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January 1988 Council Minutes

JANUARY 1988 COUNCIL MINUTES

The Council met on 5 January 1988 at 5:10 PM in the Stuart and York Rooms of
the Hyatt Regency Atlanta in Atlanta.  Members  present were S. Armentrout,
J.G. Arthur, H. Bass, W. Browder, W.W. Comfort, W.J. Davis, R.G. Douglas, W.
Gautschi, J.P. Gilman, R.L. Graham, R.K. Guy, M. Hirsch, R. J. Hughes, R.C.
Kirby, I. Kra, A. Marden, G.D. Mostow, A. Odlyzko, D. Passman, F.P. Peterson,
E. Pitcher, M.B. Pour El, M.A. Rieffel, B. Simon, L.W. Small, H.M. Stark,
J.E. Taylor, C.L. Terng, W. Thurston, K. Uhlenbeck, W.A. Veech, R.F. Williams,
and C.S. Wood.  Also present were R.G. Bartle, R.M. Fossum, R. Hahn, J. Kister,
M. Lane, W.J. LeVeque, J.W. Maxwell, B. McDonald, and J. Voytuk.  Persons with
the privilege of the floor included K. Hoffman, H. Rossi, J. Wick Pelletier
(observer from the Canadian Mathematical Society, and S. Weintraub.  President
Mostow was in the chair.

Before the formal agenda was approached, President Mostow introduced the newly
elected members of the Council.

MINUTES:

1.1 MINUTES OF 4 AUGUST 1987. The minutes of the Council of 4 August 1987 were
circulated by mail.  There are two corrections.  Minutes 4.6 on Reprints should
begin as follows:

	The Committee on Publication, supported by the Committee to
	Monitor Problems in Communication, recommended, etc. (The
	names of the Committee were interchanged.)

At the end of minute 4.9 the sentence "for action." should be deleted.  With
these two corrections the minutes were approved.

1.2 MINUTES OF 6 NOVEMBER 1987.  The Minutes of Business by Mail dated 6 Nov.
1987 are attached and were approved.  [The Secretary noted for the information 
of the Council that William H. Jaco had given informal acceptance of the
position of Executive Director effective in the Fall of 1988.  He subsequently
accepted formally.]

COMMITTEES AND BOARDS

4.1 JOINT POLICY BOARD FOR MATHEMATICS: The Council of 25 April 1987 agreed
that every four years beginning in 1988 a subcommittee of the Council should
review the functioning of JPBM and report to the Council.  It appeared
desirable that the study be accelerated.  A committee consisting of M. Susan
Montgomery, Hugo Rossi, William Veech (Chairman), David Vogan, and Robert F.
Williams was appointed with the request that a report be available to the
Executive Committee and Board of Trustees [ECBT].  The report is attached.  The
ECBT reviewed the report at length with four of the five members of the
Committee.  Section l of the summary of the report is as follows.

	1.  Changes is Structure of JPBM.

	Ken Hoffman asserts that whatever influence there is on OGPA
	(Office of Governmental and Public Affairs) can come only 
	through JPBM.  Therefore, if the AMS Council and its Science
	Policy Committee [CSP or SPC] want to directly influence OGPA
	activities, the most certain way is through JPBM representation.
	Formation of a liaison committee just gives the HOGPA [Head of OGPA]
	another group he has to report to, but need not listen to.
	Reorganization should make a scientific-educational panel
	the main arm of JPBM with a managerial committee for business
	and liaison with the Societies' departments.  AMS representation
	on the main panel could consist of the President, a member of
	the SPC [Science Policy Committee] chosen by SPC, and a third
	member chosen in some way which suits the Council.  We recognize
	that these necessary changes will have to be negotiated with
	the other participating societies.

	Recommendation: The President of the AMS appoint a committee,
	disjoint from the present committee, to report to the Council
	and the BT, via the ECBT meeting of May, 1988, on changes in
	the structure of JPBM with the above as guideline.

The ECBT approved in principle the restructuring of JPBM in line with the 
summary paragraph, though some overlap with the review committee was
anticipated.  The Council concurred with the recommendation with the words
"disjoint from the present committee" deleted.

Section 2 of the report reads as follows:

	2. The "Study State"

	Ken Hoffman says that he is working full-time in Washington,
	although, at most half-time properly as head of OGPA; his
	major occupation is in building the bridges and avenues
	mentioned above.  He is paid half time by MIT, and we can
	expect MIT to continue this subsidy as long as it is 
	desired by the mathematical community.  This situation
	poses certain problems.  First of all, it is not meaningful
	to specify a "proper tenure" for the Head of OGPA in advance:
	it is in the nature of the job that each Head will have certain
	plans and objectives, and so long as they are desirable to
	mathematicians, the Head should be allowed to stay until these
	goals are realized.  Thus, it is in the nature of the job
	that each Head will have certain plans and objectives, and
	so long as they are desirable to mathematicians, the Head
	should be allowed to stay until these goals are realized.
	Thus, it is in the nature of the job that it is full-time,
	and we shall have to expect either that the JPBM will always
	be subsidized by the Head's home institution for as long as
	desirable, or that the Head will take on a full-time commitment
	and be paid full time by the JPBM.  Neither expectation is
	reasonable.

Section 2 is followed by a recommendation, which the ECBT edited so that it
reads as follows:

	Recommendation: that the Council not seek at this time to specify
	a term for the occupant of Head of OGPA; that the present head be
	asked by the AMS representatives on JPBM to write a "job 
	description" for this position in its steady state, and that JPBM
	delinate a procedure for "training" and selecting future Heads.

In edited form the ECBT approved the second recommendation.  The Council
concurred.

The Committee was discharged with thanks.

The sentiment was expressed that the committee constituted in the first
recommendation should endeavor to report to the Council of 23 APRIL 1988.  The
President noted this fact, but proposed not to make it mandatory.  The
Secretary notes that a report to the ECBT via the Agenda and Budget Committee
[ABC] of 25-27 March 1988 makes a provisional report to the Council reasonable.

4.2 EDITORIAL BOARD COMMITTEE: The EC proposed the establishment of an
Editorial Boards Committee [EBC] to perform some of the tasks now handled by
the Nominating Committee and other functions as follows.

(1) The EBC shall have six members, two elected each year for a term of
three years in a contested election.  Initially, two members shall be appointed
by the President for a term of one year and two for two years, while the
members for the three year term shall be elected.

(2) The EBC shall solicit suggestions of nominations for each editorial
committee, including all those named in Article III, Sections l and 3, of the
bylaws, and shall consult with each editorial committee about nominations.  The
EBC shall nominate members for these committees and the Council shall elect
members of the Committees.

(3) The EBC shall nominate the chairman of each editorial committee named in
Article III, Sections l and 3 of the bylaws.  The appointment of chairmen shall
be made by the Council and the chairman shall then become a Council member.

The Council considered these recommendations and modified them.

Item (l) was replaced with the following:

(l')  The EBC shall have six members, two elected each year for a term of three
years in a contested election.  Candidates for the EBC shall be nominated by 
the President.  Initially, two members shall be appointed by the President for
a term of one year and two for two years.  The members for the three year term
shall be elected.

A new item (2') was introduced as follows:

(2') The EBC shall monitor the function of the Editorial Committees named in
Article III, Sections l and 3 of the bylaws.

Item (2) was modified and renumbered to read as follows:

(3') The EBC shall solicit suggestions of nominations for each editorial 
committee named in Article III, Sections l and 3, of the bylaws and shall
consult with each editorial committee about nominations.  The EBC shall
nominate members for these committees and submit the nominations to the
Council. The Council shall appoint members of the committees.

The Council adopted (l'), (2') and (3').

Item (3) was replaced by a new item (4) as follows:

    (4) The EBC shall solicit from each Editorial Committee named in Article
III, Sections l and 3, the names of a candidate or candidates for its
chairmanship.  The EBC shall transmit these nominations with its own
recommendations to the Council.  The appointments to the chairmanship of
Editorial Committees shall be made by the Council and the persons so appointed
shall then be Council members.

Item (4) was tabled.

There was sentiment for listing all members of the Council on the ballot and
for distributing vitae of the new ones.

The opinion was expressed that members of the EBC should receive subscriptions
to such journals of the named editorial committees as they wish.

It was agreed that item (3') applies only to members of Editorial Committees,
not to Associate Editors.  [Note: The BULLETIN and MATHEMATICS OF COMPUTATION
use many Associate Editors as part of Editors when necessary to insure
adequate coverage of fields.  It has recently been the custom for the Council
to elect Associate Editors of the second kind to the Editorial Committees,
either filling vacancies or enlarging the committees in accord with Article
III, Section 4, and Article VII, Section 6, of the bylaws.]

4.3 DUES: In response to a recommendation from the Executive Committee and
Board of Trustees [ECBT], the Council passed a motion that dues not increase
for 1989, as would otherwise occur through the operation of the established
dues formula.  Although the ECBT recommended a specific statement reiterating
that the formula apply for 1990, the Council took no position.  The Secretary
interprets this to mean that the formula applies for 1990 unless the Council
acts to the contrary, but that the Council has not closed the door to
recommending a second year of no increase.

It was noted that the estimate (by the Secretary) of the proper separation
point between lower and higher level dues, although raised year by year, has
been too low, so that the desired effect of having 60% of full dues paying
members in the lower dues category has not been achieved.  A serious effort to
correct the deficiency was urged.

4.4 INSTITUTIONAL DUES:  The Council approved the principle that institutional
dues be based on scholarly activity of the institution as measured by faculty
size, amount of published research, and number of graduate students rather
than by the current requirement of number of pages of published research.

The Council charged the Committee on Institutional Membership with drafting a
rule for Council consideration.

4.5 REVISION OF THE BYLAWS: Following a request from the Council, the Secretary
prepared a revision of the bylaws consisting of changes that remove the words
"he" and "his", but do not introduce the infelicitous "he or she" or the
barbarism "he/she".  No change of meaning was intentionally introduced.  The
Executive Committee reviewed the draft and recommended its approval.

The Council suggested further editorial changes in wording.  It was agreed that
the article on indemnification of officers, written by the corporate attorneys,
be reviewed by them to be sure that no inadvertent change in meaning had been
introduced.  The Council approved the changes in the bylaws.  The edited
version is attached.  [The attorney has not yet reviewed the article on
indemnification.]

4.6 MEETING WITH LMS:  It had been proposed by the London Mathematical Society
that there be a joint LMS-AMS meeting.  The most reasonable possibility seemed
to be a late spring meeting England, handled as a joint meeting in addition to
the usual sectional meetings.

The Council was favorably disposed providing it could be done at low cost.

Agenda 4.9-4.l2 were handled at a later time in executive session but are
presented here.

4.9 TRANSACTIONS EDITORS:  Peter W. Jones resigned from the Editorial Committee
of the Transactions one year before his term ended.  Eugene B. Fabes had been
appointed Associate Editor for the same field.  The Council elected Fabes to
fill out the remaining one year term on the Editorial Committee, subject to
the approval of the Trustees.

Vaughan F.R. Jones resigned from the Editorial Committee of the Transactions
and from the Council two years before the end of his term.  The Council elected
Masamichi Takesaki to the Editorial Committee for the two year period through
1989, subject to the approval of the Trustees.

Audrey Terras had been appointed Associate Editor.  In line with the policy
of making Associate Editors into Editors where possible, the Council voted that
the Editorial Committee be enlarged by one and that she be elected to the 
Editorial Committee for a term of four years through 1991, subject to the
approval of the Trustees.  There was one abstention.

4.10 PROCEEDINGS EDITOR:  Richard R. Goldberg resigned one year before the end
of his term as editor of the PROCEEDINGS and was replaced by J. Marshall Ash,
as Associate Editor for general analysis.  The Council elected Ash to the
Editorial Committee for the year 1988 subject to the approval of the Trustees.

4.11 AMERICAN JOURNAL EDITOR:  Richard Melrose resigned from the Editorial
Committee with one year left in his term.  This was part of the agreement when
he became a member of the Editorial Committee of the Journal of the AMS.  The
Council elected M. Salah Baouendi to the Editorial Committee for 1988, subject
to the approval of the Trustees.  The approval of the Johns Hopkins University
had been secured in advance.

4.12 PROCEEDINGS EDITOR: Doug W. Curtis resigned from the Editorial Committee
of the PROCEEDINGS and the Council.  His term ended in December 1989.  James E.
West was appointed to cover the same field as associate editor.  The Council
elected him to the Editorial Committee for the next two years, subject to
approval by the Trustees.  [The Secretary notes that this action was redundant.
The membership elected West for a term of four years through 1991.]

4.13 A KIDNAPPING:  The Committee on Human Rights offered the attached 
resolution concerning the kidnapping in Lebanon of Jon Turner.  The Council
approved the resolution.

OLD BUSINESS:

8. NON-SERIAL SYMPOSIA: The Council had endorsed the idea of co-sponsoring
sessions on topics involving applications of mathematics within regular
meetings of other societies (4 August, 1987, minute 4.ll and ECBT minutes of
21-23 May 1987, item 6.9).  A source of ideas and a routine for approval of
proposals are needed.  The former was not resolved.  It was agreed that the
latter lodged with the Committee on Summer Institutes and Special Symposia,
which might appeal to the Joint Committee on Applied Mathematics or the Joint
Committee on Mathematics in the Life Sciences for advice.

8.2 CANADIAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY: The Council was made aware of the attached
proposed agreement with the Canadian Mathematical Society [CMS], with an
amended item 2a) at the end.  It embodies some matters that have already been
decided, some concerning CMS and MAA, some concessions to the AMS by the CMS,
and some general arrangements.  Specifically, in item la) it calls for a
reduction in AMS dues for CMS members not resident in the United States.  The
Council approved.  The Trustees had already approved, conditional on Council
approval.

The wording of 1a) was not clear to all present.  It was suggested that it was
intended to read:

	1a') That a member of the CMS resident outside of the United
	States be eligible to be a member of both the AMS and the
	MAA (not either/or)...

The wording of 2a) as modified at the end of the attachment was understood to
be the correct one.  The policy stated there is open to anyone and is not an
exclusive privilege of CMS members.  It has applied only to Annual Meetings,
but will now be applied in general to Summer Meetings as well.

Professor Pelletier expressed pleasure that the cooperative arrangement had
been concluded.  She took occasion to note the unsymmetric nature of the
agreement in that a Canadian resident member of CMS must join both AMS and
MAA to gain the advantage of discount in AMS and MAA dues while a U.S. resident
member of one of AMS and MAA can gain the advantage of a discount in CMS dues.

In response to the comments of Professor Pelletier, it was agreed that
modification of item l should be taken up with MAA.  The ECBT were empowered
for the Society to change "both...and" to "either...or" in la').

NEW BUSINESS

9.1 ARPANET/INTERNET:  Steven Weinberg had objected to the Society use of
Arpanet, which is a vehicle of military communication.  It developed that the
Society is using Internet, a civilian offshoot of Arpanet.  Weinberg withdrew
his objection.

9.2 MONITORING OF BADGES:  In the attached letter, Karen Uhlenbeck raised the
question of requiring registration, with the payment of the appropriate fee,
as evidenced by the badge, in order to secure admission to scientific talks.
A response from the Secretary is attached as well.  To this, the Secretary
added two comments.  First, is that this is a financial question of concern
to the Trustees.  Second, is that the decision to monitor badges was a joint
decision of AMS and MAA.

The motion in the letter from Uhlenbeck was tabled.  At the same time, it was
understood that alternatives to requirement of paying are registration fee and
showing a name tag to gain admission to lectures would be investigated by the
joint AMS-MAA Committee on Meetings and reported to the Council and to the BT.

9.3 CONTEMPORARY MATHEMATICS:  Irwin Kra, Chairman of the Editorial Committee
of Contemporary Mathematics, requested that this committee be an independent
editorial committee rather than a subcommittee of the committee for
Mathematical Surveys and Monographs.  The proposal did not call for Council
representation of the newly independent committee.  R.O. Wells, Jr., Chairman
of the Editorial Committee for the Surveys, reported that the latter is in
favor of the separation.  The Council approved.

9.4 IMU TRAVEL GRANTS:  The IMU gives travel grants to young mathematicians
from developing countries.  The funds come from donations.  See the attached
letter.  President Mostow proposed that the Society put a negative check-off
for $1.00 or $2.00 on the dues bill for 1989.  That is, the item would be
labeled a contribution and the amount printed but it could be crossed off
when the member totals the bill.  He suggested that MAA and SIAM consider doing
the same.  The Council approved a $2.00 negative checkoff.

INFORMATION AND RECORD

2.1 ECBT MINUTES:.  The minutes of the ECBT of 19-21 Nov. 1987 are attached.

2.2 COUNCIL OF 1988:  The composition of the Council of 1988 is stated in an
attachment.

2.3 ACQUISITION EDITOR:  The Executive Director would welcome suggestions of
possible acquisition editors.

2.4 DISTRIBUTION OF BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The Executive Committee directed
the Secretary to inform the Council of the availability on request to the
Secretary of 77 pages of material that was assembled by Serge Lang and is
related to a dispute over nonelection of a social scientist to the National
Academy of Sciences [NAS].

EXECUTIVE SESSION

COMMITTEES AND BOARD:

4.7 THE ELECTION OF 1987:  All candidates in uncontested elections were
elected.  In the contest for vice-president, Barry Simon and William P.
Thurston were elected.  In the contest for member-at-large of the Council,
those elected were Richard K. Guy, Rhonda J. Hughes, Robion C. Kirby, Albert
Marden, and Harold M. Stark.  The report of the Tellers is attached.

4.8 THE ELECTION OF 1987 TO THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE:  The persons elected were
Roger C. Alperin, Ronald DeVore, Jane P. Gilman, and Leonard Scott.  President
Mostow appointed Gilman to be the Chairman for 1988.  The report of the Tellers
is attached.

When items 4.7 and 4.8 were presented, there was a motion to put the full
report of the elections, including the numbers of votes for defeated 
candidates, into the open minutes.  The motion was defeated.

OLD BUSINESS: 

8.3 TENURE OF THE HEAD OF THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS [HOGPA]:
The Joint Policy Board for Mathematics [JPBM] is a cooperative venture of AMS,
MAA, and SIAM.  Furthermore, the Head of OGPA [Office of Governmental and
Public Affairs] is an employee of JPBM.  The question of appropriate tenure of
the Head was raised.  The AMS initially wished to see it limited but later
relaxed that position through l988.  At the same time, the AMS requested that a
committee of representatives of AMS, MAA, and SIAM consider the matter.  A
committee consisting of the three Executive Directors did so and reported to
JPBM.  The Council of 4 August 1987 saw an advance copy of the report.  At its
meeting of l6 November 1987, JPBM considered the report and endorsed an amended
form as follows:

	(a) The Head of the Office of Governmental and Public Affairs should be
appointed to serve at the pleasure of the JPBM, under a contract which may be
renewed (by both parties) by December 3l of each year, covering the period to
the end of the second following year.  This would give the Head minimum notice
of one full year if the contract is not to be renewed, and maximum appointment
at any time of two years into the future.

	(b) As a first step toward establishing the Washington Office as a
regular function of the AMS, MAA and SIAM, these societies should committ
themselves in principle (barring severe financial problems), each time they
approve the next year's budget for OGPA, to an operation at the same level
for the next year following.

	(c) The Head of OGPA should commit himself or herself in principle,
upon signing a contract, to holding the position to the end of the proferred
contract period.

The Council endorsed this statement.

					Everett Pitcher, Secretary
					January 5, 1988