7. Further ISN Initiatives
The improved structure and financial state enabled the Society to create the numerous small Subcommittees,listed in Table 3.The first Subcommittees were the Clinical Committee (set up in 1967 for liaison with Clinical Neurochemists - since lapsed, see above), Membership Committee (1971) and the Nominations Committee (1975, for elections of Officers and Council Members). The Future of I.S.N. Committee and the Ad-Hoc Committee were created in 1977. There was formerly a Public Affairs Committee, referred to in early Minutes but no details could be found - it presumably arose to consider strategy and relations with the "outside world". It seems to have been replaced by the Future of I.S.N. Committee in 1977. Abel Lathja's recollections are that the F.I.S.N. emerged as a result of suggestions from Edith Heilbronn and Victor Whittaker for "significant changes in the Society's function". At about the same time the Ad-Hoc Committee was formed to provide continuity to I.S.N. policy, to consider new initiatives and to advise Council on the general policy of the Society. In order to benefit from the experiences of past Officers, it was designed to consist of past Chairmen, led by the most recently retired I.S.N.Chairman. The activities of these two Committees (F.I.S.N. and Ad-Hoc) were increasingly seen to be overlapping, so the F.I.S.N. Committee ceased to exist in 1985. The main function of the Ad-Hoc Committee (i.e. to advise Council on general policy) led some Officers recently to refer to it as the "Policy Advisory Committee", but it remains listed in the I.S.N. News as the Ad-Hoc Committee.
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The increased wealth of the Society after 1981 enabled it to implement
some of its long-held objectives, especially to support the travel of
young scientists to our bienniel meetings. They were selected by the Officers
until 1989 when the Travel Grants Committee was formed, chaired first
by Elizabeth Bock and now by Pierre Morrell.The Treasurer of the time
(Alan Boulton) was clearly delighted to be involved with these developments,
as recorded in his personal recollections in the Archives. The Society
was able also in 1984 to fund small specialised meetings and Lectureships:
the Small Conferences Committee was chaired initially by Anders Hamberger
and the Lectureship Committee by Nico van Gelder. In 1987 these were amalgamated
into one Committee, chaired by Hans Winkler, who was succeeded by Bernd
Hamprecht. Other Committees set up were a Placements Service to help young
scientists find appropriate positions, and a Professional Rights Subcommittee.
The latter subcommittee (chaired by the author) experienced problems in
defining its sphere of responsibility or its precise mandate - it was
agreed that it could take up cases of infringements of human professional
rights and freedoms of individuals rather than of groups, and felt it
could only realistically address the problems encountered by neurochemists.
It finally expired due to the uncertainties of its role. The growing concern
of many members over the difficulties being encountered by colleagues
in many parts of the world (caused by political or economic problems)
stimulated the Society, in partnership with Raven, to make available free
copies of the Journal of Neurochemistry to selected recipients. This desire
to provide scientific aid led rapidly to Council's approval of Bernie
Agranoff's recommendation for the establishment in 1989 of the Committee
for Deprived and Third-World Nations (chaired by Herminia Pasantes-Morales).
There was some uncertainty as to the correct title for this committee,
originally named the "Committee for Developing Countries", with
the idealistic motive of providing help to neurochemists in under-developed
and deprived countries. The dilemma was that it was relatively straight-forward
to identify third-world countries as under-developed or developing, but
one could hardly regard politically or economically deprived countries
such as e.g. Hungary or Czechoslovakia, as "developing countries",
with their rich history in, and contribution to, the sciences! So the
current name (Committee for Deprived and Third World Nations) seemed the
best compromise solution.The financial problems associated with recent
events there may create difficulties comparable to those experienced by
the truly under-developed countries. The committee has been very successful
(with the generous support of Raven noted above) in identifying recipients
of free subscriptions to the journal, and it is currently trying to identify
ways of further help in terms of fellowships for training in new techniques,
collaboration with neurochemists in more developed countries and supporting
small conferences held in those countries where their scientists find
it difficult to fund external visits.
Go to the next chapter 8. The Journal of Neurochemistry : Trials And Tribulations - and Success!