The Southwestern Association of Naturalists
Minutes of the Meeting of the Board ofGovernors and Officers

Cuernavaca, Morelos, México
Thursday, 25 April 2002



Present:


Harald Alcaraz-C., Troy L. Best, Jorge Chavez-Juarez, Jerry R. Choate, BrendaS. Clark, Topiltzin Contreras MacBeath, Frank Contreras-Rosas, Anabelle V.Cuevas-Lizardi, Mark E. Eberle, Robert J. Edwards, Stanley F. Fox, JuanFernando Hernandez, Clark Hubbs, Michael L. Kennedy, Celia López-González, EdieMarsh-Matthews, William J. Matthews, Karen McBee, David L. McNeely, DwightMoore, Robert D. Owen, Edmundo Teniente-Nivon, Grisell Rivera-Mendez, Ma. de Lourdes Romero Almarez, Cornelio Sanchez-Hernandez, Gary D. Schnell, Bruce G. Stewart, Philip D. Sudman, Juan Luis Torres-Magadan, Mario Veliz, Paula S. Williamson.

 

President Williamson called the meeting to order at 1440with a quorum of Officers and Governors present.

 

Committee reports were taken first.


The BOG approved the Minutes of the Board of Governors and Officers and theMinutes of the Business Meeting for the 48th Annual Meeting at Haysas printed in The Southwestern Naturalist:46(4) of December 2001.

 

Treasurer Brenda Clark reported 2001 income of $69,881(including $46,558 from dues, $5,771 from contributions and meeting proceeds;$16,400 from page charges; $181 from sale of back issues; $594 from earnedinterest; and $377 transferred from the Managing Editor's account).  Shereported expenses totaling $54,087 including $4,968 for Treasurer's expenses(office help $4,000, office supplies $67, postage $612, printing $307);editorial expenses of $4,864 (office help $3,000, mailing $254, indexing$1,600, Spanish abstracts $10); printing The Southwestern Naturalist $40,801; Wilks Award $500; Student Poster Awards$300;  plaques for award recipients $609; CPA charges (tax returnpreparation and audit fees) $620; merchant card fees $139; President'scontingency fund $1,200; and returned checks and other bank fees $68.  Thecheckbook balance at the year 's beginning was $23,995; income exceededexpenses by $15,794; $23,197 was transferred to the Trustees for investment;the checkbook balance ended the year at $16,592.

 

Treasurer Clark also reported that membership as of December2001 (including 128 new members) numbered 1,266.  New members' names werelisted in the Treasurer's Report and were to be submitted for members' approvalat the Business Meeting.  Clark further reported that the primaryinterests of members were: mammals 379, amphibians and reptiles 305, birds 241,invertebrates 191, plants 183, and fishes 172.

 

Clark presented projected 2002 income and expenses each at$66,700 as approved at the 2001 BOG meeting.  Details of the 2002 budgetand proposed 2003 income and budget were left for New Business.  The BOGthanked Clark for her report and her work for SWAN.

 

Jerry Choate reported for the Trustees (Chair Choate, DavidSchmidly, Terry Yates) that:   (1) In 2001 SWAN assets increased in valueby $11,505.32 to $312,636.38 from 31 December 2000 to 31 December 2001, or 4.8%including $23,197 in new assets from contributions;  (2) actual marketperformance was -3.9%; (3) considering overall market performance asrepresented by various indices that ranged from  -5.4% to + 21.2%, SWANinvestments performed relatively well due to effective diversification amonginvestment classes. Details of the investment activity of the Trustees andresults thereof are contained in the Trustees written report.  The BOGthanked Choate and the Trustees for their work and success on behalf of theorganization.

 

Karen McBee, Managing Editor, reported that Volume 46 andVolume 47(1) of The Southwestern Naturalist were successfully published with no delays, that 47(2) was in proof,and that 47(3) will go to press in early June. McBee also reported that there has been a slight increase inlag time from article submission to publication over the immediately preceedingyear. She provided additionalpublication details, contained in her written report. McBee also reported that Cheri A. Jones of the Denver Museumof Natural History (Conservation and Management), and David Propst of the New México Department of Game and Fish(Fish) have successfully completed their first year as Associate Editors. McBee further reported that William H.Baltosser will complete his term as Associate Editor for Birds this year, andthat she is completing her term as Managing Editor effective at the publicationof SWN 47(2). She announced that nominations for bothpositions would be made under New Business.

 

McBee then thanked Susana Perea Fox for her service asEditorial Assistant for Spanish Abstracts, Emily Ackland for her service asEditorial Assistant, and Troy Best for his work in producing the annual index,mentioning that production of the 10-year index was an especially difficultassignment.

 

The Managing Editor also announced that use of electronicdisk for sending manuscripts to Allen Press is working well, that the editorialstaff is working toward electronic reviewing, and that new editorial procedureshave made it possible to increase the number of pages per issue of thejournal. She further reported thatnew author's instructions are on-line and in 46(4) of the journal.

 

Members of the BOG queried McBee as to whether theelectronic review process will allow for those reviewers who prefer it to receiveprinted copy and to submit their reviews in print. She answered affirmatively.  The BOG thanked McBee forher work and that of the editorial staff, and for her report.

 

In the absence of Chair Phyllis Kennedy, Robert J. Edwardsreported for the Budget Oversight Committee (Chair Kennedy, William H.Baltosser, Bryan R. Chapman, Edwards, Beth Leuck) that the committee hadexamined the Trustees' records, the Treasurers' records and the current andproposed budgets, and found all aspects of the fiscal operation of theassociation to be in good order.  The committee did recommend finding away to reduce or recover the cost of manuscript revisions if possible; it foundthat revisions offset the savings resulting from electronic communication ofmanuscripts to Allen Press.

 

Troy L. Best reported for the Honors Committee  (ChairBest, Alice F. Echelle, Gary A. Heidt, William J. Matthews, Gary D. Schnell)that the committee was nominating two persons to receive the W. Frank BlairEminent Naturalist Award, and one to receive the Robert L. Packard OutstandingEducator Award based on nominations that the committee received, complete with curriculumvitae, nomination letters, and supportletters, and he moved as committee chair that the nominations for each award beapproved without identification so that the award could be announced at theBusiness Meeting as is traditional.  The motion was seconded and passed.

 

Paula S. Williamson reported for the Conservation Committee(Chair Robert B. Channell, Bryan D. Carver, Jennifer K. Frey, David J. Hafner, Caryn C. Vaughn) thatthe committee reviewed The Southwestern Naturalist (45(3), 45(4), 46(1), and 46(2)) and selected anominee for the George M. Sutton Award for Conservation Research for 2001. The committee chose, "Population Estimates, Movements, and Size Structureof the Endangered Quitobaquito pupfish, Cyprinodon maculariuseremus," published in The Southwestern Naturalist 46(2):141-150, authored by Marlis R. Douglas,Michael E. Douglas, and Patrick C. Brunner.  The Board previously hadapproved this nomination by mail ballot, and President Williamson had notifiedthe authors of the award to be given at the banquet on Saturday.

 

Chair Edie Marsh-Matthews reported for the Wilks AwardCommittee that 7 abstracts were received and reviewed, and that 4 were selectedas finalists for presentation at the Plenary Session.  The winner was tobe announced and would receive the award at the banquet on Saturday afterjudging by a panel of 3 bilingual judges.  Marsh-Matthews also announcedthat 22 posters were entered in the Clark Hubbs Student Poster Competition, andthe results from that competition were also to be announced and the awardpresented at the banquet, following judging by a panel of bilingual judges.

 

Marsh-Matthews also reviewed the procedures and criteria forsubmission and review for the 2 competitions, and encouraged the BOG toconsider electronic or FAX submission in addition to the traditional mailedabstracts for the Wilks competition. W.J. Matthews moved that (1) henceforth the Wilks competition submissionprocess shall no longer require 5 printed copies of the abstract, (2) eitherSpanish or English language abstracts shall be accepted, and (3) an abstractmust be submitted at least 2 weeks prior to the abstract deadline for themeeting. The motion was secondedand approved.

 

Clark Hubbs then moved that the Clark Hubbs Student PosterAward competition be limited to posters authored solely by a student orstudents. The motion was notseconded. There was considerablediscussion of what the guidelines for poster competition participation shouldbe, and the BOG requested that Marsh-Matthews develop a set of revised, clearguidelines for future poster competitions. The BOG thanked Marsh-Matthews for her and the judges' work.

 

President Williamson reported for the Public Relations andPublicity Committee (Chair Robert S. Sikes, Stan Gehrt, Meredith J. Hamilton,Renn Tumlison, and Kathryn Vaughn).  Thecommittee publicized the awards given last year by announcements to appropriatemedia outlets and institutions and planned to make similar announcements thisyear.

 

Philip D. Sudman reported for the Membership Committee (Chair Sudman, Bryon K. Clark, Joseph D. Maness, Dwight W. Moore, MiguelA. Mora, and Christopher M. Taylor) that membership brochures continue togenerate new memberships, that 17 free student memberships were awarded duringor after the Hays meeting, and that lapsed members were being reminded torenew, including those who received free student memberships. There was considerable discussion ofideas for generating new members, after which Sudman moved that the BOGauthorize 30 free, new, student memberships as it has in past years. The motion was seconded and approved.

 

President Williamson reported that the Development Committeehas been inactive, that Chair Anthony A. Echelle has resigned, and asked forsuggestions for a new chair.

 

President Williamson reported for Historian Meredith J.Hamilton that SWAN needs materials for the archives, and then brought up aletter received by Hamilton from Dr. David Marshall of the SouthwestCollection/Special Collections Library of Texas Tech University. Marshall offered the services of thecollection, should SWAN wish to move its archives.

 

Marshall's offer resulted in considerable discussion and arecommendation that the Historian contact the library staff at the Universityof Oklahoma to establish clear communication. William J. Matthews made a brochure describing theUniversity of Oklahoma's Western History Collection, which holds SWAN archives,available to those present. TheBOG took no action to move the SWAN Archives.

 

In Chair Ronald A. Van Den Bussche's absence, PresidentWilliamson reported for the Program Committee (Van den Bussche, Salvador Contreras-Balderas,Topiltzin Contreras MacBeath, William J. Stark) by drawing the BOG member's attention to the printed report in which Van Den Bussche described planningunderway for the 2003 50th Anniversary Meeting in Norman, Oklahoma,and stated that the committee has received an invitation from The University ofTexas at San Antonio for SWAN to meet there in 2004.  He also called onthe BOG membership to assist in solicitation of a host for the 2005 and latermeetings.

 

There followed discussion of symposia and of the ProgramProcedural Manual. PresidentWilliamson, after ascertaining that the BOG wished her to do so, stated thatshe would request the Program Committee to revise the manual to update it and toinclude both Spanish and English versions.

 

Topiltzin Contreras MacBeath reported for the LocalCommittee that there were more than 200 oral presentations and more than 100posters scheduled for presentation, and that meeting participants were from theUSA, México, Guatemala, Panama, and Cuba. He also described details of meeting social activities and locations ofmeeting sessions. Topiltzin alsoasked for a volunteer to be interviewed on a local radio station concerningSWAN and the meeting. Stanley F.Fox volunteered and was to be on the air at 7:00 a.m. on Friday morning. The BOG thanked Topiltzin and themembers of the Local Committee for their hard work and success in puttingtogether the meeting.

 

Robert D. Owen reported for the ad hoc Cross-Border Affairs Committee. He presented the purposes of thecommittee, identified its members (Owen, Stanley F. Fox, Michael L. Kennedy,Celia López González, Ma. de Lourdes Romero Almaraz, Bruce Stewart), explainedthe committee's desire to avoid duplication with the purposes and activity ofthe International Relations Committee, described the method of the committee'swork, and described the issues the committee considered. Finally, he presented severalrecommendations to facilitate cross-border participation in SWANactivities. These recommendationswere followed by a lengthy discussion of (1) the possibility of the annualmeeting regularly extending through Saturday evening, (2) the internationalnature of the society and its journal, (3) facilitation of travel to themeeting, especially by students, and (3) funding of student awards.

 

The BOG then approved a motion by Michael L. Kennedy(properly seconded) to include $10,000 in the 2003 budget for student travel tothe meeting, and for the ad hocCommittee on Cross-Border Relations to develop a procedure for students toapply for travel expenses and for the awards to be made.

 

President Williamson then polled the BOG on whether futuremeetings should extend through Saturday evening, and a majority approved. This is not an action of the BOG, butonly establishes its general informal agreement. William J. Matthews made it known that though he can try tomake changes for the 2003 meeting, the schedule for such activities as thebanquet and use of facilities has been set, and he may not be able to change thosethings.


Committee reports being completed, the BOG took up Old Business:

Michael L. Kennedy reported for the ad hoc Long Range PlanningCommittee (Chair Kennedy, Jerry R. Choate, Bryon K. Clark, SalvadorContreras-Balderas, Anthony A. Echelle, Robert J. Edwards, CeliaLópez-González, Edie Marsh-Matthews, Dwight W. Moore, O.W. Van Auken, Caren C.Vaughn) that there has been little recent activity by the committee, but thatpartly as a result of discussions earlier in the meeting, several issues may bereconsidered by the committee, including (1) a recommendation concerning theduration and dates for the meeting, (2) the name of the society, (3) therelationship of the society to students to make sure that the organization isstudent friendly.

 

Bruce Stewart reported for the ad hoc International Relations Committee (SalvadorContreras-Balderas and Stewart (Co-chairs), Topiltzin Contreras MacBeath,Robert J. Edwards, Stanley F. Fox, Robert D. Owen) by drawing the board'sattention to the committee's written report. He also thanked this year's Local Committee and UAEM forpaying his expenses for travel to Cuernavaca to help with planning for thismeeting. Philip Sudman and otherboard members expressed thanks to Stewart for his work in producing the travelweb page for this meeting.

 

Dwight Moore reported on the state of the SWAN web site forthe ad hoc Web Site Copmmittee (Chair Moore, Brenda S. Clark, Karen McBee, Carrie K. Preite). He asked for assistance in improvingthe Spanish material, and from someone who can improve the links for thedirectory database. There was alsodiscussion of the possibility of developing a SWAN listserv, which Mooreindicated could be readily done should the BOG desire it. No action was taken. The BOG thanked Moore for his work inmaintaining the site.

 

President Williamson reported for Chair Robert C. Dowlerthat the ad hoc Committee on Disposal ofBack Issues of the SWN (Dowler, Brenda S. Clark, CeliaLópez-González, Edie Marsh-Matthews) has been successful in its task of disposal, reminded the BOG that allback issues remaining are stored at Angelo State University at no cost to SWAN,and reminded the BOG that the back issues account is now a part of theTreasurer's accounts.

 

President Williamson reported for the ad hoc Committee on the 50th Anniversary (ChairBryon K. Clark, Karen McBee, Dwight W. Moore) that the committee recommendsfunding of the Student Research Awards at $5,000 ($1,000 per award) for 2003out of general funds, and proposes a new standing committee, the Student ResearchFund Committee. William J.Matthews moved that the BOG fund the Student Research Awards as recommended,there was a second, and the motion passed. Edie Marsh-Matthews then volunteered that the Wilks AwardCommittee (which she chairs) could take on the task of developing a procedurefor student applications and awards for research, without appointment of a newstanding committee. The BOG members were generally favorable to thissuggestion, and President Williamson assigned the task to the Wilks Committee.

 

David L. McNeely reported, as his written report to thePresident dated 29 November 2001 showed, that an ad hoc Ballot Committee (Chair McNeely, Troy Baird, andWilliam Caire) found that each of the three constitutional amendments proposedlast year passed by wide margins. President Williamson then reported on the status of the Constitution,including that it will appear in the journal. 

 

The BOG briefly discussed the possibility of the societymaking Distinguished Awards posthumously. Several BOG members contributed the opinion that awards may be madeposthumously if a nomination was made while the honoree was living.

 

Old Business being concluded, the BOG took up NewBusiness:

 

Following a motion and a second to do so, Brenda S. Clarkwas reappointed as Treasurer, David L. McNeely was reappointed as Secretary,and Ronald A. Van Den Bussche was reappointed as Program Director. Following a motion and a second, TerryYates was appointed to another term as a member of the Board of Trustees.

 

Karen McBee nominated Timothy Brush of the University ofTexas-Pan American to serve as Associate Editor for Birds; the motion wasseconded and approved. McBee thennominated Mark E. Eberle of Fort Hays State University to serve as ManagingEditor; the motion was seconded and passed.

 

William J. Matthews was appointed as Local Representativefor the 2003 Annual Meeting in Norman. He reported on developing plans for the meeting. The meeting will be on 17-19 April atthe OU Conference Center, campus housing will be available, the Sam NobleOklahoma Museum of Natural History will host a social, and costs will be upslightly due to the necessity of using conference center facilities andpersonnel. If Matthews can arrangeit, the BOG wish to have the meeting extend through Saturday evening will behonored.

 

On a motion, a second, and a unanimous vote, the BOGapproved an invitation from the University of Texas at San Antonio to host the2004 meeting in San Antonio. O.W.Van Auken was nominated, seconded, and approved unanimously to serve as theLocal Representative for the 2004 meeting.

 

Brenda S. Clark had provided a written report on the 2002and proposed 2003 budgets. There was a motion for approval, a second, anddiscussion followed. Clarkanswered several questions concerning specific items in the budget. Amendments were offered, seconded, and passed for the followingadjustments to the 2003 budget proposal:

Under Projected Income

 

  1. Page Charges were increased from $16,000 to $23,000.
  2. A new line item, Income Transferred from Endowment, was added, the amount being $3,500.

 

Under the Proposed Budget

 

  1. Journal Printing and Postage was decreased from $50,000 to $45,000.
  2. Annual Meeting Expenses was increased from $500 to $1000.
  3. A new line item, Student Research Awards, was added, the amount being $5,000.
  4. A new line item, Student Travel, was added, the amount being $10,000.

 

The BOG approved a balanced budget of $76,500 to bepresented to the membership at the Annual Business Meeting.  The BOG thenthanked Clark for her work as Treasurer.

 

The 2002 BOG meeting adjourned at 1800.

Respectfully submitted,
David L. McNeely
Secretary

 


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