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