January 1989 Council Minutes
JANUARY 1989 COUNCIL MINUTES
AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY
MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL
10 January 1989
The Council met in the Phoenix Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Phoenix, Arizona,
at 5:00pm on 10 January 1989. Members present were Jonathan L. Alperin, Steve
Armentrout, M. Salah Baouendi, William Browder, Sun-Yung Alice Chang, Fan R.K.
Chung, Joseph Cima (Associate Secretary with no vote), Lawrence J. Corwin,
William J. Davis, Ronald G. Douglas, Robert Fossum, Walter Gautschi, Ronald
Graham, Richard K. Guy, Rhonda Hughes, Roger E. Howe, Albert Marden, G.D.
Mostow, Linda Ness, Richard Palais, Franklin Peterson, Everett Pitcher, Michael
Reed, Marc A. Rieffel, Hugo Rossi, Barry Simon, Lance Small (Associate
Secretary with vote), Harold M. Stark, Jean Taylor, William Thurston, William
A. Veech, and Carol Wood. Others attending and with privileges of the floor
were Robert Bartle, Herbert Freedman, representing the Canadian Mathematical
Society, Ramesh Gangolli, Kenneth Hoffman, William H. Jaco, Jane Kister, James
Maxwell, Marian Pour El, M. Beth Ruskai, Paul Sally, Jr., Marcia Sward, James
Voytuk, and William Woolf. President Browder was in the chair.
O Introduction of new Council members.
The President introduced the new Council members, welcomed them to the Council
and then introduced the members of the Council.
1 MINUTES
1.1 Minutes of 7 August 1988.
The mintues of the Council of 7 August 1988 were circulated by mail. In item
4.2 concerning nominations, it was noted that David Gieseker was nominated to
the Editorial Committee of the American Journal. It was noted in item 4.7
concerning nominations of the Council of 23 April 1988, that this same
nomination was made, so that the mention of his name in the minutes of 7 August
is redundant. With this correction the minutes of 7 August 1988 were approved.
1.2 Minutes of Business by Mail of 21 December 1988.
The minute showing that the state of Michael G. Crandell, D.J. Lewis and Robert
E.L. Turner was approved for membership on the Editorial Committee of the
Notices is attached and was approved.
2 INFORMATION AND RECORD
2.1 Liaison with AAAS.
The AMS and MAA have liaison with AAAS. The AMS liaison committee is
participating with the MAA committee in a joint effort under the chairmanship
of R.D. Anderson as arranged by Warren Page, Secretary of Section A>
The Society is newly enrolled in Sections L (History and Philosophy of
Science), Q (Education) and T (Information, Computing and Communication).
Representatives of the Society are Richard Askey (L), Jerry L. Bona (Q), and
Martin Davis (T). The Society has applied for enrollment in Section B
(Physics).
2.2 Letter from Shub to Taylor.
Serge Lang asks that the attached letter from Michael Shub to Jean Taylor be
communicated to the Council.
2.3 Dates of Council Meetings.
The Secretary has set the time and place of the Spring Council Meeting of 1989
as Saturday 15 April 1989 at 7:00 pm in Worcester, MA (NB: The date was omitted
from the Agenda.) The Secretary (EP) and Associate Secretaries have set
Council Meetings as follows
6 August 1989 2:00 pm Boulder
16 January 1990 2:00 pm Louisville
and have left the time and place of the meeting of Spring 1990 to the
Secretary.
2.4 A Potential Violation of Human Rights.
The Secretary (EP) received an "anonymous" letter complaining that foreign
travel to scientific meetings by members of the mathematics department at
INCREST in Rumania has not been allowed (with two exceptions) for six years.
The letter requested helpful intervention. The Committee on Human Rights
suggested that the President write a letter, which is attached.
2.5 Letter Received.
The attached letter was received by President G.D. Mostow, who has disposed of
it by requesting its inclusion in these agenda. The Secretary (EP) explained
to the writer about the negative reaction several years ago to a lapel pin. No
action is requested.
2.6 News Release
A news release concerning an international scientific conference held in Moscow
is attached. (See 11/88 ECBT MINUTES, Item 2.1 {6.20}.)
2.7 Council of Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP) Resolutions.
Ex-president Mostow submitted the attached report and copies of various
resolutions passed at the recent meeting of the CSSP. Members of the Council
should note that CSSP has supported the position of NCTM for quality
mathematics education (cf. Item 4.10 of this agenda).
4 COMMITTEES AND BOARDS
4.1 The Executive Committee and Board of Trustees.
The minutes of the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees meetings of 17-19
November 1988 were distributed under separate cover.
4.2 Tellers for the Election of 1988.
The report of the Tellers is attached and was approved. Newly elected persons
in contested elections are as follows.
Vice President Sun-Yung Alice Chang
Member-at-large Jonathan L. Alperin
Fan R.K. Chung
Lawrence J. Corwin
Michael C. Reed
Hugo Rossi
Trustee Paul J. Sally, Jr.
There is an attachment showing the composition of the Council of 1989. The two
amendments to the bylaws, concerning Sexist Language and the Editorial Boards
Committee, were approved.
4.3 Tellers for the Election to the Nominating Committee.
The report for the Election to the Nominating Committee is attached and was
approved. The new members of the Nominating Committee are
Joan S. Birman
James E. Humphreys
Victor Klee
Alan D. Weinstein
4.4 The Science Policy Committee
A report of the committee is attached. The chairman, Ronald G. Douglas,
presented the attached white paper for discussion. The Council received the
report with thanks and discussed the contents of the white paper. The Council
formally requested the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees to design a
"Community Service Award," as suggested in the attached white paper and submit
a proposal to the August 1989 Council.
4.5 Mathematical Surveys
The Editorial Committee lost two members at the end of 1988 and gained only one
in the election of 1988. The Committee will name an Associate Editor if
necessary and will wait until the Editorial Boards Committee (see item 4.7) is
in place to consider a more permanent appointment.
4.6 Bulletin Research Announcements.
Roger Howe, Chairman of the Bulletin Editorial Committee, made inquiry about
Bulletin procedures regarding publication of Research Announcements. (See the
attached documents.) The Council passed the following resolution:
The Council authorizes the Bulletin Editorial Committee to treat Research
Announcements in a manner in which it feels is appropriate for a period of two
years. During this two year period the Editorial Boards Committee will study
the matter and report back to the Council.
4.7 Editorial Boards Committee (EBC).
The membership has approved an amendment to the bylaws that removed the
selection of editors from the election ballot to the membership. The selection
of editors is now lodged with the Council according to Council action of 5
January 1988, minute 1.2 of which the operative portions are stated below.
In the steady state, two members of the EBC are elected by the membership by 10
November of year n-1. The Committee prepares its slate of editors during the
first part of year n so that the Council may appoint editors either at the
Council meeting in August of year n or by mail ballots in the fall of year n.
New editors start work on 1 January of year n+1 with several months of advance
warning.
The problem that faced the Council was how to begin this process with n=1989
when it was already January of 1989. The startup procedure approved in January
1988 did not work quite fast enough. There is not time to hold an election of
the two "new" members of the EBC who should have been elected in 1988 (but who
could not because the bylaws had not yet been amended).
The Council agreed that the President should immediately appoint six members of
the EBC, two each with terms through 1989, 1990, 1991. The EBC should
immediately go to work to prepare a slate of candidates for the Council of
August 1989, consulting with existing editorial committees and others, and
securing the willingness of candidates to serve. The Council of August 1989
then appoints editors.
The President names candidates for the EBC in the election by the membership of
the fall of 1989. This is a contested election.
4.8 The Committee on Human Rights of Mathematicians.
The report of the Committee, with its own attachments, is attached. The
Council received the report with thanks.
4.9 The Committee on Fellowship Policy.
A preliminary report of the Committee is attached. A recommendation from the
Committee on Research Fellowshs is also attached. The Council delayed action
on these reports at the request of M. Beth Ruskai.
4.10 NCTM Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics.
This is the title of a major report over which the National Council of Teachers
of Mathematics (NCTM) has labored for two years. The NCTM asked the Society to
"endorse" the Standards. Then President G.D. Mostow appointed a committee
consisting of William Browder, Edward Connors, Robert M. Fossum, Harvey B.
Keynes, Jean E. Taylor, William P. Thurston, and Philip D. Wagreich with
Connors as chairman. The Committee studied the report and achieved a position
of consensus. Connors reported the position and offered it to the Council for
concurrence. The Council passed the following resolution which the Secretary
conveyed to NCTM.
The AMS recognizes and appreciates the quality and quantity of effort of the
Working Groups of the Commission on Standards for School Mathematics of the
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The Society welcomes the proposal
of these Standards as a model set of valued outcomes for school mathematics
(K-12) and supports and endorses the vision of school mathematics contained in
the Standards.
The Society joins in calling for:
i) considerable strengthening of programs to train teachers of school
mathematics;
ii) efforts to promote sufficient funding and support by local, state, federal
and private sources to ensure that the Standards can be effectively
implemented;
iii) active involvement by AMS members in joining with local groups to work for
the betterment of school mathematics.
4.11 Undergraduate Mathematics Education Trends (UME-TRENDS).
The title refers to a proposed publication that was provisionally known as
Collegiate Mathematics Education Newsletter. The Council approved the
participation of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) in
the supervision and in the cost sharing in the second year.
4.12 The Joint Committee on Employment and Educational Policy (CEEP).
A report of the Committee was distributed at the Council meeting and the
Chairman, Edward A. Connors, reported in person. The report is attached and
was received with thanks.
4.13 The Joint Committee on Opportunities in Mathematics for Underrepresented
Minorities.
A report of the Committee is attached and was received with thanks.
4.14 Teaching Assistants and Part Time Instructors (TA/PTI).
This item was deferred for future action. A report from the committee to the
MAA Board of Governors is attached.
4.15 The Joint Policy Board for Mathematics (JPBM).
Kenneth Hoffman, Office of Governmental and Public Affairs of JPBM gave an oral
report to the Council on the presidential "transition" and the budget presented
to Congress. The Council empowered the President
to write to selected members of the Congress to support that part of the budget
of the President of the United States concerning the increase of funding in the
National Science Foundation budget and especially for budget lines pertaining
to mathematical research.
4.16 Council Procedures.
The Chairman of the Committee to Review Procedures of the Council in
Considering Issues, Marian Pour-El, gave a progress report to the Council.
4.17 Committee on Election Scheduling.
The Committee submitted its report which is attached. The Council approved the
recommendation on the Nominating Committee.
1.Nominating Committee
(a) The term of member of nominating committee shall begin on September 1 of
each year.
(b) The term of office for nominating committee shall be three years. Three
members shall be elected each year, so that total membership is 9.
(c) (Phase-in). At the time this provision is enacted, the President shall
designate one member of the first-year class of the nominating committee, and
two members of the second-year class, to have their terms extended to the
August 31 following the previous expiration date of their term. Afterwards,
the schedule will be in steady state.
As the April 1988 Council had passed Items 1b and Ic (see Items 9.1 and 9.2 of
the 23 April 1988 Minutes of the Council), the only new item was 1a, in which
the starting date of the three year term was set. The Secretary has begun to
put this new procedure in place by altering the information for elections that
appears in the NOTICES of March 1989. (The Secretary notes, parenthetically,
that there are problems with the Phase-in, and that this will come up for
consideration at a future Council.)
2. Vice President
(a) The term of office for Vice President shall be increased to three years.
(b) Alternative I. One Vice President shall be elected each year. In the year
that this provision takes effect, the President shall designate one or two of
the current Vice Presidents, as necessary, to have their terms extended to
three years so that the term of office of one Vice President expires in each of
the current year, the following year, and the year after the following year.
(c) Alternative II. In each year that a President is elected, one Vice
President shall be elected, while in every other year, two Vice Presidents
shall be elected. Vice Prsidents holding office before the provision
lengthening their term takes effect shall serve for two years, while Vice
Presidents elected after this provision takes effect shall serve for three
years.
Item 2 with Alternative I was moved and seconded. It was moved and seconded to
amed the motion to change the number of Vice Presidents elected each year from
"one" to "three". A motion to table the discussion passed by a vote of 13 in
favor to 8 opposed.
The following items were not discussed at this meeting.
3. Treasurer and Associate Treasurer.
(a) The term of office for Treasurer and Associate Treasurer shall be five
years. A treasurer or Associate Treasurer may be re-elected for at most one
additional term.
(b) (Phase-in.) At the time this provision takes effect, the current term of
the Associate Treasurer will be extended by two years. A Treasurer or
Associate Treasurer who has served two years or less may be elected for two
additional five year terms. (Treasurer-designate and Associate
Treasurer-designate.) One year before the end of the last term of a Treasurer
or Associate Treasurer, as determined either by a letter of intent to resign or
by the provisions above, a Treasurer-designate or Associate Treasurer-designate
shall be elected. The Treasurer-designate and Associate Treasurer-designate
will be a non-voting member of all bodies on which the corresponding officer is
an ex officio member.
(c) Ex officio membership. The Treasurer and Associate Treasurer shall be ex
officio mebers of the Board of Trustees, but not the Council. This provision
shall take effect at the beginning of the term following the first election
after it is enacted.
(d) Number of candidates. Two qualified candidates shall be sought for each
election for a Treasurer-designate, a Treasurer when there is no
Treasurer-designate, an Associate Treasurer-designate, or an Associate
Treasurer when there is no Associate Treasurer-designate.
4. Fine adjustments to terms of office. Terms of office for Council, Vice
Presidents, and Presidents shall begin on February 1 following the election.
In the year that this provision takes effect, all terms which were to expire on
January 1 are extended by 1 month, to expire on February 1.
5. Presentation of candidates to membership.
(a) The statements and biographical material on candidates shall be published
in the NOTICES at least two weeks before ballots are mailed, and the the
material shall also be included with the ballots.
(b) The candidate material should be gathered and organized in accordance
with the discussion below, and discussion in Council. A committee of the
Council shall be established to help with the gathering and reorganization of
candidate material, in cooperation with the Secretary and the AMS staff.
6. President. The nominating committee and the Council shall put forward two
candidates for President.
7. Executive Committee.
(a) The term of office for Council representatives on the executive committee
shall be increased to five years, beginning with the first member chosen from
Council after this provision is enacted.
(b) At the time that the fifth 5-year member is chosen, the Secretary shall
become a non-voting member of the EC.
8. Election Results.
The numerical tallies of elections for officers shall be available to any
Society member on request, and shall be distributed as an attachment to the
regular Council agenda. This item was approved by the 23 April 1988 Council
(cf. Item 9.1 of 23 April 1988 Minutes of the Council) with the revision that
the tallies be an attachment to the open minutes of the Council and that it
shall be announced once a year in the NOTICES that the minutes are available on
request. The Spring 1988 ECBT authorized the distribution of Council agenda
and minutes to the membership at a price that would approximately cover the
cost of this distribution. The Fall 1988 ECBT reconfirmed that open Agenda and
Minutes be distributed, with the understanding that future agenda will be
prepared so that sensitive matters are placed in executive session. (See Item
6.9 of the 11/88 ECBT minutes, page 17). This distribution will begin in 1990
and subscriptions will be solicited in the 1990 dues bill at the following
rates:
-- Option one: Receive open Council Agenda and attachments (with the exception
of the open ECBT minutes) by first class mail: $15 domestic, $25 foreign.
-- Option two: Receive open Council Agenda and attachments (with the exception
of the open ECBT minutes) by first class mail, and receive open Council minutes
with attachments (including open ECBT minutes) by fourth class mail: $30
domestic, $70 foreign.
4.18 Mathematical Sciences Education Board (MSEB).
Marcia Sward, the Executive Director of MSEB, appeared by invitation. She
spoke on MATHEMATICS EDUCATION IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT, and was available for
discussion. The Council authorized the President to join the presidents of MAA
and SIAM in signing a letter to accompany a mailing of the report EVERYBODY
COUNTS -- A REPORT TO THE NATION ON THE FUTURE OF MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
released by MSEB, the Board on Mathematical Sciences (BMS) and their joint
committee on the Mathematical Science in the Year 2000 (MS2000). (Copy of the
original letter attached.)
4.19 New Book Series.
(11/88 ECBT MINUTES Item 6.1) The Council established a new book series by
passing the motion below that was submitted to it by the Executive Committee.
The 01/89 COUNCIL of the American Mathematical Society hereby establishes a
series entitled PROCEEDINGS OF REGIONAL CONFERENCES IN THE USSR.
4.20 London Mathematical Society (LMS) Cooperative Venture.
(11/88 ECBT MINUTES Item 6.2) The Director of Publications (DP) reported that
the LMS had expressed an interest in co-publishing the HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS
series. The LMS proposed that the series be co-published by the AMS and itself
and tha tall expenses and profits be shared equally. The AMS would be
responsible for the actual production process. The projects would be selected
by a six-person editorial committee: three members to be appointed by each
Society. Each three-person subset could recommend a project for publication.
Should either Society decide that a project could not be supported, that
project would be published bearing only one name, but it is expected that this
would not occur. The initial CENTURY OF MATHEMATICS IN AMERICA volumes would
be excluded from the arrangement at the request of the current series Chairman.
The EC recommended to the Council that this joint venture be approved and that
the details of the formal agreement be left to the discretion of the ED and DP.
In anticipation of the Council's approval, the BT approved this project. The
Council approved this venture by passing the following resolution:
The 01/89 COUNCIL of the American Mathematical Society approves this joint
venture with the LMS.
4.21 Selling in South Africa.
(11/88 ECBT MINUTES Item 6.4) The Society receives ArborText print drivers from
Personal Tex. Inc. In July 1988 the Society received a letter from ArborText
saying that a user in South Africa had received ArborText software through the
AMS. It went on to request that AMS not sell ArborText products to South
Africa in the future. It was explained that the AMS has no direct agreement
with ArborText and nothing in the Society's agreement with PersonalTeX, Inc.
refers to selling in South Africa. However, in compliance with the wishes of
ArborText, the ED had suspended shipment of ArborText software to South Africa,
and had arranged that future orders from South Africa be fulfilled with a
substitute driver made by Personal TeX, Inc.
The ABC had recommended that the ECBT discuss the broader question of a
possible embargo on the sale of AMS products to South Africa. Att. #26 (of the
11/88 ECBT MINUTES) contains the letter to AMS from ArborText, a record of
sales to South Africa for 1987 and the first half of 1988, and news reports on
the legislation referred to above.
The EC voted on a motion to recommend to the Council that an immediate embargo
be placed on the AMS's sale of software to South Africa. The motion did not
carry. The EC then voted on a motion to recommend to the Council that orders
from South Africa for ArborText print drivers not be fulfilled with a
substitute driver made by Personal TeX, Inc., but instead returned with a
statement that ArborText does not allow sales to South Africa. This motion
carried. (The BT did not vote on these motions, since it was agreed that the
income involved is negligible.) The Council considered the motion:
The 01/89 COUNCIL of the American Mathematical Society agrees that orders from
South Africa for ArborText, Inc., products sold by the Society be returned to
the sender along with a statement that ArborText, Inc. does not allow sales to
South Africa.
It was moved and seconded that the wording above be substituted with
The American Mathematical Society will not fill any TeX software orders
emanating from South Africa.
The substitute failed. The Council passed the motion as made.
4.22 Pi Mu Epsilon (PME).
(11/88 ECBT MINUTES Item 8.5) Pi Mu Epsilon will officially celebrate its
Diamond Jubilee during the August 7-10, 1989, Joint Mathematics Meetings in
Boulder, CO. PME plans more extensive scientific and social progams than
usual, and will be asking both AMS and MAA to cosponsor several events on their
program. The ECBT recommended to the Council that, on the occasion of PME's
Diamond Jubilee, the Society establish and fund an annual prize to be
administered by PME. The only stipulation is that the name of the AMS be
associated with the prize. The Council passed the following motion:
The 01/89 COUNCIL of the American Mathematical Society establishes an annual
prize to be administered by Pi Mu Epsilon with the stipulation that the name of
the AMS be associated with the prize.
The Secretary has communicated to the President of PME this action of the
Council.
NEW BUSINESS
At 11:05pm President William Browder relinquished the chair to Ex-President
G.D. Mostow in order that the following agenda items could be considered.
9.1 Letter from Lang
In a letter from Serge Lang to the Council dated 11 October 1988 several
requests are made, to wit:
-- The Council of the AMS is asked to review the correspondence (that was
attached to the agenda) and to express some objections to actions taken.
-- The Council of the AMS is asked to review procedures for handling letters to
the editor of NOTICES.
9.2 Letters to the Editor
Serge Lange asked in the attached letter to the Council that two Letters to the
Editor of the NOTICES be brought to the attention of the Council. These
letters were published on pp. 1115-1116 of the October NOTICES and are
attached. Lang requested the Council disavow a statement by President William
Browder in the second letter.
Items 9.1 and 9.2 were tabled. However, the Council did request the Secretary,
in his capacity as Chairman of the NOTICES Editorial Committee, to ask that
Committee to examine the current procedures for considering letters to the
editor of the NOTICES with an eye toward revising them.
At 11:30pm the Council dissolved itself into a Committee of the Whole to
discuss the report on election scheduling. Vice President Barry Simon was in
the chair. The committee rose with no report one house later.
The Council adjourned at 12:50 am on 11 January 1989.
Robert M. Fossum
Secretary
