Conference Call of the International Committee
Wednesday March 11th, 2009 at 12:30 Eastern Daylight Time

Chair: Antonio Pita

Members present:
Vera Alexander
Satyajit (Sat) Bhattacharya
Michael P. Crosby
George J. Hammons
K. Venkatesh Prasad

Members absent:
Zara Khatib
Robert A. Schwartz

Staff Contact: Kathy McLane
Guests: Jerome Baker, Executive Director
Phillip Cates, Director Organizational Advancement
Ann Williams, President, Sigma Xi

Agenda

1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Role Call
3. International activities report (international partners/chapters)
   a. Gulf of Accaba b. European Nordic Region
4. Outreach to International Members through an EBlast
5. Request made by Dr. Karen Oates (NSF) for Workshop on Ethics with Georgia Partner
6. Report on 08 Annual Meeting Water Symposium
   1. Panel Discussion on Water Crisis
   2. Dry Land Farming/Hopi Peoples of Arizona
   3. Water XXI century: Technology & Adoption
7. Actions on 09 Annual Meeting Energy Symposium
   1. Report from HQ on Program Planning
   2. Involvement of International Committee
8. Report on news from HQ
9. New business

The meeting began with an update by Dr. Crosby on the possibility of establishing a Chapter on the Gulf of Accaba. He mentioned that he had a very successful meeting with Israeli members of Sigma Xi in July 2008, while he was in the region visiting Iraq and Accaba. On the Israeli side there are a number of full members that can become members of this group. Since the Sigma Xi policy states in order to start a Chapter 18 members are needed, with at least 9 full members, Dr. Crosby sent pictures of the steering committee and joint committee members to Dr. Baker and Ms. McLane. Everything was all set to go with the receipt of a handful of CV's but unfortunately the two sides stopped communicating and the effort has now stalled. The political and security issues in the region declined dramatically after his visit, which has also contributed to the lack of communication. Dr. Crosby asked for advice from the committee on how to get the group up and running. He had sent some emails out because he was back in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in July of this year and would be willing to revisit the area again. He would like to make it clear to the group that the paperwork should be complete and he would hope to deliver a charter when he re-visits the area. Ms. McLane mentioned to Dr. Crosby that the next steps would be to get the group organized so that they get the members elected and submit the petition to her. Dr. Crosby asked for a time line for the fast track to move this through and Ms. McLane replied this normally takes several months, but she has had success in moving groups within six weeks. She felt pretty positive about moving quickly once the membership nominations and petition have been received. Dr. Crosby got the agreement of the committee to have him indicate to the prospective chapter that the chapter could be installed in July to stimulate them to move faster. Dr. Hammons added that at this time it would be ideal to have the group move forward under the direction of Dr. Crosby and Dr. Alexander concurred with this motion.

Ms. McLane gave an update on the start of the Nordic Region group. This started with an inquiry about chapters in the region from Dr. Paul Kettler who is based at the University of Oslo as well as Chicago. He was interested in chapters in his area and found that the closest chapter would be in Switzerland. He asked about starting a new chapter and information was sent to him after which he contacted members in Norway. Through his conversations with other members he decided to expand his quest which has now become the Nordic Region. The group has circulated a draft petition and has 68 current members involved. The International Committee, Committee on Qualifications and Membership and Board will review the petition. There is a good possibility could go to chapter status this year.

Dr. Pita asked for an update on the partners and Ms. McLane mentioned that Sigma Xi Georgia is in constant contact, the Romanians are struggling but still working and the Moscow group is just totally dormant. Dr. James Baur has visited the group several times but is dismayed with the group since they are active and well as long as he is around, but as soon as he leaves, everything stops. As the next step Ms. McLane stated that she will contact the members to see if anyone will step forward to help the group and if the members can be reactivated. They have not been dues paid for the last two years.

Ms. McLane added that Dr. Jack Sommer would be traveling to Saudi Arabia and will give an update on his trip upon his return to the US. He hopes to make contact with some of the members in Saudi Arabia on this trip. Ms. McLane will send information to the committee as soon as received.

Dr. Prasad proposed the idea of asking international members of the US National Academy of Sciences or National Academy of Engineers to help with contacts in their respective countries and thus act as a catalyst towards attracting members and forming chapters. He then continued saying that a formal letter from the committee would be a powerful statement that we want to reach out to the academy members for their help. The committee could look at leading institutions and ask the research deans to spread the word of what Sigma Xi is and to garner support and encourage membership. In looking at the world map, Dr. Prasad observed that Sigma Xi's presence is pretty sparse, so contacting the universities and academies would be in order.

Dr. Pita presented his idea of starting an electronic newsletter to the international members and partners. He proposed having the administrative offices send an e-news blast to query the international members in order to see what makes them click, as well as their views on membership and of starting new chapters. Dr. Pita feels the newsletter would help us find out what the international community is feeling, what makes them click and how it will guide us to what we should do. He circulated a document that would represent the first e-blast (Appendix 2) and asked the committee members for their feedback.

Dr. Crosby liked the approach suggested by Dr. Pita and he put a caveat on the table as to define the group outside the US and Canada. Then the question would be if this could be done in a realistic time frame. Ms. McLane felt this is the perfect venue to do this based on the newsletter submitted by Dr. Pita. She commented that we do have an email account set up already for international members. Dr. Bhattacharya asked if the Canadians could be queried to see if they wish to be included in the e-blast. Ms. McLane added that they are already a part of the Canadian-International constituency and Dr. Williams asked if the Canadians would be upset if they were not included. Dr. Crosby felt that we should avoid problems with the Canadians and include them, but keep the data analysis separate so it could be sliced and diced as the committee sees fit. If this is to be a survey, then it should be a link to the survey sent out for gathering information and statistics and Dr. Pita suggested first making just a survey and then going after the news.

Dr. Crosby mentioned there is some consensus that this would be an e-feedback blast to garner the opinions of international members including Canadians. What is the greatest value for them to have a fully functional chapter outside of the US? What is the value of having and establishing a chapter? The goal is to learn more information on establishing fully functioning chapters around the world, and what is the value of chapters. Dr. Prasad concurred. Ms. McLane asked that partners be included in this survey and e-blast. Dr. Pita asked that the members at large be included. Ms. McLane stated we are looking at all members regardless of affiliation, but not residing on US soil. Dr. Pita asked for a week to have the committee submit any feedback to him, who in turn will then forward the information to Ms. McLane who will receive the final version and send the e-blast.

Dr. Prasad asked what the real cost would be to sending the newsletter to everyone. Ms. McLane added that all members are getting an e-newsletter, so the focus of this would be a newsletter geared to the international member to garner their opinions. Dr. Williams felt the only cost would be in terms of staff time involvement.

Dr. Baker mentioned that he is calling all the presidents of the chapters and has noted in some of his calls that a number of individuals do not change their affiliation once they leave an electing chapter and this number is approaching 25% of the members of a chapter. Most of the members don't want to leave their chapter affiliation but to remain as an alumna of their chapter. Dr. Pita mentioned that he and Dr. Kettler encountered the same problem with the Nordic group in that they wish to remain with their electing chapter and added that the individuals in the Nordic group could help with the chapter even though they wish to keep their alumna affiliation. Dr. Williams mentioned that most people want to know what is going on back at their home chapter. She felt that we should allow more than one affiliation but only one chapter to receive local support.

Dr. Pita introduced the next item which is a request from Dr. Oates and it concerns the Georgia Partners (Appendix 3), which Ms. McLane has contacted in order to let them know that a proposal is on the table for the committee to review. They have worked with Dr. Oates for some time and look forward to working with her again.

Dr. Pita submitted a detailed submission of his conversation with Dr. Oates that involves the Georgia Partner and has to do with an Ethics Workshop. Basically the Committee would submit a proposal to NSF for $25000 to cover the cost of two scientists to go to Georgia for this ethics program. Dr. Alexander wondered if these funds would cover the cost. Dr. Pita felt it would, based on Dr. Oates observations. Dr. Prasad felt the intent is strong and that it should be worked and moved on. Dr. Crosby felt this is exactly the kind of thing that Sigma Xi should be pursuing and it should be extended to include many countries. The wording should be very careful with NSF, suggesting the approach would be one in which the Chair of the International Committee and the Executive Director jointly submit a one page proposal going forward with this to NSF. The participants would be Sigma Xi members and the administrative offices would work out a budget for staff, administrative and overheads. This is a basically a trip for two scientists that need preparation from the administrative offices. Dr. Pita. Dr. Pita felt that one scientist in the US and one in Europe would be a good choice to work on this ethics workshop and Drs. Alexander and Bhattacharya concurred. Dr. Pita then said that if all were in agreement, he would then move forward with the proposal with Dr. Baker. The committee gave their unanimous approval with comment on the excellent notes taken by Dr. Pita on the call with Dr. Oates.

Dr. Crosby mentioned that he needed to leave the call in the next couple of minutes and did he need to give input before he left. Dr. Pita asked his opinion of the water panel. Dr. Crosby felt it was an outstanding panel generating a lot of discussion. He asked about follow up from the panel discussion. Ms. McLane replied there is a summary from the note takers into a document which will be posted on the website. Dr. Williams added there is a summary in the last American Scientist and a message from Ann asking the chapters to have meetings, science cafés and lunches to continue their work on water issues.

Dr. Pita in the name of the International Committee thanked Dr. Crosby for his outstanding job as moderator of the water panel. Dr. Crosby said it was one of the easiest jobs he had and felt the staff did an excellent job in organizing everything.

Dr. Baker said he wanted to add one thing, in that he would be sending an email to Dr. Crosby later today. Dr. Baker attended a meeting in Washington with a member of the Army Corps of Engineers and Coastal States Organization in which Sigma Xi would provide leadership in a public effort on water, particularly desalination. There would be four different groups involved with Sigma Xi being the leader.

Dr. Pita moved to the next item on the agenda which would be the 09 meeting on energy which will be led by Dr. Howard Ceri. Dr. Baker shared a couple of thoughts on the upcoming meeting. The web pages have been designed by staff and will go live soon. The student film competition, blogs and white papers have had the criteria changed a little. For the white papers there will be a little more structure to them with a solution based approach to the energy problems. We want to continue to relate water to energy. Both Howard Ceri and Joseph Whittaker president elect designee are helping provide names of people to speak on energy. There is plenty for the committee to do a workshop on energy. There is a lot that can be brought in from Europe on energy conservation, discovery and the policy of energy. The speakers need to address the interface between policy and science. Dr. Baker continued with a comment on when he grew up in Northwest Iowa there were wind turbines near his farm with that energy going to Canada for their use. There is a need to discuss distribution of power and policy within this country. Some examples coming from other parts of the world would be of interest for workshops. Suggestions from this committee would be helpful for workshops at the meeting.

Dr. Prasad asked for the timing. Dr. Baker replied the sooner the better to get the top speakers before their schedules fill up. Dr. Williams added the meeting is November 12-15, 2009. Dr. Pita asked if there are any efforts to garner grants for speakers. Dr. Baker mentioned that Phillip Cates was in Houston recently in which he made contacts about funding.

Dr. Pita had suggested to Howard Ceri about having someone from the European commission speak on their seven year program; and to get them to speak on the topics they have chosen and the direction they are going. Dr. Pita will send the links to Dr. Baker. Dr. Pita mentioned that if there are any other suggestions for the meetings, to please forward that information to Dr. Baker.

Dr. Bhattacharya will make a trip the second week of May to Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia to work on intern programs with the high school students expanding his Harlem Children Society program. Dr. Pita asked him to keep the committee posted on his efforts in Africa and Mexico. Dr. Pita congratulated Dr. Bhattacharya on his outreach to the world supporting his efforts.

Dr. Bhattacharya mentioned that there will be another Harlem Street Festival again this year with a science parade from Central Park to 129th St in New York bringing science into the community from one neighbor to the other. There would also be 25 other fairs going on simultaneously around the world.

Dr. Pita called the conference call to an end and thanked everyone for their participation.