Alejandro Córdoba *
Hugh Drummond *
Alejandro Gonzalez *
Robyn Hudson ** #
Rogelio Macías ##
Margarita Martínez **
José Luis Osorno *
Cristina Rodríguez *
Roxana Torres *
Jaime Zaldivar *
----------------------------
* Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
(UNAM)
** Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma
de México
# Centro Tlaxcala de Biología de la Conducta, Universidad Autónoma
de Tlaxcala-UNAM.
## Instituto de Ecología A. C.
Conference organized by InterMeeting (imeeting@infosel.net.mx), professional conference organizers.
The meeting will be held in the Misión de los Angeles hotel, twenty minutes
walk from the zocalo (main plaza) of one of Mexico's loveliest old colonial
cities. The hotel rooms are clustered around green areas and an attractive outdoor
swimming pool. The State of Oaxaca (http://oaxaca-travel.com/)
is one of the most biologically and ethnologically diverse in the country and
famous for its folklore, diverse and distinctive gastronomy, handcrafts, rural
environment and friendly people. The city of Oaxaca has numerous attractions
including stately squares, pedestrian areas, markets, an ethnobotanical garden,
museums and other historic buildings going back five centuries, as well as numerous
restaurants, coffee shops and stores selling local crafts. Within easy driving
distance of the city are numerous indigenous villages and archaeological sites,
and just 20 min drive from the conference center is the spectacular archaeological
site of Monte Alban, which all registrants will visit, with English-speaking
guides, on Tuesday morning.
Currently, there are seven daily flights to Oaxaca airport from Mexico City,
on Aeroméxico, Mexicana and Aeromar, and all flights from the USA require
changing planes in Mexico City (except for Mexicana flight 111 from Los Angeles).
Name Tags
Security personnel will be briefed to refuse access to conference facilities
to persons without nametags. Please wear your tag at all times, to avoid inconvenience.
Registration desk will be located in
the Tanilau Room and will open:
Friday from 17:00 to 21:00 hrs
Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00 hrs
Sunday from 8:00 to 20:00 hrs
Monday through Wednesday from 8:00 to 18:00 hrs
All rooms for presentations are in the Misión de los Angeles Hotel. Plenary sessions and regular paper sessions will be in different segments of the "Oaxaca" auditorium; posters will be displayed in the Guelaguetza auditorium, the "Oaxaca" lobby and the Tanilau room. Each room used for talks will be provided with a microphone, a screen and powerpoint projection facilities, and facilities for video projection and overhead projection will be available on request. For the first time, there will be NO traditional slide projectors. Speakers will be able to try out their presentations on laptops in the Donají room.
Two higher-end desktop PCs will be available in the try-out room. These computers will be running Windows XP and MS Powerpoint 2000, the same software as the laptops in the 3 presentation rooms. Both PCs will have CD burners, but none will have access to the internet (certain hotels in Oaxaca, such as the Holliday Inn, offer internet access and there are internet cafes in the city). There will be no ZIP drives, thus presentations must be saved onto a CD or USB Plug-in device. We strongly urge all participants to test their presentation in the try-out room PCs to make sure all animations and video clips are functioning properly.
Two spaces with tables are available for use by vendors. Both are located in the lobbies of major auditoriums in use throughout the meeting and have power outlets. For further information and rental, contact Hugh Drummond at hugh@servidor.unam.mx except during March, when you should contact Roxana Torres at lrtorres@servidor.unam.mx
An internet connection will be provided for use of the press, free of charge, in the Donají Tryout Room at the Misión de los Angeles Hotel.
Members of the press are allowed to make recordings during talks, but these recordings may be used as personal notes only, and may not be reproduced, posted to the web, or broadcast without written permission of the persons recorded.
Message board
Throughout the meeting, a board will be available for posting messages in the
lobby of the "Oaxaca" auditorium.
ABS STARTS SILENT AUCTION IN 2004
Many of our professional societies conduct an Auction at their meetings as a fund raiser. These auctions raise funds for society activities ($2,000-$6,000 or more) and act as a social event. We will start an ABS Auction in Oaxaca in 2004. All proceeds will benefit the ABS Student Research Grants program. Items for auction will be donated by members and will be placed at the meeting on tables next to bidding forms, or described if the item is not present. During the meeting, members will visit the tables and bid on items by entering their bid on the bidding form. The auction will continue for several days while members bid against one another. The member with the highest bid at the deadline wins the item and takes it home with them.
What We Need From You! Bring Items to Oaxaca to Donate!!
Bring Items from Home, Pick up Items in your Travels or from your Field Sites, or Obtain Donations from Supportive Colleagues and Organizations. The more items we have, the more likely the auction will be successful!
What kind of items or services seem to be desirable?
• Books on Animal Behavior, Biology, Ecology, Conservation, Applied Animal Behavior, etc.
• Autographed books from ABS authors
• Items with animal themes (t-shirts, jewelry, calendars, décor, greeting cards, posters, etc.)
• Software useful for members (statistics, data collection, etc.)
• Videotapes for teaching or entertainment with behavior themes.
• Donations from zoo gift shops
• Memorabilia from past ABS meetings and members (vintage artifacts)
• Animal Photography
• Animal Artwork
• Statistical consulting, behind-the-scenes tour of the zoo, etc.
• Anything legal that appeals to ABS Members!!
Information regarding bringing items into and out of Mexico
Your item brought in to Mexico is a personal item which will gifted/donated to ABS (not the university).
Your item brought back into your country is only subject to your country's customs/duty restrictions (see below for more details).
Hugh Drummond was kind enough to check with an attorney in Mexico regarding the legalities of bringing items into and out of Mexico that are for a charitable cause. He found that items can be brought into the country, donated to ABS, auctioned off by ABS, and then carried out of the country and back into the US as part of the traveler's standard in-country purchases, subject to US duty if the value exceeds the limits. See below for more instructions on your US limit and instructions for Canadian residents.
Us Customs Limits : If you are returning from anywhere other than a Caribbean Basin country or a U.S. insular possession (U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, or Guam), you may bring back $800 worth of items duty-free, as long as you bring them with you (this is called accompanied baggage). Duty on items you mail home to yourself will be waived if the value is $200 or less. (See sections on "Gifts" and "Sending Goods to the United States.") Antiques that are at least 100 years old and fine art may enter duty-free, but folk art and handicrafts are generally dutiable. There are also limits on the amount of alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products you may include in your duty-free personal exemption.
The US duty-free exemptions apply if:
$200 Exemption
If you can't claim other exemptions because you've been out of the country more than once in a 30-day period or because you haven't been out of the country for at least 48 hours, you may still bring back $200 worth of items free of duty and tax. As with the exemptions discussed earlier, these items must be for your personal or household use.
You can claim up to CAN$750 worth of goods without paying any duties. With the exception of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, you do not need to have the goods with you when you arrive. Although you can include some alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, only a partial exemption will apply to cigarettes, tobacco sticks, and loose tobacco. You may have to pay a minimum duty on these products.
To calculate the number of days you have been absent, do not include the date you leave Canada but include the date you return. It is dates that matter, not times. For example, we consider you to have been absent seven days if you left Friday the 7th and returned Friday the 14th.
Contact Us About Your Donations
James Ha ( jcha@u.washington.edu )
Renee R. Ha ( robinet@u.washington.edu )