Executive Board Meeting - February 26, 2005

SVU Executive Board held its regular meeting on February 26, 2005 in SVU President?s house in Rockville, MD. Practically every Board member was in attendance and there was consequently a quorum of members present. Because of personal reasons, Joseph Kohn resigned from the Board and he was replaced by the Board?s vote by Prof. Cecilia Rokusek of the Florida Gulf Coast University.

After a brief discussion, the Executive board re-approved the SVU Mission Statement, as well as the proposed Action Plan, with the stipulation that several of the Board members specify in concrete terms their individual tasks and responsibilities. Of the existing SVU initiatives and committees, the most active is Lois Herman and her Women?s Group which continuously supplies new information for SVU Website. The SVU Humanitarian Award?s Committee, comprised of Senator Jaroslava Moserova, Ambassador Martin Palous and the former Ambassador Martin Butora, are to come up with a suitable candidate for the Elias Humanitarian Award. There is an urgent need to establish a new committee, comprised of young people, with the responsibility of the SVU ?Accent on Youth? initiative.

SVU publication program was briefly reviewed. Mila Rechcigl reported that he concluded editing of the papers from the 2004 SVU World Congress in Olomouc and that the papers were sent to Palacky University for publishing. Selected English Papers from the 2002 SVU World Congress have been published in book form and can be purchased from SVU Treasurer for $25 plus $5 for handling. Since only a limited supply is available in the US, the members are encouraged to place their order fast before the supply is exhausted.

VP Vera Borkovec gave a brief report on the status on the monograph Czech and Slovak Theatre Aboard, she is editing and provided the final Table of Contents. The monograph is more or less ready to be sent to the printer. VP Dagmar White distributed the outline of her monograph on Czech Opera in America, indicating that, in contrast to Vera Borkovec? volume, which is a collection of articles written by different authors, she plans to write most of the book by herself. She intends to focus on the performance of Czech Opera and its promotion in the US rather than on the performance of Czech Opera singers in America. The Executive Board members felt that she should, nevertheless, include a chapter or two about such singers as Jarmila Novotna and Maria Jeritza, even though they may have not performed in Czech Operas. Similarly, she ought to include such famous operetta composers as Rudolf Friml. It was also noted that Jan Vicar, Prof of Musicology at Palacky University has completed a monograph of his essays which SVU co-sponsored. The book will be available at the SVU Conference in Florida.

Executive Board was pleased about the timely distribution of the last issue of the SVU newsletter Zpravy SVU, although it expressed some concern about the quality control aspects, since some of the material was left out in the typesetting and/or the final printing process. The Board would like to see more personal items in the newsletter and admonishes the membership to keep sending newsworthy notices about individual SVU members, including obituaries of the deceased members.

With reference to Kosmas, the Board members expressed great satisfaction with the contents and the quality of the periodical, thanks to the editor Clinton Machann and the assistance provided by David Chroust. Suggestion was made, however, to make an effort to expand the number of authors who are contributing articles, especially from universities around the world and also find more interesting subjects to make the periodical appealing not only to scholars but to general readership.

Rechcigl brought the Board up to date on the status of preparation of the forthcoming SVU Conference in Florida. He was solely responsible for putting the program together and also for editing the abstracts. All the work has been completed. The local arrangements and all the logistics which is in the hands of Robert Petrik and Cecilia Rokusek is proceeding very well and is on schedule. The Board members were quite impressed that all that work has been accomplished in a matter of three months, considering that the Conference site was not even selected prior to the October Board meeting. In addition to President Klaus? sponsorship, Rechcigl informed the Board that he succeeded in obtaining sponsorship from the Slovak President Gasparovic. The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs is assisting with the transport of a special exhibit ?Czechs in America?, which will be shown during the Florida Conference. The Board, as a whole, has been requested to attend the conference in full force.

There was some discussion of the status of SVU Local Chapters, their activities and responsibilities. It was noted that a number of chapters have not submitted their annual reports, as prescribed by the SVU guidelines, which makes it difficult to ascertain what these Chapters are actually doing. Some of the Chapters are, of course, performing splendidly. Executive Board again expressed concern about the inactivity of some of the chapters and the need to revitalize them which falls under the responsibility of VP Vlado Simko. Rechcigl brought the attention to the Board the recent monograph, entitled Setkani a Hovory 1997-2004, published by the SVU Munich Chapter, based on the talks, lectures and discussions during their meetings. The Chapter is to be commended for their initiative.

The last item on the agenda was the SVU 2006 World Congress in Ceske Budejovice. After initial delay, the university representatives submitted to the Executive Board further details pertaining to the logistics and local arrangements. In many respects, many of the arrangements will be comparable to those at the last congress at Palacky University in Olomouc. The University has appointed several committees. including finance, information, cultural events, and logistics. Besides the University itself, the Congress will be also sponsored by the City of Ceske Budejovice. The principal person responsible for the Congress on the University side will be Vice Rector Prof. Vladimir Papousek and the University Congress program chair will be Docent Michael Bauer. The University submitted their ideas for various socio-cultural events, as well as for excursions to Krumlov and Hluboka.

What needs to be clarified are the hotel and the dorm accommodations. The Executive Board found the proposed prices relatively too high and requested the University representatives to negotiate a better deal, particularly since we would be reserving a block of rooms. There were other issues raised which will need to be clarified. The Board also emphasized the need to have a sizeable representation from the Czech and Slovak Republics at the Congress - speakers as well as passive participants.

At the conclusion, the Board members agreed on the next meeting to be scheduled for May 14.

~~~

SVU HOME PAGE, EXECUTIVE BOARD