Not to rub it in too much, but the national joint meetings in San Antonio were nice and warm--both in the weather sense and the people sense. Saturday I was sitting outside without a jacket by the famous River Walk, reading a manuscript for some new chapters for Lay's linear algebra book. And I got to talk to a lot of people (which is really the main point of the meeting), some of whom I haven't seen in years. I guess when you have been around as long as I have, you make a lot of contacts. I have also noticed quite a few people who are obviously retired at the meetings, at least at the warm-weather meetings. I guess it is always in the blood. We will always need to get our math fix.

This meeting had a little bit of a weird quality for me. Even though San Antone is a favorite site for the MAA and AMS (and a future meeting is planned there), I had not been back since my first national meeting. Not a lot had changed, but I had. As I recall, there were 2000 people at that first meeting. This time the attendance was closer to 5000. For one thing, there are many more students attending now.

If you want to see what the Board of Governors meeting looks like, go to www.maa.org/daily/ (if it is still up), and select Wednesday.

There were the usual reports and presentations at the Board of Governors Meeting and the Section Officers Meeting. Some were very informative, and some unnecessarily long. At the meeting we approved some appointments, award recipients, etc.

The AMS and MAA have decided it is a go for New Orleans next January. They wanted to show support for that region, and I think they got some good deals. The Governor from that section informed us that the hotels, restaurants, and strip clubs are open. To avoid the Sugar Bowl, the meetings have been moved one day, to January 5-8, 2007.

The next national meeting is Mathfest in Knoxville, August 10-12, 2006, and the joint meetings in January are set through 2013. Check the web or newsletter for details. There will be a river boat dinner cruise in Knoxville, and Jeopardy contest for students.

Don Albers always gives a dog and pony show for the new publications of the MAA. I always want to go out and buy a bunch, but I resist. The MAA has an active program of new and interesting publications. Several new books caught my eye, including one by our own Don Bonar of Denison entitled Real Infinite Series. Another is Topology Now! by Messer and Straffin, Remember you can buy MAA books at our Section meetings. Not only do you get an extra discount, but the Section earns a little too.

A major role of the Board is its fiduciary responsibility. Treasurer John Kennelly always gives a detailed report on the financial condition of the MAA. In a nutshell, it is very good, and getting better. Money is well accounted for and investments are soundly handled. His capsule description of the finances is now up to 9-8-7-7: $9 million operating budget, $8 mill. endowment, $7 mill. in buildings, and $7 mill. of grants in place. Financial reporting has much improved since the early 90s. I would be glad to share the details.

The budget for 2006 is on track and need not be revised, based on experience in 2005. The budget is basically balanced. There is a phase-in of some dues restructuring to bring the various categories more into line with their costs (e.g. journals). You shouldn't see any major change. One major point of confusion is that the voluntary dues supplement and the annual giving are really quite separate. There was also an appeal for members to include the MAA in their estate plans. It is even possible to endow funds for the Section's benefit.

Jim Gandorf reported that membership is stable, with a high retention rate. 800-1200 new Ph Ds get complimentary memberships.

One of the things the MAA wants is more mathematics in the meeting programs. If you would like to organize a contributed paper session, you are encouraged to do so. The deadlines are on MAA Online.

And finally: One evening I had dinner with some young Bowling Green people. One is a tenured faculty member at BGSU, one is coming up for tenure at a small college, one is graduating and looking for a job, and one is a former BGSU undergraduate who is now in college teaching. It occurred to me that if this is a representative group, then the MAA and the profession are in good hands for the near, and even distant, future. (And I told them that!)

If you know me at all, you know that I am pretty cynical (one of my heroes is David Brinkley) and critical, especially of institutional administration and the current tenure process. But I am basically an optimistic person. It is things like the dinner just mentioned, and the many young faces I see at Section meetings, that make me so.

Thomas Hern
Section Governor
hern@wcnet.org
January, 2006

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