xxth GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF IUGG VIENNA (AUSTRIA)

IAGA NEWS N0.29
VIII IUGG
teachers at secondary
offer of assistance in
Goldberg (USA) .
education level. He
this important area
welcomed an
from Dr R A
ICSU Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research [SCAR]:
The President noted that the IAGA Working Group on
Antarctic Research (which is jointly under Division II
and Division I I I) is actively in t ouch with the
developing situation concerning the direction in
research of the working group on atmospheric sciences.
It is not clear at present where and how lower
atmosphe re research and upper atmosphere research are
placed and what is to be the weight given to each.
IUGG/IAU GLOBMET. The Secretary Ge ne ral reported that,
i n accord with Minute VII [ IAGA News 29, page 20], he
had forwarded the proposal to the Union, that approval
by the Executive Commit tee o f the Union had been given
at its meeting in August 1989, and that h e had been
informed by the Union Secretary General t hat the matter
c urrently lay with the I AU f or confirma t i on and action.
The President reported on the meeting of the Presidents
of the IUGG Associations held in Washington, 24-25 May
1990. The Executive Committee took note of t he document
prepared for the meeting which listed 11 Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats, and Goals II of the
Union and was in broad agreement with the approach. Some
amendments to the document were suggested.
The President reported that the Union President
(Professor V I Keilis-Borok) h ad established contacts
with ARCO Oil and Gas Company of Palno, Texas (USA) with
a view to broadening support for IUGG and its
constituent Associations. On this, Gough recommended
that the Society of Exploration Geophysicists be
approached so that the Association would not appear
thereby to be favou r ing one commercial concer n over
a nother. Schmucker pointed out that contacts with
industry are important but that one should be cautious
about strings being attached to grants.
On the question of whet her the meeting of Association
Presidents should become an annual event , the Executive
Committee was definite in its opposition to this on the
grounds of it becoming an unnecessary drain o n
Association finances and a possible loss of autonomy for
the Associations. The Executive Committee was equally
f i r m in rejecting t h e proposal that a member o f the
Union Bureau should sit in on all meetings of the
Executive Committee.
The Secretary Genera l mentioned that t h e Union had in
mind making a direct charge on the registration fees of
a l l Assemblies (that is , the General Assemblies of the
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