Teratology Society Business Meeting
West Palm Beach, Florida
June 27, 2000

George Daston called the meeting to order at 4:40 PM. Approximately 100 members were in attendance. A motion to accept the minutes of the previous business meeting was made by Dave Kochhar, seconded by Dave Wise, and approved by those in attendance.

President's Report - George Daston
Outgoing members of Council were acknowledged: Tony Scialli as Past-President, Rick Finnell as Council member, and Bob Seegmiller as Secretary. George touched on five matters of business: fund raising, management, annual meeting planning, journal negotiations, and the logo. He mentioned the improved quality of the business office, fund raising efforts by several individuals, the Society's identity crisis has been resolved in that we have a new logo, enrollment of sustaining membership is up, we have fulfilled our obligation to the hotel. With regard to administrative services, we have approved continuation for 18 months with a 3% increase in the budget. Meeting planning by Clarissa Wilson is going well; she is working hard to make things come under budget. The status of our journal is looking healthy; it will allow publications of both members and non-members. We are still in the process of negotiating a contract with Wiley. The Society membership is not growing the way we would it like.

Vice President's Report - Bob Kavlock
Bob mentioned that the annual meeting is the lifeblood of our Society and that attendance at all sessions is good. A well-defined budget was developed for the meeting; the Genomics Satellite meeting was designed by Phil Mirkes and has excellent enrollment.

Vice President-Elect/Site Selection Report - Jan Friedman
On June 23-28, 2001 we will meet in Montreal for our annual meeting. On June 22-26, 2002 we will beet in Arizona at the Scottsdale Princess Resort.

Secretary's Report - Bob Seegmiller
Membership in the Society has remained somewhat constant; however, there are concerns that a significant number of members have not paid their dues for the years 1999 and 2000. With regard to the Newsletter, the cost of publishing has been significantly reduced due to its online publication.

Treasurer's Report - John Rogers
John mentioned that we are $38,000 to the good Fy99, and that we are looking at a couple of CDs for better interest rate. Tonia and John have been asked to move some checking reserve over to CDs. Overall good news is that the budget looks healthy.
Question: is it reasonable to put checking moneys into money market accounts. Response: Legg Mason will allow us to put our money into such accounts, and draw it out with a service charge.

Question by Elaine Faustman concerning having a nest egg to cover two possible unsuccessful years of meetings. John said the reserve was not intended to be just a disaster fund.

Narsingh asked, what was the main cause of the previous losses. Response: with our new business office, we don't have to rely solely on the judgement of the President of the Society for decisions. We are now negotiating better contracts with hotels, etc. There is now confidence in the new administration and in having real budgets for every aspect of our meetings. In the past, the general administrative costs were in the red.

Carol Kimmel moved to accept the budget, Bill Slikker seconded it, and the motion carried.

FASEB Update - Tom Knudsen
We have the "listening ear" of FASEB, which is our way to get to congress. NIH is undergoing reorganization of the study process in teratology.

Committee Reports

Membership - George Dearlove
Council approved the purchase of a tabletop display to be sent to the Society of Toxicology, etc; it would be put up in a rented space to advertise for the Society. During the coming year, we plan to send the booth to two meetings.

Question, Elaine Faustman. Are the demographic of the Society's members known? Response: a study is underway to determine that.

Nominations and Elections Committee Report - Bob Clark
Bob announced the election results: new Council Member is Melissa Tessinari, new Vice President Elect is Bill Slikker, and new Secretary is George Dearlove.

Education Committee Report
Kok-way Hew reported that this year's course was received well, and that the committee is still in discussion about topics for next year. Hew will chair the committee in the coming year, with Donna Farmer as secretary.

Student Affairs Report
Awards will be presented at the Wilson Luncheon; Pfizer, MARTA and MTA will provide the funds for the student mixer.

Public Affairs Report - Ken Jones
Two position papers, viz., thalidomide and ETOH are in press or in progress; the public affairs symposium this year is on the developmental risks of herbal and alternative medications. Jan F. testified before the FDA on the risks using of alternative medicines during pregnancy.

Web site Committee Report - Dave Wise
Dave mentioned the improved navigation on the web site and requested input, involvement and suggestions from the society membership. Next year we plan to be able to online register, pay dues, etc.

Question by Alan Fantell concerning the web-board discussion forum. Response: policy is in place to deal with this issue.

Dave Wise is stepping down as web master, to be replaced by Bob Veneziale.

Teratology Editor - Lew Holmes
The journal is receiving a more variety of articles and has exceeded the number of pages allocated. The Warkany lecture will now be published. A more efficient paper-path has been developed to expedite submission. Online submission will soon be available.

Conference summaries will be published, and the chairs need to hold to a strict timeline such that summary reports will appear before the next year's meeting.

Wiley has offered to produce 20 color plates per year, with a cost of $500 for additional color pages.

Lew requested help in soliciting papers for publication.

Publications Committee Report - Bill Slikker
Karen Augustine coordinated the Wiley Liss Symposium.

With regard to marketing of the journal, Rebecca Morton of Wiley is working hard to improve visibility of the journal. Exposure will come from advertising, exhibits, and the web.

Wilson Publication Award---thanks was given to Bill Scott and Harriet Wilson.

Constitution and By-Laws Committee Report - Deb Hansen
The intent of the committee was to correct deficiencies in the Constitution and to make it state things the way they really are.
A discussion of the proposed changes ensued.

Ron Hood suggested that the executive director is paid by the management group, not by the society, George acknowledged this important correction.

Sid Beck asked why we should change the word majority to plurality. Response: the change will allow us to deal with a situation where a write-in-vote might cause the person receiving the most votes to have less than 50% of total votes.

Carol Kimmel questioned the phrase contractual and suggested that it should read legal advice. Response: Important recommendation.

Dues increase-George reported that Council had received a request from Wiley to increase the subscription rate for the journal by $11, beginning in January 2001. He indicated that Council was in favor of proposing to the membership that we increase dues by $11 to cover the cost. George reminded the members that the subscription rate had not been increased since prior to 1994, and that the $11 increase represented a 3% annual increase for Wiley, which is in line with inflation rate over the past seven years.

It was moved and seconded to raise membership dues for regular, associate, combined and student members by $11. After discussion, the motion carried.

Motion: Clarke Fraser moved to adjourn; Bob Kavlock seconded. Meeting adjourned at 5:45 PM.

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