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Report of the General Assembly held at Mtunzini, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Friday 2 August 2002
Compte-Rendu de l'Assemblée Générale tenue à Mtunzini, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Vendredi 2 Août 2002

in the presence of: Periasamy Alagesan, Chao-Chun Chen, Per Djürsvoll, Wolfgang Dohle, Greg Edgecombe, Alfred A. Ernst, Jean-Jacques Geoffroy, Sergei I. Golovatch, Tanja Grgic, Michelle Hamer, Joseph Hannibal, Chao Jui-Lung, Markus Koch, Pavel Kocourek, Zoltán Korsós, Ivan Kos, John G.E. Lewis, Jean-Paul Mauriès (represented), Bjarne Meidell, Robert Mesibov, Tarombera Mwabvu, Pavel Nefediev, Monique Nguyen Duy - Jacquemin, Helen J. Read, Guy Redman, S. Richter, Elaine Robson, Helma Roggenbuck, Jörg Rosenberg, Hilke Ruhberg, Paul Selden, Antoni Serra, Rowland M. Shelley, Stylanos Simaiakis, Karel Tajovsky, Tsutomu Tanabe, Ivan Tuf, Jana Tufova, Karin Voigtländer, Christian Wirkner, Jolanta Wytwer,
The General Assembly can be validly held.
Joachim Adis, Henrik Enghoff, Richard Hoffman, Kiyoshi Ishii, Desmond Kime, Alessandro Minelli, Stefan Negrea, Luis Pereira, Pavel Stoev and Willy Xylander are excused.

Report written by Jean-Jacques Geoffroy (General-Secretary) with the contribution of Helen J. Read.

THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THIS REPORT IS AVAILABLE ON THE SITE : DOWNLOAD AG2002.RTF

1- Reminder-introduction by the Secretary (J.J. Geoffroy) on the name of the former President (J.P. Mauriès)
J.J. Geoffroy welcomes everyone and gives a general introduction about the history and position of the CIM

It is important to remind to recent members of the CIM, and to old members as well, some main events of the history of our international society of myriapodology and onychophorology.
The CIM, Centre International de Myriapodologie, has been created at Paris in 1968, during the first International Congress of Myriapodology, held in common with the first International Congress of Arachnology. The three people responsible of the creation of the CIM were Jean-Marie Demange, Otto Kraus and Jean-Paul Mauriès and they were rapidly joined by John Gordon Blower, forming what I am pleased to name the Four Musketeers of the CIM.
Besides them, all the participants to the First International Congress of Myriapodology are funding members of the CIM and this will be published in the CIM website.
Actually, this gentleman agreement constitution remain during years a society in fact, but not formally and officially constituted. It worked quite well but it appered, during the 9th International Congress held at Paris in 1993, that this way of life was no more possible.
Therefore, durinf the 10th International Congress held at Copenhagen in 1996, it has been formally asked to the Permanent Secretariat to create and constitute a society, having statutes and deposited in a place in France.
This has been done in 1997-1998 and the existence of the society has been formally adopted and recognized by the CIM meeting held during the 11th International Congress at Bialowieza in 1999. The participants of the 11th International Congress of Myriapodology are therefore funding members of the formal international society called Centre International de Myriapodologie.
The board having in charge the CIM affairs during the period 1999-2002 was
Jean-Paul Mauriès as President
Jean-Jacques Geoffroy as Secretary
Monique Nguyen Duy - Jacquemin as Treasurer
Now, we have to go to the further step and constitute, for the first time of our history, a true Council and executive Committee constituted of elected and appointed members, among them will be elected the President and Vice-President for the period 2002-2005.
We have also to discuss and adopt the final version of our constitution and by-laws, according to a text proposed by the Secretary and the former board.
I hope this important new state of the CIM will be a good construction and, in the name of our former President, I wish long life to the CIM.

2- The International Committee of the CIM: proposal of the name of Michelle Hamer
The Board is assisted by an International Committee. The International Committee of the CIM is an informal group of people including founding members of the CIM, organizers of international congresses and several members appointed by the plenary international sessions of myriapodologists. This Committee is composed of: J.M. DEMANGE (Paris, France); J.P. MAURIES (Paris, France); O. KRAUS (Hamburg, Germany); ÝJ.G. BLOWER (Levens, UK); R.L. HOFFMAN (Martinsville, Virginia, U.S.A.); C.A.W. JEEKEL (Oisterwijk, The Netherlands); A. MINELLI (Padova, Italy); H. ENGHOFF (Copenhagen, Denmark); E. MEYER (Innsbruck, Austria); M. NGUYEN DUY - JACQUEMIN (Paris, France); J.J. GEOFFROY (Brunoy, France); J. WYTWER (Warsawa, Poland).
It is suggested to add the name of Michelle Hamer to this list.
Michelle Hamer is elected to the International Committee of the CIM unanimously.

3- Membership issues; Honorary members proposed by representatives of the former board
J.J. Geoffroy explains the categories of membership, these being:
Active membersincluding full and associate members
Moral members ­ Institutions
Benefactor members ­ Those contributing at least 100 euros per year. It is hoped that there will be some in the future
Honorary members ­ These should be people that have made a major contribution to Myriapodology but have now retired from formal work. They may still continue to be very active but no longer hold a formal post.
Considering the CIM history related to the last 34 years, the former board suggests a list of ten names for acceptation as honorary members of the CIM in 2002.
Jean-Marie DEMANGE (Paris, France)
Wolfram DUNGER (Görlitz, Germany)
Kazimiera GROMYSZ-KALKOWSKA (Lublin, Poland)
Richard L. HOFFMAN (Martinsville VA, USA)
C.A.W. JEEKEL (Baerdijk, The Netherlands)
Otto KRAUS (Hamburg, Germany)
Jean-Paul MAURIES (Paris, France)
Stefan NEGREA (Bucuresti, Romania)
Maija PEITSALMI (Hämeenlinna, Finland)
Ulf SCHELLER (Häggeboholm, Sweden)
There are a few comments and proposed additions: Sergei Golovatch proposes A. Minelli however he is still working, others mentioned are G. Andersson, B. Condé, F. Sahli and J. Lewis. It is considered that 10 honorary members would be enough to start with.
The proposed list of Honorary members is agreed unanimously (0 against and 0 abstained).

4- Financial Report and amount of the annual subscription
The financial report was published in the 2002 CIM Bulletin and in the CIM-website as well. The report is adopted unanimously.
A proposal to increase the financial contribution to $30 or 30 Euros is put forward. The subscription is used to send out the questionnaire, to edit the Bulletin, to reproduce it and to send it out. The little left is used for incidental expenses. There is, however not much left for emergencies. Subscriptions have not been increased since 1991 and it is now proving difficult to break even, an increase in subscription is inevitable to cover the costs. Bob Mesibov asks if this was enough or if there is a necessity for more. Jean-Jacques Geoffroy replied that the proposed increase should cover the costs. John Lewis proposes that the rise in subscription be adopted and it is agreed unanimously.

5- Discussion on the proposal for constitution and by-laws and adoption of the definitive version
A proposal for Constitution and By-Laws has been published since two years in the bulletin and in the website. Besides, several remiders have been regularly send to people via the discussion sites myriapod and onychophora on yahoogroups.com managed by Bill Shear.
We received some answers from people that helped to propose today a better version of the text. J.J. Geoffroy is particularly grateful to Henrik Enghoff, Desmond Kime, John Lewis, Alessandro Minelli and Stefan Negrea for their contributions.

Several points need confirmation here however.

The number of elected members to Council has to be agreed. It is suggested not to have a fixed number but to have a minimum of 7 and a maximum of 12. In addition there will be two people appointed by the Council, the Secretary and Treasurer. Members of Council are elected for three years and can be re-elected 1 or 2 times. The President however is only in post for three years. The Council is elected by the general assembly and the Council appoints the Secretary and Treasurer.
Elaine Robson requests that consideration was given to making sure that not all the Council change at the same time. J.J. Geoffroy had experienced problems in a Society where 1/3 of the Council change each time as the situation gets very complicated. He suggests seeing what happens at the next Congress and predicts that there will be some old and some new Council members.
John Lewis suggested that this situation is adopted at present and is changed in the future if necessary.
Zoltán Korsós proposes that the President could be re-elected once and this was agreed unanimously.

Membership issues & new members
Elaine Robson asks if there would be a category for student members. J.J. Geoffroy explains that it is usual that, to be a member of a Society it is necessary to pay the dues. However, he regularly receives requests from people who are unable to pay their subscriptions. He requests permission to continue with this 'gentleman's agreement'. As part of our friendly face we therefore accept 'Associate Active members' which are those that do not pay subscriptions, in addition to Full Active members. Therefore there is no need for a student membership.
To become a member you must send an application to the Secretariat and must be proposed by a member in good standing.
There are 12 candidatures for membership proposed before or during the Congress:

Thorsten BURMESTER (Germany) presented by Hilke Ruhberg
Jui-Lung CHAO (Taïwan) presented by John Lewis
Chao-Chun CHEN (Taïwan) presented by Jean-Jacques Geoffroy
Pavel KOCOUREK (Czech Republic) presented by John Lewis
Etienne IORIO (France) presented by Jean-Jacques Geoffroy
Roland MELZER (Germany) presented by Jörg Spelda
Bojan MITIC (Yugoslavia) presented by Slobodan Makarov
Guy REDMAN (South Africa) presented by Michelle Hamer
Paul SELDEN (UK) presented by Helen Read
Katim TOURE (Senegal) presented by Jean-Jacques Geoffroy
Elzbieta WARCHALOWSKA-SLIWA (Poland) presented by Georg Kania
Heather WILSON (USA) presented by Bill Shear

The 12 candidates are formally accepted. It is also accepted to re-establish Periyasamy Alagesan (India) as active member of the CIM.
It is proposed that if members do not pay or respond to the questionnaire for three years, they are removed from the list and that their name is published as such. Joe Hannibal suggests that two year no response is enough but as the Society seems to be operating on a three year cycle it is agreed on three years.

6- 13rd International Congress of Myriapodology, 2005 / proposal for Bergen (Norway) by B. Meidell
We heard during the 11th International Congress in Poland about a possible organization of the 13th International Congress in Norway, at Bergen, in 2005.
Bjarne Meidell presents this project.
The proposal by Bjarne Meidell for Bergen, Norway still stands and is accepted. It is anticipated that the Congress will be held at the same time of the year (end of July/beginning of August).

7- 14th International Congress of Myriapodology, 2008
J.J. Geoffroy has received a proposal from W. Xylander of the State Museum in Görlitz, Germany offering to organise the Congress in 2008. This offer is read out.
The final decision must be taken during the next International Congress, Bergen 2005. However, it is accepted to send a reply to W. Xylander as a receipt of his proposal.

8- Election of the Council
Candidates: 9 applications received by the secretariat on 30 June 2002, those being
Henrik Enghoff (Denmark)
Michelle Hamer (South Africa)
Zoltan Korsos (Hungary)
John Lewis (UK)
Bjarne Meidell (Norway)
Luis Pereira (Argentina)
Helen Read (UK)
Rowland Shelley (USA)
Karel Tajovsky (Czech Republic)
The Council was proposed 'en bloc' there was no one voting against, one abstention, and the rest in favour.

9- Miscellaneous questions
Quorum ­ The quorum for the general assembly is agreed as 20 members in good standing.
It is agreed to hold the general assembly every three years during the International Congresses.
A meeting of the Council should be held at least once every year. It is considered that this could be carried out by email.
S. Richter proposes that the CIM should buy a scanner for the office in Paris. J.J. Geoffroy replies that the Musuem in Paris hosts CIM but it is helpful to show that CIM is trying to help itself. The computer is now 10 years old and there will be a need to buy a new computer and scanner and also a need to find room to store the Bulletins. He requests that we all ask our friends if they might be benefactor members to raise some money for this.
Elaine Robson points out that it might be possible to obtain money from outside funding sources and requests that J.J. Geoffroy write down a short summary of the computer equipment he needed. J.J. Geoffroy agrees and also says that he would help complete any application forms necessary.

Vote of thanks
W. Dohle proposes a vote of thanks to the Paris Museum and the staff there for all their work on CIM. This is endorsed by everyone present.

The General Assembly is formally closed at 18h25 (6:25PM) and the CIM Council meets immediately.

President / Le Président General-Secretary / Le Secrétaire-Général
John G. E. Lewis Jean-Jacques Geoffroy

MEETING OF THE CIM COUNCIL Centre International de Myriapodologie
Minutes of the 1st Council meeting / Mtunzini, Kwazu-Natal, South Africa Friday 2 August 2002.
Present:
Jean-Jacques Geoffroy; Zoltán Korsós; John Lewis; Bjarne Meidell; Monique Nguyen Duy-Jacquemin; Helen Read; Rowland Shelley; Karel Tajovsky

1- Appointment of the General-Secretary
There is one candidate proposed - Jean-Jacques Geoffroy. This is accepted and agreed unanimously.

2- Appointment of the Treasurer
There is one candidate proposed - Monique Nguyen Duy - Jacquemin. This is accepted and agreed unanimously.

3- Election, by the Executive Committee, of the President and Vice-President
J.J. Geoffroy outlines the expected duties of the President:
- Ensure that the work of the Secretary and Treasurer is proceeding satisfactorily
- Produce a short report on the workings of the Society (moral report of the President)
- Help with the steering of the Society
- Manage the meetings
It is also be necessary to change the address of CIM for tax purposes. The Museum can remain the administration address but an official one will be needed.
J.J. Geoffroy also informs Council that Henrik Enghoff has requested not to be President.
Zoltán Korsós proposes John Lewis for president and this is seconded by Rowland Shelley. It is agreed unanimously and John Lewis accepts the position.
It is agreed unanimously that Michelle Hamer be elected Vice President and she also accepts.

4- Next Council Meeting
The maximum period between meetings is officially 1 year. It would be most logical to hold the meeting before the production of the Bulletin so this is set as April 2003.
The next meeting of the General Assembly should be during the next International Congress in Bergen and it is requested that Bjarne Meidell ensure that there is time for this during the programme.

5- Miscellaneous questions
2008 Congress. John Lewis asks about the status of the Görlitz Congress. This cannot be confirmed as a definite venue until the next Congress but 'informally' it should be considered as 'formal'. J.J. Geoffroy will write to W. Xylander explaining this.

The Council Meeting is closed at 19h15 (7:15PM)

President / Le Président General-Secretary / Le Secrétaire-Général
John G. E. Lewis Jean-Jacques Geoffroy

Call for the General Assembly of the CIM: July 2002

Dear colleagues,
In July 2002, we'll have a very important meeting, during the 12th International Congress of Myriapodology, Mtuzini, South Africa.

General Assembly 2002 / Assemblée Générale 2002

Mtuzini, Kwazulu-Natal [South Africa]
FRIDAY 2 AUGUST 2002 : 15h45

AGENDA OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1- Reminder-introduction by the Secretary (J.J. Geoffroy) on the name of the former President (J.P. Mauriès)
2- The International Committee of the CIM: proposal of the name of M. Hamer
3- Honorary members proposed by representatives of the former board
4- Financial Report and amount of the annual subscription
5- Discussion on the proposal for constitution and by-laws and adoption of the definitive version
6- 13rd International Congress of Myriapodology, 2005 / proposal for Bergen (Norway) by B. Meidell
7- 14th International Congress of Myriapodology, 2008
8- Election of the Council
Candidates (9 applications received by the secretariat on 30 June 2002)
Henrik Enghoff (Denmark)
Michelle Hamer (South Africa)
Zoltan Korsos (Hungary)
John Lewis (UK)
Bjarne Meidell (Norway)
Luis Pereira (Argentina)
Helen Read (UK)
Rowland Shelley (USA)
Karel Tajovsky (Czech Republic)

9- Miscellaneous questions
10- Closure of the General Assembly

MEETING OF THE CIM COUNCIL
AGENDA OF THE COUNCIL
1- Appointment of the General-Secretary
Candidate (30 June 2002)
Jean-Jacques Geoffroy (France)
2- Appointment of the Treasurer
Candidate (30 June 2002)
Monique Nguyen Duy - Jacquemin (France)
3- Election, by the Executive Committee, of the President and Vice-President
4- Next Council Meeting
5- Miscellaneous questions
6- Closure of the Council Meeting

If you can't join the Congress and the General Assemby, please send your recommendations or remarks to someone, formally member of the CIM, you'll be represented by.

Yours sincerely,
Jean-Jacques Geoffroy, General-Secretary

President Report 2001-2002

Chers collègues et amis,

Dans ma courte adresse parue dans le bulletin 34 (2001), je vous avais fait part de ma satisfaction de constater que, contrairement à certaines sirènes, les disciplines liées à la systématique en général et à la systématique myriapodologique en particulier connaissaient un regain d'activité, stimulé notamment par l'utilisation de plus en plus répandue des techniques liées à l'informatique. Ce regain ne concerne pas seulement les pays traditionnellement impliqués dans nos disciplines, qui étaient un peu le monopole de l'hémisphère Nord, mais il va bien au-delà puisqu'on voit, depuis quelques années, se développer aussi nos disciplines dans l'hémisphère Sud en témoigne de manière éclatante la tenue de notre XIIème Congrès International de Myriapodologie, qui sera aussi le premier congrès de Myriapodologie tenu dans l'hémisphère sud et aussi le premier congrès tenu sur le continent africain.

Ce XIIème Congrès International de Myriapodologie se tiendra donc à Mtunzini, en République d'Afrique du Sud grâce au dynamisme de notre collègue Michelle Hamer, qui a bien voulu assurer la lourde responsabilité de son organisation lors du Congrès de Bialowieza. L'importance de ce XIIème congrès ne tient pas seulement à sa situation géographique, mais aussi au fait qu'il va avoir, pour compléter la structuration de notre CIM, dont les statuts ont été adoptés au XIème Congrès, à se prononcer sur l'adoption d'un Règlement intérieur. Un avant-projet de ce dernier vous a été proposé dans notre dernier bulletin (2001) et sur le site Web du CIM. Le XIIème congrès aura en outre, en application des règlements qui régissent les associations internationales, à munir notre Centre International de Myriapodologie d'un conseil aussi largement international que possible et pour la constitition duquel des appels de candidature ont déjà été lancés.

Pour des raisons personnelles, et à mon grand regret, je ne serai pas à Mtunzini cet été, et je ne serai pas non plus candidat pour être membre du futur conseil et a fortiori à la fonction de président. Ce sera donc un autre collègue, élu par l'Assemblée Générale lors du congrès, qui présidera les activités du CIM dès Août 2002 et jusqu'en 2005 Place aux plus jeunes et aux plus dynamiques, aux plus innovants ! et bon vent au XIIème congrès international de Myriapodologie.

Le Président, Jean-Paul Mauriès

Chers collègues et amis,

Créé en 1968 par l'assemblée du Premier Congrès international de Myriapodologie, actif sans interruption mais sans existence légale depuis cette date, notre Centre International de Myriapodologie à commencé à abandonner son état informel à l'occasion du Congrès de Paris, pour l'organisation duquel fut créée, le 29 août 1992, l'association "IX° Congrès International de Myriapodologie". Mais c'est le 21 juin 1999 qu'il a pris officiellement, légalement, un statut de société internationale avec l'appellation
Centre International de Myriapodologie,
et pour objet :
La coordination des activités scientifiques et la diffusion, par la publication d'un bulletin annuel , de toute information concernant les travaux effectués par les zoologistes spécialistes de Myriapodes et Péripates du monde entier.

Cette légalisation formelle était nécessaire, car notre bureau permanent encourrait des risques pénaux en gérant illégalement les modestes sommes provenant de vos contributions volontaires. Mais elle a eu aussi, comme vous pouvez le constater à la lecture des différentes rubriques du présent bulletin, un effet stimulant sur l'activité des membres du bureau.

Un des effets les plus tangibles - outre les améliorations dans la présentation du bulletin , le soin mis par notre trésorière à la tenue et la transparence de nos comptes - a été la création toute récente, d'un site web , dû surtout à l'initiative de notre Secrétaire-général, et qui est déjà salué avec chaleur par plusieurs de nos collègues.

Par ailleurs, pour donner plus d'assises encore à notre C.I.M., notre bureau a concocté un projet de Règlement intérieur, dont le texte figure dans le présent bulletin et pour lequel vous êtes invités à proposer des modifications. Ce texte et ces modifications éventuelles seront soumis à notre prochain Congrès qui se tiendra en Afrique du Sud en juillet-août 2002.

Encore récemment, certains des membres fondateurs, membres de l'ancien "bureau permanent", dont votre président, s'interrogeaient sur les finalités et l'avenir de notre C.I.M. Je suis heureux de constater que nous avons, dans le présent bulletin, des réponses plutôt rassurantes à ces interrogations

Le Président,
Jean-Paul Mauriès

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