1. ESTABLISHMENT OF QUORUM.
2. OPENING REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
3. BUDGET
4. SELECTION OF NEW EDITIOR FOR PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND PHOTOBIOLOGY
5. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
President Gasparro called the meeting to order at 19:50. The presence of a quorum was established.
Members present: President Frank Gasparro, Past-president Al Girotti, Secretary Antony Young, Treasure Denis Valenzeno, Photochemistry and Photobiology Editor Irene Kochevar, Councillors, Jean Cadet, Colin Chignell, Lanie Hill, Nik Kollias, Joan Roberts, Ana Moore, Nancy Oleinick, Allan Oseroff, Tom Owens, Executive Secretary Sherwood Reichard
Members absent: President-elect Margaret Kripke, Councillors, Rosalie Crouch, Masaki Furuya, Gary Schuster, Newsletter Editor (?) Meyrick Peak
2. OPENING REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
President Dr Frank Gasparro toasted the outgoing president A Girotti and the first 25 years of the ASP. Dr Reichard proposed a toast to the new president.
President Dr Gasparro raised some of the issues that had been discussed at the past presidents lunch. The most important was the Journal. It was suggested that a possible link with the American Chemical Society be explored. The current publishing contract with Allen Press ends in 2 years. The ACS prints journals and will be contacted by the Publication Committee.
Dr Gasparro said that efforts must be made to increase ASP membership and attendance. He would like to see 500 people at the annual ASP meeting. He suggested that non-ASP members could be invited onto ASP committees as a means of getting new active participation in the Society. The chairs of such committees should however always be Council members.
The President handed out Committee Assignments for 1996-1997.
President Gasparro commented on the late arrival of some of the programme material of the Atlanta meeting. Council discussed some the practical problems arising from the Atlanta meeting. The large number of projection failures was considered unacceptable for a high quality meeting. Dr Gasparro said that saving money on projection facilities might be a false economy. Council felt that improvements must be made. One suggestion was to try and recruit non-meeting students at $10/h, as ASP students should be attending the sessions rather than working as projectionists. However, this would not solve the problem of faulty equipment. It was agreed that Dr Reichard should go to the site 1 month before the meeting to ensure that all the equipment was in good working order. Dr Oseroff suggested that all rooms should be equipped with timers to help keep sessions on schedule; a sentiment widely supported by Council. Dr Reichard informed Council that the ASP had bought laser pointers. President Gasparro requested that these should be engraved with the ASP name. He also suggested that a student should be employed as a "runner". Such a person could be on stand-by to deal with any emergencies.
Council discussed divisional meetings and that lunch should be available at the next meeting in St Louis. A fee of $4.00 would be paid as part of the registration fee to establish the number of lunches to be provided. The members would have to decide which division they belonged to in advance. A late-news bulletin should be available to inform the membership of any last-minute changes of program at the meeting as well as information of division meetings. Several members of Council indicated that they found it difficult to communicate with members of their division. Dr Valenzeno said that this information is available on photobiology online. Dr Oseroff said that it was important to keep updated e-mail address lists. Dr Reichard pointed out that many members do not provide this information.
Council discussed the importance of early registration for the annual meeting. This is vital to the booking of hotel facilities which had to be done in advance and carried penalties if anticipated numbers were not met. It should be stressed to members that early booking greatly helps the Society in the planning of the meeting.
Many Council members felt that the Banquet was poor value for money and did not encourage mixing. Dr Roberts suggested that it might be better to have two receptions even if this meant paying for the 2nd event.
Council voted on the best length for the ASP meeting. There were 9 votes for 4 days, 4 votes for 4 1/2 days and no votes for 5 days. There was a general feeling of Council that the number of posters should be increased (79 at Atlanta?) and that posters should not be seen as 2nd best presentations. Dr Owens pointed out that the continental breakfast also encouraged people to attend the regular presentations as well as the posters. President Gasparro stressed the need to encourage attendance at the poster sessions. Dr Girotti, the organiser of the next meeting, informed Council that he had a sense of the discussion.
Council also discussed the Content for the 1997 meeting in St Louis. Suggestions for Plenary Lecturers included, Rex Tyrrell, Mike Rogers (on singlet oxygen), Tony McDonagh (on bilirubin), Jerry Babcod (on photosynthesis suggested by Dr Moore) and Photosensory biology. Dr Girotti invited suggestions for symposia as soon as possible. Dr Owens suggested that symposia should have multi-disciplinary appeal. This was endorsed by other members of Council who felt that there should be more mixing of disciplines and divisions. Dr Moore will suggest some St Louis colleagues for a symposium on photosynthesis. Dr Oseroff suggested a decrease in the number of PDT sessions as some the sessions in Atlanta had been lacking in quality. Dr Roberts suggested an eye symposium. Dr Girotti suggested a symposium on UV and the environment. Jim Heitz was proposed as a possible speaker on photosensitization by herbicides and pesticides. Fred Urbach is organising a historical symposium which will be published in the Journal. Other suggestions included ALA, Nitrous Oxide, and Spin Trapping to be organized by Garry Buettner. Dr Hill suggested that there should be a school on Melanins. It was also suggested that Tony McDonagh might give a school on Practical Aspects of Molecular Probes. Dr Girotti suggested a workshop on Grantmanship by Studler, but it was agreed to defer this idea to 1998. Dr Moore pointed out that some of her St Louis colleagues would be willing to help with the meeting and that she would e-mail their addresses to Dr Girotti.
It was noted that there was a disproportionate number of invited speakers in relation to proffered papers and this could be seen as an example of the "greying" of the Society. Dr Kollias said young people should be given priority.
The President raised 2 further items for discussion:
A. The establishment of an ad-hoc co-operative task force on sunscreens. The aim of which would be to act as a bridge between the ASP and the sunscreen industry. After extensive discussion by interested parties it was agreed that this was not Council business and that the President could independently appoint an ad hoc committee.
B. The formation of a Press advisory ad hoc committee.
The treasurer, Dr Valenzeno, presented a draft budget for the financial year 1996 - 1997 which was based on actual expenses for the year 1994 - 1995 and a projection of the incomplete expense report for 1995-1996. He identified some important trends. These included a decline in Journal income and higher journal production costs. Administration and management fees were up 10% as a result of the new contract with Dr Reichard.
Discussion followed and various adjustments to the budget were made. Dr Valenzeno stressed the importance of balancing the budget.
Council discussed the possible updating of the ASP logo. Not all members felt that this was necessary but Dr Kochevar agreed to approach a professional designer in Boston with a maximum budget of $1000. It was agreed that the new logo should be closely based on the current logo. A selection of possible designs would be completed by October 1st so that Council could make its final choice in the Fall meeting of 1996.
Dr Kochevar said that the budget for Editorial travel may increase as editors may carry forward their travel allowances to attend the editorial board meeting at the International Meeting in Vienna in September 1996. Dr Gasparro suggested that the Budget for Photobiology Online should be increased to $2000 to allow for additional expenses of placing Journal abstracts online. Dr Hill pointed out that the Pan American Society for Pigment Cell Research (PASPCR) had paid $2500 for 3 of its members to attend the (which?) ASP meeting and Council agreed that this gesture should be reciprocated so that 3 ASP members could go to the PASPCR meeting. However, Council felt that this should not be seen as a precedent.
The President proposed defraying the lunch expenses ($5 per head) for the Women and Minorities group meeting but Dr Girotti would make the final decision on this.
It was agreed that a $1000 budget should be allocated for public relations, but Dr Roberts felt that she would be unlikely to spend all of this.
There was some discussion of the source of funds for the Council dinner. It was agreed that this expense should be taken from the Council Travel budget but this should be re-named Council Expenses.
The Journal Editor Irene Kochevar discussed methods of promoting the Journal. She suggested getting an advisory group of 4 people together, but stressed that it would be much better to obtain professional advice by engaging a consultant for 1-2 days. A budget of up to $4000 for this purpose was suggested by the treasurer Dennis Valenzeno.
Tom Owens suggested that as the Society approached its 25th year it would be a good time to re-evaluate its goals. This suggestion was strongly supported by Alan Oseroff. In this context, the promotion of the Journal should be seen as part of a wider package.
The President raised the issue of the Photobiology Foundation. He stressed that the number of ASP members who made a contribution was more important than the total financial contribution. An advisory committee would be established and Dr Albert Kligman was suggested a possible important member. Dr Hill suggested that a gold tag/sticker/ribbon could be given to members who had supported the Foundation. Council discussed the need to recognise different levels of support. $500 and $10,0000 categories were proposed but suitable names for each level of donation had to be determined (what names were suggested?). The President said that he would like an announcement on the Foundation in the Newsletter, pointing out that contributions would be tax deductible. It was proposed that a new section be added to the "dues reminder" to enable people to add a donation to the Foundation. This would be accompanied with a letter about the Foundation. A press release would also be made.
Dr Oseroff said that it would be important for the Foundation to start giving awards as soon as possible as this approach would be more likely to attract donations. Council supported this suggestion. There was considerable discussion about the awards that would be made by the Photobiology Foundation. The feeling of Council was that a total of $10,000 should be allocated in the first year and that there should be 5 awards of $2000 each (but distribution of the total would be flexible) and that wards should be one-time only. However, the awards would be made by the advisory sub-committee. This committee would draw up the criteria for the awards which would in due course be announced in the Newsletter. Council considered some of the criteria such as (a) soundness of proposal (b) originality and creativity and (c) need (e.g. access to other sources of funds). Council felt that awards for pilot studies might be very valuable to increase the chance of funding for grant giving agencies. Dr Oseroff stressed the importance of seeking funds from industry. Dr Gasparro said that he would write to the advisory committee (when established) to inform them that Council wants to initiate the awards as soon as possible. He also suggested that it would be a good idea for the advisory committee to meet the council at its fall meeting in Chicago.
The treasurer suggested allocating $100,000 into the budget to set up an investment fund for the Photobiology Foundation and moved to accept the budget, summarized below. This was seconded by Dr H Hill and unanimously voted for by Council.
| Journal related revenues | $ 403,500 |
| Non-journal related revenues | $ 183,700 |
| TOTAL REVENUES | $ 587,200 |
| Journal related disbursements | $ 344,000 |
| Secretariat operations | $ 75,880 |
| Society operations/programs | $ 159,000 |
| TOTAL DISBURSEMENTS | $ 578,880 |
| BALANCE | $ 8,320 |
| Investment fund expenditures | |
| Photobiology Foundation | $ 100,000 |
| Journal promotion | $ 4,000 |
| TOTAL INVESTMENT EXPENDITURE | $ 104,000 |
| FINAL BALANCE | $ (95,689) |
4. SELECTION OF NEW EDITIOR FOR PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND PHOTOBIOLOGY
The Journal editor Irene Kochevar pointed out that she would act for one term only and her 4 year tenure ended at the end of 1997. An ad hoc committee should be established to identify a new editor. This committee should be chaired by Chris Foote and suggested members of this committee included Margaret Kripke, Bobby Redmond, John Hearst, Usha Andley and Rick Granstein.
President Gasparro suggested that a review of ASP benefactors and other contributors (e.g. sustaining members) should be on the agenda at the Fall Council meeting in Chicago.
The meeting adjourned at 23:50.
Dr Antony R Young
Department of Photobiology
St John's Institute of Dermatology
St Thomas' Hospital
London SE1 7EH
UK
Tel + 44 171 928 9292 Ex 1406
Fax + 44 171 928 1650
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