Newsletter 1998

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The 35th symposium of the International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision took place in Monterey from July 20-25, 1997.
 
ISCEV is also indebted to Mrs. Elke Dodt, who undertook the long travel to attend the awarding ceremony of the Eberhard Dodt Award and for her continuing efforts and success to increase the award capital, adding approximately 5000 DM in 1996 and 1997. This year the Eberhard Dodt Award was given to a young scientist, Dr. Artur Cideciyan from Philadelphia, who presented a very interesting paper on X-linked retinitis pigmentosa, describing a phenotype/genotype correlation in a family suffering from a mutation in the RPGR gene.

Our deepest thanks are due to the organizers, Drs. Mike Marmor, Dick Weleber, and John Heckenlively for arranging this beautiful congress venue and especially a scientific programme of excellent quality with invited speakers from neighbouring fields, who will bring new information and discussion into our field. This is the central core of our annual meeting and certainly many new ideas were taken home from lectures, posters and discussions.

Unfortunately, also a sad announcement of the end of a long and fruitful career has to be made: Prof. Henk van der Tweel died on May 5, 1997, at the age of 82 in Amsterdam. He was one of the founding members of ISCEV, then called ISCERG, together with Harold Henkes from Rotterdam. For many years he served on the ISCEV advisory board and, being a physicist at a medical institute, he was instrumental in bridging the gap between basic and clinical science. He was always willing to listen and to discuss and his sharp analytic mind always helped to improve quality of science. He supported especially young scientists, who dedicated themselves deeply to research and helped many ISCEV members to find their place in science. Even two days before he died he delivered a lecture to students at university. We all will miss his critical mind and his large blue eyes always prepared to look deeply into things and into souls. Dr. Spekreijse will prepare a manuscript on his accomplishments to be published in Documenta Ophthalmologica.

After seven years of service for the society Dr. Fishman has now stepped down from the office as editor. He did an extremely good job and helped many members to improve their papers and to have them published in Documenta Ophthalmologica. The society is very much indebted to Dr. Fishman for his continuous work and we would very much like to thank him.

A new editor was elected, Dr. Vernon Odom (VU Medical Center, Dept. of Ophthalmology, PO Box 9193, USA - Morgantown WV 26506-9193). From now on, please forward your manuscripts directly to Dr. Odom.

Dr. Miyake has been elected as treasurer for another year and the society is very grateful for his continous help and for his willingness to act as treasurer for another term.

I also would like to thank the course director, Dr. Odom, and the course organizers, Dr. Weleber and his wife, as well as the faculty for running a very successful ISCEV course with 30 quite enthusiastic participants this year.

Next year’s meeting will take place from June 13-17 in Hradec Kralove, organized by Drs. Zuzanna Kubova and Miroslav Kuba and the preparations are well under way. In 1999 the 37th symposium will be held in Israel. For the millennium meeting in 2000 a mail ballot was held. 61 valid votes were for Bali, 59 for Australia. Since Dr. Miyake, who now holds the chair of ophthalmology in Nagoya, felt that there was a very large vote from Japan for Bali and that the majority of the voting members outside Japan were voting for Australia he, in a gentlemanly manner, withdrew his proposition for the millennium meeting.

Therefore, in the year 2000 the symposium will take place in Australia, organized by Dr. Vaegan. For 2001 a mail ballot will be held for one of two sites in North America, either Puerto Rico (proposed by Dr. Dawson) or Montreal (proposed by Dr. Lachapelle). Since Dr. Odom became editor of ISCEV his post as secretary of the American states was open. A mail ballot was held for two candidates and Dr. Weleber will be the future secretary for the American states.

It was very clear that ISCEV has to strengthen its presence in ophthalmological meetings, because not all branches of ophthalmology have an adequate opinion on the value of clinical electrophysiology of vision. It is, therefore, of great importance that ISCEV was invited to prepare sessions not only at the pre-ARVO meeting, but also during the International Ophthalmological Congress in Amsterdam in June 1998 as well as during the European Congress in Stockholm in the year 1999. The present constraints by the health financing system make it mandatory that the indication and quality of electrophysiological recordings are to be high. Although ISCEV has done a lot to set the standards, it might be called upon now to reinforce the standards by imposing certification procedures. Committees have been formed within the North American chapter to look deeper into this matter. Drs. Dawson and Trick will report next year of any developments. This topic will be brought up at the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Our membership is steadily growing from 311 last year to 336 regular paying members this year. Additionally, there are 24 junior members, 101 Chinese special members, and 6 corporate members, altogether 467. This shows that our society is attractive and that the board of officers succeeded in choosing an appropriate policy for its development.

I am particularly happy that some of the goals which the board and I had set for my second term as president were already fulfilled at the meeting in Monterey:

1. We have had a special animal model session to address veterinary ophthalmology.
2. Excellent introductory basic lectures were implemented in this meeting in order to improve awareness of developments in neighbouring fields.
3. A new booklet was prepared to help our members to establish the value of clinical electrophysiology in their particular setting. The draft can be obtained from the Secretary General or the organizer and any comments are welcome (to be forwarded to Dr. Dawson, who chairs the committee).
4. Good relations and special symposia and interest group meetings were organized by ISCEV members at this year’s ARVO and last year’s JERMOV.
5. A special ISCEV laboratory fellowship has been established to encourage young members to visit an approved lab of one of the ISCEV members for some time in order to be trained in setting up an appropriate facility in his or her home country.

I would especially like to thank my fellow officers on the board for their help throughout the year to keep things on track, especially the Secretary General, Dr. Barber, the treasurer, Dr. Miyake, and the Editor, Dr. Fishman, as well as the Vice Presidents for all their services rendered to the society.

These accomplishments show that ISCEV is a lively society, continuously adjusting itself to the changing needs of our scientific field as well as keeping up the quality and value of electrodiagnostic investigations in patient care.

Eberhart Zrenner, MD

Once again, this has been a busy year for ISCEV, with increasing membership, extra activity in the form of ISCEV-approved Courses, and an excellent annual symposium in not-so-sunny California. The accompanying Course, run for only the second time, also was again a great success. It is particularly gratifying since this time it was held in a regular conference environment (as opposed to the proper clinical environment available in Tübingen), and organised by Dr. Dick Weleber from 1000 miles away in Oregon!

The topic of Standards is a perennial one; once established they must be kept up-to-date. I have two items to report. First, the Calibrations Standard (committee chaired by Mitch Brigell) produced its final, final version under arduous conditions during the ARVO meeting, and this was subsequently adopted at our annual symposium. It will be published imminently in Documenta Ophthalmologica. Second, it is time to review again the ERG Standard. A special meeting has been arranged at the forthcoming symposium at Hradec Kralove, so please attend if you have an interest. If you cannot be there, please write (very soon) to Mike Marmor so that your views can be taken into account.

Thanks to everyone who voted for the site for the Millennial Symposium as a result of the articles in the last Newsletter. The voting was very close, and led to an interesting discussion at the membership meeting at Asilomar. The final outcome is that the symposium will be in Sydney, Australia. This is very much a “first” for ISCEV; not only have we never been to Oz before, we have never been in the southern hemisphere. Already, the main organiser, Vaegan, has assembled an impressive committee and plans are well advanced. I'd like to suggest that your plans be made well in advance too. Although it's a relatively short hop from Japan (and almost the same time zone!), it's a long way for many of us and it will, perhaps require a little more planning than usual. So please start now --this is definitely one that is not to be missed!

Finally, I report the results of another postal ballot; this time to elect a new Secretary for the Americas, the vacancy arising as a result of Vernon Odom being elected Editor. It was a close-run contest, with a pleasingly high proportion of the membership exercising their right to vote. Dr Dick Weleber was elected, and took up office on 1 January of this year.

Colin Barber, PhD

During 1997, not only was the ISCEV-Sponsored Teaching Course and 35th ISCEV Symposium held in Asilomar but prior to this the Western Hemisphere Division of ISCEV, known also as ISCEV@ARVO, was held May 10, 1997, at the Howard Johnson in Hollywood Beach, Florida. Sara Putney was the Administrative Associate in charge of organizing the conference and Dr. Vernon Odom chaired the sessions. Mr. Ken Hansen of Hansen Ophthalmic Development Laboratory helped to fund the conference and scientific sessions. Participants from all over the world attended. The first session of the afternoon was devoted to “Current Progress in Multifocal ERGs.” The second session focused on “Visual Electrophysiology of Magnocellular Pathways.” The final session was a potpourri of topics. In all, 13 presentations were given during the afternoon sessions. A Buffet Dinner was attended by members and guests in the evening.

The 1998 ARVO@ISCEV meeting will be held Saturday afternoon, 1:00-6:00, May 9, at the Waterway Room at “Martha's on the Intracoastal”, 6024 N. Ocean Drive (Highway A1A), Hollywood, Florida. Following the scientific sessions, a specially prepared four-course dinner is planned for the participants and their guests in the Garden Patio Room at Martha's. Please contact the Administrative Associate Sara Putney (319/356-4471 or by e-mail sara-putney@uiowa.edu) for registration and further details.

Richard G. Weleber, MD Secretary for the Americas

The 45 annual meeting of Japanese Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision was held at Kurashiki city from Oct.31 to Nov.2nd, 1997 by the organizer Dr. Akio Tabuchi in Kawasaki Medical School. Participants were 168 in the meeting and 63 participated in the instruction course. Four symposia, 3 special lectures and 37 free papers were given. The next meeting will be held in Beppu from Nov.13th to 15th 1998 by Dr. Kazuo Nakatsuka, Ooita Medical University.

Yoshihisa Oguchi, MD, Secretary for Asia & Australia

This year, the European Group of ISCEV again held its meeting in conjunction with the Joint European Research meetings in Ophthalmology and Vision (JERMOV) which was held in Monpellier from 15th-19th October. There was a good selection of presentations on electrophysiology, and the ISCEV Lecture: “Spatial and Temporal Localisation of Central Visual Processes in Man and Monkey: an Integrated Brain Imaging Approach”, which was given by Professor Henk Spekreijse, was very well received. The evolution of the JERMOV organisation is proceeding, and ISCEV continues to be involved in the planning for its future. A new society called European Vision and Eye Research (EVER) is to be formed, and it is likely that members of its associated societies (including ISCEV) will be offered free membership for the first year of its existence. The JERMOV meeting will still be a joint venture, involving ISCEV, as well as EVER and others. The next meeting will be held at the new venue of Palma, Majorca during 7-10 October 1998.

After the success of the ISCEV-approved Teaching Course in May of last year, at the meeting of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in Edinburgh, a further course was organised by Mr NR Galloway at this year's meeting in Birmingham. Speakers included Professor Colin Barber, Dr David Keating, Mr Gary Misson, Dr Vernon Odom, and Mr John Sloper. The session included a do-it-yourself type workshop organised by Dr Keith Bradshaw.

Further ahead, in 1998, I am pleased to report that ISCEV has been invited to organise a session on clinical electrophysiology of vision at the International Congress of Ophthalmology, which will be held in Amsterdam from 21 to 26 June.

Colin Barber, PhD, Secretary for Europe & Africa

With sadness, we report the passing of Roy H. Steinberg, M.D., Ph.D., on July 26, 1997. He was active in the laboratory until the end of his life which came after a four year battle with multiple myeloma. Roy was one of the great contributors to visual electrophysiology because of his experimental studies on the origins of retinal and pigment epithelial potentials. He collaborated with Ken Brown on early studies of the ERG that clarified the role of photoreceptors, inner retina, and pigment epithelium in the generation of the ERG waves. His later papers on the RPE revealed transport and electrical properties that are responsible for the c-wave, fast oscillation, EOG light peak and standing potential. He has studied the effects of ischemia and hypoxia on the retina and RPE, and investigated the complexity of inner retinal responses. Roy’s science was meticulous and fundamental, and he always kept in mind the clinical implications of his work.

Roy was an excellent teacher and trained many young visual scientists from different countries. He was a good friend, mentor and collaborator to many in ISCEV, including ourselves, Sven-Erik Nilsson and Paul Sieving to name just a few. He participated in several ISCEV meetings to give invited lectures and to share his wisdom. As clinical electrophysiologists, we owe much of our ability to interpret electrical responses of the retina to Roy Steinberg. He will be greatly missed.

Michael F. Marmor, Günter Niemeyer

The 1997 Eberhard Dodt Award 1997 was given to Artur V. Cidecyan, PhD, after a careful selection process among 13 candidates.

Artur Cidecyan received his master degree and his PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Miami in 1992. From 1992 to 1995 he was assistant professor at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute with a joint appointment at the department of biomedical engineering of the University of Miami. Since 1995 he has held an assistant professorship in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania, Scheie Eye Institute.

He has worked particularly on the Lamb Pugh a-wave model and studied processes of dark adaptation. He has a strong interest in understanding the pathophysiology of retinal degenerations in patients and particularly described phenotype and genotype correlations. This year he reported on a family with X-linked retinitis pigmentosa due to a putative null mutation in the RPGR gene and described retinal function, phenotype as well as histopathology. This work is a very careful work-up of cone function, RPE function and morphology, as well as choriocapillaris function including OTC measurements. It leads us to a better understanding of the role of the RPGR gene in retinitis pigmentosa.

The board of ISCEV and the ISCEV membership gratulate Dr. Cidecyan on this award.

The Eberhard Dodt Memorial Award was established to honour a young scientist. It is named after Prof. Dr. Eberhard Dodt, the late director of the Max Planck Institute for Physiological and Clinical Research in Bad Nauheim, who prepared the way to ophthalmological research for many young scientists from all over the world. He was a longstanding board member and honorary member of the society and the award stems from donations from more than 60 friends of Eberhard Dodt.

Prof. Dr. med. Eberhart Zrenner

Most honoured prizewinner,
ladies and gentlemen,
my dear friends,

Today is the second occasion on which I stand before you to award the Eberhard Dodt Prize.

I do so with a sense of joy, and, this time, with less sorrow than last year. The fact that I am at a great distance from my home ground makes things easier for me in this respect. But it also makes it easier for me when I see so many familiar faces before me: you make me feel very secure.

Research and development have never before influenced our lives in such a lasting way as they do now, as we approach the next millennium. Prosperity, social harmony, and the capacity to compete in the world market, are all most definitely dependent on scientific researchers and scholars. This consideration applies to you, Dr. Cidecyan, in a very special way, for it is your contribution to research that has been deemed worthy of the prize. I offer you my warmest congratulations!

For your future scientific research I wish you every success, widereaching vision, and total command of your subject.

Mrs. Elke Dodt

The International Standard of Electroretinography was last revised in 1994, and thus is due for quadrennial review. This is a call for comments, corrections and additions to the Standard. We also call for participants in a correspondence group to work actively on the revision.

All ISCEV members and other interested individuals are urged to send comments or suggestions for revision of the ERG Standard to Dr. Marmor, who is Chair of the ERG Standardization Committee. All comments will be considered by the Corresponding Committee, which will prepare a proposal for presentation to the ISCEV membership at the 1998 Symposium.

ISCEV members who would like to be on the Corresponding Committee should send their names (along with address, phone number, fax number and e-mail address) to Dr. Marmor. Members of the Corresponding Committee should be willing to return correspondence in a timely fashion so that comments and drafts can be evaluated efficiently.

In preparing comments or joining the Committee, keep in mind that the Standard represents criteria for a basic ERG that should be technically feasible everywhere and a part of the routine test procedure everywhere. The Standard does not limit additional specialized testing that some laboratories may wish to perform, nor is it intended to promote any particular technology or clinical approach. The purpose is to insure that basic responses are recorded in a comparable fashion world-wide to allow comparison and correlation of clinical and research findings.

Send comments or name to:
Michael F. Marmor, M.D., Department of Ophthalmology, A-157, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA 94305-5308, Telephone: (650) 725-5754, Fax: (650) 723-7918, E-mail: marmor@stanford.edu

Last year, Dr. Gerald Fishman decided to resign as ISCEV's Editor after several years of excellent service in that position. As a Society I feel we owe much to our two previous editors. Dr. John Heckenlively created the position and our alignment with Documenta Ophthalmologica. Dr. Fishman strengthened the journal and the position by his fair application of high editorial standards and his efforts to shorten review and publication delays. In general I am trying to build on the experience of my predecessors. I welcome comments about problems and suggestions of improvements. You may send such comments either by regular or e-mail to me or to the managing editor, Ms. Karen Murray, kmurray@WVUOPHTHA1.HSC.WVU.EDU.

Although Dr. Fishman resigned he was kind enough to suggest that he should complete the editorial process of the manuscripts which were submitted during his tenure. I have been involved with processing manuscripts since my election. Following a period of developing systems for handling manuscripts, I believe we have a relatively smooth system for sending manuscripts out and getting reviews. Building on Dr. Fishman's efforts we try to determine in advance by fax or e-mail if a potential reviewer can provide a rapid review. Similarly we accept reviews by fax or e-mail. We are also prompting reviewers who are tardy. Despite these efforts we do occasionally have unacceptable delays. With experience these should become minimal.

As a membership we should recognize several problems with our journal and do our best to correct them. First, in general, we have a smaller number of good quality articles than we have pages. We have allocated five journal issues per year. Generally, we are able to accommodate 10 articles per issue. This means that we need at least 50 articles per year from the membership which are of publishable quality. So far this year (from July through the end of March) I have received 21 manuscripts, 2 of which have been accepted and one rejected. This suggests that in a year we will have less than 30 submissions.

There are undoubtedly many factors involved in this. To begin to try to correct this deficit of papers in conjunction with the publisher I wish to announce several efforts which we will make to improve the impact factor of the journal. Some of these efforts are continuations of the efforts of our former editors.

I am

1. Encouraging members to submit their work. I emphasize that we wish good quality work. However, we will accept a wide range of topics of interest to clinical electrophysiology which might not be as readily accepted in other journals, including technical articles and smaller reports.
2. Actively soliciting invited speakers to submit their talks.
3. Soliciting review papers from members.
4. Inviting special issues of interest to the membership in which noted experts act as guest editors. These may or may not be centered around symposia. The publisher, Kluwer, has indicated that at least some of these special issues may be released as separate edited volumes as well.

J. Vernon Odom, Ph.D. jvodom@wvuhsc1.hsc.wvu.edu

The second annual ISCEV-Sponsored Teaching Course was held July 18-19, 1997, at the Asilomar Conference Center in Monterey, California, just prior to the 35th ISCEV Symposium. The content of this course is developed by the Educational Committee of ISCEV, and this course is always given in English. Dr. Vernon Odom was the Director of the Course and Dr. Richard Weleber was the Course Coordinator. Twenty-eight registrants from 10 countries (USA, Australia, Denmark, Japan, Sweden, Canada, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Brazil, and China) took the two-day course and received didactic lectures as well as “hands-on experience” in practicums. The basis of testing and the specifics of ISCEV-approved techniques were presented for the ERG, EOG, PERG, and VECP. The faculty consisted of 9 instructors, many who also serve on the Education Committee. LKC, Tomey, and Roland Consult provided equipment for the practicums. Mr. Chris Hogg provided gold foil electrodes and Dr. Colin Barber provided C-glide electrodes for use by the attendees during the practicums.

There were three ISCEV-approved courses held in 1997. ISCEV-approved courses are held regionally, are sponsored by local organizers, and the course language is usually that of the host country. The course content is developed by the organizers but must be presented to the Education Director in order to achieve ISCEV approval status. ISCEV-approved courses must have at least one ISCEV-approved Instructor. ISCEV-approved instructors include all present and former board members of ISCEV and those who have applied for and have been approved by the Education Director, the Education Committee, and the Board of Directors. Presently there are two additional such members who have applied for and received ISCEV-approved instructor status, Dr. Patrizia Tormene and Dr. Ulrich Kellner. Twenty persons attended a course in Birmingham, England, that was organized in the Spring of 1997 by Dr. Nick Galloway and held as part of the meetings of the UK Ophthalmological societies. A course was organized by Dr. Graham Holder and held also in the Spring of 1997 at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, England. In October of 1997, 17 people attended a two-day course that was organized by Dr. Kellner and given in Berlin, Germany (course language German).

In 1998, the 3rd ISCEV-Sponsored Teaching Course will be given Friday and Saturday, June 12 and 13, prior to the 36th ISCEV Symposium in Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic. Dr. Weleber is the Course Director and Dr. Klaus Miliczek is the Course Coordinator. There are still openings in the course for anyone who is interested in late registration.

Richard G. Weleber, MD, Education Director

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Montréal, which is after Paris, the second largest French speaking city in the world, would be pleased to host the first ISCEV meeting of the new millennia.

SUGGESTED DATES: Saturday June 23 to Thursday June 28, 2001.

The late spring-early summer period is usually quite pleasant but the meeting could also be held in the late summer-early fall period (september-mid-october) which is also quite pleasant. I would avoid the summer which can be quite warm and humid and the winter which might be a bit too cold for most of the membership. Like in most nordic country we take full advantage of our short summer time to host a multitude of festivals of all sorts such as: Jazz festival, Just for Laughs festival (one week of stand up comics), Beer Mundial (one week of ...), Grand prix du Canada (Formula 1 race), Du Maurier Open (tennis), etc.

SUGGESTED LOCATION: The Westin-Mont-Royal, a four star hotel would be a most pleasant location to hold our meeting. It is located at the base of the Mount-Royal mountain and within walking distance of the McGill University campus. It has all the meeting capacity for us to hold productive sessions. The room rate is currently $175.00 Canadian (approximately U$125.00) for guest rooms single or double occupancy. Other, nearby hotels offer rooms at a very competitive price for those travelling on a more limited budget. A list of less expensive accommodations will be provided. A less expensive location (e.g. college or university campus, etc.) could also be sought if it is the desire of the membership.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES: On top of excellent science, the organising committee would suggest the following: City sight seeing, boat trip on St-Lawrence seaway, Biodome (unique representation of America's ecosystem), the Montréal Botanical Garden (with famous Chinese and Japanese gardens), the Insectarium (come and eat grilled or chocolate covered crickets and ants, worm patties, etc.), Sugar camp delicacies (diabetics should bring lots of insulin...others should fast for at least one week in order to fully appreciate...), visit to Quebec city (the oldest (French) European settlement in north America), etc. Also, Montreal being an Olympic city, you should expect a top notch competition.

Should you decide to vote for Montréal to host the 2001 ISCEV meeting, we will make every effort possible so that you will long remember the “joie de vivre” which is so typical of French Canada.

Pierre Lachapelle

Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico

This island of Puerto Rico is approximately 180 miles in an east-west direction and about 90 miles north to south. It separates the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean and is approximately 1500 miles Southeast of Miami, Florida. The climate is distinctly tropical but tempered by the same trade winds which brought Columbus to the new world. Puerto Rico is one of the islands upon which Columbus landed. Presently, Puerto Rico is Spanish colonial in its social character and in its architecture and general life characteristics. It is climatically tropical with a volcanic geological history which has produced a range of low mountains down the centre of the island and which contribute to a tropical rain forest character with waterfalls in many areas. San Juan was first inhabited by the Spanish in about 1580 and developed rapidly as a major seaport because of its excellent harbour. The old city is crowded into a relatively narrow peninsula of land and was developed by the early Spanish as one of the greatest fortifications of its western empire.

Modern San Juan is a city of approximately 3,000,000 which extends to the south and east. It is served by an excellent international airport, with flights directly from most of the east coast cities of the United States, including New York, as well as from Frankfurt and London and many cities in South America. Politically, Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United Sates, and requires the same entrance and immigration documentation as one would need for San Francisco or New York. West of San Juan approximately 15 miles is the charming, provincial town of Dorado, which is on the southern aspect of Dorado Bay. To the west,on the ocean lies a large (approximately 1,000 acres) private preserve which is now owned by the Hyatt Hotel Corporation of Chicago. While the facilities date back many years, the Hyatt provides a modern , tropical resort which is stretched along the Atlantic coastline for approximately two miles with private beaches, carefully manicured gardens of tropical plantings, two golf courses, tennis courts, lagoons and a number of swimming pools and various entertainments.

There are two housing facilities. One is the Hyatt Dorado Beach and the other is the Hyatt Cerromar. The Cerromar is an ultramodern, six storey hotel building with all rooms being waterfront. The Hyatt Dorado Beach conforms to a slower and more colonial flavour with four unit buildings, each individual in character, stretching from Dorado Bay to the west approximately 400 metres. All of the units have either direct beach access or water view. In the centre of housing area of the Dorado Bay are two excellent restaurants, an Olympic swimming pool, several bars , the glassed-in Surf Room and a large multi-purpose Convention Center in a separate building. All of the facilities are air-conditioned for those occasions when the trade winds are insufficient. On the Dorado Beach side of the facility, this is very rarely the case. Nearby is the Su Casa Restaurant which is in a separate Spanish colonial building, specialising in traditional Spanish colonial food. Entertainment ranges from Casino, night club shows at the Cerromar, tennis, golf, jogging, sunning and bathing in the sheltered lagoons, or just beachcombing along miles of unpopulated, tropical beach.

The existing plan would provide for all of the Symposium activities at the Dorado Beach which can accommodate at least three hundred patrons. The Convention Center is new and well appointed and should provide for excellent business and scientific sessions. Excursions to the rain forest, Old San Juan, and the El Moro castle will be easily arranged. Transportation of the Dorado Beach-Cerromar compound is frequent and easily obtained from the airport.

While the writer is a citizen of Florida and appreciative of fine beaches, I must admit that I have never seen anything finer than Dorado Beach Resort.

As to pricing, their current offer is $180 /night (per room) $00 for extra person, convention facility at no charge. I hope that negotiation will reduce this rate. Economy air ticket costs (currently round trip) range from $300 from central Florida to $750 from London or Frankfurt.

William W Dawson