IRGO Minutes 29 July 1994
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH GROUP ON OSTRACODA, ON JULY 29, 1994, HELD IN PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC.
Dr. R. Maddocks, Vice-Chair, was in the chair in the absence of the Chairman, Dr. P. De Deckker. Dr. K. Wouters as Secretary took the minutes of the meeting. Some 70 members attended the evening session. Minutes of the last meeting (Warrnambool): these were read by the secretary, and were accepted unanimously as being a true report.
Memorials: N. de B. Hornibrook, 1994, age 66 (New Zealand); H.S. Puri, 1987 (U.S.A.)); F.-F. Helmdach, 1994, age 54 (Germany); Vl. Pokorny, 1989, age 67 (Czechia). The delegates held a minute of silence to commemorate these fine colleagues.
Dr. P. De Deckker, Chairman, who could not attend the meeting, sent a message to be addressed to the ostracod workers attending the symposium. This message had been circulated during the symposium prior to the meeting. The central message theme is that ostracod workers should endeavour into a new era of communication and that ostracod meetings should be opened to "others", so as to tell those people what ostracod science can offer. As past Chairman, he was elected Counselor of IRGO. Dr. E. Brouwers regretted that she could not be in Prague. She proposed that she is willing to continue to serve as editor of Cypris. This proposal was unanimously accepted, and warmly applauded. Dr. R. Maddocks announced that a Gopher has been established for the International Research Group on Ostracoda within the University of Houston Gopher. All information for the Gopher should be sent to an IRGO officer for transmittal to her my e-mail.
Dr. R. Maddocks read the treasurer’s report, IRGO: On February 1, 1993 an account was set up in the name of the International Research Group on Ostracoda within the University of Houston, to be managed by me as Vice-Chair of IRGO. This was done at the request of Patrick de Deckker, Chair, Elisabeth Brouwers, Editor of Cypris, and Donald S. Van Nieuwenhuise, to accomodate a gift of $4000 from Amoco Production Company. Total income, including also gifts from Dorothy Echols and Elisabeth Brouwers: $4155.27. Total expenditures (membership 1994 IPA and printing and binding 375 copies of Cypris no. 12: $1108.31. Balance on hand: $3096.96. A motion was the raised whether IRGO needs an office of treasurer. Dr. R. Kaesler proposed, Dr. K Martens secondeded. The motion was passed unanimously. Dr. R. Maddocks thanked Amoco Production Company and Dr. Van Nieuwenhuise, D, Echols, and E. Brouwers for their generous gifts. Dr. R. Maddocks thanked Dr. E. Brouwers for producing a handsome volume of Cypris on schedule once again. The newsletter is certainly the finest of its kind. Dr. D. Keyser suggested to send the newsletter via e-mail to the national correspondents, who can distribute it in their country. Dr. M. Keen said he strongly opposed this, because the more people you have responsible for further distribution, the higher the possibility that things can go wrong. Dr. I. Boomer argued that some countries are maybe better equipped than others, and that he still would prefer a hard copy. Dr. K. Martens said that e-mail is a fantastic tool, but that we should not concentrate at once on the new tool. Paper will for quite a while be important. Dr. W. Geiger asked if members should not pay for the newsletter. Dr. L. Knox answered that conversion of currency would make this very difficult and create a lot of problems. Dr. M. Keen suggested to collect the money during the International Symposia. Dr. R. Maddocks closed this discussion by asserting that we do not need a solution at the moment, but that we should think about this in the future.
Until now, the informality of IRGO has been both a strength and a weakness. Should a membership list be kept, Dr. R. Maddocks asked? Should decisions be made by only those members in attendance at the business meetings? Should advance notice of certain proposals, such as invitations for future meetings, be placed in Cypris or on the Gopher? She had no specific proposals to make, but she believed that it may be timely to begin to discuss these issues. Dr. K. Martens stressed that changing for the benefit of changing is not good, and he proposed to keep things as they are. Dr. J. Neale said that we should keep our flexibility, and that we do not need a rigid system.
Next Meeting: Regarding the 13th International Symposium on Ostracoda in 1997, there were two proposals. One was presented by Dr. N. Aladin. He invited the delegates to the Mining Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia. He presented his proposal, and gave details on the subscription fee and on the accomodation, which would not be too expensive. The theme of the symposium would be on taxonomy of ostracoda and the importance of collections. The secretary, K. Wouters then read the official invitation letter addressed to IRGO. The second proposal was presented by Dr. D. Horne. He invited the delegates to the University of Greenwich, Chatham (Kent), England, U.K. He guaranteed inexpensive student accomodation on the university campus. He said that he was considering to adopt a new style of meeting, similar to what Dr. A. Lord proposed some years ago. The actual symposium would be divided in three sub-symposia, each covering a specific theme, and keynote speakers could be invited. After this presentation followed a long and interesting discussion, with numerous questions asked to Dr. N. Aladin and D. Horne. It was then put to a vote to decide the location of the next symposium. Drs. L. Knox and M. Puckett were appointed as tellers.
St. Petersburg: 32 votes
Chatham (Kent): 38 votes
Election of Officers: Prior to the IRGO meeting, a committee consisting of Drs. J. Neale, H. Oertli, and W. van den Bold had been appointed by the Vice-Chair and the Secretary, for the selection of officers and presentation of names to the general meeting for the offices of Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary. On behalf of this committee, Dr. J. Neale nominated one candidate for each office: Chair: Dr. R. Kaesler, Vice-Chair: Dr. D. Keyser, and Secretary: Dr. D. van Harten. Dr. R. Maddocks thanked the members of the committee, and asked whether there were other proposals or nominations. Dr. D. Keyser nominated Dr. R. Maddocks as Treasurer. Dr. R. Kaesler seconded. No other nominations were presented. Dr. M. Kontrovitz moved that the nominations be closed. This was seconded by Dr. Q. Siddiqui. The officers were then unanimously elected by the attending members.
Dr. R. Maddocks raised the question of the IRGO account, stating that it is a nice problem to have money. Dr. I. Wilkinson asked if one signature or two were needed. Dr. Maddocks answered that the money is on an account within the University of Houston, and that the signatures are those of the dean and the vice-president responsible for financial affairs. Dr. R. Kaesler said that putting the money on a private bank would complicate procedures very much. Dr. N. Krstic asked the new treasurer to keep procedures as easy as possible. Then the question was raised on the duration of the term of the office of treasurer. Dr. K. Martens proposed a term of 6 years. Dr. R. Kaesler said that if a term of 6 years were to be accepted, it should not coincide with the 6 year term of the secretary. Dr. J. Neale proposed that this matter should be discussed among the newly elected officers and should be decided upon during the 13th International Symposium.
Dr. R. Maddocks proposed that a society that has existed since 1964, that has elected officers, and that has a bank account ought to have by-laws. She suggested that an ad hoc By-Laws Committee be elected and charged to write an outline of society procedures, including the authority and responsibilities of each office. This proposal was accepted by Dr. R. Kaesler and seconded by Dr. D. Keyser. 68 people voted in favour of this proposal, two voted against. With 68 votes in favour, and two abstentions, the following persons were elected as members of the By-Law Committee: Drs. D. van Harten, L. Ferguson, and K. Wouters. The Committee will be chaired by D. Van Harten. It will present a report during the business meeting of the 13th International Symposium.
Dr. R. Maddocks said that the age of electronic communications is upon us, and that the "Gopher" is only a tiny first step. She suggested that an ad hoc Electronic Communications Committee be charged to explore the possibilities and make recommendations. There were no proposals or motions on this matter.
It was agreed to hold the 13th International Symposium on Ostracoda in Chatham, Kent in 1997.
Dr. D. Siveter informed the meeting that new officers had been elected for the International Research Group on Palaeozoic Ostracoda--Chairman: Dr. R. Kaesler and Secretary: Dr. L. Meinikova. Dr. E. Kempf informed the meeting that he is continuing his work on the Cologne Database. He said that one of the greatest problems he is facing is the high number of entries of new species, genera and/or new combinations (average 100/monty). Dr. K. Wouters said that, although we are all using Kempf’s "Index and Bibliography of Ostracoda, this publication is only rarely cited in the bibliography of our papers. He asked the members to cite it more often.
A special award, the "Order of the Amphidont Hinge", was given to two of our senior members, Dr. J. Neale and Dr. H. Oertli by Dr. R. Kaesler. Drs. J. Neale and H. Oertli thanked the meeting for this highly appreciated award.
The Secretary, Dr. K. Wouters, expressed his thanks on behalf of IRGO, to the organisers of the Prague Symposium: Jaromir Zelenka, Miroslav Kruta and Pavel Hudec, and in particular to Jaroslav Riha and his wife Radka Hajkova. The new Chairman, Dr. R. Kaesler, took the chair. He proposed a vote of thanks for the retiring officers, which was passed unanimously, and then closed the meeting.
(Thanks to Dick van Harten for providing these minutes from IRGO archives)