Iowa Physiological Society 1999 Board Meeting

The Iowa Physiological Society (IPS) Board met on Sunday, November 7, 1999 from 3:30 until 5:00 PM at the home of Chuck Wunder, 702 West Park Road, Iowa City, Iowa 52246. As was the case for the past two years, this location was chosen due to ready accessability via I-80. IPS officers president were, Luke Mortensen (President), Russ Rulon (Past Presidnt), Mark Chapleau (Treasurer) and Chuck Wunder (Executive Secretary). We were fortunate to have as guests two officers of the Iowa Academy of Science (IAS) -- Neil Bernstein (IAS President) and Darrel Hoff (IAS President Elect).

OLD BUSINESS included review of the April 1999 Meeting, Treasure's Report, Membership Report, and Report of IAS September 1999 Section Chairs Meeting. The April 23-24, 1999 Meeting at Ames Iowa was reported with distribution of Russ Rulon's Annual Meeting Report as Printed in THE PHYSIOLOGIST and on web (http://www.the-aps.org/chapters/iowa/forthmtg.html) as well as his report to Iowa Secretary of State and his Physiology Section Report to IAS. Bernstein and Hoff both voiced favorable feedback regarding the cooperative endeavor between IPS and IAS in having Charles Tipton at our joint meeting serve as both the 1999 APS Keynote Lecture for us on April 24 as well as the Academy's banquet speaker on the evening of April 23. In an E-mail distribution of earlier on Nov. 7, Chapleau reported a current balance of $1058.61 in the treasury. Wunder reported that the roster of active regular members (http://www.the-aps.org/chapters/iowa/member.htm) will be shortened to 28 after declaring the eight who have not paid dues since 1966 to be on inactive status that can be reactivated by payment of all dues that are in arrears. A discussion followed as to how to recruit new members as well as how to encourage prompter dues payments by existing members. As the IPS President currently also serves as Chair of the IAS section (Physiology) which meets with us in April, Mortensen's report of the IAS September 1999 Section Chairs Meeting was basic to plans he presented for our April 1999 meeting.

NEW BUSINESS centered on the April 2000 meeting. New business also concerned the related business of nominations for the 2000-01 president elect, selection of our 2000 APS keynote lecturer, call for papers the annual Noon Buffet and updating of our web page. The April 22-23, 2000 Meeting as well as the April 21-22, 2001 Meeting will be held jointly with the IAS Physiology Section under the IAS umbrella at the Hotel Fort Des Moines, Des Moines, Iowa. In 2000, there will be difficulties with timing which should not reoccur in 2001. Travel to Iowa by outside speakers will be complicated by meeting on the same weekend as Passover and Easter. Members returning from the Experimental Biology Meetings (April 15-18, 2000 vs. March 31-April 4, 2001 and April 20-24, 2002) will find little time to prepare for the IPS-IAS 2000 Meeting. At the April 23, 2000 meeting, there will be the election of the 2000-01 President Elect who will become the 2001-02 IAS President. For this position as well as for the IAS Physiology Section Co-Chair, we decided to nominate Thomas Schmidt, Professor of Physiology & Biophysics, University of Iowa. He agreed to accept the nominations and to serve if elected. To deliver the APS Keynote Lecture on the afternoon of April 23, 2000, we decided to invite Curt D. Sigmund, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and of Physiology & Biophysics, University of Iowa, who will be delivering the Bowditch Lecture at the APS Meeting earlier that April. (In an telephone conversation of 11-9-99, Dr. Sigmund agreed to accept this invitation.) As more complete details of the IPS April Meetings become available, they will be presented at the IAS web sit (http://www.the-aps.org/chapters/iowa/futumeet.htm).

A CALL FOR PAPERS for the combined IPS-IAS Physiology Section Meeting next April was prepared by Mortensen and distributed to the IAS Board. It was in the process of being mailed this month by IAS to IAS Physiology Section Members with an Abstract Submission Form and arrived November 10. All of the IPS abstracts will be submitted to and processed by the Academy along with abstracts for all other sessions at the IAS Meeting. A similar call will be available shortly at the revised IPS web site (http://www.the-aps.org/chapters/iowa/futumeet.htm) and will be E-mailed next month to IPS Members and other Iowa physiologist next month. For reasons to be explained later, plans by the Academy for electronic submission of these abstracts must be delayed until later years.

PLANS FOR THE SATURDAY NOON BUFFET at our April Meeting are incomplete. This has been considered an essential part of past meetings. Some alternative might be necessary next April if its timing is in conflict with the IAS schedule or if Hotel Fort Des Moines can not be persuaded to permit a "carry-in" buffet.

UPDATING OF THE IPS WEB PAGE (http://www.the-aps.org/chpaters/iowa/) should be submitted to the APS Office for their action with in a few days. An outline of proposed changes was distributed to the Board. A draft of the revised portions was made available to all Board Members for their review. In addition to the normal updating, it is proposed to add copies of the IAS Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation. This should make an understanding of our procedures more accessible to all members. It might also prove a useful reference for new state chapters of APS.

INPUT FROM IAS OFFICERS was very helpful in coordinating our efforts which those of the organization under whose auspices we meet our joint annual scientific meeting each April. These officers have been primarily concerned with the Academy's efforts to defend science education from misguided people. Neil Bernstein, IAS President, indicated that this has demanded so much effort that more routine maters such as a electronic abstract processing must be postponed. Another concerns is whether the Academy's journal can continue publication of definitive articles when members such as physiologists are reluctant to publish in the journal. Part of the reluctance arises from the fact that the journal's focus is not narrow enough to be indexed by MEDLINE and that publication in national or international journals is considered to be a more effective route to promotions and grant awards.