Working Group News

Some months ago, the Working Group on Active B Stars completed another three-year IAU activity cycle. This also implied changes in the composition of committees. In the case of our Working Group, Petr Harmanec, Myron Smith, and Rens Waters reached the end of their respective second term and therefore left the Organizing Committee (OC). Katy Garmany served as a member of the OC on behalf of our sponsoring Commission 45 (Stellar Classification). We thank all four of them for the work they have done for the Working Group.

In his last e-mail as the Chairman of the Working Group, Myron Smith has already informed all members about the new composition of the OC. But for good order's sake let me repeat it here:

• D. Baade (chair)
  
• J. Bjorkman
  
• J. Cassinelli
  
• D. Gies
  
• H. Henrichs
  
• M. Marlborough
  
• V. Niemela
  
• A. Okazaki
  
• G. Peters (NL editor, nonvoting)
  
• M. Smith (outgoing chair, nonvoting)
  
• S. Stefl
  

As the new chairman, I cordially welcome the new members Jon Bjorkman, Virpi Niemela (on behalf of Commission 45), Atsuo Okazaki, and Stanislav Stefl, and congratulate them on their election.

Myron Smith deserves our special thanks as an unusually active chairman of the Active B-Star Working Group. As is being reported elsewhere in this issue of the Newsletter, his efforts will come into full fruition with the Alicante meeting in 1999. Several OC members also serve on the Scientific Organizing Committee (SOC), which has furthermore kindly granted the chairman of the OC active observer status. Therefore, the meeting should serve the interests of the Working Group members and their research actively and well. It will undoubtedly guide and inspire our work into the next century.

Unfortunately, only few members of the Working Group could attend the IAU General Assembly in Kyoto and, if so, in many cases only partly. Therefore, only a very limited meeting could take place in Kyoto. It was very kindly organized and chaired by John Percy. A summary by Petr Harmanec is included in this issue of the Newsletter. I thank both of them for their support.

I wish to extend the Working Group's gratitude also to Gerrie Peters and Doug Gies for their constant successful efforts to edit, produce and distribute this Newsletter. It is an important vehicle for the exchange of information within the Working Group and thereby provides the essential glue for the cohesion of the Working Group. Not only have Gerrie and Doug provided this community service already for many years but they have also kindly agreed to continue with it - thank you!

In this period of rapidly changing communication tools and information carriers, our Working Group, too, has to monitor these developments and check the needs for adaptation. One obvious idea that has been floating around for quite some time now is to supplement the printed copies by electronic means, especially the Worldwide Web. Such a solution would save cost and make news accessible more quickly. For instance, all contributions could within days after receipt by the editor be posted on the Web, perhaps also using an e-mail notification system for subscribers. A printed version would, then, only be issued at irregular intervals and when there is sufficient material. I invite the Working Group members to communicate their views on this matter to me. In particular, we would need one or more volunteers who would be willing to maintain the necessary home page!