Hugh Witemeyer asked me to forward the following message to the listserv.
I did, as he says, misunderstand his request.  I apologize for the
confusion.

Burt Hatlen


        This message is directed to all PAIDEUMA subscribers and members
of the Ezra Pound Society who recently received an election ballot from
EPS headquarters at the University of Maine.  It concerns the third issue
on the ballot: namely, whether the Society should schedule an annual
business meeting during the MLA.

        I am not in favor of this idea, although the cover letter presents
it as my suggestion.  A misunderstanding occurred in a recent conversation
I had with Burton Hatlen, Secretary of the Society.  What I meant to
suggest in that conversation is that the Society try to have a business
meeting at this year's MLA in New Orleans, to discuss the impact of the
impending changes in the editorial policy of PAIDEUMA.  I did not mean to
suggest that we have a formal business meeting at every future MLA
convention.

        The main argument against the proposal is that the MLA permits allied
organizations (of which the EPS is one) only two program slots per
convention.  If one of these is always a formally scheduled business
meeting, then the Society will be left with only one program session for
the presentation of papers on Pound.  I would rather see us preserve
flexibility in our programming by leaving open the option of having two
paper sessions and an informal or ad hoc business meeting, or no business
meeting at all; or one paper session and one business meeting if the
pressure of business in a given year demands it.  To commit ourselves
formally to a business meeting every year is to limit our options
unnecessarily.

        So I plan to vote against the proposal, and I hope that you will,
too.  It is important that Society members return the ballot to insure the
succession of officers.  Please vote for the nominated candidates or for
candidates of your own choice, and please vote against the "proposal to
hold a business meeting of the society annually at the Modern Language
Association convention."

        Thanks for your interest and consideration.


Yours sincerely,
Hugh Witemeyer
University of New Mexico
Past President, Ezra Pound Society