Call to order.The SMBE Council met during two sessions at the Sorrento Hilton, Sorrento, Italy. President Michael Clegg called the first session to order at 1:37 p.m. on June 13, 2002 and the second at 1:15 p.m. on June 14, 2002. In attendance at the first session were Councilor Montserrat Aguadé, President Michael Clegg, Editor Simon Easteal, Treasurer Dick Hudson, and Secretary Marcy Uyenoyama; these Council members were joined at the second session by President-Elect Naoyuki Takahata. S. Blair Hedges, organizer of the 2004 annual meetings, made a report at the second session. Due to a lack of a quorum at the first session, all formal actions were taken at the second session.
Approval of minutes.Council approved the minutes of the 2001 Council and Business meetings, published in the December 2001 issue of the Journal.
Treasurer's report.Treasurer Dick Hudson summarized the financial state of the Society (see report), noting the funds recovered from recently billed page charges associated with publications during the past few years.
Secretary's report.Secretary Marcy Uyenoyama summarized the actions of the Council during the preceding year. Council approved proposals from Brandon Gaut and Francisco Ayala to host the 2003 annual meeting at the University of California at Irvine and from S. Blair Hedges to host the 2004 meeting at Pennsylvania State University at State College.
Past-President Daniel Hartl appointed Kent Holsinger, John McDonald, Linda Strausbaugh, and Secretary Marcy Uyenoyama (ex officio) to the nominations committee for the 2002 SMBE elections. John C. Avise and Dan Graur agreed to stand for election for President-Elect, Michael P. Cummings and Marta L. Wayne for Treasurer, and Robin M. Bush and Jody Hey for Councilor. Election materials accompanied the May 2002 issue of the Journal and were sent separately to members with online-only subscriptions.
Upon expiration, on December 31, 2001 of the Society's contract with Allen Press for publication of Molecular Biology and Evolution, the then president, Daniel Hartl, signed a 1-year extension contract on behalf of the Society. An ad hoc committee comprising Editor Simon Easteal, President Michael Clegg, President-Elect Naoyuki Takahata, and Secretary Marcy Uyenoyama reviewed proposals from Allen Press, Blackwell Publishing, Cold Spring Harbor Press, The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), MIT Press, and Oxford University Press. After reviewing the proposals, Council approved the recommendation of the ad hoc committee to pursue negotiations with Oxford University Press.
Marcy Uyenoyama and Deputy Editor Stanley Sawyer discussed the transfer of the SMBE website (www.smbe.org) from Allen Press to HighWire Press. Among the objectives were to offer SMBE members personalized functions, including online journal subscription and renewal, and online voting in Society elections. However, the representatives of HighWire (Jamey Frank and Bill Witscher) indicated that the level of systems development such functions would require lie beyond that organization's current and future plans. As a result the domain name service (DNS) registration of the Society website was transferred from Allen Press to Duke University, which has agreed to host www.smbe.org free of charge. The Society's prepaid registration with Network Solutions runs through September 16, 2003.
Editor's report.Simon Easteal presented the report of the Editor (see report).
New business.S. Blair Hedges presented a report on the organizational plans and facilities available for the 2004 SMBE meeting at Penn State University at State College.
A committee comprising Michael Clegg, Naoyuki Takahata, and Walter M. Fitch was formed to identify candidates for the post of the next editor of the Journal, whose term will begin in September 2003.
Council approved Michael Clegg's appointment of a committee to review the Society by-laws and make a comprehensive review of the system and mechanics of governance. This committee includes Naoyuki Takahata, Marcy Uyenoyama, and an additional member of the Society.
Council expressed support for revision of the categories and rates of Society membership, including a membership-only category that does not include a subscription to the online or print versions of the Journal.
Council extensively discussed the terms of agreements with Oxford University Press, which will assume publication of the Journal, beginning with the January 2003 issue. Council authorized Simon Easteal, Michael Clegg, and Marcy Uyenoyama to conclude negotiations with Cathy Kennedy of the Oxford University Press, and Michael Clegg to sign the final agreement on behalf of the Society.
Business Meeting, 2002
Call to order.President Michael Clegg called to order the annual SMBE Business meeting at 2:30 p.m. on July 15, 2002. Michael Clegg announced that the Society has reached an agreement with Oxford University Press for publication of the Journal, beginning in 2003. He also described the committees formed to identify candidates for the post of the next editor and to address Society governance. Editor Simon Easteal and Treasurer Dick Hudson summarized their reports, which were presented at the Council meeting.
New business.A suggestion raised by the membership was that SMBE meetings be held more frequently in Europe.
Addenda
Ying Chen, University of Munich, Germany, was awarded the Walter M. Fitch Student Prize for her presentation, "Functional analysis of phylogenetically conserved sequence elements in intron 1 of the Drosophila melanogaster Adh gene." The Fitch prize committee, comprising Thomas Mitchell-Olds, Montserrat Aguadé, and Brandon Gaut, selected the contestants for the competition and chose the winning presentation.
SMBE members have elected John C. Avise (President-Elect), Marta L. Wayne (Treasurer), and Jody Hey (Councilor). Their three-year terms begin on January 1, 2003.