Council: Wednesday, 1:30 p.m.
Business Meeting: Sunday, 11:10 a.m.
The secretary notes the following resolution of
the Council: Each person who attends a business meeting of the
Society shall be willing and able to identify himself as a member
of the Society. In further explanation, it is noted that each
person who is to vote at a meeting is there by identifying himself
as and claiming to be a member of the American Mathematical Society.
The Society has a Committee on the Agenda for Business Meetings.
The purpose is to make business meetings orderly and effective.
The committee does not have legal or administrative power. It
is intended that the committee consider what may be called "quasipolitical"
motions. The committee has several possible courses of action
on a proposed motion, including but not restricted to:
(a) doing nothing,
(b) conferring with supporters and opponents to
arrive at a mutually accepted amended version to be circulated
in advance of the meeting,
(c) recommending and planning a format for debate
to suggest to a business meeting,
(d) recommending referral to a committee, and
(e) recommending debate followed by referral to
a committee.
There is no mechanism that requires automatic submission
of a motion to the committee. However, if a
motion has not been submitted through the committee, it may be
thought reasonable by a business meeting to refer it rather than
to act on it without benefit of the advice of the committee.
In order that a motion for this business meeting
receive the service offered by the committee in the most effective
manner, it should be in the hands of the AMS Secretary by December
15, 2005.