MINUTES OF THE 2002 ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING OF THE
MINERALOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
The 83rd annual Business Meeting of the Mineralogical Society of America was held in Room C101/103 of the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado, on October 29, 2002.
ITEMS
1. Call to Order
President Doug Rumble called the meeting to order at 4:50 PM, Tuesday, October 29, 2002. D. Rumble began the meeting by calling for the Secretary's report.
2. Secretary’s report
David Jenkins read the Secretary’s report for the 2002 council year. His report included: membership statistics; newly appointed fellows of the society; medal and research grant award recipients for next year; the Best Paper award for 2001; upcoming short courses and publications; acknowledgment of the financial support received from the US Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and the Italian Academy of Science for their support of seven short courses and/or RiMG volumes; thanks for Paul Ribbe's work as series editor of the RiMG volumes and council's recognition of his desire to step down or curtail his activities as series editor; recognition of the MSA Lecture-series lecturers for next year; listing the names of those members who died during the past year; announcement of MSA's involvement as a founding member of an electronic publishing aggregate that is being formed by six societies and one institution; past-president Ewing's efforts at developing a multi-society magazine to widen our communication among the sciences; creation of the editorial office to maintain and update the Handbook of Mineralogy, headed by Richard Bideaux; and announcement of the officers and councillors elected in the spring ballot election. The full text of the report will be published in The Lattice.
D. Rumble asked if there were any questions or emendations to the Secretary's report. There were none.
3. Treasurer’s report
James Blencoe read the Treasurer’s report. His report included: a statement that 2001 was a good year financially; there was a 4% decrease in the total value of the society's funds by the end of 2001 but that the fund performance was relatively good considering the general market performance; a review of society membership and institutional subscription rates to the American Mineralogist; sales of RiMG volumes; noted that the accounting books were audited and found to be in good order; reviewed the membership dues and pointed out that individual subscription rates are based on the cost of producing extra copies; and that uncertainties exist in the budget planning process because the budgets are planned 13 — 14 months in advance and the variable number of RiMG volumes produced or reprinted in a given year. He emphasized that the budget is prepared using liberal estimates of expenses and conservative estimates of income. The full text of the report will be published in The Lattice.
4. Editors’ of American Mineralogist report
Robert Dymek read the Editor’s report. His report included: comments that this past year has been good with high submission rates; noted that 60-65% of authors are from foreign countries and contrasted this with the decline in foreign institutional subscriptions; mentioned that the AllenTrack system for submitting manuscripts electronically was now in place; the editorial office was using a 6-week schedule to handle the 8 issues of the American Mineralogist published each year; compliments were extended to Rachel Russell (Managing Editor) for keeping publication of the Amer. Mineral. on track; discussed the merger of Geological Materials Research (GMR) with the American Mineralogist and that GMR will no longer exist as a separate entity; John Brady and Frank Spear will serve as special editors for "GMR-style" electronic articles submitted to the American Mineralogist; and he reviewed special issues of the American Mineralogist that were published in 2002 to honor Mike Holdaway and Robert Reynolds and the special volumes on Environmental Mineralogy and High-Pressure Minerals planned for 2003. The full text of the report will be published in The Lattice.
5. Adjournment
D. Rumble reminded members of the joint reception with the Geochemical Society that will be held in the Marriott City Center hotel following the Business Meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:20 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
David M. Jenkins, MSA Secretary.