EVP Report

There are twelve committees, commissions, 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 and to use the NSS membership list, which I handle myself.

In this report a numbered block of information is provided for each of these items. In each block the committee is first identified, followed by the name of the committee chairman (editor, coordinator, whatever) and the most recent mailing address that I have for that person. Additional communications information (Phone, FAX, and E-mail) is also included. The names of other committee members deserving recognition (as supplied by the committee chairmen themselves) are listed next. Each report then follows a format called P3, that is Progress, Plans, and Problems. For those not familiar with this format, let me explain.

Under the heading Progress is given information about progress the committee has made since the previous report. This includes items covered under Plans in the previous report, as well as items not anticipated in the previous report. Progress is normally written in the past or present tenses.

Under the heading Plans is given information about progress the committee intends to make between the current reporting period and the next reporting period. Plans will normally be written in the future tense. Many (perhaps most) of the plans will end up being mentioned under Progress in the next report to the Board of Governors (Board).

Under the heading Problems is given information about actual problems which prevented more progress and anticipated problems which will impede the plans. Typically these are problems with which the committee needs help. Normally encountered, everyday problems with which the committee is used to dealing will not normally be mentioned here.

Background information may be included under any of these headings, but will normally be included under the heading where a subject is first introduced.

The information given under Progress, Plans, and Problems is supplied entirely by the committee chairman, although it may have been edited. These headings appear for all committees whose chairmen supplied reports.

The last item in the block has the heading EVP Comments under which I occasionally add some additional information not provided by the committee chairman.

Bill Putnam (Chairman/Editor)
1865 Eagle Summit Ct
Lawrenceville, GA 30043-6669
Home & Work: (770) 822-0003
Fax: (770) 682-5536
Pager: (404) 690-6348
E-mail: putnam@scci.org

Louise Hose (Committee Member)
John Gookin (Committee Member)
George Dasher (Committee Member)
Dave Hughes (Committee Member)
Butch Feldhaus (Committee Member)

ACA 94/95 was distributed to the membership in December 1997. Printing and mailing expenses were slightly higher than expected, but postage and other expenses were less, so the total cost was about $500 under budget. I was able to find a very competitive printer (EBSCO Media) in Birmingham, Alabama, which handled both printing and mailing preparation in-house. We mailed a few more copies than I had expected, so there were about 200 copies left for the NSS Bookstore and for distribution to selected rescue groups. I have 30 copies, and 165 were sent to the NSS Bookstore.

We printed 9,800 copies, based on an expected mailing of 9,500 with 300 left for the NSS Bookstore. We actually mailed 9,605 copies (9,277 domestic and 328 foreign) and have 195 left for the NSS Bookstore and for distribution to selected cave rescue groups and agencies.

LINE ITEM	BUDGETED	ACTUAL	ACT - BUDGET
Production	$200.00	$191.49	($8.51)
Printing	6,400.00	6,910.68	510.68
Mailing	500.00	539.65	39.65
Postage	2,500.00	1,800.00	700.00
Shipping	200.00	160.78	(39.22)
Miscellaneous	370.00	70.00	(300.00)
TOTALS	$10,170.00	$9,672.60	($497.40)

NOTE: The $1,800 for postage is the amount deposited in the U.S. Postal Service account in Birmingham, Alabama, to cover the domestic 2nd class mailing. There was some left over, but I do not have an exact figure yet, so I used the full amount. There is also one bill outstanding—the foreign mailing postage on the 328 copies mailed to members outside the USA. That will probably consume a fair chunk of the surplus.

I am working on the material for ACA 96/97 and have placed an index of reported incidents for those years on the web page. I expect to complete the manuscript and have a copy out to the review committee in March 1998. I plan to use the same printer for this issue, and recommend them for other publications. Their pricing was very competitive and they were easy to work with. ACA 96/97 should be ready for distribution in May 1998. The number of incidents will be somewhat smaller than ACA 94/95, so I plan to include some feature articles on safety, techniques, and rescue.

I would like to make the text of all published issues of American Caving Accidents available on the ACA web page of the NSS web site. I believe that this would be a useful resource to the cave rescue community and a service to the membership. I am seeking volunteers to do the typing.

Expenses incurred: Bills for printing, mailing, and postage were sent to the Treasurer as incurred. I have some small expenses for shipping of slides and photos back to their owners, and will be submitting these shortly.

(2) Make the full text of all published issues of ACA available on the ACA page of the NSS web site.

Kathleen Lavoie
Dean of Arts and Sciences
101 Broad Street
Plattsburgh State University of New York
Plattsburgh, NY 12901-2681
Home: (518) 562-1154
Work: (518) 564-3150
E-mail: lavoiekh@splava.cc.plattsburgh.edu

I attended the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Philadelphia from 12-17 February 1998. I represented the NSS at the Biology Section business meeting. I was involved in a discussion of electing Fellows of the AAAS, and will work to nominate some deserving NSS scientists. I suggested a symposium at the next meeting to present work on sulfur-based ecosystems, with some good cave examples included. At the AAAS meeting I also met with Dan Chess, the Geology Section representative, to discuss areas of mutual interest and schmooze. I note that the NSS flag was displayed in the meeting room where President Clinton spoke; Dan made an extra effort to ensure visibility of the flag.

I will work on developing a symposium at the next AAAS annual meeting, or aim for the one in 2000. I still want to try to get more folks from the Biology Section active in AAAS, and will bring the issue up at the section business meeting at the 1998 NSS National Convention.

Harvey R. DuChene
7216 E Bentley Circle
Englewood, CO 80112
Home: (303) 688-5315
Work: (303) 292-1314
E-mail: hduchene@compuserve.com

George Veni was able to find a replacement author to write the introductory chapter for the AGI-NSS primer "Living on Karst." George Huppert will replace Dave Jagnow, and I know that George will do a great job. I believe that we are now back on track with AGI and should be able to send them a manuscript in the next few months. I have not communicated with George Veni to see what his new timetable is.

John Mylroie kindly acted as my proxy at the AGI meeting held in conjunction with the Geological Society of America meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, last fall. The matter of most urgency is the karst primer, which I discussed above.

Please note the new daytime telephone number, as well as the corrected e-mail address.

I have recently taken a position with Cody Energy in Denver, Colorado. Cody is much more responsive to my outside activities than was my last employer. I am planning to attend the next AGI meeting to be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (Salt Lake City, in May).

Daniel L. Chess
19 Tavano Road
Ossining, NY 10562
Home: (914) 941-0114
Work: (914) 945-2479
E-mail: dlchess@watson.ibm.com

I attended the 150th AAAS annual meeting in Philadelphia held from 12-17 February 1998. There were few Geology sessions, mostly dealing with global positioning systems, climatic change, petroleum-past, present and future, harbor dredging and sediment contamination, and remote sensing. The geology section business meeting was held on Friday 13 February at 20:00. The original business meeting time was pre-emptied [sic] by President Clinton who gave a 40 minute speech on the advances in science and technology, the evils of tobacco, and the tobacco companies preying on the youth of America. Two groups of inner city kids attended the President's speech.

I noticed the NSS flag posted on the wall of the Grand Ballroom where President Clinton gave his speech. I had to move a few chairs to give the flag a bit more visibility. I think the security folks thought I was acting a bit unusual. The flag was repositioned to a better location during the AAAS President's reception the night of Saturday 14 February.

I also attended the Science Exposition and found that the USGS has a new package on Exploring Caves which is designed to be a teaching aid for K-3rd grade students. The material includes a list of cave resources which points to the NSS Web page (among others). The title is Exploring Caves.

I met up with Kathy Lavoie at the AAAS meeting and she made a great dinner partner on Friday night.

Kathy Lavoie suggested trying to investigate the possibility of nominating some of the more published/well known NSS members as Fellows in the AAAS. Apparently, the AAAS is looking for new Fellows candidates. I will be contacting the geology section secretary, Carroll Ann Hodges, to see if only AAAS members can become Fellows, and to get a list of the current Geology/Geography section sponsored Fellows. I can think of at least a dozen or so NSS folks deserving of the honor. The business meeting discussed two routes to becoming a Fellow of the AAAS.

I was contacted directly by officials of the AAAS who requested both a flag and a letter of support for display at their 150th Anniversary Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Camille Duke kindly sent them the flag, while I sent them a nice letter. I had no idea that President Clinton was going to attend.

C. William Steele
724 Crestland Dr
Bartlesville, OK 74006-8831
Home: (918) 333-5761
Work: (918) 336-9170
Fax: (918) 336-6407
E-mail: Oksteele@aol.com

I have recruited five additional committee members for the committee. They are: James Smith, NSS 14529, Atlanta, Georgia; Don Broussard, NSS 9514, Austin, Texas; Scott Davis, NSS 15937, Flagstaff, Arizona; Dave Black, NSS 15419, Georgetown, Indiana; and Tom Shifflett, NSS 14207, Bluemont, Virginia. My committee will help me consider requests for grants from the Sara Corrie Fund, help seek additional money to add to the Sara Corrie Fund, and any other work of the U.S. Exploration Committee.

Correspondence has been received requesting information about grants from the Sara Corrie Fund, but no grants are pending at the present time.

The committee's plan for the immediate future is to launch an effort to raise additional money to add to the Sara Corrie Fund.

Jay Arnold
10031 Downey’s Wood Ct
Burke, VA 22015
Home: (703) 250-6668
E-mail: jarnold@ap.org

Respond to requests as they come in. I will also provide tax information on the expedition grants to NSS Sec.-Treas. Paul Stevens.

Christopher G. Groves (Chairman)
Center for Cave and Karst Studies
Department of Geography and Geology
Western Kentucky University
Bowling Green, KY 42101
Home: (502) 796-8361
Work: (502) 745-5974
Fax: (502) 745-6410
E-mail: chris.groves@wku.edu

Carol Wicks (Ralph W. Stone Award Advisor)
Tom Kane (Committee Member)
Allen McCrady (Committee Member)
Joe Meiman (Committee Member)
Art Palmer (Committee Member)
Tom Poulson (Committee Member)
Phil Reeder (Committee Member)

1) The following awards were made during the Fall 1998 cycle of the NSS Small Grant Program:

At the instigation of EVP, Fred Wefer, the Research Advisory Committee (RAC) is establishing a program of small grants to support cave-related research by members of the Society who are under 22 years of age on the due date for the proposals on any given granting cycle. Many of the karst scientists and scholars who have made the most significant contributions started off as young cavers, and developed such passion for understanding the various phenomena they encountered that they established careers around this pursuit. Today's young and curious cavers/scientists are the people who will be leaders in the field over the next generation.

The purpose of this award is to make an investment in the future of karst science by supporting and recognizing outstanding research proposals by young Society members, which will generally be through undergraduate college age. The program will be funded by money approved in the committee's budget.

The program will be administered the first year (FY98) by RAC chairman Dr. Chris Groves. The committee proposes the following guidelines for the program.

The award will be called the National Speleological Society Young Investigator Award. Awards will be made in amounts up to a maximum of $250 per project, for a yearly total of up to $500, based on an annual review of research proposals by a panel of karst scientists in a manner similar to that of the NSS small grant program. NSS members under 22 years of age on the due date of the proposals may be considered for awards.

The proposal will include: 1) a narrative of up to four double-spaced pages describing the motivation for the study and presenting a clear statement of the objectives and methodology to be used, including a brief discussion of the pertinent literature as appropriate; 2) a detailed budget; 3) a copy of the most recent transcript or other academic record at the time of application; 4) a brief statement of up to 250 words on the experience and interests of the applicant; and 5) two letters of recommendation, preferably including one from a mentor who will provide guidance to the project.

Due to the varying circumstances and resources available to young NSS members, the guidance of a mentor will not be a requirement of the program, but will be strongly encouraged and may bear on the review of proposals. Since the purpose of the award is to encourage the development of quality scholarship, proposals should be developed around solid research methods and principles. However, the reviewers will recognize that many young investigators lack significant research experience, and a key goal of the program is for the committee to provide guidance where appropriate.

There will be a lifetime limit of two awards, which may be either for separate projects, or continuation of a previously-funded project, if justified by an additional proposal and progress report.

The scope of project subjects considered for funding will be conceptually similar to that of the Ralph W. Stone Award and small grant program, generally to include study of cave and karst-related phenomena from any scholarly perspective. Acceptance of proposals for review with respect to content area will be at the discretion of the program administrator, and appropriateness of projects may also form a basis for the opinions of reviewers.

There will be an annual proposal review cycle, with the first deadline of 01 February 1999. Proposals will be reviewed by a panel of at least three scientists or others familiar with the subjects, with each reviewer evaluating all proposal submitted. Awards are to be made by 15 April of each year, so that funds will be available to the investigator for summer programs, and expended before the end of the NSS fiscal year.

Since this is an internal NSS program, print or electronic publicity of the program will be made in NSS sources only, including the NSS News, the Journal of Caves and Karst Studies, the Society's web page, or other NSS outlets as appropriate. Initially, a call for proposals will be published annually in the October and November issues of the NSS news and the summer or fall issue of the Journal of Caves and Karst Studies, although the advertising schedule will be at the discretion of the program administrator.

The committee appreciates very much both the creative vision of Fred Wefer in the suggestion of this award and the financial support of the Board for the program. We would be happy to hear suggestions from or have further discussion with the Board on the details of these proposed guidelines.

The above guidelines are to be considered a draft. I have not included in the agenda for the March Board of Governors Meeting a motion to implement these guidelines because there has not been sufficient discussion yet on the various proposed aspects of the award program. Board Members, please read the draft carefully, then share your thoughts and suggestions for improvements with Chris with a Cc to me. Thanks. We will plan to implement this award program via a motion on the agenda of the First Session of the Convention Board Meeting.

Scott Fee (Chairman)
2501 Gable Blvd.
Birmingham, AL 35215 -2862
Home: (205) 854-7487
E-mail: scottfee@usa.pipeline.com

1988 -- Mark Adler
1990 -- Vacant
1991 -- Eileen C. O'Malley and the VPI Cave Club
1992 -- Jennifer Bennett & Huntsville Grotto
1994 -- George Jaegers & Family
1996 -- Sheilarae Carpentier Lau and the Boston Grotto
1997 -- Kim Metzgar & Loyalhanna Grotto
1998 -- Dave Luckins & Michigan Interlakes Grotto

I have been committee chairman now for just over one year. During that time I have had to encourage volunteers to realize that they are not being effective at what they had hoped to accomplish many years ago. Previously it was thought that a single individual could produce this publication in a timely manner. As you, the NSS Board, have seen, this is rarely the case. Therefore, I adopted an "editorial team" concept. I feel confident that 1998 will demonstrate the effectiveness of this structure and I believe it is possible to have the Speleo Digest series current within three years.

The NSS Bookstore inventory of the 1987 and 1995 Digest is dwindling at 52 and 89 respectively (as of 13 January). We have heavily marketed the 1995 in order to encourage it to be sold out before 1996 is published. A classified advertisement in the NSS News as been helping keep this publication slowly moving. It is still believed that the 1996 and 1997 Digests will be published back to back with the 1994 Digest following closely on their heels. This activity will hopefully revitalize the Speleo Digest as a more sought after publication and cause greater interest in the earlier years.

The NSS Web Page has been particularly helpful during the last 30 days. Although we have had the information on line for a year, it was only recently that I received any hits. One of the hits resulted in the 1992 Digest materials being assigned.

Have 491 pages in and formatted. Walt Hamm has proofread all but 50 of those pages. I am preparing that packet for him now. I have made corrections on all pages Walt has proofread. I have enough artwork to cover holes in my layout. I am caught up and waiting for my final batch of newsletters (11 Jan 1998). Depending on how much material is in the last batch, I still expect to have the book finished by the end of February 1998, possibly including indexing. Then I'll need some time for paste-up, etc. I should have the final manuscript to Scott by the end of March 1998, if not earlier.

[Scott Fee] The final batches of newsletters were mailed to Kim on 16 and 26 January 1998.

The 1996 Speleo Digest was delivered to Scott for final review on 26 January 1998.

Sheilarae's work schedule caused a temporary delay from our original completion date.

I have now gotten back the "selected" articles from the dozen or so grotto members who pitched in to read through all the remaining newsletters over the last three months (the ones that I had not read personally) so article selection is now complete. I am scanning and Optical Character Reading (OCRing) these additional articles into a growing database of topics. I would guess that I am about 70% finished with everything but Desk Top Publishing (DTP) at this point. I have actually begun the formal layout with MicroSoft Publisher and have begun putting some of the different sections together; however, because I didn't focus on finishing gathering articles on one section then going on to another section, the DTP pages have a lot of blanks in them. I expect to begin delivering completed pages to Scott Fee in about two months (best case) or three months (worst case).

I am on the verge of beginning to desktop publish the actual pages to send Scott, but I am putting most of that off for a couple more weeks while I finish the OCR work. I should have all the articles captured on the computer and edited within four weeks. In the interim, when I can't focus on text any more, I am working on preparing the maps and getting them scanned in. I have a couple of grotto members assisting in the map and graphic capturing.

I got my "digest box" in the mail around Christmas. I picked out about 95% of the articles to use. [The previous editor] had already gone through all of the newsletters and made notes about the best articles for each state/country, so this really sped up the selection process. I set up detailed templates for each section of the Digest. Now I just have to dump the processed text into the template and everything's formatted. Really saving time! Have also set up automatic indexing for cave name, author name, etc. to help during the final production phase.

I have scanned in about 20 articles so far (pretty much done with Alaska, working on Alabama and Colorado now). Scanned about 10 maps and several assorted cartoons/filler graphics. My text-scanning program works great, so that's cut down dramatically on the amount of typing involved. Really we're just scanning, fixing up typos, then dumping the text into the template.

We expect to be able to make pretty quick progress due to the good text scanner. It's really too early to give a good projection of a finish date since we've just now started the real lay-out process.

Not much in the past few months. A few articles and graphics scanned, largely my efforts.

Figure out how to motivate my typists and get a few new ones, with our new crop of prospective members. If I can get them on a more regular schedule of pick-ups/drop-offs, then I think the process will move much more smoothly and help keep me organized.

Motivation. I am trying some new tactics starting at our next meeting this Friday night (17 Jan). My typists have lost their enthusiasm, and truth be told so have I.

[Scott Fee] - In further correspondence with Eileen, we decided to give her grotto one last "try." If that fails, I have begun lining up typists in order to expedite that portion of the digest preparation. Eileen feels she has "about 50%" of the articles prepared; thus, with five or six typists working on 20 articles each, we ought to begin layout within 90 days. Eileen has assured me that the challenge has been the typing and once accomplished, the "fun part" would reenergize her. Subsequently, we would hope to go to press by September 1998 at the latest.

The newsletters were finally returned to Scott Fee on 29 December 1997. As of this writing Scott has not received any of the word processing files.

All outstanding Speleo Digests have now been assigned to teams save the 1990 Digest, the source material for which Scott just got back from Jay Jorden

David McClurg (Chairman)
104 Graves Ct
Vallejo, CA 94591-5704
Phone: (707) 642-5528
Fax: (707) 642-5528
E-mail: dmcclurg@halcyon.com

Gale McCoy (Committee Member)
Tom Rea (Committee Member)
Barbara Ritts (Committee Member)
Urs Widmer (Committee Member)

This scientific book (main editor, Alexander Klimchouk, Kiev, Ukraine) is about 60% complete and is being reviewed now. This committee has received a sample of the drawings via e-mail as attached files. They are of excellent quality. The publications agreement has been signed by editor Klimchouk and NSS officers. Thanks to the efforts of David Irving and the bank in Huntsville, Alabama, the NSS managed to send two bank drafts to Kilmchouk for expenses and reimbursement for the illustrator without creating an international incident.

We will continue to work with the illustrator to insure quality and uniformity of all drawings in the book. Tentatively, we expect to have all materials (approved manuscript and drawings) in Fall 1998 and will begin production then.

At the recent National Cave Rescue Commission Meeting, committee member Tom Rea was able to review some of the revised manual and make several suggestions for improvements and conformity with other NSS books.

When the revisions are complete (perhaps 4th quarter 1998), Tom Rea will begin production.

ON CAVES AND CAMERAS, Techniques and Technology of American Cave Photography, edited by John Van Swearingen and Norman Thompson

About 80% of this book has been received by the editors. The publishing agreement has been signed by the authors and is now on the way to the NSS officers for their signatures.

Target completion date for manuscript and illustrations is now December 1998. It will go into production then with a completion date in time for the 1999 NSS National Convention.

This book is still in limbo. There is nothing new to report. The current editor is gone. A new editor has not been found.

TECHNIQUES OF CAVE CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION by Jim Werker and Val Hildreth-Werker, Editors

This book has been expanded beyond its original concept as simply a manual for speleothem repair and restoration; however, it is not a substitute nor a replacement for the long-lost cave management book mentioned earlier. While the Werker book does include some aspects of cave management, the emphasis is on preservation by educating all cave visitors (cavers and non-cavers) about their impacts on the cave.

The book is now outlined in detail and the authors are beginning to write their contributions. By the time of the 1998 NSS National Convention, enough manuscripts should be finished so we can get firm estimates on costs.

It is planned to have a full-color laminated cover with one-color text and illustrations. If this book is done right, it has a reasonable potential to sell 5,000 to 7,500 copies to libraries, commercial caves, and university/science bookstores over a five or six year period. Even so, this committee recommends a conservative approach with an initial printing of 2,000. For a ball park estimate on that quantity, a guess would be first-run production costs of about $25K to $30K. It could sell for about $35 to $40, and with an average 25% wholesale discount, we'd clear about $15 per book.

Quality of the photos we have seen so far compare very favorably with the Lechuguilla book from Speleo Projects. The text will be considerably expanded and broadened to describe the geology, history, and exploration of each cave. Personal stories and anecdotes of the cavers who made the original discoveries will be included. It should be a fascinating book and very appealing to our membership and cavers everywhere.

The book will cover Carlsbad Cavern, Lechuguilla, Cottonwood, Three Fingers, Madonna, Virgin, and several other caves on Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Lincoln National Forest, and Bureau of Land Management lands.

This committee will be drafting a publishing agreement between the NSS and author Michael Queen soon.

KINETICS AND MECHANISMS OF PHYSICO-CHEMICAL AND GEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES IN CAVES by Dr. Edward Sargsyan

We have received an inquiry about the possibility of the NSS publishing a scientific monograph in English (title shown above) by Dr. Edward Sargsyan, an Armenian speleologist.

We have informed the author that the NSS is primarily a publisher of more popular texts and not of technical monographs.

When an outline or manuscript is completed, we plan to circulate it among some appropriate NSS members familiar with his field of study, as well as the NSS Executive Committee to get their opinions.

We overran the Capital Budget for Cave Minerals of the World-II by approximately $30K. Part of this was because we incurred some unexpected expenses, part because the book turned out to be so much larger than originally anticipated (464 pages verses 288), and part because we printed 1,000 more (25% more) books than we had initially budgeted for. While the money will be recovered as we sell the books, the overrun has caused a severe cash flow problem. David McClurg and I will be developing a better estimating process for the books the NSS publishes in an effort to minimize such events in the future.

Louise D. Hose (Editor)
Department of Environmental Studies
501 Westminster Avenue
Westminster College
Fulton, MO 65251-1299
Home: 573-642-4399
Work: 573-592-5303
Fax: 573-592-1217
E-Mail: HoseL@jaynet.wcmo.edu

BOARD OF EDITORS
David Ashley (Life Sciences)
George Huppert (Conservation)
Doug Medville (Exploration)
Ira D. Sasowsky (Earth Sciences /Journal Index)
Marion O. Smith (Social Sciences)
Patty Jo Watson (Anthropology)
Betty Wheeler (Book Reviews)

ADVISORY BOARD
Rane Curl
Andrew Flurkey
Horton Hobbs
Albert Krause
James Mead
John Mylroie
James Nepstad
Thomas Strong
William B. White

Volume 59, Number 3 was received by members in early December 1997. We are nearly finished with Volume 60, Number 1 and expect it to be mailed on time. The summer issue, Volume 60, Number 2, a special issue on Isla de Mona, has been sent to me by the guest editor, Carol Wicks. We will start work on it within a couple of weeks. We already have an extensive file for the December 1998 issue.

I will have to start sending out rejections to authors of recommended manuscripts because of the lack of page space. I also need to either coax the person working on advertising to move ahead with the effort or find someone else to try to develop the advertising.

(1) We have been forced to completely develop the first issue of next year's budget and commit to most of the second issue before the budget is available. This seems a difficult situation in which to place editors.

(2) The Cave Specialist at the Hawaii Volcanos National Park has informally requested to have manuscripts sent to him prior to publication in the Journal. This is treacherous ground for a refereed journal to tread and I am discussing the request with the advisory and editorial boards. It has been pointed out that, perhaps, all landowners should approve publication about specific features on their property. I am also checking on the policies of other peer-reviewed journals in this matter. We will not send manuscripts to anyone other than selected, expert reviewers until, and unless, we establish a new policy and notify submitters of the change.

Dave Bunnell (Editor)
320 Brook Drive
Boulder Creek, CA 95006-9717
Phone: (408) 338-3853
E-mail: nssnews@caves.org

Bonnie Crystal (Virtual Caving)
Bill Cuddington (Techniques and Safety)
Camille Duke (Huntsville Happenings)
Scott Fee (Advertising Accountant)
Peri Frantz (Down Through the Decades)
Daniel Hazelton (Technology)
Dave Jagnow (Conservation)
Bill Klimack (In the Media)
Elizabeth Rousseau (Proofreading)
Bob Springston (Newsletter Review)
John W. Stembel (International News)
Lysa De Thomas (JSS Journal)

I have currently produced 18 issues which have all been printed, and I have just completed the 19th (March) issue. The 32-page issue has been the standard, along with the color center spread. Two issues have been 36 pages.

Camille Duke is now doing a regular column on doings at the NSS Office (Huntsville Happenings). A JSS column (JSS Journal) was started by Lysa de Thomas but only one has been written so far, though more are planned.

After some lean spells I seem to be getting plenty of features, and for the first time can plan the main feature as much as three months in advance.

Positive feedback outnumbers complaints by at least 50 to 1, so the membership seems to be pleased with the issues.

Continue with the same format, which seems to be popular. More use of the color section to go with the feature article. Solicit more articles on major USA discoveries, which seem less forthcoming than those on foreign expeditions (albeit by American cavers). Coming up are features on Cheve, the Oman plateau, and a new long cave on Maui. For the Oman article, which has several large maps, I may forgo the color (see below) and do a fold-out map.

I have been discussing some ideas with National Cave Rescue Commission folks to include rescue contact information in the News.

In the wake of the recent rappelling accidents, we're trying to get more coverage on techniques. I am pushing for a review of auto-stop style descenders, myself. I also plan to introduce some product reviews, such as one for the new Tag-lite II, among others.

I had complaints from some advertisers about the December issue being late. It was mailed in the last week of November and, I assume, just got stalled by Christmas mails. I have emphasized this problem to those advertisers and suggested they target the October and November issues next year.

My newsletter reviewer seems to be getting somewhat unreliable. I have typically cut him slack as he is an invalid and the act of typing the column for him is a struggle. I am not sure how long to let it go before he comes up with a column.

The only real problem is that after running some issues with extra four-page signatures and the two fold-out maps, I was coming close to running over budget. The paring back has made the budget really tight, and it would be good if I could get a little more breathing room for next year. Now I have to run the index, which will be another "extra" signature and disproportionately expensive. To save money for this fiscal year I may do a month without color to ensure staying within budget.

Lois Lyles (Chairman/Editor)
P.O. Box 95
Los Alamos, NM 87544-0095
Phone: (505) 455-2565
Fax: (505) 455-1122
E-mail: lois@rt66.com

Vince Kappler (Board Information)
Evelyn Bradshaw (Grotto Information)
Bill Bussey (Section Information)
David Taylor (Survey Information)
Office Staff (Members Listing)

I have run a request for cover photos, and have received submissions from a number of photographers already. An advertisement promoting participation in the new Speleo-services Directory will appear in the March issue of the NSS News. I have been in contact with both Evelyn Bradshaw and Camille Duke about ways to improve the text I receive from them to minimize redundant work on my end. I have received print quotes, and the printer I used last year again came in with the lowest bid. I have sent text from last year's manual to a number of people for updating. All in all, the Members Manual preparations are on schedule.

I have to send a few more sections out for updates, and have contacted all the Board members on e-mail, requesting photos for inclusion in the next issue. I still need to mail requests to the Board members who do not have e-mail. I will be doing some work with a test document Evelyn has promised to send for the Internal Organizations (IOs). I hope that revenue generated by the Speleo-services Directory will help offset at least some of the price of producing the Manual.

Obviously, the budgetary threat is my biggest problem at this time. I offer the suggestion that, rather than printing a manual without the membership list, we print the membership list with an abbreviated version of the front matter. I believe the members will find more use for the contact information provided by the membership list. The front matter could be reduced to a list of board members, the IOs, and contact information for specific sections and surveys. We can cut costs that way and still get vital information in front of the membership. If page count must be radically cut, I will have to leave out the winners of the graphic salon as well, but I still think Board photos are important. I believe members would agree that they'd rather have the listings than the front matter (which doesn't change a great deal from year to year).

Because of severe cash flow problems, in order to balance the Operations Budget we were forced to make cuts in NSS member services. While cuts were also made in the News and Journal budgets in the EVP Department, The NSS Members Manual suffered the major cut. In order to get the budget to balance the Members Manual budget was cut approximately 50%, i.e., the defacto plan was to print the Members Manual every other year instead of every year. Motions are on the agenda for the upcoming Board Meeting which would allow the flexibility to do this.

Fred L. Wefer (NSS EVP)
PO Box 47
McDowell, VA 24458
Home: (540) 396-3543
E-mail: fwefer@mitre.org

Org = Organization/Publication granted permission
PoC = Point of Contact (the person)
Date = Date Permission was granted
PtR = Permission to Reprint (the publication, article, photograph, or map)

PtR: Permission for a one-time use of the NSS mailing list for members in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, Tennessee, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Virginia for the purpose of announcing SERA 1998.

Org: Prescott College, Prescott, Arizona
PoC: Greg DeMatteo
Date: 04 December 1997

PtR: Permission to photocopy material from On Rope for use in Prescott College's Adventure Education Program, for non-commercial purposes.

I plan NOT TO RUN for reelection as EVP at the 03 August 1998 Board Meeting. It is imperative, therefore, that the Executive Search Committee have several viable candidates for this office to interview for this position at that time. I will continue to handle reprint requests as they appear until the 03 August 1998 Board Meeting.

Executive Vice-President's Report

March 21, 1998

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