LATEST NEWS
ESS is now
officially in liquidation. During the last business meeting
of the ESS in Washington DC, on August 31, 2000,
the members present voted almost unanimously in favor
of a merger with our sister organization the International
Society for Human Ethology (ISHE) - a bare necessity
for the continuation of our society, as explained by ESS
treasurer Vincent Falger in the ESS Newsletter Nr. 52
(June 2000) and on the ESS website.
Not everything has to be viewed, in retrospect, through
the spectacles of dolorous melancholy during this
memorable business meeting, however, because some 20
new ESS members were welcomed, and Edward O.
Wilson, the founding father of sociobiology, received
honorable membership from the ESS Board (see photo
by Jim Brody below). The last more or less
independent meeting of the ESS celebrated the 25th
birthday of sociobiology (Wilson's opus magnum was
first published in 1975), and was dedicated to the
comparative reception of sociobiology across a number
of disciplines and countries. We like to thank the
Association for Politics and the Life Sciences (APLS),
and in particular its retreating secretary and organizer
Gary Johnson, for its hospitality during our joint
meeting.
Procedures:
Anticipating the ESS/ISHE merger, our treasurer did not
charge membership fee this year. Membership fee of ISHE is about the same as the ESS
fee ($25), and ISHE offers substantial reductions for multiple-year memberships
($60 for three years or $25/3 yrs for students and emeriti). The next year the ISHE
treasurer, Dori LeCroy, will automatically remind the members to pay their 2001
fees. All ESS members have to decide for themselves whether they accept ISHE
membership or not. Those who are members of both societies already will not be
charged a double fee. I would recommend ESS members who are not yet ISHE
members to apply in person at the ISHE
website.
The ESS Newsletter and the Human Ethology Bulletin
(HEB), the ISHE Newsletter, will also merge, and the
September and December issues of the HEB will be
mailed to the ESS members to get acquainted. The
December issue of the HEB will officially announce the
ESS/ISHE merger and cordially welcome the new
members. The ESS and ISHE websites will also merge
eventually.
Finally, I like to thank all officers of the ESS, Peter
Meyer, Vincent Falger, Marina Butovskaya, and Marcel
Roele, for their efforts on behalf of our dear society, and
I would like to express my special gratitude to Jan Wind,
who was the founder and long-term secretary and mentor
of the society, and who tragically died on October 30,
1995.
Johan M.G. van der Dennen
Secretary of the ESS
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