meeting at the following address: http://esa.sdsc.edu.
Please note that our Chapter will have an informal brown bag lunch meeting from 12:00-1:00 on Tuesday, August 12 at the Convention Center East Complex - Upper Level Lounge. If you have any items which you would like to discuss at this meeting, please let me know or simply come to the meeting with the issue. I hope to see you there!
Dr. Mark MacKenzie continues to maintain the SEC/ESA web page which is linked to the ESA home page, (www.auburn.edu/seesa). The Chapter newsletter is now posted on the home page. Please send information/input/job announcements etc. to him at mackenzi@forestry.auburn.edu.
L. Katherine Kirkman, SEC/ESA
Dr. Niki C. Nicholas, Vice-Chair
Tennessee Valley Authority
17 Ridgeway Road
Norris TN 37828-2001
(TEL) 615-632-1676
(FAX) 615-632-1495
(e-mail) NNICHOLAS@mhs-tva.attmail.com
Dr. Andy Ash, Secretary
Department of Biology
UNC Pembroke
One University Drive
P.O. Box 1510
Pembroke NC 28372-1510
(TEL) 910-521-6418
(FAX) 910-521-6649
(e-mail) AASH@nat.uncp.edu
Secretary-treasurer's report. Andy Ash gave the treasurer's report (see attached sheet). The Chapter had a dues account balance of $950.44 in June 1996. Total dues accrued in 1996-97 amounted to $998.00 and total expenses for 1996-97 amounted to $796.78, leaving a balance of $1,151.66 at the time of the meeting. Due to problems at the national office, an up-to-date accounting of the Odum Award account and the John Wiley and Sons Royalty account were not available. June 1996 balances for these accounts were $2,627.00 and $1,434.39 respectively.
Activities Report. Niki Nicholas, Vice-chair, stated that SEC/ESA had sponsored two events at ASB in 1997; a mixer/discussion concerning minority recruitment in organismal biology and a symposium concerning vegetation of the southern Blue Ridge province. The field trip scheduled before ASB to the Joyce Kilmer Wilderness Area was canceled due to lack of participation.
Elections. Kay Kirkman thanked Niki Nicholas for serving as Vice-chair and announced the candidates for Vice-chair for 1997-99. The candidates were Mark MacKenzie and Steven Seagle. Ballots were distributed and voting occurred. Ballots were then collected for tallying.
Odum Award Committee Report. John Aho, the Odum Award Committee Chair, could not be present, so Andy Ash provided the report. There were 28 papers submitted for consideration, an all-time high. Andy indicated that if numbers of submissions continued to increase, then a different format might have to be considered because it would become logistically impossible to judge all submissions. He also mentioned that the Odum Award was a prestigious award, and that advisors should carefully monitor student submissions for the award.
Old Business. Mark MacKenzie described the SEC/ESA web page and gave its address (www.auburn.edu/seesa). He requested information/input/announcements for the web page. He noted that our web page is linked to the ESA home page.
Niki Nicholas reminded the group that a vote an bylaws revisions was necessary. As revisions had been published well in advance of the meeting, no substantive discussion occurred. A motion to approve the bylaws changes was seconded and approved unanimously.
Ross Hinkle gave the report of the archiving committee. Their recommendation was that archives be established for the Chapter. The current Chair will determine what material is archivable and will send these to the archiver for ESA located at the University of Georgia. A further recommendation was that the current Chair should contact all past Chairs in order to gain input concerning what materials should be included in the initial deposit. It was specifically recommended that a set of old SEC/ESA newsletters be compiled. Kay Kirkman asked for input from the group, and Courtney Hackney stated that much of the Biotic Communities Volumes paperwork had been retained and should be archived. There was general agreement. Bob Peet cautioned that you should not archive what you intend to use.
New Business. Niki Nicholas reminded the membership that in order for an ASB activity to be sanctioned by SEC/ESA, the organizers must submit the activity to the Vice-chair by September at the latest. Some discussion followed concerning a possible symposium for ASB in 1998 at NE Louisiana. Courtney Hackney suggested that the Louisiana sand hills and related systems would be appropriate topics for the meeting location.
Niki Nicholas brought up the problem of Chapter-sponsored field trips. Historically, SEC/ESA has sponsored them, but recently few have had sufficient support to occur. Paul Schmalzer indicated that there had been only one field trip out of four scheduled in the last four years. Ross Hinkle suggested that the trips be opened to local groups interested in ecology or the environment. Robert Peet reminded that the Chapter had previously discussed a link between SEC/ESA symposia and field trips. Eloise Carter suggested that local Colleges and Universities be alerted to upcoming trips. The consensus was that field trips should continue to be a part of SEC/ESA activities, and that they should be day trips as opposed to overnight trips. Niki asked for suggestions for the Fall field trip, and no suggestions were forthcoming.
Andy Ash discussed the possibility of publishing the newsletter jointly with the Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. This would increase lead time for publication while reducing publication costs to the section, and would make the use of the newsletter as an employment opportunity bulletin board less effective. However, he pointed out that all job listings could be posted on the SEC/ESA home page immediately upon receipt by the secretary. It was moved and seconded that the newsletter should henceforth be published in the bulletin and the SEC/ESA home page, with the July 1997 issue also published and mailed as usual to ensure a smooth change in publication venue. The motion passed.
Howard Neufeld stated that it was his opinion that there were serious problems at the national office. He commented specifically on the new national directory which had many errors. He also mentioned a faulty mailing of Ecological Applications. A general discussion followed with a consensus of dissatisfaction with national office service. Kay Kirkman noted that Ross Hinkle, Andy Ash and she had written a letter to William Schlesinger, ESA Vice-chair for Finance, expressing Chapter concerns. His response letter acknowledged problems and explained ESA attempts to resolve them.
Katherine Kirkman noted the confusion in the ESA National Office regarding our Chapter restricted accounts, particularly the royalties from John Wiley and Sons for the Biodiversity of the Southeastern United States volumes. These funds could be maintained in a separate, interest-bearing account (similar to the Odum Award account) or moved into the Odum Award account as suggested by William Schlesinger. William Martin suggested that the funds be maintained as a separate account to be used to subsidize field trips as recommended by the 1994 ad hoc committee on royalties, and as adopted by vote of the Chapter.
Andy Ash proposed an Odum Award check-off on the national dues form as a source of contributions for the award. Mary Barber at the ESA National Office had suggested it to him as a possibility. A motion to request that an Odum Award check-off box be added to the national dues form was made, seconded and passed. Andy Ash will notify the ESA National Office to implement this action.
Howard Neufeld suggested that SEC/ESA draft a resolution of respect for Dr. Dwight Billings, who had recently passed away. A motion that Howard write such a resolution was seconded and passed.
Election Results. By majority vote, Mark MacKenzie was elected Vice-chair of SEC/ESA for the term 1997-99.
Respectfully submitted,
Andy Ash, Secretary-treasurer, SEC/ESA
| DUES ACCOUNT JUNE 1996 - APRIL 1997 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Item | Income | Expense |
| Balance Forward 6/96 | $950.44 | |
| Chapter Dues FY 1995-96 | $46.00 | |
| Chapter Dues FY 1996-97 | $952.00 | |
| Office Operations | $537.42 | |
| Mailing Service Charges | $259.36 | |
| Net Balance | $1,151.66 |
Odum Award Balance: $2,627.00
John Wiley and Sons Royalty Balance: $1,434.39