August 1984 Council Minutes

The Council met on 15 August 1984, in Dad's Room of the Erb Memorial Union in
Eugene, Oregon at 5:05 P.M.  Members present were S. Armentrout, H. Bass, T.
H. Brvlawski, M.G. Crandall, P.A. Fillmore. P.R. Halmos, M. Hochster, I.
Kaplansky, I. Kra, J.W. Milnor, A. Odlvzko, F.P. Peterson, E. Pitcher, J.B.
Robinson, H. Rossi, L.P. Rothschild. J.T. Schwartz, L. Steen, O. Taussky Todd,
and J.E. Taylor.  Also present were L.K. Durst, R. Hahn, W.J. LeVeque, J. P.
Mesirov and W.B. Woolf.  F. Browder and K. Hoffman were present by invitation.
President Robinson was in the chair.

MINUTES:

1.1 MINUTES:  The minutes of the meeting of 5 April 1984 were approved.

1.2 MINUTES OF BUSINESS BY MAIL OF 3 OCTOBER 1983:  The Secretary had observed
an omission on his part in that the minute of 3 October 1983 was not approved
by the Council in January 1984.  It was approved.

COMMITTEES AND BOARDS

4.1 SIZE OF THE COUNCIL:  The EC notes that the Council is of such size that
its meetings are sometimes unwieldy.

The EC considered ways of improving the ambience of Council meetings, such as
the use of a smaller meeting room, other seating arrangements, and the use of
several microphones.  The EC also suggested that it might be prudent to reduce
the size of the Council.  Without making any recommendation, the EC requested
the Secretary to bring the following plan for a change in the bylaws to the
attention of the Council as one way of accomplishing a reduction in size.

The Chairman of each Publication Committee is a voting member of the Council.
At any meeting of the Council the Chairman may designate a deputy as a voting
member in his place.

The Associate Secretary in charge of the meeting at which the Council meets is
a voting member of the Council.  In the event of his potential absence, he will
ask the Secretary to designate a deputy as voting member.  At a Council meeting
separate from a scientific meeting, the Secretary will designate the voting
Associate Secretary.

The members of the EC are voting members of the Council.

The Chairman of the Science Policy Committee is a voting member of the Council.

Discussion of the plan emphasized the effect of the proposed change not only on
the size and cost, but also on the composition and thus the voting and
operation of the Council.

The Council viewed the proposal with favor and requested the Secretary to draft
the appropriate amendment to the bylaws for examination by the Council.

4.2 SCIENCE POLICY COMMITTEE;  The  report of Chairman Felix Browder is
attached. 

4.3 INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN-ORLOV AND SHCHARANSKY.  The Committee on Hunman
Rights of Mathematicians recommended that the Council authorize the listing of
the Society as a supporter of the campaign.  There is an attachment of
background information consisting of a letter from Chandler Davis, the Chairman
of CHRM, with an attachment from the Compaign.  The following extract from the
charge to the CHRM was deemed pertinent.

	A foreign mathematician, for the purpose of the Committee,
	is a person residing outside the U.S. and professionally
	engaged in mathematical science (like pure mathematics,
	applied mathematics, mathematical statistics, computing
	science, and operations research) or trained for such
	activity.

	The purpose of this rule is to limit the activities of the
	Committee to cases in which our members may be presumed to
	have a feeling of genuine professional identification with
	the alleged victim.

It was noted that Shcharansky fits, but Orlov does not.  However, a majority
of the Committee favored a simple position of support rather than any qualified
partial support.

A motion by Professor Hochster to list the Society as a supporter of the
campaign was passed.

4.4 COMMITTEE ON COMMITTEE.  The Council changed the composition of the
Committee so that the President and the President Elect, if any, are members
of the Committee.

4.5 COMMITTEE ON PRIZES:  Upon recommendation of the EC and BT the Committee
was discharged with thanks.

4.6 NOMINATIONS (in Executive Session).  The Council followed the
recommendations of the Nominating Committee in naming Judith D. Sally as the
second candidate, unopposed, for a three year term on the Committee to Monitor
Problems in Communication in the election of 1984.

The Council learned that there were no candidates proposed by petition for the
offices of vice-president or member-at-large.  The Council then followed the
recommendation of the Nominating Committee in nominating:

	Neal I. Koblitz
	Cora S. Sadosky
	David A. Vogan, Jr.

as three additional candidates for five places as member-at-large of the
Council in the election of 1984.

4.7 See 1.85 Council minutes, Item 1.1.

OFFICERS

5.1 NOMINATING COMMITTEE;  The candidates for the Nominating Committee of
1985-86 named by President Julia B. Robinson are:

	Meyer Jerison
	William B. Johnson
	Vera S. Pless
	Mary Ellen Rudin
	Michael Shub
	Stephen G. Simpson
	William T. Trotter, Jr.
	Raymond O. Wells, Jr.

One of the continuing members, Harold M. Stark, was named Chairman.

5.2 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.   A slightly edited version of the report is
attached.  (It was actually presented much earlier in the meeting.)

OLD BUSINESS

8.1 SUMMER MEETINGS; The Council of 5 April 1984, agreed that the decision
about holding future joint Summer Meetings with the MAA should be made after
the Summer Meeting of 1985, at which point one can hope to judge whether the
recent increase in registration fees is fiscally effective.  It was noted that
there will be no Summer Meeting in 1986 (because of ICM 86) and that the
Centennial occurs in 1988.  The first meeting possibly affected in the decision
is the isolated one of 1987.  The MAA requested that the AMS decision with
respect to 1987 (but not the long range decision) be made in the fall of 1984
rather than 1985.  Were there not to be such a joint meeting, the MAA wished
lead time to make its own plans.  Accordingly, the Secretary proposed that the
decision about holding a Summer Meeting 1987 be referred to the EC/BT with
power, for decision when they meet jointly in November 1984.

The Council concurred in the proposal of the Secretary with the request to the
EC/BT that if the decision is not clear cut and almost unanimous, then it be
referred to the Council of January 1985.

As background information on the general subject of summer meetings, the
attached letter from Associate Secretary Raymond Ayoub was distributed.

NEW BUSINESS

9.1 RESOLUTION OF THANKS:  INFANTE.  The President and Secretary introduced the
following resolution:

	The Council of the AMS notes with gratitude the three years
	of service of Ettore F. Infante (known to us as Jim) as
	Director of the Division of the Mathematical Sciences of
	the National Science Foundation.  During that period the
	mathematical has benefited from his wisdom and his
	initiation and direction of policy.  The Society wishes him
	well in his new position of Dean of Science & Engineering
	at the University of Minnesota.

	The Secretary is directed to convey these sentiments to Dr. Infante and
to publicize them suitably.

The resolution was passed.

9.2 RESOLUTION OF THANKS: DURST.  The Secretary observed that the present
meeting is the last to be attended by Lincoln Durst in his capacity as Deputy
Executive Director, inasmuch as, he retires at the end of 1984.  He proposed
a resolution of commendation and thanks to Lincoln Durst for his service to the
Society and of good wishes for his future.  The resolution passed by 
acclamation.

9.3 RESOLUTION OF THANKS: DAVID.  The following resolution was introduced by
President Elect Irving Kaplansky and others.

	Upon the publication of the report of the Committee on
	Resources for the Mathematical Sciences (the David
	Committee) the Council of the American Mathematical
	Society would like to express its gratitude to Dr.
	Edward E. David, Jr. for his selfless and unstinting
	effort on behalf of the mathematical sciences research
	community.

	The Council directs the Secretary to communicate this
	resolution to the membership of the Society, to the member
	societies in the Conference Board of the Mathematical
	Sciences, to Dr. David, and otherwise to disseminate it.

The resolution was passed.

9.4 RESOLUTION OF THANKS: HOFFMAN.  Professor Felix Browder proposed a
resolution of thanks to Kenneth Hoffman for his tireless efforts as Executive
Director of the David Committee in the preparation of the Committee report and
for the excellent results of his work.  The resolution passed by acclamation.

9.5  REPORT OF DAVID COMMITTEE:  The report of the ad hoc committee of the
National Research Council on Resources for the Mathematical Sciences was
distributed to the Council separate from the agenda and was reprinted in the
NOTICES for February, August, and October.  Following consensus in the Joint
Policy Board for Mathematics, the following resolution was introduced:

	The Council of the American Mathematical Society endorses
	the conclusions in the report of the Ad Hoc Committee on
	Resources for the Mathematical Sciences of the National
	Research Council entitled Renewing U.S. Mathematics as
	an appraisal of the state of affairs and as a basis for
	action in the mathematical community in which the Society
	will play its proper role.

The resolution was passed.

9.6 OPENNESS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:  The American Association for the 
Advancement of Science passed the attached resolution in which certain action
is urged upon its affiliates, of which the AMS is one.  The Council endorsed
the AAAS position.

9.7 COST CONTROL FOR GRANTS TO ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS: Professor Serge Lang
requested Council endorsement of the recommendations of the President's Private
Sector Survey on Cost Control (the Grace Report).  Several pages from the
report are attached.  Critical statements, according to Lang, are those that he
has marked on pp. 93, 95, 97, 98, 101.  He asked for a resolution in somewhat
the following form.

	The Council of the American Mathematical Society endorses
	the report of the President's Private Sector Survey on
	Cost Control (the Grace Report), particularly the portions
	concerned with the establishment of the authority of a 
	university to allocate funds among related projects, the 
	approval of fixed obligation grants, and the approval of
	fixed rates for the administrative components of indirect	
	costs.  An extract from the report [the item called Box 10
	in the attachments] stating these positions in more detail
	is attached to this resolution and is incorporated in it
	by this reference.

The Council took the position that the report should not be instantly endorsed
out of context, but should be sent to the Science Policy Committee for possible
study of the issues.

INFORMATION AND RECORD

2.1 EC/BT MINUTES.  The minutes of the EC and BT of 10-13 May 1984 were
distributed by mail and are attached.

2.2 CHANDLER DAVIS; President Julia Robinson appealed to Rhode Island
Representative Claudine Schneider to introduce a resolution in the House of
Representatives to expunge the citation of Chandler Davis for contempt of
Congress in 1954.  She was assured that her request is under consideration.  A
brief history of US v. Davis, prepared by the Secretary as an attachment to
minutes 8.4 of 22 August 1982, is reproduced as an attachment.

2.3 REVIEW OF SOCIETY ACTIVITIES.  The EC, on instruction by the Council,
conducts a cyclic review of the activities of the Society.  The topic for the
year 1984 is meetings.  See the EC/BT minutes of 10-13 MAY 1984, item 5.5.
Members of the Council may contribute to the discussion by writing to the
Secretary prior to 15 September 1984.

2.4 LETTER FROM MONTY J. STRAUSS.  The attached letter was addressed to the
Council.  No action was requested.

2.5 COMMITTEE TO MONITOR PROBLEMS IN COMMUNICATION.  During the discussion of
nominations, there was an inquiry about the work of the Committee, for which
the attachment is a partial response.

Following a brief executive session (see 4.6) the Council adjourned at 6:45 pm.
August 15, 1984.

					Everett Pitcher, Secretary.