The 78th annual meeting of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists was held in Guelph, Ontario, from 16-22 July 1998, in conjunction with the 41st annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR), the 46th annual meeting of the Herpetologistsí League (HL), the 14th annual meeting of the American Elasmobranch Society (AES), and the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Herpetologists (CAH). The meeting was hosted by the University of Guelph. The Local Arrangements Committee was chaired by James Bogart.
The meeting was called to order by President Al Savitzky at 4:07 PM in Animal Sciences Room 141, with 50 governors indicating their presence by signing the sign-in sheets provided. The single late report which was not previously distributed to governors, that of the Nominating Committee, was distributed. The Secretary read the list of governors who had sent regrets: David Cannatella, Ellen J. Censky, John Gold, Anna Graybeal, Mike Horn, Robert G. Jaeger, Robert Lavenburg, Rick Mayden, Amy McCune, Jay Savage, David Wake, Marvalee Wake, and Kirk Winemiller. Governors were then notified of deaths of members in the past year: Pere Alberch, Shelby Gerking, Jim Lynch, Colin Patterson, Luis Saldahna, Priscilla Starrett, Norm Wilimovsky, and William S. Woolcott.
President Savitzky called for a motion to approve the minutes of the 1997 meeting of the Board of Governors as published in Copeia 1997(4):923-939. The motion was made by Dave Greenfield, seconded by Robert Rush Miller, and passed with no opposition.
President Savitzky then announced that the Resolutions Committee had been appointed: Julian Lee (Chair), Lynne Parenti and Leslie Rye (Gene Helfman was later added). All Stoye and Storer Award judges had also been appointed, but as always, announcement of their names was withheld until the banquet.
Pat Gregory, chair of the Time, Place and Program Committee informed governors of the next two meetings at Pennsylvania State University and possibly at La Paz, Baja California, Mexico. Further details were to be presented at the Annual Business Meeting.
President Savitzky called for a motion for blanket approval of all reports to the BOFG except any that any governor might wish to exclude for discussion. He noted that the Executive Committee had exempted the reports of the Secretary, Ad Hoc Committee on New Categories for the Stoye and Storer Award, the Committee on Special Publications, and Long Range Planning and Policy Committee. George Rabb requested from the floor to also exempt the IUCN report. The motion was made, seconded and carried to approve all reports except those exempted.
Complete reports to the Board of Governors, exactly as submitted and distributed to the governors prior to the meeting, are published on the WWW at http://www.utexas.edu/depts/asih/. Reports mentioned below are only those which were discussed.
President Savitzky moved to discussion of exempted reports, calling on Secretary Hendrickson to explain the proposal received from Allen Press to publish Copeia electronically on the World Wide Web (www). Hendrickson explained that Allen Press had submitted an unsolicited proposal to publish full text of 4 years of Copeia on www. He briefly reviewed the proposal as explained in the report, and indicated that the question being brought before the Governors was not so much whether or not this proposal should be accepted, but to simply query the Governors regarding the possibility of publishing full text of Copeia online. Copeia would still be published in hard copy. Questions were raised regarding impact on revenues. The system could be password protected, and a separate fee charged for access. The Executive Committee (EXEC) had suggested that Allen Press be asked to provide a counter proposal that would address the costs, and perhaps suggest avenues to generate the funds needed to pay the additional costs to the society. The sentiment was expressed that the Society should move quickly on this since the value of electronic publishing is in having more volumes on line. Governor Poss asked about the current cost of Institutional subscriptions. Hendrickson indicated that Allen Press considered that our institutional membership was lower than that for other comparable journals, and that libraries were very supportive of electronic publishing. We could therefore probably charge libraries more than presently for subscriptions, and / or specifically a separate fee for a subscription to the electronic version. Governor Buth asked if weíd give the libraries the choice of either hard copy or electronic, allowing them to discontinue hard copy in favor of electronic, and some felt it perhaps better to first offer an electronic subscription only in addition to hard copy. Clark Hubbs questioned whether the proposal to generate funds for this effort would work since libraries in general tended to be cutting back on purchases. Linda Ford asked if Allen Press was publishing any other journals electronically, and the example of the American Meteorological Society was cited. Governor Eschmeyer suggested electronic publication should add features to those already provided in hard copy, not simply duplicate hard copy. He suggests making more figures and data available to supplement printed papers. Joe Nelson said he saw advantages, especially searchability, but wondered also if libraries would pay for this. The Governors were asked by President Savitzky for a motion to have the Society continue to explore this, including exploring arrangements with suppliers other than Allen Press. Governor Meg Stewart so moved, the motion was seconded and carried without dissent.
The president then asked Governor Mo Donnelly to speak on behalf of the Ad Hoc Committee on New Categories for the Stoye and Storer Award. She explained that at last yearís meeting a new Conservation award category had been created, and that she and her committee were asked to investigate ways to further divide the competition to result in more equitable numbers of competitors across all divisions and thus also even the judging load. She compiled data from past meeting programs and tallied the numbers of papers in each Stoye and Storer category. Ecology and Evolution has long been by far the largest category. Breaking it into Ichthyological and Herpetological categories would have helped equalize the judging load, but the ratio of fish to herp papers was highly variable in the historic data. If data are divided by ecology vs. ethology, ecologists still have to deal with large numbers of papers. Her committee thus recommended that if Ecology and Evolution were to be broken in any way, that it be broken taxonomically. Bill Matthews commented that some students present preliminary data, and that doing so essentially eliminates them from competition, and so wastes judgesí time. Instructions for award competition should make note of this. President Savitzky noted that the Society was also investigating the possibility of reorganizing editorial sections in the journal, and wondered if Award divisions should not reflect these same divisions. Governor Matthews suggested that major professors should sign the call for papers, thus indicating that they feel that the studentís paper is ready for competition. Governor Steve Ross commented that one of his students, who he felt was perhaps not ready to compete, won the Stoye award. Poss indicated that the rules for submitting abstracts in competition should include information about numbers of competitors in the various categories. Gene Helfman asked if students are allowed to compete in multiple categories or in multiple societies, and it was determined that they can compete with a single paper in multiple societies, but not multiple categories within ASIH. Governor Donnelly indicated that numbers of papers is largely related to venue; there were many in Austin and Seattle, and few in New York. Carter Gilbert recalled that a student was once excluded from competition for multiple awards within the Society. President Savitzky asked for motion that this be referred back to the committee for further study. The motion was made, seconded and carried.
Governor William Anderson reported on behalf of the Committee on Special Publications (SPUC). Though he is not a member of the committee, he had been asked to report in the absence of all committee members. He explained that the committee had received two proposals and reviewed the information in the report to the governors. The proposal from authors William Smith-Vaniz, Bruce Colette and Brian Luckhurst, to publish their book on Fishes of the Bahamas, was recommended for support. Governor Gene Helfman moved to accept it as Special Publication #4. The motion was seconded and carried.
The other proposal received by the committee, from Jack Randall, requesting support to finish publication of the Indo-Pacific Fishes series, received more discussion. Editor Douglas inquired about appropriateness of supporting a series. Greenfield indicated that in essence, ASIH would be taking over and managing the series. Currently the Randalls manage the series themselves. Governor Eschmeyer clarified that he thought that the proposal was not to make it an ASIH Special Publication, but that Randall was asking simply for support to produce the remaining publications that are in line. Governor Helfman indicated that Randall is a Distinguished Member, and ASIH should support him. He suggested that ASIH support one issue at a time. President Savitzky suggested that this would be the first time that the Society would have undertaken a publishing project despite data indicating that it would not pay for itself. Tomio Iwamoto said that in terms of procedure, the California Academy supports the Ichthyology Newsletter. The committee had suggested ways to lower costs of production for this series and there was discussion of whether or not Editor Randall might consider such actions. Governor Eschmeyer indicated that the issue was whether ASIH would consider supporting the series, as currently published, to produce the final issues. He believed that Editor Randall would not accept changes from the current format. Governor Meg Stewart asked if ASIH would get a credit byline. Greenfield indicated that the series has few subscribers and needs promotion.
Governor John McEachran suggested that the Society request clarification from Randall. Governor Carter Gilbert pointed out that the committee had already pointed out the weaknesses in the proposal. Governor Eschmeyer suggested that we go back to Randall with an issue by issue publication proposal. Steve Ross pointed out that the Society should not acquire another journal that it does not control. Governor Hubbs agreed that ASIH should not subsidize a journal, only books. Governor Helfman suggested that we go back to Randall offering to publish one issue as a test case. Eschmeyer concurred. President Savitzky asked for a vote as to whether we should grant funds to Randall to continue publication of the series. Eschmeyer indicated that the request for a vote was not phrased correctly. Susan Jewett suggested that we offer to help him publish a single issue. Editor Douglas indicated that the Board needs to be informed regarding which issues are ready to be published and lack only funding before seriously considering the request. President Savitzky asked for a motion that Randall be asked to select and submit a single issue to the SPUC, and that if the Committee finds it acceptable, that the Society fund up to a reasonable amount to publish it, allowing the Committee to determine what was reasonable. The motion was made, seconded and carried. A motion was then made by Governor Helfman to approve the report of the SPUC. It was seconded and carried.
Savitzky indicated that a new proposal had just been received by the same Committee. It requested funds for printing of a new FAO checklist, and included data indicating that it would be a cost-effective project for ASIH. There thus appear to be other deserving projects competing for the societyís limited funds.
Governor Robert K. Johnson was called forward by President Savitzky to explain, on behalf of the Long Range Planning and Policy Committee (LRPP), the ASIH Policy Manual. The LRPP Committee was charged in 1995, by then President Greenfield to produce this document. He reviewed the history of the project and its content. It contains the Society Code (Constitution and Bylaws), establishes Standard Operating Procedures for each committee and office, and concludes with recommendations of the LRPP committee for changes to both code and procedures. The document also contains a complete list of officers, committees (39), and representatives to other groups. Since 1980 there have been 22 special purpose, ad hoc committees of 1-3 years. The Policy Manual is intended to be a resource for use of the Society and is conceived to be a constantly evolving document, probably primarily electronic. The committee proposes a 6-month period in which comments would be solicited and corrections made to the manual, then it would become effective. After that it would be amended by majority vote of the Executive Committee (EXEC) and Board of Governors (BOFG). He thanked LRPP committee members and officers for contributions and received a round of applause. President Savitzky pointed out how enormously useful the manual had already been, and asked for it to be approved. If approved, the Policy Manual would become effective as a working or draft document until 1 January, when a sunset rule would be invoked, so that it would then become the one and only document for Society policy. The motion to accept the report was made and seconded. There was no discussion, except from Governor Hubbs, who asked where to direct corrections. Corrections should be directed to Johnson as chair of the committee. The report and Policy Manual were accepted without dissent.
Governor George Rabb had requested exemption of his own report as Representative to the IUCN. He provided new information to supplement the report, indicating that the SSC is in the process of reviewing applicability of new Red List criteria for categories of threat. This arose from concern of the fisheries community. A group recently assembled in London to address this issue. He offered to provide copies of the report to anyone interested. A meeting was recently called by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit regarding the Declining Amphibian problem. A task force has been assembled to deal with the issue and it appears that the US Government is committing to an ongoing assessment program on all federal lands. There is potential that this may extend to Central America through USAID. Finally, there was an assembly at the National Science Foundation on Declining Amphibians. This workshop resulted in a resolution (which President Savitzky commented had been received by the Society) which calls for a multidisciplinary team to study this issue. A motion was to accept the report of the Representative to IUCN with supplement was made, seconded and carried.
President Savitzky then moved to the issue of Old Business, and called for additions to the agenda of any other Old Business items. There being none, he proceeded to New Business, announcing first that Dr. David Wake, long time ASIH member, was appointed to the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Wake (not present due to illness) was applauded.
Savitzky noted that EXEC decided to increase the Gibbs Award from $6,000 to $7,500 starting in the year 2000, and then asked for discussion of a motion from EXEC to place the recently received Netting bequest of $4530 in the Fitch Award fund. All were in favor of this motion, and none opposed.
The EXEC moved that reading of detailed minutes of the Board of Governors meeting at the General Business Meeting, as customary in the past, be discontinued, and that the Secretary read only a brief, general summary of the BOFG meeting minutes. This change would be effective starting with this yearís business meeting. There were no objections.
The EXEC moved that the meeting report be published only on www and that the reports would be permanently maintained there as an electronic archive. The detailed report now consumes many Copeia pages, which could be freed for publication of more research papers if this action were to be approved. In addition to Web publication, after each meeting the Secretary would provide a hard copy of the report to the society archive and to the Historian. Governor Susan Jewett asked if the permanent archive on www would be available to the public, and it was clarified that that was the intent. A governor asked where Web publication would be in 20-30 years, and how accessible the archive would be at that time. Eschmeyer opined that the list of papers presented should continue to be printed in Copeia. Governor Tim Berra asked how the archive is accessed, and it was explained that anyone could access it through the archivist at the Smithsonian. Governor Bruce Collette asked about the Societyís relationship with the archivist, urging some official contact with the archivist before implementing this plan to be sure this is possible. He indicated that all BOFG reports and meeting minutes are deposited there now. Eschmeyer suggested that the meeting report could be shortened, but should still be published in Copeia, and that this is money well spent. Poss suggested that the Secretary investigate transfer of meeting program information now on servers of local hosts to the ASIH server. Lynne Parenti said that her generation accesses files on the Web, prints them, and files them. She suggests waiting before acting on this. President Savitzky suggested that the Society continue to publish meeting reports in Copeia, but that what is published be a summary, not as detailed as has been the practice in past. He asked if any Governors objected to this, and none spoke.
President Savitzky indicated that the EXEC proposed that in order to comply with the newly instituted requirement that members be informed of proposed amendments to the Constitution 3 months in advance of the meeting, that the proposed amendments be posted on the www, and a notice be inserted in Copeia. The notice in Copeia would also advise members without Web access that they could obtain copies from the Secretary. There was no objection to this.
Savitzky continued, noting that, absent any objections, the Executive Committee will search for a volunteer or other means of compiling, producing and mailing a newsletter. This would be a 3-4 page, quarterly publication carrying news such as basic information about meetings, requirements for student paper competitions, calls for symposia, news about collections and other items such as currently published in News and Notes in Copeia, and requests to contribute to the endowment. Eventually advertising in the newsletter could support most of the cost of publication. Governor Jewett asked if this newsletter was to be electronic or hard copy, and it was clarified that it would be hard copy. Governor Jerry Smith suggested that members be given the choice of subscribing to either the hard or electronic copy. There were no objections to this proposal.
Consideration of a new or ìspruced upî logo was the next issue brought to the Board by the President. In response to the suggestion made last year, Ray Troll, the artist who produced last yearís meeting logo, had been contacted regarding the possibility of a contracting with him to modify the existing logo. He was asked to provide estimates for two scenarios: a new logo and revision of the existing logo. The Executive Committee decided that updating of the old logo was the preferred choice. Governor Helfman asked how much effort had been expended to research the history of the existing logo. President Savitzky indicated that Mr. Troll has asked for a fee of $1500, and asked permission of the Governors to allocate $500 for initial sketches. He suggested that results of that could be posted on www, and the Board asked for approval at next yearís meeting. Steve Ross voiced opposition to the proposed logo change. Governor Meg Stewart suggested a straw vote. Twenty-one governors voted in favor of retaining the old logo and 22 were in favor of exploring modifications to it. President Savitzky suggested that the Society retain the old logo and no opposition was expressed.
The President reported that he has asked Governor Ted Pietsch to chair a committee to revise the ASIH meeting guidelines. It is hoped that this can be done in time to advise the committee in La Paz.
Savitzky then reported that the EXEC recommended that the Society explore the possibility of contracting with a professional firm for complete Society and meeting management. An Ad Hoc committee will be appointed by the President to thoroughly investigate the issue, detail a list of services to be provided, and obtain bids from appropriate firms. The results of this committeeís work will be presented to the BOFG at next yearís meeting for action. He explained the need for this; the society is finding it difficult to obtain volunteer officers due to the work load, and it has become difficult to find meeting venues. Professional management could also provide cost savings in some areas, improve investment management, and provide legal services as needed. The EXEC proposes to approach 3 firms for bids, both individually and together with other affiliated societies. Carter Gilbert asked about costs. SSB found that once they went to Taylor and Francis, that group contracted with Allen Press to reduce their printing costs. Governor James Atz asked if the experience of AFS with professional management would be of interest. President Savitzky explained that a management contract could be written to do whatever the society wanted. Governor Jerry Smith said that SVP went with Taylor and Francis and is very happy with the move. Governor Mo Donnelly pointed out that 3 ornithological societies went with a similar arrangement. Treasurer Larry Page pointed out that we already pay Allen Press about $20k/yr., and those costs would be rolled into this package. Stu Poss indicated that we need to consider non-financial impacts, such as measure of commitment of officers. There were no objections to moving forward with exploration of professional Society management.
The president announced that he is appointing an Ad Hoc Committee to explore the need for the Society to provide educational materials, or embark on educational activities. The committee will make recommendations for what we might do in this arena.
Governor Stu Poss mentioned the International Congress of Zoology in 2000 in Athens. Anyone interested may contact him for further information.
The election of the Gibbs Award Committee was then held. As subsequently announced at the banquet, the new member of the Gibbs Award Committee is Brook Burr.
Nominations were requested from the floor for election to the Nominating Committee. Linda Ford was nominated by Governor Mo Donnelly, and she accepted the nomination.
The meeting was adjourned by President Savitzky at 6:15 PM.
Technical papers and poster sessions began after the BOFG meeting and extended through the afternoon before the banquet. Abstracts and titles of all papers and posters may be found on the www via http://www.utexas.edu/depts/asih/meetings/meetings.html.
The meeting was called to order by President Savitzky at 3:40 PM in Room 105 of MacNaughton Hall on the University of Guelph Campus.
Bruce Collette asked to be recognized and emphatically voiced his dissatisfaction that paper sessions were being held at the same time as the business meeting, making it impossible for those presenting papers to attend the business meeting. He protested this scheduling and pointed out that it is important to clarify in the Policy Manual that paper sessions must not be scheduled in conflict with the business meeting. Frank McCormick added that the Poster session conflicts as well. President Savitzky assured that the Executive Committee shares this concern, but is at the mercy of the Local Committee, and they in turn under constraints of the facilities. Revision of the meeting guidebook and professional management are ways currently being considered that will help prevent this in future. Jay Stauffer, local host for the next meeting, assured that such scheduling would not happen in 1999.
President Savitzky called for a motion to approve the minutes of the last business meeting as published in Copeia 1997(4):923-939. Joe Nelson made the motion, Robert Rush Miller seconded, and it carried without dissent.
Secretary Hendrickson read the summary of the minutes of the Board of Governors meeting. President Savitzky called for a motion to approve these minutes. Dave Greenfield so moved, the motion was seconded, and passed without objection.
President Savitzky proceeded with announcements. Dave Wake, a long time member of ASIH, was recently appointed to National Academy of Science, and this announcement drew a round of applause. He continued, announcing the deaths of the following ASIH members during the preceding year: Pere Alberch, Shelby Gerking, Jim Lynch, Colin Patterson, Luis Saldahna, Priscilla Starrett, Norm Wilimovsky, and William S. Woolcott.
President Savitzky noted that the Policy Manual has been completed and that copies could be picked up in the front of the room. The Manual now enters a 6 month period during which comments and corrections will be accepted and incorporated. The current draft is available on the www, as will be future versions.
The President then noted that members should be aware that electronic publication of Copeia is being researched. The cost of a proposal from Allen Press was substantial and many details of how such publication might impact the society and means by which the project might be financed, were lacking or inadequately addressed in the proposal. A committee has been assigned the task of more thoroughly investigating the issues surrounding electronic publishing and obtaining additional proposals.
It was next announced that the Editorial Policy Committee (EDPC) is reconsidering editorial divisions of Copeia to even editorial load, and that the next ASIH Special Publication (number 4) will be a book on the Fishes of Bermuda, authored by William Smith-Vaniz, Bruce Collette and Brian Luckhurst.
The members were then notified that the Gibbs Award will be increased from $6,000 to $7,500 starting in the year 2000, and the Netting bequest of $4530 will be deposited in the Fitch Award fund.
It was announced that ASIH would begin publication of a newsletter. This would include things not included elsewhere, such as meeting news, rules for eligibility for Stoye-Storer awards, and other items such as now are published in News and Notices in Copeia. Bill Fink asked why the Society was considering putting the journal online and publishing a mail-out, hardcopy newsletter when an electronic newsletter might seem more appropriate. The President explained that a mailed newsletter will be received by everyone, not just those who look for it on the Web. In future it might become an electronic-only publication, but it was felt that at this point in time, a mailed paper copy was more appropriate, but an electronic copy will also be posted on the Web. Frank McCormick suggested that a check box could be added to the dues notice to allow members to indicate that they wanted to receive only the electronic copy. The newsletter might be mailed with Copeia or separately. Larry Page pointed out that advertising might be carried to help pay for the mailing.
Members were next notified that a decision had been made by the Board of Governors not to pursue re-design of the Societyís logo. He recapped the discussion of this issue, noting that the vote was too close to proceed.
The Student Awards Committee (STAC) will be asked to reconsider award categories in Ecology and Ethology. The committee made specific suggestions for splitting this section. Stoye and Storer categories are now separated from editorial divisions. The Editor has also been asked to reconsider editorial divisions.
The President notified members that the Society will explore contracting professional society management. This is probably the most important single issue for members in the future. He explained that it has become difficult to find members willing to take on offices. The Society would maintain its entire current officer and administrative structure, but would let professionals handle all day to day matters. ASIH will investigate entering into such an agreement together with sister societies, and several firms will be asked to provide bids. The investigation will also include consideration of professional meeting management. Local chairs are also hard to find, and universities no longer provide as much support for meetings as before. The Society would continue to rely on local committees, but much more of the overall arrangements would be made by professionals, thus substantially cutting the work load of local committees, and allowing the society to take better advantage of the competitive conference market. A program committee independent of the local committee might also be instituted. Meetings are now sometimes very large, and costs of recent meetings have been escalating. Bill Matthews pointed out that many students are already being priced out of meetings and activities. President Savitzky interjected that management companies will plan a meeting in accordance with whatever criteria the Society provides. If low student rates are a high priority, they will see to that. They will search out competitive bids, whereas we now often have only one option through local committees. Susan Jewett mentioned that students and foreign visitors were excluded from social activities by ticket costs and asked how she should request a different pricing structure for students and foreign visitors. The President suggested that she interact with the committee that is revising the meeting guidelines, and she should also suggest that the Executive Committee consider it. Bill Matthews asked Jay Stauffer if such rates might be possible next year. He replied that he would see what he could do. The President mentioned that the EXEC had discussed the possibility of using endowment funds to subsidize such things. He mentioned that the Endowment and Finance Committee (ENFC) will be sending another letter to members soliciting contributions to the Endowment Fund, and is considering a proposal to match members contributions to the Endowment with monies from the General Fund to promote member contributions. Bob Cashner commented that local chairs often can not do much to reduce charges for some social events. A member commented that picnics are what students want to attend and that the Society should concentrate on lowering those ticket prices. The President noted that in the future, new meeting guidelines will address these issues. Another member stated that he very much enjoyed the banquet, and that students simply can not afford it. Don Buth commented that we already have a differential rate for registration. Members could perhaps pay a bit more to subsidize students.
President Savitzky announced that he has appointed an Ad Hoc Committee to explore the need for the Society to provide public education materials, or embark on educational activities. Members who wish to be involved in this should contact him. Many members are actively involved in discussions of the organisms they study, but often little information gets to the public.
Members were informed that the EXEC wrote several letters related to conservation issues during the past year, and that more of these issues are coming to the Society every year. The Environmental Quality Committee (ENQC) has been urged to establish a more rapid response procedure. The ENQC asked the Society to organize a symposium on faunal declines in lower vertebrates for the year 2001. This will be done in conjunction with HL, SSAR and AES. Frank McCormick mentioned that ENQC discussed possible impacts of Society activities on tax exempt status following society response to a forest health issue which brought this issue to the committeeís attention. The ASIH response on the issue was, along with the responses of other societies, delivered to the U.S. Congress by a lobbyist. Since then the Society has received information indicating that it can spend up to 20% of the first $5000 of the Societyís overall operating budget on direct lobbying. Since ASIH uses only volunteers for such actions, an almost unlimited amount of lobbying is possible. ASIH has not taken full advantage of this to be as forceful as it might be.
Karsten Hartel asked if there is something more we could do to get students to the business meetings. Savitzky indicated that this will be addressed in new meeting guidelines. It was suggested that there could be daily announcements of the dayís activities at meetings. Bill Matthews suggested offering $5 discounts on banquet tickets to students who attend the business meeting.
Bill Fink asked how to provide feedback on consideration of professional management. The issue will come back to the BOFG next year. He suggested that many members are involved with other societies that have moved to professional management and may already have opinions regarding this issue. He suggested a straw vote and the President complied, asking first for a vote on professional management of Society business. Nearly all members present were in favor, with two abstaining and none opposed. When then asked to vote on the matter of having meetings professionally managed, a vast majority of members present again supported such a move, two abstained, and four were opposed.
Resolutions
Julian Lee, chair of the Resolutions Committee (with members Lynn Parenti, Gene Helfman, and Leslie Rye) was asked to come forward to read the resolutions. There were 10 substantive resolutions, six dealing with individuals and two species specific (details of discussions regarding these resolutions, if any, follow the resolution):
ASIH/HL/SSAR RESOLUTION HONORING DAVID WAKE
WHEREAS David B. Wake has made many important contributions to our knowledge of evolutionary morphology, and of the systematics and ecology of salamanders, and
WHEREAS David B. Wake has done much to elucidate the nature of global amphibian population decline, and to raise public awareness of this important issue, and
WHEREAS David B. Wake was recently elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, The Herpetologists' League, and the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles offer congratulations to Dave on the occasion of this high honor, richly deserved.
No motion was required since the resolution come from a committee. Applause followed.
ASIH/HL/SSAR JOINT RESOLUTION ON DECLINING AMPHIBIANS
WHEREAS there is compelling evidence that, over the last 15 years, there have been unusual and substantial declines in abundance and numbers of populations of various species of amphibians in globally distributed geographic regions, and
WHEREAS many of the declines are in protected areas or other places not affected by obvious degradation of habitats, and
WHEREAS these factors are symptomatic of a general decline in environmental quality, and
WHEREAS even where amphibian populations persist, there are factors that may place them at risk, and
WHEREAS some patterns of amphibian population decline appear to be linked by causative factors, and
WHEREAS declines can occur on multiple scales, in different phases of amphibian life cycles, and can impact species with differing ecology and behavior, and
WHEREAS there is no obvious single common cause of these declines, and
WHEREAS amphibian declines, including species extinctions, can be caused by multiple environmental factors, including habitat loss and alteration, global change, pathogens, parasites, various chemicals, ultraviolet radiation, invasive species, and stochastic events, and
WHEREAS these factors may act alone, sequentially, or synergistically to impact amphibian populations, and
WHEREAS to understand, mitigate and preempt the impacts of these factors, a comprehensive, interdisciplinary research program must be undertaken, and
WHEREAS this research program must be conducted in several regions around the globe, both in areas of known declines, and in areas where declines have not been documented, and
WHEREAS this research must examine issues ranging from environmental quality of landscapes to the condition of individual animals,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, The Herpetologists' League, and The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles call for the establishment of an interdisciplinary and collaborative research program, which will specify and quantify the direct and indirect factors affecting amphibian population dynamics, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this program will include basic research and monitoring that will test hypotheses of causative factors and examine patterns of change through historical records, field-based correlative data, and controlled, multi-factorial experiments, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that interdisciplinary, incident response teams should be assembled in "hot spots" of amphibian decline to identify causative factors to facilitate the mitigation of these sudden declines, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, The Herpetologists' League, and The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles call upon both public and private agencies and institutions, to promote and support research, policies and conservation measures that will ameliorate losses and declines of amphibian populations, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this broad-based approach to the study of amphibian population dynamics will serve as a model for study of the global biodiversity crisis.
Bruce Collette asked what was to be done with the resolution and to whom it would it be sent. President Savitzky said that the resolution came from a meeting called by the Secretary of the Interior, so it would be sent to that office and that he would seek the advice of Jim Collins, author of the resolution, regarding where else to send it. Clark Hubbs commented that ìAmphibiansî could be replaced with ìfreshwater fishes.î Bruce Collette suggested that itís very important to determine where resolutions are to be sent. A member commented, as a point of order, that ìSignatoriesî in the resolutions should be replaced by ìASIH.î That will be done. A motion was made to approve the resolution. All were in favor, none opposed. Phil Pister suggested that normally resolutions include the intended mailing list.
ASIH/HL/SSAR RESOLUTION ON COMMERCIAL COLLECTING
WHEREAS there is an unrelenting demand for the commercial collection of amphibians and reptiles, and
WHEREAS natural populations of amphibians and reptiles must maintain a minimum critical density in order to prevent population collapse, and
WHEREAS information on the persistence of natural populations of amphibians and reptiles is often unavailable, and
WHEREAS natural populations of amphibians and reptiles have collapsed under the pressure of commercial collecting, and
WHEREAS there exist state and national laws regulating scientific collecting, in order to prevent illegal activities and to protect wildlife, but commercial collecting in some states is virtually unregulated,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, The Herpetologists' League, and The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles encourage all appropriate wildlife agencies to work with ASIH, HL, SSAR and other scientific organizations to take appropriate measures to regulate commercial collecting in states where such collecting is allowed.
Bruce Thompson asked where is this resolution will be sent and how it is intended to be used. Carrie Carreno explained that The Nature Conservancy in Nevada will use the resolution as supporting documentation for the support of regulation of commercial trade in amphibians and reptiles in that state. President Savitzky mentioned that itís been discussed that this would be sent to head of management agencies in each state, country-wide. Karsten Hartel stated that some states have such regulations in place and we should selectively send it to all states that need it, not to all states. Bill Matthews suggested it could be read as encouraging states to set up programs for commercial collecting. Savitzky opined that it suggests that collecting be regulated where needed. There was discussion of the wording, and the resolution was re-read. Bill Fink suggested that it encourages states to set up programs for commercial collecting. Savitzky and Lee felt that was not the case. Clark Hubbs asked that this be tabled until the banquet. A motion to do so did not carry. Frank McCormick suggested that the resolution be accepted in principle, with the understanding that its intent was to control commercial collecting for the benefit of the organisms, and that it go back to committee for final wording to unambiguously reflect that intent. He so moved, it was seconded, and passed unanimously.
ASIH/AES RESOLUTION ON SAWFISHES
WHEREAS the smalltooth sawfish, Pristis pectinata, and the largetooth sawfish, Pristis perotteti, were once widespread and common members of coastal and estuarine ecosystems along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, and
WHEREAS these sawfishes are extremely vulnerable to excess mortality because they are slow-growing, late-maturing, and have low fecundity rates, and
WHEREAS these sawfishes occupy estuarine habitats that have undergone extensive destruction along the southeastern United States, and
WHEREAS populations of these species have been severely reduced so that they are rare or absent from their former range, and
WHEREAS the perilous condition of sawfish populations world-wide prompted the United States to support a resolution before the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to list sawfishes under Appendix I (restriction of all trade), and
WHEREAS the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) formerly listed these species on the Candidate List of Protected Species, and
WHEREAS the NMFS removed these species from the List with no justification,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, and the American Elasmobranch Society strongly urge the National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Protected Resources to restore these sawfishes to the Candidate List, and further urges that the NMFS undertake a review of the status of these species relative to their inclusion on the United States Endangered Species List.
Bill Fink asked why the species was removed from the list. A member indicated that it was apparently an oversight. It was inadvertently dropped from the list through clerical error in a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office. A vote was taken, and the resolution passed unanimously.
ASIH/AES RESOLUTION ON DUSKY SHARK
WHEREAS the dusky shark, Carcharhinus obscurus, was once an abundant large coastal shark along the Atlantic coast of the United States, and
WHEREAS the dusky shark has been reduced in abundance due to overfishing and is now uncommon in many parts of its range, and
WHEREAS some scientific assessments suggest the Atlantic coast population has declined by 80%, and
WHEREAS the dusky shark has the slowest growth rate, the latest age of maturity, and one of the lowest fecundity rates among all large coastal sharks, and
WHEREAS the dusky shark continues to be harvested by directed shark fisheries, and
WHEREAS these was a strong consensus and recommendation from scientific shark experts charged with evaluating life history vulnerability at the recent National Marine Fisheries Service Shark Evaluation Workshop in July, 1998, in Panama City, Florida to add dusky sharks to the prohibited species list under the Fishery Management Plan,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that The American Society of Ichthyologists and the American Elasmobranch Society strongly urge the National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Highly Migratory Species to add dusky sharks to the list of species prohibited under the Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic sharks.
A motion was made to approve this resolution as written was made, seconded and carried unanimously.
A series of resolutions pertaining to individuals and the local committee were there considered, and all carried unanimously as written below.
ASIH RESOLUTION OF THANKS TO JOSE ROSADO
WHEREAS Jose P. Rosado has conscientiously served the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists for six years as Publications Secretary, and
WHEREAS Jose set such impossibly high standards in discharging his responsibilities as Publications Secretary that the Society despaired of finding a replacement for him and instead abolished the office of Publications Secretary altogether, transferring the responsibilities to the Business Office,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists express sincere thanks and appreciation to Jose for a job well done.
ASIH RESOLUTION OF THANKS TO HERBERT AND EVELYN AXELROD
WHEREAS Herbert R. and Evelyn Axelrod have for a great many years supported research, collection, publication, education, and conservation in ichthyology, and
WHEREAS countless numbers of ichthyologists have benefited directly from their generosity, and
WHEREAS they have greatly fostered public interest in the keeping of aquarium fishes as a hobby, and
WHEREAS they contributed to the creation of the Institute of Ichthyology at the University of Guelph, and
WHEREAS they have recently extended their generosity by endowing a revolving chair of systematic ichthyology at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, and a chair of Recent ichthyology and a chair of paleoichthyology at the American Museum of Natural History, and
WHEREAS their contributions will encourage the health of ichthyology at all of these institutions and will advance the science of ichthyology generally,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists extend its heartfelt gratitude to the Axelrods for their unparalleled support of the science of ichthyology.
ASIH RESOLUTION OF CONDOLENCE TO RACHEL PATTERSON
WHEREAS Colin Patterson, emeritus paleontologist at the Natural History Museum, London, Fellow of the Royal Society (England), Honorary Foreign Member of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, and friend and colleague to many Society members, died in London on March 9, 1998
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists extend its condolences to his wife, Rachel Patterson, and express our profound sadness at the loss of our esteemed colleague.
ASIH RESOLUTION THANKING BILL ESCHMEYER
WHEREAS knowledge and understanding increase with the dissemination of information, and
WHEREAS Bill Eschmeyer and his coworkers have facilitated the increase in our understanding and knowledge of the classification of fishes
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists express its sincere gratitude to Bill and his coworkers at the California Academy of Sciences for the dedication and effort devoted to the production of The Catalogue of Fishes.
ASIH RESOLUTION THANKING BOB JOHNSON
WHEREAS the Long-Range Planning and Policy Committee may be under-appreciated, and
WHEREAS the Long-Range Planning and Policy Committee has produced the ASIH Procedures Manual to aid the membership in understanding the role of the Society's officers, its committees and its constitution
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists express its sincere thanks to Bob Johnson (Chair), Larry Allen, Kassi Cole, Maureen Donnelly, David Greenfield, Deanna Stouder, and Joseph Travis of the Long-Range Planning and Policy Committee.
ASIH/HL/SSAR RESOLUTION OF THANKS TO LOCAL COMMITTEE
WHEREAS the 1,040 attendees at the meeting of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, The Herpetologists' League, and The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles at The University of Guelph have enjoyed a stimulating, informative, and entertaining program of contributed papers, posters, symposia and social events, and
WHEREAS hosting such meetings involves an enormous expenditure of time, energy, and resources on the part of Local Committee members, and
WHEREAS said Local Committee members have given selflessly of themselves in the service of our societies, and have done so with grace, good humor, and generosity of spirit, to the benefit of all attendees,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the assembled members of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, The Herpetologists' League, and The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles acknowledge our deep debt of gratitude to the University of Guelph, its administrators, and the following members of the Local Committee, and we extend to them our sincere thanks for their efforts on our behalf: Bob Sheath, Dean, College of Biological Sciences; Paul Hebert, Chair, Department of Zoology; Local Committee Members Jim Ballantine, Bill Beamish, Ronald J. Brooks, Steve Crawford, Roy Danzman, Sonia deRincion, Joshua Feltham, Moira Ferguson, Cyndy Forsyth, David Galbraith, Megan Harris, Tim Jennings, Lori Kirsh, Amy Lathrop, Angie Lightle, Heather Lynn, Steve Marks, Ian Mason, Tom Mason, Tana McDaniel, Clair Morris, Bob Murphy, David Noakes, Mike Rankin, Marie Rush, Leslie Rye, Ian Smith, Ildiko Somorjai, Don Stevens, Glenn Vander Kraak, and especially Jim Bogart, Chair of the Local Committee.
Savitzky then commented that the involvement of ASIH in environmental issues has had an impact, citing evidence from one issue in the past year. Bruce Collette suggested that resolutions should always contain text such as "ASIH is a society of 3500 members, dedicated to Ö (inserting the standard mission statement for the society)." Resolutions should also contain a mailing list to which the resolution should be sent. Savitzky asked that such format instructions for drafting of resolutions be included in the Policy Manual. Bruce Thompson suggested that the Society must be very careful with wording of resolutions and taking a stance on environmental issues. Savitzky noted that this is true, citing an example from this past year. On advice of the ENQC, and approval of the EXEC, he sent a letter, which later turned out to not be in agreement with other societiesí opinions on the issues.
President Savitzky then moved to the election of President-elect, other officers, Copeia editors, new members of the Board of Governors, and the Nominating Committee. He explained that 6 herpetology positions on the Board of Governors will be filled as the result of a resignation. The candidate receiving the sixth highest number of votes will fill the vacancy for the remainder of that term that had come open as a result of the resignation. Ballots were distributed and Savitzky noted that each member should have 3 ballots and it was verified that all did. The ballot for BOFG was addressed first. Nominations from the floor were requested, but none received. A motion to close the nominations was seconded and carried.
Savitzky explained that corrections to the printed ballot were posted on the blackboard. These corrections were addition of candidates John McEachran running unopposed for the position of Genetics, Development and Morphology Editor; addition of candidate Hal Avery running unopposed for Physiology and Physiological Ecology Editor; addition of Tim Berra (incumbent) running unopposed for Book Review Editor in Ichthyology; and addition of Kentwood D. Wells (incumbent) running unopposed for Book Review Editor in Herpetology. Nominations were then requested from the floor for any office. None were received. A motion was made to close nominations, it was seconded and carried. Clark Hubbs asked if all of those candidates listed on the black board could not be elected with a blanket voice vote, thus saving members from writing the candidates on their ballots. President Savitzky requested and received a motion to do this, it was seconded and carried. The blanket voice vote was held, electing John McEachran, Hal Avery, Tim Berra, and Kentwood Wells to the offices listed above without opposition.
Nominations were then solicited from the floor for election to the Nominating Committee. A member moved to close nominations, the motion was seconded, and nomination closed by unanimous vote. Members then completed and cast their ballots.
The President noted that he was making good progress appointing members to committees and other appointed positions in this year of transition from meeting-to-meeting to calendar year appointments. The list of appointments for calendar year 1999 will be published on the www.
President Savitzky indicated that, as far as he was aware, there was no Old Business, but called for members to bring up items of Old Business. Frank McCormick indicated that a resolution requested last year from the ENQC was never produced. Ed Crossman explained that he had requested this resolution. Savitzky suggested that the ENQC might consider drafting a statement of its own, rather than a resolution, or should bring the resolution to next yearís meeting.
A request by President Savitzky for items of New Business produced no response, so he moved on to the topic of future meetings, and called on Pat Gregory, chair of the Time, Place and Program Committee (TPPC). Gregory in turn called on Jay Stauffer, host for next yearís meeting, to report on plans to meet at Pennsylvania State University. Stauffer invited everyone to the meeting, which will be held in a new conference center adjacent to campus. One hundred and fifty-one first-class rooms are reserved in this conference center, and others have been reserved in nearby hotels. As many dorm rooms as were used in Seattle have been reserved, though the planners do not expect such a large crowd. There will be dorm-to-conference shuttle buses. The picnic location has not yet been determined. Several airlines fly to nearby airports. A 10% discount on air fares on certain airlines is available via the meeting Web site. Field trips will be to the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, and to other nearby museums and standard tourist sites. There are several ways to get to the meeting. Details are available on the Web site, and some car rental agencies give discounts (via the Web site). The Pennsylvania Fish Commission will put an application form for requesting collecting permits on the meeting Web site. Scientific collectors must hold a fishing license to use a scientific collecting permit. Bruce Collette asked about the early abstract submission deadline (December 1998). Stauffer indicated that the University conference center is printing the program and that they stipulated this date. He will try to make it a bit later. Linn Montgomery suggested that the biggest problem will be with students who are hesitant to submit abstracts that are imprecise at that very busy time of the year, and that the deadline comes at the end of the field season for many, so there may not be time to sufficiently analyze data. It was also pointed out that abstracts are now being used in judging for HL awards, and so this early deadline will impact judging. Melanie Stiassney interjected a request that the local host request that program planners and session chairs be careful to always leave enough time for questions following papers. Bill Matthews asked about the possibility of updating abstracts submitted by the early deadline prior to a later deadline. Stauffer will pursue that possibility. Linda Ford clarified that the abstract on which HL is judging is a separate, longer, and independently submitted abstract, not submitted to the local committee. Stauffer clarified that the local committee would request that titles, authors and abstracts will be due Dec. 15, but that abstracts could be corrected later. Savitzky pointed out that deadline dates are another issue that could be much more consistently dealt with under professional management.
Pat Gregory continued, explaining that last year a motion was tentatively approved to meet in La Paz, Baja California Sur, MÈxico, subject to receipt by his committee of a satisfactory plan before this yearís meeting. That plan was received and approved, and so the 2000 meeting will be in La Paz. The meeting will be held at several hotels, and because of the distance between them, herpetology talks will be given in one hotel, and ichthyology talks in another. This was unavoidable. There will be joint social sessions. Carlos Villavicencio, local host for this meeting, explained that the hotels are very close together, within easy walking distance, but shuttles will run every 15 minutes between them. He suggested that La Paz is a good place for family vacations. The picnic will be held on the beach. Flights are available from Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Diego. There will be several field trips. Phil Pister commented that the Desert Fishes Council meeting in 1996, in La Paz was superb. Another member cited a meeting of another small society there recently, and thought it to be an excellent meeting site. Gregory then solicited invitations for meetings in 2001 and later years. The committee would prefer a site in the midwestern United States, but is open to invitations from elsewhere.
President Savitzky then solicited other general announcements from members. Stuart Poss mentioned that the International Congress of Zoology will be held in 2000 in Athens, Greece at the end of August and early September. He has information for anyone desiring it. Steve Norris announced that the European Ichthyology conference will be held in Belgium in 2000. The town where it will be held has many breweries; at times the entire town smells of yeast. Meg Stewart mentioned that the World Congress of Herpetology will next be held in Sri Lanka in 2001. Bill Matthews announced that the University of Oklahoma Museum will be packing for a move in August, and will be closed until spring. The collections will be unavailable during that time. Anyone needing specimens or information should plan accordingly. A member announced that a conference on International Reefs will be held in Italy in July of 1999.
Clark Hubbs made a motion for adjournment. It was seconded and carried at 5:24 PM.
The banquet was called to order by Jim Bogart, Local Committee Chair, who welcomed participants and acknowledged the Local Committee who helped organize the meeting. He noted that registration for the meeting had been 1,040, many of the total being students. Jim then introduced Melanie Stiassney as the evening's emcee, and turned the podium over to her. Melanie introduced those seated at the head table with her: Joe Mitchell (president of Herpetologists League) and his wife Wendy; Darrell Frost (president of Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles); Al Savitzky (president of ASIH) and his wife Barbara; Dean Hendrickson and Larry Page (Secretary and Treasurer, respectively, of ASIH); and Bob Cashner (President-elect of ASIH) and his wife Frances. Melanie then wished Jim Atz a happy birthday, and proposed a toast to him, and the group cheerily joined in to congratulate him. All past presidents of the societies participating in the banquet (ASIH, HL and SSAR) were asked to stand, and were heartily applauded. Distinguished Fellows of ASIH were next acknowledged, and Dr. Robert Rush Miller asked to stand to be acknowledged and receive an ovation.
Melanie then acknowledged Bob Murphy and the highly entertaining performance of Rommy II, presented for the meeting attendants earlier in the week, and encouraged him to plan on producing Rommy III at a meeting in 2008 in Montreal. Murphy acknowledged the crew for the production and Jerry Smith as the first Local Chair with enough guts to allow his group to perform (at the 1988 Michigan meeting).
Al Savitzky was then called forward to present certificates of appreciation to past ASIH president Ted Pietsch and past ASIH Publications Secretary (from 1990 - 1997) JosÈ Rosado.
Secretary Hendrickson came to the podium to announce the results of elections, but first acknowledge Mark Sabaj for many years of service as official ASIH Calligrapher, skillfully inscribing the names of award winners on certificates during the final day of each of many recent meetings. He also acknowledged Leslie Rye of the Local Committee for invaluable assistance tallying ballots. The results of the elections are published separately on the www at http://www.utexas.edu/depts/asih/). Hendrickson congratulated Kentwood Wells as runner-up for president-elect, and acknowledged the honor of simply being nominated for this prestigious position, and he was applauded.
The winners of the Gibbs and Fitch Awards were again recognized (both awards were officially presented earlier at the Plenary Session). This year's winners were Richard Robins (Gibbs) and Stan Rand (Fitch). Henry Fitch was also acknowledged, and asked to stand. All received hearty applause.
Larry Page was called upon to announce the winners of the Gaige Awards, standing in for Kiisa Nishikawa, Chair of that meeting, who was unable to come to the meeting. Winners were Michael J. Angilletta, Rafe Brown, Sharon Downes, Maureen Kearney, Meredith J. Mahoney, Jeanne M. Serb, and Rachel Willard.
Larry Allen presented the Raney Awards to Elena Amesbury, Ian Hamilton, Stephen M. Kajiura, Kyle R. Pillar, April Randle, and Christopher Skelton.
Steve Beaupre came forward to present the Stoye and Storer Awards, and recounted the history of these. He pointed out that many students who wished to compete were ruled ineligible as the result of multiple authorship of their papers (in violation of the rules). The awards consist of $250 U.S., a certificate, a complete collection of back issues of Copeia (as available), and the right to add a line in the CV of each winner pointing out their winning of these prestigious awards. The Storer Award in Ichthyology (judges Edie-Marsh Matthews (Chair), Madeline Oetinger, Bruce Thompson) was won by J.M. Sappington, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Nevada Las Vegas. The Storer Award in Herpetology (judges Brian Crother (Chair), Darrel Frost, Maureen Donnelly) was won by Steve Poe, Texas Memorial Museum and Department of Zoology, University of Texas at Austin and Division of Amphibians and Reptiles, National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC. The Stoye Award in General Ichthyology (Hank Bart (Chair), William Anderson, Mark Pyron) was won by M. Ghedotti, Natural History Museum, University of Kansas. The Stoye Award in General Herpetology (judges Maureen Donnelly (Chair),Craig Guyer, David Cundall) went to J. Socha, Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago. The Stoye Award in Genetics, Development and Morphology (judges Rebecca Pyles (Chair), Rob Wood, Jon Armbruster) was given to G. M. Erickson, Biomechanical Engineering Division, Mechanical Engineering Department, Stanford University. The Stoye Award in Physiology and Physiological Ecology (judges David Sever (Chair), Gayle Barbin, Joseph Zydlewski) went to M. Posner, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. The Stoye Award in Ecology and Ethology (judges Terrence Farrell (Chair), Daryl Karns, William Matthews, Barbara Savitzky, Rodney Rountree, Tony Echelle) was given to N. Guda, Department of Zoology, University of Texas at Austin.
Melanie then called on Dave Green to present the Herpetologists League award to Mathew Paris. John Wiens then presented the SSAR student paper award to Henry Siebert.
Steve Bortone came forward to present the Carter Gilbert Bounds of Decency award (an award initiated by Gene Helfman in 1994). This year's winner was Doug Weaver.
Julian Lee, Chair of the ASIH Resolutions Committee, then came forward to read the banquet resolutions which follow:
WHEREAS, more ichthyologists and herpetologists are beginning to enter the 20th Century and are using computer technology more and more to produce slide extravaganzas, and
WHEREAS, certain herpetologists from the Royal Ontario Museum have resurrected ROMMY and raised it to new musical and theatrical heights, and
WHEREAS, with these influences it is expected that ASIH/HL/SSAR presentations will use music, theater and computer technology more and more frequently to entertain while educating,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that new Stoye award categories be devised to reflect: Best special effects, Best sound track, Best vocal, etc.
WHEREAS, it first seemed that the solution to having too little beer for the picnic was to refuse to serve those in attendance, and
WHEREAS, the arcane regulations imposed by various and sundry government agencies on beer drinking at the picnic has forever changed the meaning of "Excuse me, sir, may I hold that for you?" for one member who's need was more pressing than the line to the portolets allowed, and
WHEREAS, the Local Committee resolved any potential shortages by calling the Molson Rapid Response Team van at 1-800 MOLSON eh?
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that those in attendance at the picnic express their sincere appreciation to the Local Committee for working so hard to resolve the many obstacles imposed by the government on Canada's National Pastime, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that each U.S. delegate be sent home with a six pack of Coors Light so that the Local Committee needn't suffer the indignity of having so much undrinkable swill on their hands.
WHEREAS, the Guelph Local Committee has graciously commissioned the Canadian Treasury Department to print and distribute a special $10.00 bank note honoring American Herpetologist Dr. Craig Guyer
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that at all future meetings of the ASIH, HL, SSAR, similar commemorative legal tender be commissioned in honor of other prominent ichthyologists and herpetologists.
WHEREAS, even the thought of a dry campus strikes terror into the hearts of attendees of these meetings, and
WHEREAS, said delegates were greatly relieved to learn that the "wet" and "dry" containers around campus were not part of a campaign to alter their drinking habits but were instead a laudable recycling program, and
WHEREAS, many other aspects of these meetings have been conducted in an environmentally friendly manner, including but not limited to Ecorite cotton tote bags, scrumptious vegetarian options at mealtime, beverage dispensers rather than canned or battled drinks during breaks (including quality draught rather than bottled beer) and of course minimal use of air conditioning,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the attendees at these meetings commend the University of Guelph and the Local Committee for their efforts at conserving energy and natural resources.
WHEREAS, Richard Etheridge has been an early, if not founding, member of all three North American herpetological societies, and
WHEREAS, Richard Etheridge has faithfully served these three societies in various capacities for over four decades, this being the 50th meeting that he has attended, and
WHEREAS, despite his soft-spoken, humble, zen countenance Richard Etheridge has been one of the most influential herpetologists of the past century, and
WHEREAS, Richard's dedication to herpetology has been nothing less than extraordinary and has included great personal sacrifices, including dating daughters of certain deceased herpetologists in order to acquire full reprint sets of said herpetologist's work, and
WHEREAS, Richard credits William Milstead with teaching him that "herpetology is more than keeping snakes in cages," and
WHEREAS, despite this advice, Richard has spent his adult life rendering various reptiles into skeletons which he keeps in cardboard boxes, and
WHEREAS, Richard Etheridge is the only herpetologist to be envenomated by a dead speckled rattlesnake, and
WHEREAS, Richard's research efforts have resulted in the frustration of curators world wide who were compelled to change jar labels for millions of specimens once considered to belong to the family "Iguanidae," and
WHEREAS, Richard worked at a university where only Masters degrees were awarded, and
WHEREAS, despite this limitation, Richard's students produced theses which often exceeded 500 pages, bound as two volumes, and
WHEREAS, said students are some of today's most widely respected and influential herpetologists, and
WHEREAS, Richard Etheridge recently retired from San Diego State University
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that at next year's meeting at Penn State University, the three societies, its members, and especially his students and colleagues honor Dr. Richard Etheridge with a day-long symposium and nighttime "roast," and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that from this day forward Richard be referred to as The Godfather and Zen Master of Lizard Systematics."
WHEREAS, we ran out of beer at the social, and
WHEREAS, no beer was available at the barbecue, and
WHEREAS, the term microbrew does NOT refer to QUANTITY
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that future Local Committees review the data gathered by the Local Committees in Austin, New Orleans, and Seattle showing that volume increases exponentially with surface area of the members.
WHEREAS, having a symposium on cave fishes is really cool, and
WHEREAS, the temperature in the room was at least 40 degrees (so that's like 4C, eh?) warmer than the average cave temperature, and
WHEREAS, the room temperature exceeded the critical thermal maximum of every cave fish on earth, and lay far beyond the thermal neutral zone of large mammals, and
WHEREAS, the temperature continued to rise throughout the day and,
WHEREAS, the room was sufficiently hot that several members were inspired to seek redemption at the church service in the lobby rather than risk the fires of eternal damnation,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that any future symposia on troglobitic taxa be held in environmental chambers, walk-in coolers, or hockey rinks, (eh?).
WHEREAS, Sharon Emerson demonstrated skillfully the link between patterns of evolution and patterns of quilts, and
WHEREAS several male speakers subsequently incorporated analogies to quilts and quilting into their talks,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that at future meetings of our societies, male attendees be provided ample opportunity to explore the feminine sides of their natures.
WHEREAS, Mary Jane West-Eberhard attended her first ASIH meeting to pry homage to Stan Rand, and
WHEREAS, our esteemed colleague explained with passion and grace how the emotional and nearly perverse affection some biologists have for their study organisms has lead to a greater understanding of biology in general,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the ASIH extend to West-Eberhard a standing invitation to kick-off any and all symposia she chooses at future meetings of the Society.
WHEREAS the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists has convened in Guelph just three years after convening in Edmonton, and
WHEREAS, this is the second time that, having convened in Canada, the term "unseasonably warm" is at best a euphemism, and
WHEREAS, the architects of the dormitories failed to account for the heat-retaining properties of concrete and masonry and the lack of ventilation provided by windows the size of postage stamps, and
WHEREAS, the United States and Canada were among the signatories to the convention on global warming, and
WHEREAS, if we had wanted weather like Austin or New Orleans, we would have met in Austin or New Orleans, and
WHEREAS, we believe that two years and hundreds of data points are sufficient to study the development of heat shock proteins in ASIH delegates,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that no further meetings be held at venues without air conditioned dormitories until there is a solution to global warming.
Jay Stauffer, host of the next annual meeting, invited everyone to Penn State next year. The winners of the raffle staged by graduate students were asked to pick up their prizes, and the banquet was adjourned.