Committee Meeting Minutes for 1986

Minutes of the Committee meeting held at the Lawns Centre, University of Hull, at 9.00 p.m. on 9 April 1986.

Present:
I T Adamson, T S Blyth, C M Campbell, H R Dowson, D J H Garling, D L Johnson, J 0'Connor, R W K Odoni, A R Pears, J S Pym, J P Sproston, D Strauss, C T C Wall, F J Yeadon, R B J T Allenby.
  1. The committee invited Dr J P Sproston to attend the meeting even though his period of office had come to an end.
  2. Professor T S Blyth was elected chairman and Dr J O'Connor Secretary. The office of treasurer was left for the St Andrews organizing committee to decide.
  3. The minutes of the Cambridge Committee meeting were approved. There were no items which would not be considered later on the agenda.
  4. B.M.C. Finances

    Dr Yeadon reported that the Hull Colloquium would probably make a loss of about £1000 (due mainly to the unexpectedly large cost of bringing over Halmos) leaving some £6000 to pass on to St Andrews.

    Notwithstanding the loss of interest from closing the Post office account containing this reserve, it was felt to be important that this money should be transferred to new accounts in St Andrews to lessen the likelihood that it would be assessed for tax.

    The representatives of the LMS and EM reiterated that the two societies would like the BMC reserve decreased to about £5000. The St Andrews committee should confirm this with the treasurers of the two societies and budget accordingly.

    It was noted that Hull had extended concessionary rates to retired colleagues. St Andrews might wish to extend them further to the unemployed.

    The idea that the BMC reserve might be used for other purposes such as financing travel to the International Congress was rejected.
  5. Future meetings

    Dr Sproston reported that Professor Roach had approached him offering to host the BMC in 1991 but that Bath had already agreed to take it then. It was agreed that Strathclyde should be approached to hold it in 1992 with Heriot-Watt as a reserve if this proved impossible. The committee was split on a suitable site for the 1993 colloquium, preferring Reading over Cardiff by 7 votes to 5.
  6. Speakers for 1987

    There was a long and helpful discussion on speakers for the 1987 meeting and a list was passed to the St Andrews organizing committee for consideration. It was emphasized that an early decision on these was vital for the smooth running of the colloquium.
  7. Items from the General Meeting

    The matter of a "light lunch" was raised again. The chairman undertook to do his best to organize this, though the St Andrews set-up might make it difficult.
  8. The committee unanimously approved a vote of thanks to the Hull secretary, chairman and committee for their effort in organizing what seemed to be a very successful colloquium.
Minutes signed by J O'Connor on 14 April 1986.