The meeting began at 5 p.m. on Sunday, August 11. Present were Klaus Fischer, Rachel Mata, Susan McCormick, Alicja Zobel, Kelsey Downum, John Romeo, Jim Saunders, John Arnason and Vincenzo De Luca. President Fischer opened the meeting with a discussion about the current meeting in New Orleans, which will cost the Society about $2600 in spite of enormous effort from Helga Fischer, who tried to obtain donations from over 200 different institutions but succeeded in only a few cases. He mentioned that times are tough economically and that we must be very strict about money spent, especially for invited speakers, which should not exceed $6000. Organizers should consider as well holding meetings in less expensive places, such as university campuses. They should also be reminded that they should consult with the Treasurer of the Society about the cost of invited speakers (not to exceed a total of $6000), and get permission if they wish to raise the registration fee, but the limit of $200 should be kept in mind in order to retain affordability, especially for student members and young scientists.
Having young scientists in mind, we intend to provide further support for students attending meetings. Klaus Fischer asked about this possibility, and Alicja Zobel suggested raising student support to $3000. It was decided that six $500 grants will be made available to students who apply and submit an abstract of their presentation in advance. The deadline for the 1997 meeting will be January 15.
John Romeo, as the PSNA representative for the organizing committee of the 1997 joint meeting with the PSE in The Netherlands, reported on differences of opinion about plenary speakers, who would contribute to our next volume of Recent Advances. The executive suggested that at least two extra speakers from North America should be included, and we hope that the negotiations will yield a result favorable to us.
Kelsey Downum stated that because of the location of the next meeting in The Netherlands, one of the most expensive countries, and the high exchange rate relative to the dollar, the cost of registration and accommodation will be extremely high (see the announcement of the meeting), and feared that not many of us will be able to afford to attend. He suggested that executive members would be allowed to apply for $500 support from the Society, especially since we do not need to pay for the invited speakers, and that Susan McCormick will most likely be the invited speaker from the PSNA. A motion to that effect was passed.
The next meetings will be: 1998, in Pullman, Washington, organized by Norman Lewis, who had agreed and has requested $2000 start-up money; 1999, in Montreal, organized by Vince De Luca and Ragai Ibrahim, with the topic to be evaluation of phytochemical pathways; 2000, organized by Rachel Mata, a joint meeting with the American Society of Pharmacognosy, most likely in Cancun. The idea of joint meetings was to be encouraged, and the practice of minisymposia should be retained in view of the favorable response from members to the one in 1995. However, money for these should not come from the PSNA treasury, but rather the organizers should seek financial support from outside sponsors interested in specific topics.
The Secretary, Alicja Zobel, asked for more support from the members to write about their research as contributions to the Newsletter. A start has been made on a collection of old photographs for a historical album about the PSNA, as the Society is now over 30 years old. Some of the original members are now passing from the scene, and more recent ones would benefit from knowledge of the history of the Society and understanding of our heritage. She apologized for having omitted the information and order form for Recent Advances from some issues of the Newsletter, and that all future secretaries should be instructed always to include this form.
The Treasurer, Susan McCormick, presented her report, which was accepted.
The Pergamon Medal and Prize this year went to Europe, to Prof. David Phillipson, but our nominee was a very close runner-up, and we shall resubmit the nomination next year.
President Fischer reported the results of the 1996 PSNA election for President-elect, in which Vincenzo De Luca was declared winner.
The award of life memberships to Tom Mabry, the first president of the PSNA, and to Ragai Ibrahim, was approved, and they will be presented at the 1997 meeting.
Under matters arising, Kelsey Downum suggested that the PSNA should have web page on the Internet, and after concerns about privacy had been addressed, the executive agreed that he, as a volunteer, will prepare such a page containing business information, data on upcoming meetings, abstracts from the New Orleans meeting, and other subjects of interest. After a year or less we shall assess the results. The Advisory Committee made some suggestions arising from concern with a decline in attendance of student members, and supported the suggestion, mentioned above, of raising the support level for attendance at meetings, emphasizing that the $6000 cap on invited speakers should not be exceeded, and that the Treasurer should always exert financial control over the meeting. They supported the executive's intention to organize joint meetings with cognate societies, and to encourage minisymposia, which might provide an opportunity for young investigators to publicize their work. Their suggestions for future titles were: phytochemicals-chemoprevention-cancer, and interacting biochemicals. They hope more suggestions of topics will come from the membership. The Advisory Committee suggested as well a "corporate committee" to target companies interested in sending representatives to our meetings and sponsoring some of the subjects, e.g., in minisymposia. They also suggested that some members should study the possibility of sponsoring our own journal.
The possibility was raised of reducing meeting registration fees for members who have retired, but after discussion the suggestion was rejected.
