Dear Members,

   By now, many of you are probably wondering what is going on with the Center for Systematic Entomology! Actually, a lot has been happening. Unfortunately, much of it has not been good. First for the bad news.

    One of our co-founders, Dr. Ross H. Arnett, passed away on July 16, 1999. At the time, Ross was also serving as the Editor of our journal, Insecta Mundi. Ross had independently started this journal about the same time the CSE was founded, and subsequently donated it to the CSE. His taxonomic specialty was the beetle family Oedemeridae. I'm sure most of you are familiar with Ross' accomplishments; for those of you who are not, the following account is a brief summary of his career highlights. It cannot give you a true feeling for what a generous and caring person he was. During a long and distinguished career, Ross was a beetle taxonomist at the U.S. National Museum, Head of the Biology Departments at St. John Fisher College and then at Catholic University, a professor at Purdue University teaching insect systematics, a Henry L. Beadel Fellow at Tall Timbers Research Station (near Tallahassee, Florida), and a professor at Siena College. Among his notable publications was Beetles of the United States, Guide to the Insects, The Naturalists' Directory, American Insects, The Beetles of Northeastern North America, and he was working on American Beetles at the time of his death. Our most heartfelt sympathy is extended to his wife Mary and their children.

   One of our Board Members, Dr. Richard H. Roberts, passed away on October 14, 1999. Dick served as our Board Parliamentarian and as a member of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee. He was a specialist on the fly family Tabanidae, and had spent several years, since his retirement from the USDA, at the Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA) as a Resident Research Associate working on this family. Dick was always ready with a cheerful greeting. He will be sorely missed by his family, and his friends at the FSCA.

    Another, recently elected, Board Member was Dr. William H. Peters, who passed away suddenly on June 3, 2000. Bill was the Director of the Center for Undergraduate and Continuing Education Studies in Entomology, and of the Taxonomic Entomology section, at Florida A & M University. Through the efforts of Bill, his wife Jan, and his other colleagues at A & M, one of the most impressive collections of aquatic insects in existence was built. By written agreement, this collection now is considered part of the FSCA. Our sincerest condolences to Jan and the staff at A & M. They have lost a fine husband, friend, leader, and colleague.

    Two other of our Board Members, John Reinert and Bob Woodruff, have had heart problems recently. Both are recuperating well, and are even out and about attending CSE meetings! There is something irrepressible about those guys! It must be that enthusiasm for entomology.

    That last paragraph is sort of a transition between the bad news and the good news, containing elements of both. So on to some better news.

    I'm sure many of you are wondering where the heck is your Insecta Mundi. Well, the truth is we've had a slow transition from the loss of our editor, Ross Arnett, to our new editor. Mike Thomas, our immediate past president, has agreed to take over editor duties. The problem has been that Mike also had agreed to finish up many of Ross' other projects as well, like his revision of American Beetles. This has taken an inordinate amount of time, but Mike says he is between volumes of American Beetles. He has put a lot of effort recently into Insecta Mundi. Volume 13(3-4) for 1999 should be at the printer by the time you receive this; possibly also Volume 14 for 2000 may be submitted before the end of the year. Providing we can pull this off (we'll need a quick turnaround on author revisions for Volume 14), we'll be caught up to our normal publishing schedule. The Board is also working on ways to help Mike to expedite the process in the future.

    Since we have spent less money on publication costs this year (obviously), we've had more money to give out for research grants. The Gifts and Grants Committee made the following recommendations for proposals, which were approved by the Board. The following were funded at $250 each: Nadine L. Kriska (University of Wisconsin), examine Arnett/FSCA collection for a Generic level Revision of the New World Oedemeridae (Coleoptera); Michele B. Price (University of Wisconsin), A Survey of the Sap Beetles of Wisconsin (Coleoptera: Kateretidae/Nitidulidae). The following were funded at $500 each: Scott McCleve (Douglas, Arizona), Study the Genus Diplotaxis in the FSCA; Nereida Mestre Novoa (Instituto de Ecologia y Sistematica, Cuba), Study the Coccoidea in the FSCA; Stephen W. Wilson (Central Missouri State University), Identification of Flatidae of Florida and the Caribbean. In all, five grants were awarded totalling $2000.

    We've had an interesting time dealing with auditors. Any of you who have had such an experience knows how frustrating and bewildering this can be. One of our main problems has been difficulty in moving our assets, largely consisting of the unsold backlog of the two volumes in the Memoir series, The Ladybeetles of the Russian Far East and Checklist and Bibliography of the Insects of Grenada. If anyone can lend their expertise to this dilemma, or suggest outlets for sales, please let us know.

    A new copy of the Bylaws has been created, based on a combination of changes made on previous years' ballots and Board meetings. There are still some changes under consideration. Any proposed new changes will be on this year's ballot.

    The annual business meeting is scheduled for December 18, 2000, in the auditorium of the Doyle Conner Building, 1911 SW 34th St., Gainesville, Florida. All of you are invited to attend.

G. B. Edwards
President, CSE

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