Society News

Society News

From the President

Sincerely,
David Siegmund
President

Proposed New Statutes of Bernoulli Society

Article I: Introduction

1.1 The Bernoulli Society for Mathematical Statistics and Probability, hereafter referred to as the Society, is a Section of the International Statistical Institute, hereafter referred to as the ISI, in accordance with Article 7a of the ISI Statutes.

Article II: Objectives and Activities of the Society

2.1 The objectives of the Bernoulli Society are the advancement of the sciences of probability and mathematical statistics and of their applications to all those aspects of human endeavour which are directed towards the increase of natural knowledge and the welfare of mankind.

2.2 The activities of the Society shall include the following:

(a) recommending and helping to arrange programmes of relevant meetings during the ISI Sessions;

(b) organising international meetings on its own or jointly with other professional or scholarly bodies or sponsoring such meetings for the purpose of achieving its objectives in, for example, theoretical or methodological developments and fields of application of especial timeliness and importance, or for the purpose of meeting the scientific needs of particular regional groups not otherwise catered for;

(c) supporting or sponsoring publications which further the objectives and interests of the Society;

(d) seeking the cooperation of other statistical societies or groups of statisticians for the purpose of furthering the objectives of the Society.

2.3 It shall be a special obligation of the Society to assist in the development of the sciences of probability and mathematical statistics in the context of specific fields of application when no other body exists to meet such needs, provided that the Council of the Society is satisfied that such action is timely and likely to advance the objectives of the Society.

Article III: Organs of the Society

3.1 The principal organs of the Society are:

(a) The General Assembly, composed of members of the Society, hereafter referred to as the General Assembly;

(b) The Council, composed of ordinary members in accordance with Article 4.9 and ex officio members in accordance with Article 5.1, hereafter referred to as the Council;

(c) The Executive Committee, composed of the Officers of the Society in accordance with Article 6.1, hereafter referred to as the Executive Committee;

(d) The standing committees of the Society, composed in accordance with Article VII.

Article IV: General Assembly and Membership of the Society

4.1 The General Assembly shall be composed of any ordinary members, extraordinary members and representatives of institutional members as provided below and shall be formed at each ordinary meeting of the Society provided for in Article 9.1.

4.2 Members of the ISI may become ordinary members of the Society in accordance with the current regulations as approved by the Council and in consultation with the ISI.

4.3 Any person who is not a member of the ISI may apply to the Membership Secretary of the Society to become an ordinary member of the Bernoulli Society. An ordinary member shall be liable to pay annual membership dues in accordance with the current regulations for payment approved by the Council. Certain persons who, for reasons of financial hardship, are unable to pay the current dues may apply to the Membership Secretary to become ordinary members of the Society at reduced rates in annual membership dues, subject to the approval of the Council.

4.4 Persons from certain countries, who wish to join the Society, may apply to the Membership Secretary for waivers in annual membership dues, subject to the approval of the Council. Such members shall be called extraordinary members and shall have limited privileges of membership in accordance with the regulations approved by the Council.

4.5 Institutions may become institutional members of the Society by applying to the Membership Secretary and subject to the approval of the Executive Committee. Institutional members shall be liable to pay annual membership dues on a case by case basis as determined by the Executive Committee. The voting rights of institutional members shall be decided upon case by case by the Executive Committee.

4.6 Members may end their membership of the Society by writing a letter to this effect to the Membership Secretary and shall be expected to pay their respective dues for the year in which their membership ends.

4.7 Members of the Society who are liable to pay dues shall be considered to have resigned from membership if they have not paid dues payable during the preceding calendar year.

4.8 All annual membership dues payable in accordance with Articles 4.3-4.7 shall be sent to and kept by the ISI Office.

4.9 The General Assembly shall be the Society's supreme authority on the election of Council members. This authority shall be exercised either through personal vote at any ordinary meeting or through vote by mail (i.e. postal mail, e-mail or fax). In any vote by mail, ballots will not be counted earlier than three months after they have been mailed to members of the Society.

Article V: Council

5.1 The Officers of the Society, as provided for in Article 6.1, shall be ex officio members of the Council with voting rights. The Council shall be composed of ex officio members and twelve ordinary members. The latter, of whom not more than two shall be residing in the same country, shall be nominated by the Nominating Committee as provided for in Article 8.1 and elected by the General Assembly in accordance with Article VIII.

5.2 The Council shall formulate the policies of the Society, in consultation with the standing committees whenever it is appropriate and necessary. In particular, the Council shall, together with these committees, take an active part in planning and organising programmes for meetings which give adequate emphasis to domains of currently increasing importance. The chairs of such committees shall liaise with the Council via the Scientific Secretary of the Society. The Council shall be active in promoting the cooperation of such committees with one another, with the programme committees of the ISI and of the Society, and with other relevant bodies.

5.3 The term of office of an ordinary member of Council shall be four years starting from the time of an ordinary meeting held conjointly with an ISI Session as provided for in Article 9.1. No ordinary member shall serve on the Council for more than two consecutive terms. At least one-half of the Council shall retire every two years.

Article VI: Executive Committee

6.1 The Executive Committee shall be composed of the Officers of the Society, who shall be the President, the President-Elect, the Executive Secretary, the Scientific Secretary, the Membership Secretary and the Treasurer. The Executive Director of the ISI shall be an ex officio member of the Executive Committee with the title of Executive Secretary of the Society.

6.2 The Executive Committee shall conduct the affairs of the Society in accordance with the policies established by the Council, and shall, on matters of major importance, seek the approval of the Council.

6.3 The President and President-Elect shall be residents of different countries and shall be members of the ISI. The President-Elect shall be elected by the General Assembly and serve for two years and shall thereafter automatically become the President and serve for the following two years.

6.4 The Scientific Secretary, the Membership Secretary and the Treasurer shall be members of the Society. They shall be appointed by the Council and are eligible for re-appointment. In the event of a vacancy, caused by incapacity or otherwise, in the above offices, a new officer shall be nominated by the President and approved by the majority of the Council. The term of office of the Scientific Secretary shall be four years starting from the time of a World Congress of the Society, as provided for in Article 9.1. The term of office of the Membership Secretary and of the Treasurer shall be four years each starting in January.

6.5 Wherever possible, the President shall represent the Society on all official occasions and shall preside at the meetings of the General Assembly, the Council and the Executive Committee. In the absence of the President, these roles shall be filled by the President-Elect or by some member of the Council nominated by the President.

6.6 It shall be the responsibility of the President, at the conclusion of a term of office, to prepare a comprehensive report to the Society about its activities during the previous two years. This report shall be presented to the General Assembly at an ordinary meeting held conjointly with an ISI Session as provided for in Article 9.1.

6.7 It shall be the responsibility of the Treasurer to prepare a report on the state of the finances of the Society during the two years preceding an ordinary meeting held conjointly with an ISI Session as provided for in Article 9.1 and to present this report to the General Assembly at that meeting.

6.8 In case of incapacity or vacancy, the President shall be succeeded by the President-Elect.

Article VII: Standing Committees

7.1 The Executive Committee shall, in consultation with the Council, direct and approve the formation of standing committees for the purpose of

(a) specific administrative functions pertaining to the Society,

(b) the development and advancement of specific subject areas in mathematical statistics and probability theory and their applications, and

(c) the support of activities that will promote the objectives of the Society within a specific geographical region. These standing committees shall be respectively referred to as administrative committees, subject area committees and regional committees.

7.2 The chairs of administrative committees shall be members of the Society and shall be appointed by the Executive Committee and each chair shall serve for a period of four years. These chairs shall decide and act on the composition of their committees subject to the approval of the Executive Committee.

7.3 The chairs and members of subject area committees and of regional committees shall be nominated and elected in accordance with the working rules of the committees as approved by the Council.

7.4 The chairs of standing committees shall submit reports of their committees to the Executive Committee not later than three months before the next ordinary meeting of the Society.

7.5 The chairs of standing committees may attend meetings of the Council without any voting rights.

7.6 An administrative committee, called the Publications Committee and formed in accordance with Article 7.2, shall oversee all matters concerning publications activities of the Society.

7.7 An administrative committee, called the Programmes Coordinating Committee and formed in accordance with Article 7.2, shall assist the Scientific Secretary in overseeing all matters concerning scientific meetings organised or sponsored by the Society.

7.8 The chief editor of any official publication of the Society shall be appointed by the Executive Committee in consultation with an ad hoc committee consisting of the outgoing chief editor (where applicable), a nominee of the Executive Committee and a nominee of the Publications Committee, or according to the working rules agreed upon by the Council and any other company, body or organisation jointly responsible for the publication. Unless the working rules state otherwise, the chief editor shall serve for a period of three years and shall have the discretion to form the editorial board of that publication subject to the approval of the Executive Committee. All editorial policies shall be subject to the approval of the Publications Committee.

Article VIII: Elections

8.1 At each ordinary meeting of the Society held at an ISI Session, as provided for in Article 9.1, a Nominating Committee shall be established consisting of the President, the President-Elect and one representative from each of the standing committees. The Nominating Committee shall be elected by the General Assembly at the recommendation of the Council and shall be chaired by the President-Elect.

8.2 The Nominating Committee shall ascertain from nominees that they are willing to stand for office in the capacity for which they are nominated, and shall present, not later than ten months before the next ordinary meeting at an ISI Session, its report to the Executive Committee on the candidates for the office of President-Elect and for ordinary Council membership that will become vacant by the next ordinary meeting. Thereafter, the Nominating Committee shall be automatically dissolved.

8.3 The Scientific Secretary shall submit the report of the Nominating Committee to the ordinary members of the Council who represent the membership of the Society. The ordinary members of the Council may nominate additional candidates provided that each such nomination is sponsored by at least two ordinary members and is in the hands of the Scientific Secretary within three months after the date at which the report of the Nominating Committee was mailed (by post, e-mail or fax).

8.4 The Scientific Secretary shall submit, not later than six months before the next ordinary meeting at an ISI Session, the names of all nominated candidates to all ordinary members of the Society for a secret vote by mail (i.e. postal mail, e-mail or fax). However, if there is only one candidate for an office, that candidate shall be declared elected without vote.

8.5 The Scientific Secretary shall count, in the presence of two members of the Society and not later than three months before the next ordinary meeting at an ISI Session, all the votes received in accordance with Article 8.4. For each office, the candidate receiving the majority of votes shall be considered elected. Members of the Society shall be notified of the result of the elections. This notification shall include the information about any ties that may have occurred and about the manner in which these ties were resolved.

8.6 An ordinary member of the Council shall be succeeded, in the event of incapacity, by a member of the Society chosen by the Executive Committee to serve the residual term, provided that it is not less than one year.

Article IX: Meetings of the Society

9.1 Ordinary meetings of the Society, i.e. meetings of the General Assembly, shall be held every two years in odd-numbered years conjointly with the ISI Sessions and every four years in even-numbered years at the World Congresses of the Society. No quorum shall be required for a meeting of the General Assembly.

9.2 Meetings of the Council shall be held conjointly with the meetings of the General Assembly in accordance with Article 9.1 or at such times and places as may be deemed necessary. The quorum for a Council meeting shall be one-half of the membership of the Council, the membership to include ex officio members.

9.3 Meetings of the Executive Committee and standing committees shall be held conjointly with the meetings of the General Assembly in accordance with Article 9.1 or at such times and places as may be deemed necessary.

9.4 Meetings of the General Assembly other than those provided for in Article 9.1 shall be called extraordinary meetings of the Society and shall be held at such times and places as the Council may direct.

9.5 Scientific meetings conjoint with the ISI Sessions shall be organised by the President in cooperation with the Executive Committee, the Council and such other persons (being members of the Society or members of cooperating bodies) as the Council may appoint. The purpose of this cooperation is to ensure that the programmes for the meetings give adequate emphasis to domains of currently increasing importance.

9.6 Scientific meetings of the subject area and regional committees shall be organised in accordance with the working rules of the committees as approved by the Executive Committee and the Council.

9.7 For scientific meetings sponsored by the Society in cooperation with other bodies, the President shall, in consultation with the Executive Committee, appoint at least one member of the Society (preferably but not necessarily a member of the Council) to serve on an appropriate programme committee. One member of the programme committee shall be designated as personally responsible for maintaining effective liaison with the Scientific Secretary of the Society.

Article X: Finance

10.1 The financial resources of the Society shall be membership dues, proceeds of advertisements in and sales of publications of the Society and such donations as the Society may obtain.

10.2 The acceptability of any donation shall be decided upon by the Council.

10.3 The annual dues of ordinary members of the Society shall be fixed by the Council. The annual dues of institutional members shall be fixed case by case by the Executive Committee.

10.4 The funds of the Society may be used for the following purposes:

(a) A proportion, to be determined and approved by the Council and to be negotiated with the ISI, of the net income of the Society during the two years preceding an ordinary meeting held conjointly with an ISI Session shall be transferred to the ISI.

(b) The remaining funds of the Society may be used for the following purposes:

(i) to pay for, at the discretion of the President, any expenses incurred by mail, fax, telegraph and telephone in connection with the business of the Society and by secretarial assistance for the Scientific Secretary, the Membership Secretary and the Treasurer;

(ii) to pay, in exceptional cases, for the travel expenses of speakers, whether members of the Society or not, invited to present papers at the scientific meetings of the Society subject to the availability of funds and the approval of the Executive Committee; and

(iii) to subsidise publications of the Society.

10.5 The Officers of the Society and the members of the Council shall serve without compensation or remuneration.

10.6 At each ordinary meeting, the accounts of the Treasurer shall be audited by two members of the Society and their report shall be presented to the members of the Society.

10.7 The Society may undertake the administration and expenditure of grants or funds for purposes consistent and compatible with the objectives of the Society, and such grants and funds shall not be subject to the conditions of Article 10.4 above.

10.8 The ISI Permanent Office shall administer the funds, maintain the accounts and provide the financial records of the Society as specified by the Treasurer of the Society.

Article XI: Amendments to the Statutes

11.1 Proposals to amend the Statutes may be made in writing to the President by the Executive Committee, or by any five members of the Council, or by any ten members of the Society.

11.2 Any proposal for the amendment of the Statutes, submitted as specified in Article 11.1, shall be considered by the Councils of the Society and of the ISI and then submitted to the members of the Society for vote by mail (i.e. postal mail, e-mail or fax). If the amendment is approved by a simple majority of each of these two Councils, then its ratification by the membership shall require only a simple majority of all votes cast. If an amendment is not approved by a simple majority of any one of these two Councils, then its ratification by the membership shall require at least a two-thirds majority of all votes cast.

11.3 The dissolution of the Society or the alteration of the name of the Society shall be treated as an amendment to the Statutes of the Society.

New members

Ajmal, Nasim (India)
Aletti, Giacomo (Italy)
Azaïs, Jean-Marc (France)
Berresford, Geoffrey C. (USA)
Bogachev, Leonid V. (United Kingdom)
Cao, Ricardo (Spain)
Chergui, Jamal D. (Morocco)
Cont, Rama (France)
Cristóbal, José A. (Spain)
Croall, John (United Kingdom)
Eckley, Idris A. (United Kingdom)
Gheorghe, Constantin (Romania)
Goel, Prem K. (USA)
Gorgone, Anna (Italy)
Hamadène, S. (France)
Hili, Ouagnina (Côte d'Ivoire)
Holmström, Lasse (Finland)
Honda, Toshio (Japan)
Hu, Dihe (China)
Kahle, Waltraud (Germany)
Kallenberg, Olav (USA)
Katranakis, Emanuel J. (USA)
Kiesel, Rüdiger (United Kingdom)
Klesov, Oleg (Ukraine)
Korolyuk, V. (Ukraine)
Megyesi, Zoltan (K. Hungary)
Melnikov, Alexander (Russia)
Micheletti, Alessandra (Italy)
Mirakhmedov, Sherzod (Uzbekistan)
Pak, Mehmet (A. Germany)
Qian, Weimin (China)
Rasch, D.A.M.K. (Germany)
Riccomagno, Eva (Netherlands)
Safaryan, Irina (Armenia)
SenGupta, Ashis (India)
Shakya, Sulin (Nepal)
Sharahmetov, Shaturgun (Uzbekistan)
Stoyanov, Jordan (United Kingdom)
Todorova, Katia (Mexico)
Vakhania, Nikholas (Georgia)
Vanags, Ilmars (Latvia)
Volodin, Andrei (Russia)
Wan, Alan T.K. (China, Hong Kong SAR)
Wang, Jinde (China)
Wu, Rong (China)
Xekalaki, Evdokia (Greece)
Yong, Jiongmin (China)

Volker Mammitzsch
BS Membership Secretary

Bernoulli Society Outreach Program

The Outreach Program was initiated at the Fourth World Congress held in Vienna in 1996. The purpose of that program as described in Bernoulli News, Vol.3 (No.2) 1996, p.13 is to "support statisticians and probabilists in developing and transitional countries where access to scientific journals is still a big problem".

In order to meet that purpose the Executive Committe had decided to extend gift memberships for the year 2000 (with possible extension) to selected colleagues in those countries. As a condition it was made that the publications received as a benefit of the gift membership should be made available as widely as practical among the colleagues and students in the group of the beneficiary.

Ron Pyke (Seattle) was appointed to oversee the delicate task of distributing, see also Bernoulli News, Vol.6 (1999), No.1, p.2. It is high time to say a word of appreciation and gratefulness to him on behalf of our Society for solving the (for more than one reason) difficult problem efficiently and tactfully: Thank you very much, Ron!

By the end of the year 2000, in cooperation with the Membership Secretary and -- for obvious reasons! -- with the Treasurer, 20 scientists from Armenia, Belarus, China, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan had been appointed as Bernoulli Society members at the expenses of the funds of the Outreach Program.

The Program served the purpose very well for which it was initiated and was received with great enthusiasm on the side of the beneficiaries. But let them speak for themselves:

• "My new job also is connected with theoretical and applied statistics, in particular statistics via Intenet, in this connection the possibility to keep up with news in Bernoulli Society is rather actual for me and my new colleagues."
• "1. As the President of ... Statistical Association I distributed information from the BS in the ... Association. 2. As the Head of Dept. ... I distributed information from the BS between the staff and students of the Department. 3. I am working now on organising of the VI Int. Conf. on Computer Modeling and Data Analysis. 4. I was the Chair of the Research Seminar on Data Analysis at (our) Statistical Association. There were 35 presentations last year at this Seminar. 5. I took part in two Int. Conferences .... These activities could be impossible without my BS-membership."
• "I am happy to be a member of the Bernoulli Society. The membership really helps me a lot in various aspects. First of all, the Journal BERNOULLI has been put in our library and I found that it is one of the journals that people (professors, graduate students, visitors, and so on) like most. I am sure that it helps many relevant people in their researches. The membership of Bernoulli Society makes me more professional."
• "The opinion of ... readers is that information published in the editions of Bernoulli Society is very useful for research work and teaching. Thank you once more for co-operation."
• "Many thanks to colleagues contributed to this arrangement. Of course, Bernoulli Society membership is useful for me as well as for my colleagues at our institute. ...Both publications are easily accessible for all interested colleagues here. Moreover, some items from BERNOULLI are periodically offered at our seminar to turn attention to new results, new settings and tendencies in the aspects close to our research interests."
• "I regularly received the BS publications and made them available not only to colleagues at my workplace, but also at the Institute of Radiophysical Measurements.... Let me again thank you for appreciable advantage of international contacts."
• "For our seminaries, for scientifical works, for master students and doctoral studies these journals are a very important help and now, these are in the library of department."

Except in one case, where the beneficiary moved to another country and was no longer eligible for the Program, all of these gift memberships could be extended to the year 2001. Further extensions are planned, provided our members are generous enough when paying their annual dues next fall.

Volker Mammitzsch
BS Membership Secretary

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