Attendees:
Jan Barton - Treasurer
Pieter Berendsen - Secretary
Rex Buchanan - Past President
Cal Cink - President
Mike Everhart
Craig Freeman
Sam Leung - Web Site Administrator
Laurie Robbins
Larry Skelton - Newsletter Editor
James Taylor
Cal Cink called the meeting to order at 3:15 PM. He noted that several Council members could not attend the meeting because of other commitments. Laurie Robbins moved for approval of the minutes from the previous meeting. Craig Freeman seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
1. REPORT OF THE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING
Cal Cink called on Pieter Berendsen (Technical Program Chair of the Organizing Committee) to summarize planning efforts for the annual meeting. Pieter reported that preparations are in good shape. He said there are 114 paid registrants. With walk-ons, the total number of attendees likely will be around 150. Pieter reported there are 54 oral presentations and 22 posters. The number of oral presentations is slightly lower this year than at previous meetings. Forty-six people are signed up for the Friday banquet and 77 people are signed up for the Saturday luncheon.
Based on his budget projections, Pieter estimated KAS may see a surplus of roughly $1000 for cost of the meeting due in part funds from the KU Chancellor's Office ($1000) to cover some of the expenses for the plenary speaker.
Pieter reported that he has enough judges to evaluate the student papers. He provided Council members with a copy of the evaluation forms.
Pieter thanked everyone who helped with preparations for the meeting. He said he is especially grateful to Greg Ohlmacher (Poster Chair), Stan Roth (Biology Section Chair), LeaAnn Davidson (Treasurer), and Rex Buchanan (Information and Publicity/Abstract Editor) for their assistance. Mike Everhart commended Sam Leung for his work on the KAS web page and for making registration forms and other meeting information available on the web.
2. REPORTS OF OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES
Pieter Berendsen circulated a report on KAS membership as of 6 April 2001. There are 255 paid members in the Academy, and membership is down roughly 20 members from this same time last year. Membership in the KJAS is roughly the same as last year. Library subscriptions continue to decline. Pieter reminded Council members that t-shirts promoting the Academy would be available at the meeting. The shirts sell for $10 each, $3 of which goes to KAS.
Cal Cink reported that Scott Kardel is unable to attend the annual meeting but is looking for judges for the upcoming Kansas Junior Academy of Science Meeting at Wichita State University of May 3, 2001. Information about the meeting is available on the KAS web site.
Larry Skelton encouraged Council members to send him appropriate information for inclusion in upcoming issues of the Newsletter of the Kansas Academy of Science. A brief discussion ensued concerning publication of future issues of the Newsletter on the web. Larry hoped to receive input about this from Society members when they fill out the questionnaire being prepared by the Long-range Planning Committee.
Pieter Berendsen, reporting for Transactions Editor Dan Merriam, who was handling annual meeting arrangements, circulated the galley proof of the next issue of the Transactions.
Jan Barton distributed a copy of the Treasurer's report and drew attention to her comparison of the 1999, 2000, and 2001 budgets. Highlighting the 2001 budget, she said that income exceeds expenditures by several thousand dollars; however, current figures do not include publication costs for the next issue of the Transactions. Using the number of printed pages and a current cost of $75 per page, she estimated the printing cost for the next issue of the Transactions at $8000. A lengthy discussion followed concerning ways to control the cost of the journal. Of immediate concern to Jan is the cost of the second issue of the Transactions in 2001. Jan made a motion to limit the number of pages in the next issue to 80. Larry Skelton seconded the motion. During discussion of the motion, Rex Buchanan recommended that Dan Merriam be present before any final decision is made affecting the second issue of the 2001 Transactions. Larry then withdrew his second, and the motion on the floor died. The Council agreed to take up the issue at the June meeting.
Sam Leung provided Council members with a report summarizing the number of visits to the KAS web site. The mean number of visits during the first three months of 2001 (355) was up considerably over the 12 months of 2000 (285). He attributed some of this increase to people seeking information about the annual meeting.
3. FALL FIELD TRIP
Rex Buchanan reported that the fall KAS field trip is tentatively scheduled for October 6 at the Tallgrass Prairie National Park in Chase County, Kansas. More information about the field trip is forthcoming.
4. DISTINGUISHED LECTURE SERIES
Rex Buchanan said that in the past the Past President organized the Distinguished Lecture Series. He is pulling together ideas for the next series and hopes to have thing finalized by the end of May so the series can be announced in the fall.
5. COMPUTERIZED TRANSACTIONS Rex Buchanan passed around information from a company that computerizes journal papers and makes the electronic versions available to users for a subscription fee. He suggested that discussion on this topic be delayed until the next Council meeting in June. The item was tabled by consent of the Council.
6. NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE
Rex Buchanan still is looking for candidates for officers for the next election. Of particular concern is the vacancy in the office of Vice President. Rex has two candidates for Council Members-at-Large for the Class of 2004: George Potts and David Saunders. He will continue to work to fill the slate. 7. SALES TAX REBATE UPDATE
Jan Barton discussed the sales tax relief issue. She circulated at copy of the claim against the State of Kansas, which she sent in February to the Joint Committee on Claims Against the State. The claim requests a refund of $6790.87 for sales taxes that KAS paid from 1992-2000. She said the Joint Commission would take up the claim sometime this summer, at which time she may be called on to testify before the Commission. Rex Buchanan said the sales tax issue probably is dead in this legislative session unless it reappears in the omnibus appropriations bill. 8. AWARDS FOR STUDENT PAPERS GIVEN AT THE ANNUAL MEETING
Rex Buchanan reported there are 17 abstracts for undergraduate posters (10) and papers (7), 12 abstracts for Masters posters (2) and papers (10), and 3 abstracts for Doctoral posters (2) and papers (1). After a comparison with the number of awards made in previous years, Jan Barton recommended we give 5 Dehner Awards for best posters: 3 for undergraduates ($100 for 1st place, $75 for 2nd place, $50 for 3rd place) and 1 for graduates ($100 for 1st place). She recommended we give 5 Dehner Awards for best papers: 2 for undergraduates ($100 for 1st place, $75 for 2nd place) and 3 for graduates ($100 for 1st place, $75 for 2nd place, $50 for 3rd place). The total dollar amount for all awards is $725. Pieter Berendsen moved that the Council follow Jan's recommendation. Rex seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. [The attached list of awards that were made at the meeting differs slightly from the motion endorsed by the Council. This was due difficulties obtaining accurate count of the number of papers and posters in each category. However, a check accompanied only 9 of the 12 awards listed because 3 students left the meeting before the award ceremony - Craig Freeman fide Pieter Berendsen]
Larry Skelton said the Kansas Geological Foundation gave $300 to be awarded for the best student papers in geology - $200 for the best graduate paper and $100 for the best undergraduate paper. Rex Buchanan said he would write a letter of acknowledgment to the Foundation for its contribution to KAS.
9. OTHER BUSINESS Jan Barton suggested that the Council refund the registration fee of a student who planned to attend the meeting but whose abstract was not received by the Abstract Editor. The Council unanimously agreed to refund the fee, and Cal Cink will write a letter to the student and apologize for the mix-up. The date for the next Council meeting was tentatively set for 3 PM on Friday, June 29 at Emporia State University. Laurie Robbins will make the necessary arrangements. The meeting was adjourned by unanimous consent at 5:30 PM.
Kansas Academy of Science
List of the 2001 Dehner award winners in the student paper competition
Posters
Undergraduate
1st Place: K. Hartzer: Digestive proteinases of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst).
2nd Place: Michael Bruemmer: Dynamic evolution of fluvial environments-Preliminary
results of the Ninnescah River monitoring program of Department of Geology,
Wichita University.
3rd Place: Jesse H. Shaver: Treatment of spatial and temporal evolution of femtosecond
laser pulses by lens systems focused into dispersive media.
Masters
1st Place: Nicole M. Palenske: Hematological changes in hibernating bullfrogs (Rana
catesbeiana).
Doctoral
1st Place: L. M. Moskal: Comparing kriging to co-kriging geostatistical methods for
estimating forest inventory attrributes in the central plateau of Yellowstone National Park.
Oral
Undergraduate
1st Place: Sarah E. Zielinski: Historical and floristic studies of the Benedictine bottoms.
2nd Place: Greg Albers: Abundance biodiversity, and biomass patterns of aerial,
terrestrial, and aquatic invertebrates on the Benedictine bottoms.
3rd Place: Shawn A. Hamm: A note on the occurrence of the anacoracid shark
Pseudocaorax laevis from the Smoky Hill Chalk (Upper cretaceous) of western Kansas.
Masters
1st Place: Dana M. Slaughter: Multiple antimicrobial resistance in coagulase-negative
Staphylococci isolated from gray treefrogs.
2nd Place: Cameron L. Cooper: Using geographic information systems to investigate the
stream capture of the lower Smoky Hill River: A progress report.
2nd Place: Megan E. Kearney; Digestive parameters of Great Plains Skinks, Eumeces
obsoletus.
Doctoral
1st Place: Stephanie A. Pasas: Development of a sensitive high-throughput methodology
for the determination of homocysteine in human plasma.