January 2000

Dear North Central Branch ESA Members,

Your reading this means that immediate Y2K problems are behind us and we are on to our 55th annual meeting in Minneapolis at the Radisson Metrodome,26-30 March. The facility is superb, and Program Co-Chairs Dave Ragsdale and Roger Moon are preparing an excellent program featuring a tantalizing array of symposia with something for everyone. Symposia will look to our glorious past ("ESA Heritage: Entomology in the Upper Midwest") and into the future ("Management of Stored Product Insects in the 21st Century"). The President's symposium ("The Branch Branches Out") will continue a theme of reaching out to address issues of interest to nontraditional clientele. Other planned symposia focus on arthropods from ticks to monarchs, on ecosystems from aquatic to landscape, and on benefits and risks of GMOs. We'll have the usual array of submitted posters and papers, for which the deadlines are extended (for electronic submissions only): 31 January for 10-minute oral presentations and 14 February for posters. The Photo Salon and Linnaean Games return as popular program features.

To reduce copying and mailing costs, we are not mailing program highlights but rather have posted details on the North Central Branch website, http://www.ent.iastate.edu/entsoc/ncb/ If you are one of our few members without Internet access, Linda Mason will be pleased to send you this information via U.S. Mail.

Ted Radcliffe and the members of the Local Arrangements Committee are doing an excellent job working with the Radisson. Among other things we'll have access to high-tech projectors meeting the needs of those with computer graphics presentations. If you plan to attend the meeting and have not yet preregistered or booked your hotel room, please do so soon.

Enclosed are a ballot and information on nominees for Branch offices. Please review this material and vote for the candidate of your choice. Many thanks are due to Fred Baxendale and the Nominating Committee for their work in preparing the slate, and thanks also to the candidates for their willingness to run.

I also thank our many Branch members who have volunteered time and effort to serve as a committee member, committee chair, Branch officer, or simply who have said "yes." The success of our Branch and of our annual meeting is testimony to our many and able volunteers. In particular Linda Mason, Dave Ragsdale, Roger Moon and Ted Radcliffe deserve special thanks. I look forward to an enjoyable and productive time in Minneapolis. See you there.

Sincerely,

David J. Horn, NCB President
Dept. of Entomology, Ohio State Univ.
1735 Neil Ave. 	
Columbus OH 43210	
614-292-5961 Fax: 614-292-2180