It is my great pleasure to serve you as President during this year, and I thank you for your confidence in electing me to this office. During my participation on the Council in the last year, it has become apparent to me that there are few opportunities for our members to participate in the governance and operation of the Society, aside from the activities associated with the Annual Meeting. Since only around 15% of our members actually attend the Annual Meeting in a given year, this means that most members have little or no contact with the Society except for reading this Newsletter (which I am certain everyone does!). Therefore, one of my main goals for the coming year is to increase the level of participation by the members of the Society in its activities and operations. As a step toward achieving this goal, I have invited the chairs of the standing committees to appoint additional members to their committees from the membership roster. Committee chairs are listed in this issue of the Newsletter. This may also help us to identify appropriate candidates for future members of the Council.
A second step has been to enlist the help of Council members representing each division of the Society in soliciting advice and input from their division members on a variety of issues. I view the division representatives as the major conduit of communication between the Council and the membership, and I hope that all members will take advantage of this opportunity to express their views through this mechanism. In particular, we would like to hear from the membership concerning their suggestions for symposia topics for the 1999 Annual Meeting, for award recipients for 1998, and for committee membership for 1998-99. I also encourage you to develop your own goals for your division in the coming year, for example, increasing membership in your division, hosting a roundtable discussion on a topic of current interest at the next Annual Meeting, etc. Division representatives are Rosalie Crouch (Division 1, Photochemistry, Photophysics, and Photo-technology), Masaki Furuya (Division 2, Photosensory Biology), J. Woodland Hastings (Division 3, Photosynthesis and Photoconversion), Craig Elmets (Division 4, Photo-medicine), and Daniel Yarosh (Division 5, Environmental Photobiology and UVR Effects).
As always, I and other members of the Council welcome your views on these and any other topics of concern to the membership. I look forward to working with you to improve the level of activity and participation in our Society.
MENTORING COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED
President Margaret Kripke announces the appointment of Nancy Oleinick as chair of the newly established Mentoring Committee. Committee members are Honnavara Ananthaswamy, Helene Hill and Marquita Qualls. Dr. Kripke's charge to the committee follows:
The purpose of the Mentoring Committee is to ensure full participation of all constituencies of the Society in its activities and to maximize the benefits of membership in the Society for students, fellows and junior faculty. Specifically, this committee will recommend qualified women and minority members for leadership positions in the Society, as speakers and session chairs at the annual meeting, and as award recipients. This committee will work with the Membership Committee to increase the number of women and minority members of the Society, and it will organize activities to maximize the participation of associate and junior faculty members.
COMMITTEE SELECTS NEW EDITOR FOR PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND PHOTOBIOLOGY
Margaret Kripke
A committee consisting of M. Kripke, Chair, T. Coohill, F. Gasparro, N. Geacintov, G. Schuster and S. Wagner recently conducted a search for a new Editor of P&P upon learning that the incumbent Editor would not seek re-appointment.
The committee first met and developed a set of criteria for selecting an editor, which included scientific stature in photochemistry or photobiology, administrative experience, vision to improve the journal, broad scientific base, experience in dealing with authors, and familiarity with ASP. During its deliberations, the committee recom-mended to Council that the editor's term be increased from four to five years and that an honorarium of $10,000 per year be awarded to the Editor. Suggestions for Editor were solicited from the membership in the ASP Newsletter and from the Associate Editors, Editorial Advisory Board, Council and Past Presidents by letter. In response to these inquiries, 27 names were suggested, 24 of whom were ASP members. These 24 individuals were contacted by the committee and invited to apply. Eight of these persons subsequently submitted letters of application, providing an outstanding slate of candidates for further consideration. After much careful deliberation, the committee forwarded the names of two candidates for consideration by Council, which selected Dr. Juan Cesar Scaiano, Professor of Chemistry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario. He succeeds Dr. Irene Kochevar as Editor of Photochemistry and Photobiology on January 1, 1998.
The committee thanks Dr. Scaiano for accepting this great responsibility and expresses its gratitude to everyone who participated in the selection process. The Society is fortunate to have had such an illustrious group of members who were willing to serve in this important role.
MESSAGES FROM THE PAST PRESIDENT AND THE TREASURER
Frank Gasparro, Past President
Ever-increasing expenses, including electronic publishing on the horizon, expenses associated with Photobiology 2000 (13th International Congress of Photobiology) and decreasing revenue from the journal have led to the first dues increase in seven years. Council's proposal for a $25 increase in dues was approved at the business meeting. The new rate will go into effect for the 1998 dues. Note that the increase of $25 averages out to about 5% per year since the last dues increase. (For more on the dues increase, see the Treasurer's message on this page.)
PHOTOBIOLOGY 2000 (13TH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF PHOTOBIOLOGY)
The ASP proposal to the AIP was accepted and the dates and place are now set. Photobiology 2000 will be held in San Francisco, CA, July 1-6, 2000 at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Hotel. An international planning committee is headed by Frank Gasparro. Nancy Oleinick, ASP president-elect, is organizing the scientific program. Participating societies, in addition to ASP and ESP, include the Photobiology Association of Japan, the Photomedicine Society, the Inter-American Photochemical Association and the Korean Photochemical Society.
Please note that an exception has been made to the unofficial policy of not meeting near July 4th so that the international attendees can enjoy a wonderful American celebration. The ASP last hosted this congress in 1984 in Philadelphia.
OTHER UPCOMING MEETING DATES/SITES
1998 July 11-14 Snowbird, Utah (near Salt Lake City)
1999 July (East coast site still to be decided)
(Editor's Note - any favorite sites you would like to suggest?)
1998 MEETING SNOWBIRD, UTAH, JULY 11-14
Several new twists will be tried at our 26th annual meeting. There have been many complaints over the years about the length of the meeting and the crowded schedule and one way to deal with that is to use Saturday for science. So the meeting will begin on Saturday late afternoon with a reception, keynote speaker and two 2-hour symposia. But also notice that the meeting is one day shorter in duration - how can that relieve the crowded schedule? The answer is fewer symposia. For the past several years almost 40% of meeting attendees have been nonmember invited guests making symposium presenta-tions. Whereas their presence is stimulating and cross-fertilizing, I as Chair of the Scientific Program Committee, have dubbed this meeting "the Members' Meeting". Thus, we are encouraging more members to submit abstracts for oral and poster presentations as we begin our second 25 years.
WHY DO I PAY TO BELONG TO ASP?
Dennis Valenzeno, Treasurer
Most of us are aware of the benefits that we derive from belonging to ASP. We receive a yearly subscription to Photochemistry and Photobiology, the ASP Newsletter, the membership directory, the right to sponsor a presentation at the annual meeting, and voting rights in the Society, to name a few of the more apparent. But, how do we arrive at the amount to charge members for these privileges?
In recent years ASP's philosophy has been to ask members to pay for a significant part of the cost incurred to support each member. Essentially, this is the cost of a subscription to Photochemistry and Photobiology and to the ASP Newsletter. While libraries currently pay $575 per year for a subscription to the journal, the cost to ASP of a member's yearly subscription is about $122.* The cost of the Newsletter is about $8.50 per member. Thus, these two items cost the Society more than $130 per member.
While the method used to arrive at these numbers can be debated, the bottom line is that each ASP member pays only a fraction of what it costs the Society to provide the benefits of membership. This is possible because library subscriptions to the journal have provided a significant income that subsidizes individual membership. However, the uncertainties of electronic journal publication call into question the future of our journal income. We certainly have no guarantee of $100,000 per year revenues from this source, nor can we realistically run the day to day business of the Society from our savings. Thus, Council proposed, and the membership at the Business Meeting in St. Louis approved, a dues increase so that each member will pay a larger fraction of the per member expenditures of ASP. For 1998, dues will be $90.
It is interesting to note that ASP has had relatively few dues increases. The most recent was seven years ago, when dues were raised from $45 to $65. Since 1990, benefits to members have increased significantly. For example, when the previous dues increase was approved, only 10 student travel awards were awarded by the Society for attendance at the annual meeting. This year the number was about 40, and a large part of the current dues increase, about $10,000, has been earmarked by Council for student/ postdoc travel awards. There was no subsidy of the annual meeting in 1990, whereas ASP now invests $35,000 to $55,000 to ensure the quality of our annual scientific gathering. And, our World Wide Web site, Photobiology Online, has evolved in the past three years in large part due to support from ASP. None of us enjoys paying more for the services we use, but neither do most of us object to paying our own way, especially when we're asked to pay only a fraction of the cost of what we receive.
* Journal Related Disbursements for 1996-1997 were $344,000. Subtracting 1996 page charges ($56,000) and reprints ($20,000), the net cost = $268,000. Print run = 2200 copies. Cost per subscription = $268,000/2200 = $122.00.
GRANTS AND AWARDS
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS - OMISSIONS
Secretariat regrets that the Lifetime Achievement Awards presented to Kendric C. Smith (1990) and John Jagger (1991) were inadvertently omitted from the list pub-lished in the 25th Anniversary Newsletter Vol. 26, No. 4.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR SOCIETY AWARDS
Ana Moore
The American Society for Photobiology invites nominations for the annual ASP Research Award and the New Investigator Award.
The ASP Research Award recognizes individuals who have made a major contribution to the fields of photo-biology, photomedicine, photochemistry or photophysics. The award consists of $1000 plus partial travel support to attend the ASP meeting.
The New Investigator Award is open to any investigator who has recently entered the discipline. It is generally intended for young investigators but senior investigators new to the area will be considered. The award consists of $1000 plus partial travel support to attend the ASP annual meeting.
The ASP Photon Award was established to honor members who have made exceptional contributions and who have served the Society above and beyond the call of duty. The award consists of a statue of the sun god, Ra.
Nominations for the above awards should include a nominating letter, a supporting letter by a second scientist familiar with the nominee's work, and the curriculum vitae of the nominee.
Nominations should be sent no later than December 1, 1997 to:
American Society for Photobiology
Sherwood M. Reichard, Executive Secretary
1021 15th Street, Suite 9
Augusta, GA 30901
Tel: 706-722-7511; Fax: 706-722-7511
ASP MEMBERS TO RECEIVE 1997 UNEP OZONE AWARDS
Robert C. Worrest and Edward C. De Fabo are among the 22 selected to receive the 1997 United Nations Environment Programme Ozone Awards. A distinguished panel of former awardees selected 22 out of 74 nominations for the awards, for outstanding service in the protection of the ozone layer. The awards, in the form of plaques, will be presented on September 16, 1997 in Montreal at the function to celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol organized by UNEP and the Government of Canada. Congratulations!
Irene Kochevar and Dennis Valenzeno were presented with Photon Awards during the meeting banquet. Irene was recognised Irene was recognised for her innovation and high standards during her term as P&P Editor. Dennis, as well as caring for the Society financial matters in his role as Treasurer, has performed well above the call of duty in his efforts at launching ASP into the computer age with Photobiology Online.
ASP'97 A GREAT SUCCESS
Albert Girotti
On behalf of the Society, I thank everyone who was involved in setting up the Silver Anniversary Meeting and helping to make it a truly memorable event - both scientifically and socially. There were 384 registered attendees. I've been receiving quite a few laudatory remarks about the meeting, but the praise needs to be shared with all of those who gave freely of their time along the way, including the other two G's (Gasparro and Geacintov) for valuable insights, the division representatives who suggested some great ideas for the scientific program and the symposium organizers, lecturers, session chairs, introducers, photographers, archivists, etc. All those who made contributions, big or small, have my gratitude. The Secretariat and Nancy Bailey also deserve a lot credit for a job well done. Finally, I would like to thank the following companies and institutions for their generous financial support:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Volunteers are currently being sought by ASP for the positions of Newsletter Editor and Historian of the Society. Here's your chance to make a contribution! For infor-mation on these positions, and to volunteer or to suggest candidates, please contact Tom Owens, Chair of the publications committee, (Newsletter Editor) or President Margaret Kripke (Historian).
Fundamentals for the Assessment of Risks from Environmental Radiation - October 6-10, 1997 An Advanced Research Workshop of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Fundamentals for the Assessment of Risks from Environmental Radiation will be held October 6-10, 1997, in Brno, Czech Republic. The purpose of the workshop is (1) to discuss the current state of knowledge of the fundamental radiobiological processes and concepts in risk estimation and radiation protection and (2) to define future research work needed for the assessment of risks to human health and ecosystems from environmental - ionizing as well as UVB - radiation. The review papers, the recommendations and the selected contributions will be published in the NATO Science Series. Limited financial support for participants is available. For further information please contact:
Dr. C. Baumstark-Khan, Executive Secretary
DLR, Institute of Aerospace Medicine
Linder Höhe
D-51170 Köln, Germany
Tel: 49-2203-601-3594 or 3595; Fax: 49-2203-61970;
E-mail: christa.baumstark-khan@DLR.de
World Wide Web:http://www.me.kp.dlr.de/Aktuel_info/Nato.html
CHATEAUBRIAND FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
If you are currently working towards your Ph.D. in science or engineering, including biomedical and agricultural sciences, or if you have completed it in the last three years, you may qualify for a fellowship from the French Government to conduct research in France. Some of the fellowships are co-sponsored by French companies.
The research would be performed in a French university, a school of engineering or in a public or private laboratory. Candidates must be accepted by a French laboratory in order to be eligible for this fellowship program.
You may use existing contacts between your laboratory and a French research institution. If you do not have such contacts, you may register on the Web (http://www. chateaubriand.amb-wash.fr). In this case, your file will be submitted to directors of various laboratories in France who will be able to contact you directly.
Starting in September 1998, fellowships are available for a 6 to 12 month period, with a monthly stipend of $1800 for a doctoral fellow and $2200 for a post-doctoral fellow. Health Health insurance and a round trip ticket are also provided.
Only completed applications received before December 1, 1997 will be accepted. Applicants must be US citizens and registered in a university in the US or in a US National Laboratory. For information contact:
The Embassy of France
Office of Science and Technology
Chateaubriand Fellowship
4101 Reservoir Road, NW
Washington, DC 20007-2176
Tel: 202-944-6261; Fax: 202-944-6244
E-mail: chateaubriand@amb-wash.fr
World Wide Web:http://www.chateaubriand@amb-wash.fr
SUNSCREEN PHOTOBIOLOGY SYMPOSIUM
A symposium proposed by F.P. Gasparro and F. Urbach on Sunscreen Photobiology was selected from many submissions to be part of the program at the 150th annual meeting of the AAAS. The meeting will be held February 12-17 at the Philadelphia Convention Center. Among the invited speakers are John Knowland (Oxford University), Marianne Berwick (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center), Hans Gonzenbach (Givaudan), Dick Setlow (Brookhaven National Lab) and Jouni Uitto (Thomas Jefferson University).
"Reliable Spectroradiometry", by Henry J. Kostowski (April 1997, $200.00/ISBN 0-9657713-0-X, 624pp, 204 figures, 79 tables). This unique book deals with the measurement of spectral irradiance and spectral radiance from the infrared to the vacuum UV (2.5 µm - 100 nm) and is intended for both the novice and the specialist. The volume contains three parts: I. Basic Concepts, Problems and Solutions; II. Standards, Instruments and Detectors; and III. The Measurement Process. Uncertainty in measurement, and also potential errors and their control, are strong features of this tome. More information and order forms can be obtained from Henry J. Kostowski, Spectroradiometry Consulting, P.O. Box 2747, La Plata, Maryland 20646, Tel: 301-934-6364.
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