Attachment B
National Speleological Society, Inc.
Executive Vice President's Report
April 7, 2001
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
(1)
AMERICAN CAVING ACCIDENTS COMMITTEE
(2) AAAS REP-BIOLOGY
(3) AAAS
REP-GEOLOGY & GEOGRAPHY
(4) AGI DELEGATE
(5) JOE IVY ENDOWMENT COMMITTEE
(6) U. S.
EXPLORATION COMMITTEE
(7)
INTERNATIONAL EXPLORATION
(8) RESEARCH
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
(9) SPELEO DIGEST COMMITTEE
(10) SPECIAL
PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE
(11) JOURNAL
OF CAVE AND KARST STUDIES
(12) NSS NEWS
(13) MEMBERS MANUAL COMMITTEE
(14) PERMISSION TO
REPRINT
The Table of Contents lines above in bold means I have a committee report below.
There are twelve committees, and publications, etc. in the Department of the Executive Vice President (EVP). A thirteenth item has been added here to cover permissions to reprint from NSS publications.
The Journal had a misprint between the amount to be published for December 2000 and August 2000. This and postal increases have caused a budget overrun. See the Journal’s committee report for details. A Letter of Intent has been signed with the Carlsbad Caverns, Guadalupe Mountains Association (CCGMA) to sell the Journal at the park. There are 1500 on site with 800 more waiting at Belski’s when they run out.
On Caves and Cameras has a different layout and design person to help on book creation.
Al Romero, the Research and Advisory Committee (RAC) Chair will be on sabbatical beginning in early May. Advertisements have been sent to the Journal and the NSS News for their next available issues.
The International Exploration Fund is small and a funding mechanism is necessary to continue funding grants.
The Joe Ivy Endowment Fund has been established and a check received for $4,072.84 from Rebecca Jones. $500 has been allocated in the budget for the first grant.
Report Date: March 2001
Bill Putnam (Chairman)
1865 Eagle Summit Ct
Lawrenceville GA 30043-6669
Phone: (770)822-0003
Fax: (770) 682-5536
Cellular: (678) 234-0566
Email: putnam@scci.org
Committee Members:
Diane Cousineau
Bill Cuddington
George Dasher
John Ganter
John Gookin
Kris Green
Buddy Lane
Ray Keeler
Jeff Parnell
Laura Putnam
Progress: After examining the costs for the last issue of ACA (the 1997-98 issue published last April) I concluded that it would be possible to publish a double issue for 1999 and 2000 within the budget allocated for the 1999 issue. By doing so, we save a substantial amount on postage and mailing expenses, as well as printing costs.
Accident reporting via the web site and email has to a large extent eliminated our historic dependency on grotto newsletters, newspapers, etc. for incident reports, reducing the time required to acquire and compile a reasonably complete set of reports for a given year. I have also had a lot of help from Scott Fee and other folks in screening newsletters and forwarding articles with accident reports. I am therefore confident that the database of reports for 2000 is quite complete at this point.
Since we just published an issue of ACA last April, I decided that a combined 1999-2000 issue published in April 2001 would be reasonable and would save the Society several thousand dollars. An added benefit is that the Society members will receive the reports from 2000 six months earlier than they would have on the old December publication schedule, making them more timely and useful.
I have all the 1999 and 2000 reports compiled and expect to finish the editing and layout this month. After review and proofing, the issue will go to the printer in April for publication and distribution. It will be a little smaller that the last issue, with about 100 incident reports. I plan to use the same printer (EBSCO Media, Birmingham AL) that I used for the last two issues.
Plans: Publish ACA 1999-2000 in April 2001.
Problems: None
Kathleen H. Lavoie
Dean of College of Arts and Sciences and
Professor, Biology Department
University of Michigan-Flint
Flint, MI. 48502-2186
Home: (810) 234-0524
Work: (810) 762-3360
E-mail: lavoiekh@SPLAVA.CC.PLATTSBURGH.EDU
Progress: I sent out the following request to several biology colleagues. NSS is an affiliated organization with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. We have two representatives to the AAAS, one for Biology (Kathy Lavoie) and one for Geology (Daniel Chess). We are interested in increasing participation the NSS in the AAAS organization and activities. Two years ago, Dan Chess organized a symposium on Caves at the AAAS Annual Meeting. Is there interest in making this a regular sort of event? Is there interest in publication resulting from such symposia? Are there other ways the connection between NSS and AAAS can be strengthened? Any comments appreciated!"
I received several replies and suggestions. There was general support for more symposia, along with publication, possibly as a special issue of Journal of Cave and Karst Studies.
Other suggestions included having a booth at both AAAS and NSS meetings to increase visibility. Doug Soroka suggested a brochure of the "top ten" in biospeleology.
Plans: Will discuss future symposia, booth and brochure ideas with Daniel Chess, and publication with JCKS Editor, Louise Hose. Will continue to look for ideas.
Problems: None.
Daniel L Chess
19 Tavano Road
Ossining, NY 10562
Home: (914) 945-2479 tieline 862
E-mail: dlchess@watson.ibm.com
Progress: I attended the AAAS Geology section business meeting on February 15th in San Francisco and a few of the geoscience related symposia. Overall the meetings were thinly attended. I think the current state of the economy may have kept attendance down. Next years AAAS Annual meeting will be in Boston starting on February 14th, 2002.
Plans: No new news from the geology representative except that I am trying to help organize an AAAS field trip to the Big Dig thru my contact at Haley and Aldrich in Boston. Although this does not have any connection to caving it does give one an appreciation of what can be accomplished with a shovel, a lot of concrete and even more money.
Problems: None
Harvey R. DuChene
7216 East Bentley Circle
Englewood, CO. 80112
Home: (303) 688-5315
Work: (303) 695-3672
E-mail: hduchene@compuserve.com
American Geological Institute Representative’s Report
Progress: The long-awaited AGI publication Living with Karst is nearing completion. Thanks to George Veni, Cheryl Jones and Carol Zokaites, and the staff at AGI, led by Julie Jackson, the booklet and poster are almost finished and should beavailable in the very near future. I have seen the poster, which has a beautiful photographic montage on one side, including a sinkhole plain in the midwestern USA and the tower karst of china, among other scenes. The title on the poster is "Karst: a fragile foundation." On the reverse, there are several science projects aimed at school-aged children. I know quality of the writing that has gone into this booklet, as well as George Veni's attention to detail and the quality of previous books in the series. The result will be a publication that NSS leaders and members are proud to have sponsored.
Plans: The next meeting of AGI will be in Denver, Colorado next June. I will be attending the meeting.
Problems: None
Rebecca Jones, Chairman
11916 Bluebonnet Lane
Manchaca, TX. 78652-3801
(512) 292-1878
joeivy@interserv.com
EVP Comments: Becky sent a check of accumulated donations to the NSS in February 2001 of $4072.84. This is an excellent start of the funding. The initial grant for 2000-2001 will be $500.
Bill Steele, NSS 8072, Chairman
724 Crestland Dr.
Bartlesville, OK 74006
home tel. (918) 33305761
work tel. (918) 336-9170
fax (918) 336-6407
e-mail oksteele@aol.com
Committee Members:
Dave Black, NSS 15419, Indiana
Don Broussard, NSS 9514, Texas
Jim Chester, NSS 6946, Montana
Scott Davis, NSS 15937, Arizona
Tom Shifflett. NSS 14207, Virginia
Jim Smith, NSS 14529, Georgia
Progess: Three Sara Corrie Fund grants have been awarded since the last report to the NSS Executive Vice President.
1. $250 to the Northern Rocky Mountain Grotto. Joe Oliphant applied for the grant on behalf of the grotto. The money was requested in order to purchase exploration and survey equipment.
2. $250 to the Isla de Mona Cave Survey Project. Marc Ohms applied for the grant on behalf of the project. Isla de Mona is an island 50 miles off of Puerto Rico. It is U.S. territory.
3. $200 to the Southport Chronic Cavers Grotto. Jeremy "Bat-Bubba" Hill applied for the grant on behalf of the grotto. The money was requested for the purchase of cave surveying gear.
Plans: Plans are to continue to conduct business as we have been.
Problems: None. One big reason for this is that the new NSS Office Manager, Stephanie Cothron, is very efficient and prompt. I greatly appreciate her already!
Joel Despain
Hcr 89 Box 211
Three Rivers CA 93271
Work: (559) 565-3717
e-mail: joel_despain@hotmail.com
Progress: Grants were made for the following expeditions:
Proyecto Cheve 2001 Expedition:$300
Yucatan Diving Project: $600
Dominican Republic Expedition: $300
2001 Cerro Rabon Expedition: $600
Plans: I don't have too many ideas for fund raising. These grants have helped many people through the years. Maybe I should just try a short NSS News article appealing for $$. What do you think?
I had a recommendation that we write down the crieria for grant giving. This sounds smart. Could I draft this and have you and the BOG approve it. Do you think this is a good idea? It seems worthwhile to me.
Problems: None.
EVP Note: I have put in a budget request for $1,800 this year. Each year more requests come in for International Exploration that there is money available. By Board Act we are not allowed to use members dues to support International Exploration. The funds that are currently available are remarkably low. (appx. $4,000)
Aldemaro Romero, Ph.D.
Chairman, RAC
Environmental Studies Program and Biology Department
Macalester College
1600 Grand Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55105-1899
USA
(651) 696-8157
(651) 696-6443 (fax)
romero@macalester.edu
Committee Members:
Donald G. Davis
Carol Hill
Thomas C. Kane
Fred G. Luiszer
Donald A. McFarlane
Thomas Poulson
Philip Reeder
Carol M. Wicks, Chairman, Ralph Stone Award
Research Grant Information: Information about research grants can be found at: http://www.macalester.edu/~envirost/nss
Progress: The following grants have been made since the last report. In agreement with the EVP, the RAC grant upper boundary has been increased to $1,500. For each of the last three years, not all of the money available for cave and karst research has been used. It was agreed that increasing the upper amount available per grant will help in generating more requests for funding.
NSS RAC Grant Recipients
1. Environmental Impact of La Ceremonia de la Pesca at Cueva de Villa Luz, Tobasco, Mexico
Approved March 1, 2001. Amount approved = $1,500
Researchers: Louise D. Hose, NSS #13138FE, Department of
Environmental and
Chemical Sciences, 1 University Drive, Chapman
University, Orange, CA 92866, and Kathy H. Lovoie, NSS #17033RE,
Department
of Biology, Plattsburgh State University, 101 Broad St., Hudson
Hall 101,
Plattsburgh, NY 12901-2681.
2. Population size, ecology, and taxonomic status of the pimelodid catfish inhabiting Cumaca Cave in Trinidad
Approved February 15, 2001. Amount approved = $ 750
Researchers: Annabelle McKie, Florida Atlantic University,
Boca Raton, FL.
(NSS Member No. 49815)
William J. Poly, Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois
University,
Carbondale, IL 62901-6501
(NSS Member No. 40713)
3. Responses to light among individuals of the cave
population of Rhamdia
quelen (f. Caecorhamdia urichi) from Trinidad, W.I.
Approved February 15, 2001.Amount approved = $ 750
Researcher: Michael Manna. South Florida Water Management
District. NSS# 49812
4. Ritual Cave Use by the Ancient Maya: An Investigation of
Joljaš Cave in
Chiapas, Mexico.
Approved January 16, 2001. Amount approved = $750
Researcher: Christina Halperin, NSS #49553
Plans: I received the following email from Al on Jan. 30th.
This is to inform you that next academic year I will be on sabbatical. That means that I will be doing extensive travelling and will be out of my office most of the time, including abroad. I do not think that under those circumstances I can do a good job as Chair of the RAC.
Therefore, I am letting you know that effective May 7 I will be resigning as RAC Chair. This should give you plenty of time to find a substitute. If a substitute is found earlier I will step down early as well. Needless to say that I will help the incoming chair in order to ensure a smooth transition. I would have liked to stay for one more year (I think these positions should last no more than three years) but I am sure that you understand my decision giving the circumstances.
I hope that you are happy with my performance. Under my chairmanship grants were raised from $500 to $1,500; the Committee was diversified from "Mammoth cave only" types to a broad spectrum geographically and academically; a web page was developed and maintained; the proposal received were carefully reviewed in an electronic process in order to ensure promptness in responses.
It was a real pleasure having worked with you. You combined both, care for the NSS and a sense of professionalism for your position.
Problems: None
EVP Remarks: Find a new RAC Chair. I will miss working with Al. It has been a pleasure. His responses have always been clear, quick and professional. If he was headed to the field and be offline for awhile he would let me know in advance.
An advertisement for the position has been submitted to the Journal of Cave and Karst Studies and the NSS News.
NSS Grant Recipients
Air Quality Study of Select Caves Within the Payson Ranger District, Gila County, Arizona
Researchers: Taran Doty, P.E. (NSS #44128) and Bryan Doty (NSS #47451), Central Arizona Grotto of the National Speleological Society.
Amount: $500
Address: Taran L. Doty, P.E.
2232 East Crest Lane
Phoenix, AZ 85024
email: taran.doty@idc-ch2m.com
Genetic Relatedness of Stygobites as a Tool for Determining Aquifer Connectedness
Researcher: Jean Krejca, NSS #33083
Amount: $750
Address: Integrative Biology C0930
University of Texas
Austin TX 78712
email: creature@mail.utexas.edu
Correlation of Vegetation Spectral Characteristics to Maya Archaeological Site Locations in the Karst of West Central Belize
Researcher: David K. Gay, NSS #48859
Amount: $500
Address: 22763 Kane Avenue
Glenwood, IA 51534
email: paleodave@aol.com
Study of a Convergent Cave Beetle/Cave Cricket Predator-Prey System
Researcher: Molly White, NSS #48563
Amount: $750
Address: Department of Biological Sciences
University of Cincinnati
PO Box 210006
Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0006
email: mollyjean99@hotmail.com
Scott Fee
2501 Gable Blvd.
Birmingham, AL. 35215-2862
Home: (205) 854-7487
E-mail: scottfee@pipeline.com
Editors and Desktop Layout (DTP):
2000: Scott Fee
Speleo Digest Committee Report
I am pleased to report that both the 1990 and 1992 Speleo Digest have been completed and are being sold by the NSS Bookstore. This is an extraordinary occasion as the Speleo Digest series is completely up to date. This arduous task could not have been completed without the tireless efforts of over two dozen volunteers during the last four years.
Current Year Speleo Digest:
2000: Scott Fee (Editor)
Progress: Over 350 pages of the manuscript have been formatted. Over 200 pages have been proofread. Scott Parvin (1999 Digest Editor) has come "on board" as a second layout person. He will be working on the "end of book" chapters.
Plans: Finish layout by April 30th. Finish final proofing by May 15th. Have at NSS Bookstore by July 1st.
Problems: None so far (Keep your fingers crossed).
David McClurg
104 Graves Ct
Vallejo, CA 94591
Phone and Fax: (707) 642-5528
dmcclurg@value.net
Tom Rea (Committee Member)
Gale McCoy (Committee Member)
Shannon Knapp (Committee Member)
Janet McClurg (Committee Member)
Vern Smith (Committee Member)
COMPLETED BOOKS
Speleogenesis: Evolution of Karst Aquifers
Alexander Klimchouk, Editor
Progress: As indicated in the last report, this title has been completed and 1,057 copies were delivered to the NSS office in May.
A mailing by the NSS Office of the promotional flyer (plus a CMW-2 flyer) was completed in February 2001 using mailing lists developed by this committee for this purpose. The lists included 475 groundwater hydrologists from the American Geological Institute Directory, plus 137 science museum and university bookstores, and 80 book wholesalers who specialize in science texts.
Plans: Since sales of this title have been better than expected, we were asked to get estimates to reprint 500 and 1000 copies for consideration at the February 2001 budget meeting. Discussion and a decision on the reprint are expected to take place at the April 2001 board meeting.
This title is also included in the flyer this committee produced for mailing to IMAX theaters, science museum and institutions, and university bookstores.
BOOKS IN PROGRESS
On Caves and Cameras
John van Swearingen and Norman Thompson, Editors
Progress: The publishing agreement between the NSS and the editors has been signed by both editors and sent on for signatures by NSS officers. The agreement was revised to cover only limited or one-time use of the photographs by the NSS (including straight reprints). Also the date for materials was changed from December 15, 2000 to March 1, 2001.
As of that date however, final text had only been received for five of the 32 chapters. Also illustrations for only seven chapters had been received, three of which were in digital form and came directly from the author not from the editors.
Because of a difference in interpretation between the chair of this committee and the editors over the role of the publisher (that is, the NSS) in this book, the editors asked the executive vice president for permission to let them handle layout and production of the book themselves. This was agreed to by the evp––and then communicated by him to the committee chair––as a means of preventing additional disagreements that might prevent the timely completion of the book.
In effect, the differences in interpretation centered on this committee’s insistence that final text must be received before layout could proceed and that changes after layout had to limited to correction of typos or any technical errors that had escaped notice until then. The editors also insisted on final approval of all minor textual style changes made to conform with the NSS Style Manual. There was also a disagreement over the style of the cover. This committee insisted that the book’s cover should be designed to bear a family resemblance to other NSS books. The editors argued that their book should have a different kind of cover. On other stylistic matters there seemed to be more or less general agreement, but apparently not enough to satisfy the editors.
In keeping with this decision, this committee returned all materials to senior editor John Van Swearingen on March 2, 2001 by Certified Mail.
Plans: We will assist in any way requested by the editors. For use on the cover, we have offered to supply digital versions of the NSS logos prepared by committee member Tom Rea.
It is worth noting that although the NSS is paying for the production of this book, the committee specifically changed with the responsibility for producing NSS books is no longer involved. We don’t have any special problem with this approach. In fact, we have done books this way before.
For example, the proceedings of the Appalachian Karst Symposium was laid out in its entirety by Ernst and Karen Kastning. This committee made suggestions about type faces and column dimensions. We also we designed the cover to keep it in the NSS family.
On Call
A Complete Reference for Cave Rescuers
John C. Hempel and Annette Fregeau-Conover, Editors
Progress: Materials have been received for this book from chief editor Chuck Hempel. With the exception of two illustrations and some minor text omissions, the materials are complete.
New printing estimates have been received.
A publishing agreement between the editors and the NSS has been signed by the editors and will be forwarded to the NSS officers when received.
Plans: We expect to receive the missing items and Zip disks with all illustrations in digital form shortly. We have begun the style editing of this text and have started layouts. It is planned that the book will be completed before the 2001 convention
Problems: None.
Cave Rescue Manual
Members of the NCRC
Progress: A new editor, Jeff Parnell, has taken over this manual and is preparing an outline. It is intended that this manual will follow closely the instructional materials used in the NCRC seminars.
Plans: We are awaiting an outline and list of authors.
Problems: Too early to tell.
Techniques of Cave Conservation and Restoration
Jim Werker and Val Hildreth-Werker, Editors
Progress: We understand that final editing is nearly completed and we will receive all materials shortly. The publishing agreement is being signed now and will also be received soon.
Plans: We will begin production when materials are received. It is expected the book will be completed in time for the 2001 convention and the International Congress of Speleology in Brazil.
Problems: None
Caves
A Children’s Book
Ronal Kerbo
Progress: This title is an update and rewrite of Ron Kerbo’s very popular 48-page introduction to caves for children. It was originally published in 1981 by Childrens Press in Chicago.
However, recent revisions to this book have pushed the original 48 pages up to 64 pages. Unfortunately, this higher page count increased the printing costs so that it has become too expensive to produce the book and still sell it a reasonable retail price. The fact is, after some effort, we had only recently received satisfactory printing quotes on the 48 page version.
The Market Research Committee provided some valuable information on children’s’ books. Among other things, it indicated our proposed retail price for a book with the original page count was in the right price range.
Plans: We have been in touch with Kerbo to see if he can reduce the page count back to 48 or less.
Problems: Awaiting word from the author.
Underground Wonders—
Visiting Caves on Public Lands
Ronal Kerbo
Progress: There has been no progress by the author on this title since the last report. Earlier we had received and outline and some promising sample chapters. But the book appears to be on hold for now.
Plans: We still expect to see materials and photos from Kerbo later this year. When we have enough to accurately calculate the page count, we’ll get printing estimates, and prepare a specification and estimate sheet.
Problems: Too early to tell.
US Cave Management Manual
Members of the NSS Cave Management Section
Progress: The new editor, Thomas Lera, has made several attempts to revive this book project, alas with little success so far. It seems the most likely authors have recently contributed to the Werker’s Cave Conservation and Restoration book and don’t seem willing to work on a more general cave management book now.
Plans and Problems: For now, it seems that the book is back in limbo. A proceedings of the Fall 2001 cave management seminar in Arizona might be a possibility. Over the years, the NSS has been involved in producing three or four of these proceedings. But in general, the cave management conferences prefer to take care of production themselves, if they’re planning to publish the proceedings.
Caves of the Guadalupe Mountains
By Michael Queen
Progress, Plans, Problems.
No report or materials were received.
Other Committee Activities
To help promote NSS books, this committee has been working with the NSS Office and operations vice president Scott Fee to prepare ads for the NSS NEWS. So far, ads for CMW-2, On Rope, and SpeleoDigests have been completed. Ads for Caving Basics and On Station will be prepared for upcoming issues of the NEWS.
We also prepared two new color flyers. The first was a CMW-2 color flyer to be sent with membership renewal packages to stimulate sales. The second is a flyer to tie in with the release of the IMAX film Journal into Amazing Caves. The flyer describes the new American Geological Institute booklet Living with Karst (written by members of the NSS Geology and Geography Section), plus four NSS books, Speleogenesis, Cave Minerals of the World, Caving Basics, and On Rope. It will be mailed to the IMAX locations, plus bookstores and libraries of science musuem and similar institutions, and universities.
Using materials supplied by the French journal Karstolgia, this committee prepared an ad featuring several of that journal’s special issues. This ad, which will appear in the April issue of the JCKS, is an exchange for a similar ad that Karstolgia ran in its February 2001 issue for Speleogenesis.
––David McClurg, Chair, Special Publications Committee
Louise D. Hose (Editor)
Department of Environmental and Chemical Sciences
1 University Drive
Chapman University
Orange, CA 92866
Work: 714-997-6994
Fax: 714-532-6048
E-Mail: Hose@chapman.edu
James A. Pisarowicz (Production Editor)
Wind Cave National Park
South Dakota, SD 57747
Home: (605) 673-5582(h)
Work: (605) 745-4600(w)
E-Mail: pisarowi@gwtc.net
BOARD OF EDITORS
Steven Taylor (Life Sciences)
George Huppert (Conservation)
Andrea Futrell (Exploration)
Ira D. Sasowsky (Earth Sciences/Journal Index)
Marion O. Smith (Social Sciences)
Patty Jo Watson (Anthropology)
Ernst Kastning (Book Reviews)
ADVISORY BOARD
David Ashley
Rane Curl
Andy Flurkey
Doug Medville
John Mylroie
Diana Northup
Art Palmer
Elizabeth White
Progress: Volume 62, number 2 (August issue), the Special Issue on Guadalupe Mountain Speleogenesis, and Volume 62, number 3 (December issue) were mailed in January to all domestic members as well as donors and authors. A mix-up with the printer caused the Guad issue to be underprinted by 2,000 copies and the December issue to be overprinted by 2,000 copies. One result was that foreign members have been delayed in receiving their copies of the v. 63, n. 2.
The Carlsbad Caverns-Guadalupe Mountains Association (CCGMA) has finally (in February) agreed to sell the Guads issue in their bookstore. The printer has agreed to print at cost 3000 more copies and we are moving ahead with a second run. All feedback from members and other readers has been extremely positive. I think the book will stand to most members as one of our prouder, most visible productions. The CCGMA is anxious to have it on the bookstands before the droves of University and Industry geology field trips arrive in March, April, and May.
Progress on next issue, v. 63, n. 1 (April 2001) is progressing along fine and we anticipate printing and mailing in late March. As usual, the change in calendar year causes a rotation on the Advisory Board and three invitations were recently extended and accepted by John Ganter, Diana Northup, and Art Palmer. In addition, Jim Pisarowicz has made .pdf files for all issues of Journal and forwarded copies on a CD to the office.
Plans: The planned editors for the Rock Bridge State Park special issue recently informed me that they will not have an issue ready for Summer 2001, as had been planned, and probably will not do a special issue at all. Thus, we currently have no special issues in the pipeline. We anticipate an adequate flow of papers to cover the regular issues. In addition, for a variety of reasons (unavailability of academics in the summer, problems with page numbering, etc.), I believe future special issues should be planned for the April (first issue) instead of the summer issue.
There is probably a substantially larger international and domestic scientific market for the Journal than we currently serve. A flyer and appropriate publicity at the upcoming International Congress might increase foreign subscriptions. We now have 2000 extra copies of the December issue of the Journal and we recommend looking for opportunities to use them for promotional purposes, such as distribution at the International Congress, Karst Waters Institute conferences, and even Geological Society of America meetings.
Scientific journals are experimenting with various forms of electronic publishing and the Journal editorial and advisory boards are currently active discussing potential options for the NSS. Potential avenues under discussion include marketing back issues on CD and establishing web-based and/or CD subscriptions. We will probably approach the Board with our recommendations during the next year.
Problems: At this point, the biggest problem is the large budget overrun this year. This mostly happened because we held publication up on the Special Issue hoping for the CCGMA and National Park Service to pledge financial support. During the wait, Jim Pisarowicz was verbally told by the printer that mailing the two issues (August and December) together would provide a substantial savings in mailing costs. Thus, I decided to hold off on printing and mailing the issues until November or December. The usual delays with the December issue occurred along the way (placing the index in the December issue always makes it a more difficult issue to get out on time) but we were pretty much ready to go in late November.
Unfortunately, Production Editor Jim Pisarowicz’s sister was critically injured in a head-on automobile accident at the exact time he was finishing up production. Jim rushed off to attend to family matters. When he returned, he finished up the December issue and sent it to the printer. The late December holiday season caused the run to be postponed to early January, a critical change that we did not recognize at the time to be extremely costly. Unknown to any of us, a very minor mistake was made on the paperwork. The directions for the print run for both issues, which were in separate envelopes, read December 2000. In addition, the printer claims that Jim had placed the December directions (10,000 copies) in the August envelope and the August directions (12,000) in the December envelope. I doubt if anyone knows for sure and there isn’t any way of determining whether this is true or not. Whatever, the printer reversed the directions, ran 12,000 copies of the December issue and 10,000 copies of the August issue, then sent the wrong issues to all authors and donors on the mailing list.
In January, the mistake became apparent and, since Jim was in Mexico, I started to work with the printer to understand the problems and to institute damage control. I asked the December authors who mistakenly received Special Issue copies to mail them back to the office. I believe they have done so. I asked Stephanie to mail out appropriate numbers of the Guads issue from the office supply to the donors and authors entitled to them. I sent my personal copies of the August issue to Carol Hill to make sure she was one of the first people to see it. I notified the people who mistakenly received December issues of the problem and that the proper issues would soon arrive but did not ask them to mail the issues back to the office. I suggested that they give them to speleologists and scientist friends who were not NSS members. I let the EVP know the problems. I asked Harvey DuChene and the EVP to try again to make arrangements for the CCGMA to buy and market the issue, now recognizing that we had a serious budget overrun unless they provided some pledges of funding. I believe with the exception of myself, Harvey DuChene (who was shorted on the issues he was entitled to as an author, editor, and donor), and foreign members, all members received the issues they were entitled to by the end of January. However, these actions had drained the office supply and the foreign mailing was not possible. (I had not realized that the office made the foreign mailings when I made these decisions.) When Jim returned in early February, he began to work with the printer on the second run.
There are essentially two reasons for the far greater expenses than anticipated.
1. The combined two issues for mailing exceeded a one pound limit and made the mailing ineligible for non-profit rates. This was a tremendous financial hit but we had no previous visibility of the policy. While Jim was verbally told by the printer that the combined mailing would be much cheaper than two separate ones, we have nothing in writing and this statement wasn’t from the mailer who actually billed us.
2. Printing and mailing costs dramatically rose on January 1st without us knowing it. This was probably a predictable consequence of delaying the printing, but we had never overlapped the new year before and the price increase didn’t occur to us.
Of course, printing 2,000 undesired copies of the December issue did not help us, either. The second run of the Guads issue after the new year, while now backed by a contract with the CCGMA, will make the budget overrun even more damaging. This is partly balanced by the printer’s offer to print at cost.
In retrospect, if seems apparent to me that we tried to do too much with a basically volunteer staff in putting out the Guadalupe Mountains Special Issue. The guest editors, Carol Hill and Harvey DuChene, were wonderful and strictly enforced the schedule. They share absolutely none of the blame for our problems and should be highly commended for the work they did. Our problems came from the razor-edge funding we tried to work under and the lack of a professional staff to make sure things happened on time. The two editors (Pisarowicz and I) were not able to give the time necessary to overcome unforeseen crises in a timely manner, especially when our own lives presented greater than usual career, family, and personal demands. As a result, several errors were made, costly deadlines were missed, and we overran our budget by several thousand dollars. While the costs will undoubtedly be made up both financially and in public relations over the next couple of years as the special issue is sold in the Carlsbad Caverns bookstore and elsewhere, it was never my intention to allow such a costly series of blunders. As the person ultimately responsible for these problems, I render my resignation as Editor of the Journal, effective whenever the EVP feels he has a replacement ready to take over. Until that time, I plan to continue to fully serve as the Journal Editor.
EVP Remarks: I sent Louise an email refusing her resignation above. I feel she and Jim have done a very notable job over the last five years making the NSS science publication a reality instead of an illusion. On February 28th, I flew to Los Angeles, California, for another caving related topic and spent an enjoyable few hours with Louise discussing Journal issues. The general feeling is that she will continue to edit the Journal and would also be willing to entertain the transition to another editor.
Dave Bunnell (Editor)
P.O. Box 879
Angels Camp, CA 95222
Phone: (408)338-3853
E-mail: dbunnell@caltel.com
Conservation
David Jagnow
PO Box 93398
Albuquerque, NM 87199-3398
(505)332-4889 (Tel. & FAX)
david@jagnow.com
Down through the Decades
Peri Frantz
frantz@netcom.com
In the Media
Bill Klimack
3805A Furman Smith Road
Columbia, SC 29206-5336
(803) 790-0947
BKlimack@aol.com
Technology reviews
Scott Shaw
sshaw@hiwaay.net
NEWSletter Review
Jay Kennedy
3638 Fifth St. Apt 214
Rapid City, SD 57701
(605) 343-1855
caver_doc@hotmail.com
Spelean Spotlight
Paul Steward
pddb@juno.com
Techniques & Safety
Bill Cuddington
109 Beacon St.
Moulton, AL, 35650
(205) 974-4177
MIRIAMBL@aol.com
Virtual Caving
Gary Gibula
ggibula@aol.com
This came as I checked my e-mail one last time just before going away. So this is done with a bit of haste, but at least on time.
Progress: I've gotten a fairly good base of articles on hand and articles promised. Just a few issues back I had a few issues thinner than usual and had used up everything on hand that I considered usable. Much of this has come through personal appeals and inquiries and some through general calls on the Cavers Digest and in the News. We had a smooth transition on the popular interview column with Bill Steele taking over. He seems to be as conscientious as Paul about getting a regular column and on time as well. The first conservation issue with Val and Jim has been completed. They played a very large role, collecting and editing all the articles in the issue.
Plans: Some good stuff is coming up. April will have some behind-the-scenes on the IMAX film by Hazel and Nancy and the film company. Several NSS projects are contributing articles: Dominican Republic, Borneo, Yucatan. I followed up on the reports of the Naica crystal caves and have gotten photos and permission to run same from the pro photographer who got access. These are awesome images of the 25-foot-long selenite crystals, which I plan to run in color in the May issue.
Acting on the advice of our advertising accountant, Bert Ashbrook, we plan to raise advertising rates for the first time in several year, by 5%, in May. Our printing costs have held steady for most of that period but postage has increased significantly.
Problems: None that I know of. We have had another
postal increase and need to
consider its effect on the budget for the next FY.
Maureen Handler
P.O. Box 3802
Cleveland TN.37320
Home: (423) 614-7077
Email: mhandler@cdc.net
Committee Members:
Vince Kappler (Board Information)
Evelyn Bradshaw (Grotto Information)
Bill Bussey (Section Information)
David Taylor (Survey Information)
Office Staff (Members Listing)
Al Romero (Project and Study Group Information)
Jim Wilbanks
Progress: Last year's electric copy of the MM was successfully imported into an updated program with additional font and graphic capability. Draft layouts have been prepared and most sections requiring emailing for updates have been completed. This should be finalized this weekend (March 11) and submitted.
Volunteer proof readers were solicited from the local cavers and redline copies have been received from them. These changes are being put into the computer.
A volunteer has been obtained for obtaining updates to some miscellaneous sections (such as the miscellaneous section and BOG updates)
Plans: Applicable segments of the 2000 MM will be emailed to EC members this week for review and correction. Additional sections to be emailed for survey update, section update, CTF update, cave preserves update. Review of these will be due the end of March.
I/O info is due from I/O committee the end of this month
Donation Info due from Ted Kayes the end of this month,
The membership database will be received the end of this month.
The MM will be sent to the membership by middle of June
Problems: As always, time and technology. Current computer resources are aged and limited. (I don't know if a memory upgrade to the existing system is something we can consider under the budget line item layout and design. Last year these items were mostly supplies such as paper and printer cartridge, plus some typing that will not be needed this year and this item would not go over budget).
Self employment has its disadvantages and after having a slow time, the last two months have seen me swamped with work.
I will be contacting Bert Ashbrook for help with obtaining advertisers. Time last year limited contacts with potential advertisers and it appears that could be happening again.
EVP note: I called Maureen on March 5th. She is having problems but is working them. She is expanding her MM committee to distribute the load.
Ray Keeler,
NSS EVP
The following permissions/contacts/non-permissions were made for reprinting NSS copyrighted materials and release of NSS Member information:
| WHO ORG. TYPE ORGANIZATION |
REPRINT PERMISSION STATUS |
REQUEST/REASON FOR REQUEST |
| Dave Joaquim NSS Vertical Section |
Granted 10/24/00 |
Authorization from the NSS to provide the NSS Vertical Section an electronic list of names, NSS numbers and email addresses |
| Ted Kayes MBNA mailing |
Granted 11/2/00 |
NSS Members list of names and addresses for promotional mailing. |
| Vladimir Rubtsov, Ph. Director, RIAP | Granted 11/2/00 |
Reprint the March 1965 NSS News "Moonshaft Mystery" article by Dr. Antonin T. Horak, a former captain in the Slovak Uprising of World War II for the Research Institute on Anomalous Phenomena (RIAP) Bulletin |
| Tracey
Zechmann President |
? 11/2-8/00 |
For profit company requesting sale of NSS pins and patches. OVP would call |
| Mary Jo Papp OCRWM TIC |
Granted 11/12/00 |
Make
photocopies of : >> Minimum
Diameter Stalactites |
| Dr. Jackie
Belwood Cincinnati Nature |
Not Granted NSS does not own copyright 11/29/00 |
Use of
"Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time" on a bat poster the center is designing. |
| Chad Ison Publisher/Extremz Magazine |
Not Granted Reason: The web site is on extreme sports activities 1/7/01 |
Request to
publish our website's address along with other websites
we feel appropiate for their readers should check out on
caving. |
| Jo Schaper, NSS CTF Coordinator | Granted 1/25/01 |
Reprint older NSS brochures "The Fragile Underground" and "The Future of the Underground." , reproduce 150 copies of each for the general public, for a Caves and Karst Art Opening along with the Powder Valley Nature Center, Missouri Dept. of Conservation |
| Paul Steward Author |
Granted 1/30/01 |
Reprinting
the Suicide Cave story that appeared in the 1992 NSS
Convention Guidebook. He is putting together a book of true stories of murder, crime, and ghosts associated with caves. Good bedtime reading! |
| Gary Gibula, Sub-Urban Chicago Grotto, chair |
Granted 3/1/01 | Poster of NSS information to be posted at the IMAX opening in Chicago. |
| John Ganter Western Kentucky Speleological Survey Report, 1985-1996 |
Granted 3/4/01 |
Reprinting
Dyas, 1985, The Western Kentucky Speleological Survey--A
Progress Review, NSS Bulletin 47:1-11 In the publication "Western Kentucky Speleological Survey Report, 1985-1996" |
| Beth
Lindstrom ODYSSEY magazine |
Granted For Profit Received $75 royalty 3/8/01 |
Reprinting the "The Virtual Cave Image Map" from Dave Bunnell’s web site for a children’s magazine. |
| Bob Hoke Old Timers Reunion |
Granted 4/3/01 |
NSS Eastern I/O Contact names and addresses for 2001 Old Timers Reunion |
| Nancy Rodgers
Chairperson 24th Annual TAG Fall Cave-In Dogwood City Grotto |
Granted 4/3/01 |
NSS members
names and numbers I/O Contact names and addresses for TAG Fall Cave In |
| William
Schewsbury Chairman 2001 Summer Cave Carnival |
Granted 4/3/01 |
copy of the NSS Database Membership of current and dropped members, listed by NSS#, Name, DOB, City, and State. He needs this info for a demographic article |
| Brian
Williamson Editor |
Granted 4/4/01 |
Reprinting "New Faunal and Fungal Records from Caves in Georgia, USA", published in Volume 62 Number 3 of the Journal of Cave and Karst Studies in the GSS Bulletin |
| Bill McCleave
Nova Chemicals |
In Progress For Profit 4/4/01 |
Request for use of On Rope Figures for EMS and rescue. I am requesting $2 royalty per figure used. |
| Eckart
Uhlmann caving group of
Karlsruhe, Germany |
Granted 4/4/01 |
publish a
copy of your accident statistics for the purpose of
warning and learning at a German website, dealing with
cave diving, cave rescue and safety. |
To: Aldemaro Romero, NSS Research Advisory Committee
Ray Keeler, NSS EVP
As discussed with you briefly last fall, the Association for Mexican Cave Studies, PO Box 7672, Austin, Texas 78713, wishes to become an official Project of the NSS. Contact person would be:
Bill Mixon (NSS 5728 OS,AL), Editor
14045 North Green Hills Loop
Austin, Texas 78737
(512) 288-4991
billmixon@worldnet.att.net
NSS members on the Advisory Committee so far are:
William Russell NSS 5347 HM
James Reddell NSS 4897 CM,FE
Peter Sprouse NSS 14445 LB
We are in the process of getting web site (address will be amcs-pubs.org) and email addresses at that name.
Purposes of the AMCS Project of the NSS will be the same as those of the NSS, especially encouraging the exploration, study, and conservation of caves in Mexico though a program of publications.
NOTES ON AMCS NEEDS AND POSSIBILITIES
Bill Mixon
24 January 2001
These are some comments on present AMCS situation and possibilities. I hope we can stay as informal as always, but still be a little more on the ball about publishing and selling. If any of these things strikes your fancy, grab the ball and run with it. Other suggestions of course welcome.
Money, bank account. Jerry Fant has gotten us an AMCS bank account. I don't know whether it is still Fant doing-business-as AMCS or we have our own Employer ID Number yet? Has the $3487.20 from Russell gotten there yet? How about the $2xx.xx check from Speleobooks that Winfrey had?
Inventory of stock. We need to know what we actually have in the way of Activities Newsletters. Most of the stock is now in my basement, although both Fant and Grubb may have some. Do hardbounds really exist?
Post office box. We share a box (Box 7672, Austin 78713) with the UT Grotto. Katie Arens is picking up the mail periodically and will inform sales about orders, pass on checks to treasurer, etc.
Email and web. Jerry Fant has gotten us www.amcs-pubs.org. Presumably we will also have some email addresses (say separate ones for editor, sales, miscellaneous inquires). Need to establish who those will forward to. Basic function of web site will be catalog of pubs; maybe links to some projects, etc. Some material on Activities Newsletters is on the web? Don't anticipate a fancy automated web site with shopping cart and all that sort of thing. Probably just a "mail to" button for people to send orders—but that will require credit card capabilities. Or can be as elaborate as wanted—but please not a lot of slow-loading pix—provided somebody is willing to maintain it. Nothing worse than an out-of-date web site.
Advertising and sales. Jubal Grubb has volunteered to spearhead sales. So far there's only been an emailed list for Activities Newsletters based strictly on old price list, but with no shipping charges or ordering address stated. Up-to-date shipping charges need to be determined (domestic rates, including book rate, went up this month). Add something for packing materials. All announcements, etc., need to state our PO box as well as web site and email ordering info. Open question: What can we do, if anything, about credit-card sales? Fant has ideas.
As the number of publications we have to sell (see below) increases, web site and printed list need to be kept up to date. Printed list should be available at meetings and events as well as included in all shipments of orders. There should also be a plain-text file of the printed sheet that can be emailed to people on request, posted to caver lists, etc. Speleobooks has been retailing Activities Newsletters. We've been giving her a 20 percent discount. I just heard that Speleo Projects also has some ActNl in its catalog. Have asked Melanie how and under what terms they've gotten them. Prices need to be set so that we can afford to wholesale some for 20 percent off, although if we do a decent job of selling them ourselves, shouldn't have to wholesale a very large fraction. We need to sell in consignment sales at NSS conventions. Up-to-date catalog of things we now have for sale is urgent matter, so we can get $$ coming in.
NSS Project Status. I propose to ask the NSS to grant the AMCS official Project status. I have asked the relevant NSS officials about this and they're all for it. Motion can be sent soon to appear on April BOG meeting agenda. The purpose of this is to make donations to support publications program tax deductible. (This works for Projects, unlike grottos, because the NSS BOG is the "ultimate arbiter" of what Projects do.) I would be listed as the NSS contact under the title "editor" and take care of any liaison with the NSS required (just a token annual report). We'd also have a titular "advisory board" consisting of a small number of NSS members. Ones that come to mind (pending their permission, of course) include Sprouse and Russell--other suggestions welcome. I don't think we should plan on the AMCS officially sanctioning expeditions, which I can see causing various sorts of problems and dissension. The publications program should be relatively controversy-free.
How about somebody coming up with an AMCS logo we can use on pubs, catalogs, possible stickers? Maybe something like an Oztotl with AMCS below it, suitably boxed? Would need color, gray-scale, and black-and-white versions.
ACTIVITIES NEWSLETTER
Keeping this series going is the highest priority. Progress on getting number 23 printed? Winfrey has had it since TCR. Once number 23 can be announced, I plan to solicit material for number 24. Do we want to continue to offer hardcover version of these? Susie had been having a few of the softbounds rebound by Jasek in Waco and selling them for an extra $6.00 or so. Understand from Raines via Fant that Jasek can no longer do this. My opinion is not to mess with it, beyond selling what might exist of hardbound back issues.
Possible things for number 24:
Article on Kennedy project area
Article on Fant project area
Article on Cerro Rabon from Swiss (Melanie is looking into that)
Article on Villa Luz
Article on Charco (maybe not in time for next issue)
Map of Montemayor (with or without article Joe Ivy didn't write). This doesn't lend itself to Foldout, because of shape. Possible folded in pocket.
A number of nice things have appeared in Tsaval that would be nice to translate, particularly some things by Puente or Berrones and Puente.
The Pit in Dos Ojos, Quintana Roo
May or may not be enough accumulated PEP material for another article (there is one in #23, but it was written almost two years ago)
Accident report, Quintana (from Texas Caver)
Accident report, Quebec caver in Sierra Negra (from Canadian Caver)
Accident report, Terri Treacy (maybe just in Mexico News if not long)
Obit, Quintana
Obit, Villagomez
Obit, Ivy
Other suggestions welcome, and of course I'll circulate open call for articles, cover photos, etc. widely. (Cover photos have been a particular problem lately—a lot of scrounging for photos not as spectacular as some in the past.) In the long run, would be nice if somebody else would compile the Mexico News section if I'm going to do the rest of the issues. I would pass on any Mexico News type stuff that comes to hand. I'll do it for #24. The goal will be to have number 24 done by NSS convention in late July. As it appears that printers have forgotten their trade and don't know about camera-ready copy any more, I guess I'll have to go kicking and screaming to computer preparation of more than text. Will need advice about that, and someone to shop for next printer on that assumption. (Everybody seems to recommend Morgan Printing.) No matter what, I won't be set up to prepare cover. Color work by amateurs is always a disaster (witness the crummy photos in "Deep Secrets," for example), and I won't have the necessary calibrated monitor to do it right even if I knew how. While nobody else seems to think it's a problem, I think the Activities Newsletters have gotten kind of expensive. (Maybe that's what happens when you get old. Everything seems expensive compared to what you remember.) I'd like to see if some people would donate (deductible) toward cost of printing so we can keep price down. (Or maybe print some color foldouts or whatever--there are nice color maps available of both Villa Luz and The Pit.)
BULLETINS
Make Bulletin 1, Caves of the Inter-American Highway, available as reprint (probably bound photocopy on demand--see under "reprints" below).
Sell Reddell's biology AMCS Bulletins 3,4,5,6,8 and the separate Caves of Yucatan extract from 6. (Any not still in print would be made as on-demand reprints). We need to get these from Terry Raines. We have a limited stock of AMCS Bulletin 7, Caves of the San Juan Plateau, but unclear whether we have the 7 loose maps that were sold with it. If not, need to reproduce (smaller) those maps so we can sell the bulletins, and also in preparation for selling reprints of that bulletin when the stock exhausted. Jerry Fant has my copies of those maps and suggestions for how to handle them. There is scope for publishing some new bulletins. These could either be printed or done as photocopy on demand, depending on likely market. Area cave surveys will likely sell well; theses and dissertations less well. AMCS bulletins would be in English, English with Spanish summary, or, in cases where they originate with Mexican author, in Spanish with full English translation. These would all be newly typeset and laid out for AMCS Bulletin publication.
Possibilities:
Xilitla area (Sprouse)
El Abra area (Atkinson has been after me for years to prepare the material he has on the El Abra, but he doesn't just mean type and lay out an edited book, he means turn the box of stuff he's got into a book. Anybody interested?)
Hose's PEP area masters thesis Jim Smith's Huautla area masters thesis
Fish's El Abra hydrology PhD dissertation (but we probably won't be able to find Fish to ask permission, and it's copyrighted)
Espinasa's rumored master thesis on lava tubes
Sprouse has some earlier thesis or dissertation by a Mexican (Lascano?)
A collection of articles on Huautla exploration (from AMCS and elsewhere). Might be nice to make sure Stone's book has been out a while first.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS TO SELL
I'd like to see the AMCS make some other things more available, without worrying about making money on them. Hopefully many could be sold on consignment, with our reimbursing the publisher after they are sold. If we have to buy them and tie up money, we'd buy as few as possible at a time and insist on a discount (or sell for 10 or 20 percent over publishers price if necessary). Examples of some such things follow. (In some cases these things might be out of print, in which case they'd fall down into the reprint category.) It is really hard to get hold of publications by Mexican caving clubs. Even Tsavals, by SLP cavers some of whom live here, seem to dribble across the border three at a time. It would be nice if somebody could try to get Mexican groups to give us a decent batch of their pubs to sell for them. I'll bet we could sell ten copies of just about anything here in Austin alone. Besides Tsaval, Mundo Subterraneo comes to mind.
And:
The Cheve report by that project
The two Cerro Rabon reports by Speleo Projects
The Death Coral Caver, back and current issues
The El Abra cave fish report (Texas Tech museum)
Reddell's Texas Memorial Museum bulletin 27
Yochib from Cave Books
Cenotes of the Riviera Maya (Gerrard)
Lascano's Cerro Grande and Sierra Gorda books, if still available (else reprint)
REPRINTS
There's a lot of stuff that is (I'm guessing) out of print that we could do a service by making available again. These would all be photocopy-on-demand things. This can be done if somebody finds us a decent way to bind such photocopies (plastic comb or wire spiral bindings are too tacky, if you ask me). Preferable would be some sort of device one of us could actually buy, but knowledge of some shop that can do something cheap but nice would be OK. We would prepare one photocopy master, and as they were sold, would make additional copies by simply running to Kinkos and dropping it in one of their machines (plus whatever is necessary to bind it). We'd sell for something like 10 cents a page. These would be facsimile reproductions (except where perhaps colored or too-large maps needed to be revised), in whatever language they were originally in. With the photocopy- on-demand scheme, little money is tied up, but various classics made available even if only one a year is sold.
It would be nice to have a standard sort of cover for these AMCS reprints, perhaps preprinted with logo. If the cover has a window die-cut in it, title could show through. Some books less than 8.5x11 would need trimming to size, besides binding.
In some cases permission will need to be sought, but some others are apparently not copyrighted.
Some of the things that come to mind:
AMCS Newsletters vols 1 - 5, by volume
Hills Caves of Yucatan (even the Zyphyrus Press reprint of this is out of print)
Espeleologica de la region de Cacahuamilpa (Bonet)
Cuevas de la Sierra Madre Oriental en la region de Xilitla (Bonet)
Faunal and Archeological Researches in Yucatan Caves (Hatt, et al)
Manual de Bioespeleologia (Hoffman, et al, UNAM)
Mexican Caving of the SW Texas Grotto
Balankanche, Throne of the Tiger Priest (without the sound recording)
The Cenotes of Yucatan (Pearse, et al)
I'm sure a more thorough inspection of my shelves would find more things to either sell or reprint, and of course there's stuff I don't have, too. All together, we might well have a catalog of fifty or so things for sale within a year.