Executive Officer's Column.

The Mississippi Academy of Sciences (MAS) is supported and influenced by a wide variety of scientists residing largely in Mississippi. Without the active participation of these professionals the MAS becomes an irrelevant exercise and serves little purpose. The MAS Board of Directors and officers are agreed, that among their primary responsibilities is the need to ensure that the Academy is serving a useful purpose so that it is indeed relevant to its membership. By meeting this responsibility the MAS will also contribute to science as a whole, provide encouragement to future scientists, and provide a role model. Discussions among the officers at the last Annual Meeting in Hattiesburg, questioned if the MAS could not better meet this responsibility. Later, Dr. Bob Bateman, then MAS President, suggested we evaluate the MAS and hopefully define ways to ensure the relevancy of the organization and to encourage renewed participation and enthusiasm among the members.

The request for comments from the membership regarding ways the Academy could be improved was the first step in the self evaluation process. The membership response was plentiful. On June 28, 2003, Dr. Bob Bateman, convened a MAS Board Retreat at Millsaps College, Jackson, Mississippi. The membership comments were in many ways the guide to the discussion as to how the MAS could become a more meaningful part of the scientific community of Mississippi. The topics were farranging, discussed at length and well argued. A number of positive measures were agreed upon and should be evident at the upcoming meeting in Biloxi. You may notice, for example, the annual meeting has more activities to engage your interest, such as special symposia and additional, notable speakers. You may notice the MAS being recognized by other organizations such as Mississippi's Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL). The Mississippi Junior Academy of Sciences has already taken the initiative by contacting Mr. Bill McHenry of the IHL regarding working with IHL on their GEAR UP project. The MAS Board and officers also put their support of the Journal of the Mississippi Academy Of Sciences in action by agreeing to submit articles for potential publication.

There are other initiatives we hope to have in place by the annual meeting, so watch for them. Dr. Ham Benghuzzi, the current MAS President , is enthusiastic about the upcoming meeting and is working to encourage a significantly higher attendance than last year. If you have additional ideas as to how to make the MAS better, please take the time to discuss your idea with any of the officers or Board members. I hope to have the opportunity to talk with many of you personally in Biloxi.--Charles Swann