Have you ever wondered just how well the Divisions of the Society are doing these days? Are they surviving, thriving, or just falling by the wayside as technologies change from hardware based to systems based, and engineers are replaced by IT specialists? Is there an easy answer to any part of the question? I'm not sure if there is an easy answer.

Last week I received an E-mail from an associate and included in his message was an annual report from a Section President who wrote about the problems that are being faced by ISA Sections across the country and perhaps around the world. He wrote about the aging of the membership first. Well, that's not too surprising, since that is a natural phenomenon and in spite of all we do, we too will get older. But, should that by itself necessitate a change in the way business is conducted. Certainly business as usual has not been the norm in the Society for the past few years as dynamic young leaders have emerged from the membership and have instituted many new programs which are helping to keep ISA at the forefront of the technology.

Does everybody reading this column really think that? I'm not sure I do, because there are such things as traditions, annual functions, positions, and other things that have made this Society and its parts tick. Surely there are pieces that need to be reinforced, and maybe changed, but some things don't need correction. Let's talk about Divisions, my primary interest in the Society. Where would the Society be without Divisions? Where would the technical programming for the conferences and symposia come from? Do you think that the Chicago Section, for example, could supply all of the papers, tutorials and other technical contributions for ISA/2002 without a lot of help from the 20 Divisions? Probably they could not.

If you weren't aware of the new Safety Division that is being formed, pay close attention to the results of the Department meetings during the ISA President's Winter meeting in Jacksonville. It will be my responsibility to make a motion to form the new Division and I have little doubt that the Action Item will be approved. Certainly the new Division will be championed by Paul Gruhn, but there will be considerable support from all sorts of Society big-wigs including the Past President, Bob Bailliet. So, if you haven't taken the time to join any of the Divisions before, now may be just the right time to think about adding membership in the Safety Division to your resume. For more information about Division membership contact Kelly Bishop at ISA, kbishop@isa.org or you can contact me at dutch.keen@att.net.

Till next month

L.M."Dutch" Keen