The 2003 meeting of the Potomac Division was held jointly with the Eastern Branch of the Entomological Society of America on March 16-18 at the Harrisburg Hilton in Harrisburg, PA. Rayanne Lehman served as Chair of the Local Arrangements Committee while Ames Herbert and Faith Kuehn co-chaired the Program Committee. Attendance was estimated at 210, including at least 51 students, although the number of APS members was not determined.

The programs started Sunday afternoon (March 16) with a tour of the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, followed by a Welcome Reception.  Evening programs included sessions on Recently Introduced Pests, Wireworm Management, and Poster Displays.  Monday morning (March 7) began with opening remarks by Eastern Branch-ESA President Susan Whitney and Potomac Division President David Clement.  A Panel Discussion on "Academic Department Identity: Maneuvering the Paradigm Shift" described trends toward reduced faculty numbers and shifts in expectations of the public from traditional agricultural production to more urban landscape needs, biotechnology, and bioterrorism issues.  This was followed by concurrent sessions including a symposium on sucking insects as pests and disease vectors, and a contributed paper session.  A Best Student Paper session was held Monday afternoon, with 17 students presenting, including five plant pathology-related papers.  The respective business meetings were held Monday afternoon, followed by a joint awards banquet.

The Potomac Division Best Student Paper Award was presented to Josh Marvel of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University for  presentation entitled "Comparison of pepper anthracnose isolates using Biolog".  Second place was awarded to Mbisin Diagne of University of Maryland for her paper "Impact of chemicals on management of spinach white rust and insect communities".  The Memorial Fund Student Travel Award was also presented to Mbisin Diagne.  The Potomac Division also contributed to a joint Award with EB-ESA for the student paper best integrating entomology and plant pathology, presented to Kathleen Leahy of the University of Massachusetts and entitled "Possible suppression of potato leafhopper feeding by Apogee: Implications for fire blight control on apple".  The Potomac Division Distinguished Service Award for 2003 was presented to Arvydas Grybauskas of the University of Maryland, and to Nichole O'Neill of USDA-Beltsville.

The scientific program resumed Tuesday morning (March 18) with two symposia on "New Invasive Species Possibilities for Biological Control" and "New Chemistry and Technology for Pest Management".  A conference with eight presentations on "Field Crop Insects" and the Industry/Extension Updates were also held.  The program concluded Tuesday afternoon with a submitted paper session and three symposia: a graduate student symposium on "Insect, Plant and Fungi Relationships in Nature"; a symposium on "Bacterial leaf Scorch"; and a symposium on "Biosecurity: Protecting Agricultural and Environmental Resources from Introduced Organisms".

Potomac Division Business Meeting

The 59^th annual Business meeting of the Potomac Divisions was called to order by President David Clement at 5:00 PM on Monday, March 17.

APS President Jacqueline Fletcher described new approaches to APS governance being considered by APS Council, especially the increased reliance on Policy Boards for strategic planning.  Journal publications remain the largest source of income for the Society, and two new journals are available on live through the Plant Management Network.  A third journal, Forage and Grazing Lands, is expected to be on line within a few months, and various APS publications such as F&N Tests and B&C Tests are now available electronically.  Barb Christ will chair a Division Issues Focus Group.  The Public Policy Board is taking a prominent role in developing a biosecurity program in the U. S. Department of Homeland Security.

The APS Councilor's report was presented by Arv Grybauskas.  He indicated that Erik Stromberg will be the new APS treasurer.  Alan Biggs is serving as Plant Disease Editor-In-Chief and will join the Publications Board.  An APS Policy on Publication of Biosecurity Issues will be released soon.  Finally, a constitutional amendment will be proposed to allow students who are employed to join as student members.

James Kotcon presented the Minutes of the 2002 meeting and the Treasurers report.  Jim Kotcon moved that the Minutes be approved.  Ethel Dutky seconded and the motion passed.

Bob Mulrooney presented the Audit Committee report.  They recommended that corrections be made to the Treasurer's Report regarding the Memorial Fund such that payments for Student Awards be made from the Operating Account rather than the Memorial Fund as per Division policy.  With this correction, they found the books to be in order.

Anton Baudoin moved that Potomac Division dues be reduced to $6.00 for members and $3.00 for students.  Arv Grybauskas pointed out that APS Council is likely to harmonize dues of all divisions.  Anton Baudoin moved that the Division realign dues to be consistent with the national Society. JBK seconded and the motion passed.

In presenting the Treasurer's report, James Kotcon pointed out that reports for the Investment account at APS headquarters no longer provide "current market" value of investments, but only the "book" value (original purchase price).  Thus recent losses in stock value are not reported until the stocks are actually sold.  Previous treasurer reports provided current market values, but these are not available for 2002 and the differences from previous years are not easy to reconcile.  Vern Damsteegt moved, and Anton Baudoin seconded, that the Memorial Fund Books be corrected to reflect actual value of the investment account.  Motion carried.  Kotcon also agreed to revise the report to correct the Memorial Fund accounts regarding student paper awards and to add investment account income to the Memorial Fund account.

Arv Grybauskas presented the Nominations Committee report.  Bob Davis was elected Vice-President and Dan Roberts was elected Secretary/Treasurer.

It was agreed that West Virginia and USDA will co-host the Potomac Division meeting, to be held either at Fort Dietrick, MD or in the Shepherdstown, WV area.

James Kotcon moved to adjourn, Vern Damsteegt seconded, and the meeting adjourned at 6:15 PM.

Respectfully submitted by:

James Kotcon, Secretary/Treasurer