November 26, 1997

Dear ADSA-ASAS Members:

Available through ADSA or ASAS are several pieces of information regarding abstract preparation and evaluation and communication regarding status of abstracts for the July 27-31, 1998 joint meeting in Denver.

Please note that abstracts must be submitted/postmarked no later than midnight January 30, 1998.

Also, please read the instructions regarding the submission process, coding, quality standards and the possibility for presentation using electronic methods carefully. There are some changes for 1998.

This will be an historic meeting, in that it is the first Joint Meeting to be held since the formation of the Federation of Animal Science Societies (FASS).

We are excited about the meeting. The Program Committee for the meeting, with Les Hansen as Overall Program Chair, Jeff Armstrong as ASAS Program Secretary, Bob Selman the ADSA Program Chair, Bill Crist the Production Division Chair, and Karen Schmidt as Dairy Foods Division Chair have developed a number of innovative formats for the meeting. The various discipline and commodity committees have put together outstanding themes with nearly 40 excellent symposia topics and speakers. The Planning Committee has worked very hard at producing a meeting which will be truly joint, with great attention to the programming logistics to avoid competing sessions to the extent possible.

We feel that the program for the 1998 joint meeting addresses the key issues that face animal agriculture, and does so in new and creative ways.

The local hosts at Colorado State University, under the leadership of David Ames, have done an excellent job of providing outstanding meeting and housing arrangements. The Denver Convention Center promises to be a truly exceptional location, and the various related activities will assure that you are treated to "Western hospitality."

We are making a special effort to attract students to the meeting this year, and ask that you help in any way possible. Students are the future of our societies, and it is important to involve them in these most important functions of ASAS and ADSA.

We look forward to seeing you in Denver at what we intend to be the most successful ADSA-ASAS Joint Meeting ever!

/s

Leonard S. Bull, President, ASAS     Charles H. White, President, ADSA