MEMORANDUM

Date: November 15, 1999

To: Members of the Western Section American Society of Animal Science

Subject: 2000 Western Section Meeting Announcements and Other News

Thanks go to Ernest Hawkins, faculty and students from Brigham Young University who graciously hosted the 1999 Western Section Animal Science meetings last June 9^th through 11^th in Provo, UT. One of the highlights of the meeting was the symposium organized by Rod Preston and the Symposium Committee entitled " Consumer-Driven, Science-Based Beef Production". Comments that I received about the symposium were excellent.

This year's meeting will be held on the campus of the University of California in Davis on June 21^st-23^rd. Dr. Jim Oltjen and faculty from the Animal Science Department are well into planning this meeting. The format of the meeting will be slightly different, with a spouse's tour of the Sonoma-Napa Valley and its vineyards, a youth activity, and the Awards BBQ Thursday. Plan on bringing the family. Watch for details and registration materials in early March. Similar to last year, the Symposium Committee is planning an exciting program dealing with industry and academic issues.

Department heads/chairs and faculty are encouraged to nominate their colleagues for one of the four awards given by the Western Section; Distinguished Service, Outstanding Teacher, Extension and Young Scientist. Last year, these awards were sponsored by Ft. Dodge Animal Health, MoorMan's, Cargill-Nutrena Feeds and Hoffman-LaRoche. Please see the enclosed information for nomination deadlines and eligibility requirements.

Enclosed are the committee assignments for 2000-2001. Many thanks go to the individuals who have agreed to serve on these committees. Please feel free to contact the chair of these committees if you have issues that need to be addressed.

During the past four months, President-elect Noelle Cockett has taken the responsibility of developing a Web page for the Western Section and we will unveil it to the membership in the near future for your comments and suggestions. Check it for information regarding the year 2000 meeting in California.

I asked Ronnie Green to serve one more year as the Chairman of the Advisory & Coordinating Committee to specifically develop a survey of the membership's wishes for future publication of the Western Section proceedings. The survey is included with this mailing. Please take a few minutes and provide your input to the Executive Committee.

The 2001 meeting will be a joint meeting with the Canadian Society of Animal Science at Montana State University in Bozeman. The 2002 meetings will be held at Colorado State University and the 2003 meetings will be at Oregon State University. If your institution has not hosted the Western Section meetings in the recent past, please consider doing this and contact me about your interests. The Executive Committee of the Western Section is ready to assist your institution in the planning stages.

A couple of years ago, the Western Section Advisory and Coordinating Committee proposed several recommendations to the Executive Committee in an attempt to increase student participation. Listed below are the policies adopted by the Western Section Executive Committee;

1). Graduate Students: When the Western Sections' meetings are held separately from the National ASAS meetings, the base registration fee to attend the Western Section meeting will be waived. In addition, the ASAS membership fee, excluding the hard copy of the Journal of Animal Science will be paid by the Western Section for the calendar year following the year the graduate student attends the Western Section meeting. To receive this benefit, graduate student must complete an ASAS Membership Application Form (available from the National Office or from the back of each Journal of Animal Science issue) and return it to the Western Section Secretary/Treasurer no later than the conclusion of the Western Section Meeting. A convenient time to turn in the completed form would be at the time the student picks up their registration packet at the Western Section meeting registration desk.

2). Undergraduate Students: When the Western Section meetings are held separately from the National ASAS meetings, the base registration fee (excluding a copy of the proceedings) will be waived if the student pre-registers to attend the meetings. Note: This requirement is necessary to allow the host institution to plan for the number of participants.

3) Academic Quadrathalon Teams: Each participating team will receive $100 to help defray the costs of travel.

We look forward to an outstanding meeting at the University of California-Davis. If you have questions or concerns about the Western Section, please do not hesitate to contact myself, or other members of the Executive Committee. Best regards.