Agenda of the Discussion, and Vote Tallies

The agenda below was distributed to all attendees prior to the meeting. It
was followed during the meeting. The main proposals in IIIb were SICOMP
and ToC (Theory of Computing, a forthcoming electronic journal, Laci Babai
Editor-in-Chief). The main proposal in IIIc was by David Karger, that
authors be allowed to submit their Best Papers to journals of their choice
and a list of Best Papers would be publically posted. In VI the status of
the 04 Special issue was discussed, and voted on.


STOC Business Meeting
Sunday June 13, 8:40-10:00, Boulevard A-B, 2nd Floor

An important item on the agenda is discussion of the future of the STOC
Special Issue devoted to the best papers of the conference. For 24 years
the Special Issue has appeared in JCSS. Should this practice be continued?

The outline of the discussion is below. In Section III prepared statements
will be made. Anyone wishing to speak in Section III should notify Hal
Gabow or another EC member prior to the Business Meeting.

Everyone is invited to participate in Section IV. To facilitate the
greatest number of speakers the following organization will be used: The
front row of the room has been reserved and will function as a queue of
speakers (during Section IV). Anyone is free to enter the queue. The queue
will pop into the mike, one speaker at a time. Any one single speech is
limited to 3 minutes. But a speaker may enqueue his or herself multiple
times.

The STOC Special Issue
I. Brief Overview of the STOC Special Issue [3 minutes]
II. Statements from Absent Colleagues [5 minutes]
III. What are the alternatives?
     [Discussion; items to be treated in order; 15 minutes]
    a. JCSS - statements favoring the special issue in JCSS
    b. Journal X - proposal for special issue in alternate journals
       SICOMP . Eva Tardos; Theory of Computing . Laci Babai
    c. No Special Issue - (only Best Paper Awards)
    d. Other Suggestions, staying within the topic
IV. Time-limited Debate of the above alternatives [25 minutes; <=3 minutes
per speech]
V. Votes

In votes a-c, vote yes-no each time. .Yes. indicates you are comfortable
with the alternative; .no. indicates you oppose it.
a.      Should we keep the Special Issue in JCSS?
b.      Should we move the Special Issue to journal X? [1 vote for each X]
c.      Should we terminate the STOC Special Issue?

In d vote once.
d.      Among all alternatives: JCSS, journal X, no special issue, which
is your unique first choice?

VI. Other Points about the Special Issye [10 minutes]

After the Business Meeting the SIGACT Executive Committee will discuss the
outcome of the votes and any further input received. The EC will decide
how to proceed, either making the final decision or delegating it to a
committee. The final decision will be announced in the December's SIGACT
News.


2. In III.c David Karger made the proposal dubbed "Distributed". Under
this proposal the PC names the best papers,
and the authors are invited to get them published in the journal of their
choice, not necessarily in the
CS community. As those papers appear in journals their titles  will be
placed on a list of Best Papers,
on the SIGACT website.


             Tally of Votes
a. [JCSS]         2 Y  55 N   4 active abstentsions
b. [SICOMP]      60 Y   1 N   4 active abstains
   [ToC]         43 Y   9 N
   [Distributed] 30 Y  16 N
c. [Y= termintae] 8 Y  37 N
d.  JCSS 0    SICOMP 42    ToC  14    Distributed 10  No Issue 1

STOC 04 Special Issue
    JCSS 1    SICOMP 42   Distributed 9