The Meeting: This proposal requests funds for attendance at the 2000 Joint Statistical Meetings on August 13-17, 2000, in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Joint Statistical Meetings is the largest gathering of statisticians held in North America. It is held jointly with the American Statistical Association (ASA), The International Biometric Society (ENAR and WNAR), the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, and the Statistical Society of Canada. Attended by over 4000 people last year, activities of the meeting include oral presentations, panel sessions, poster presentations, continuing education courses, exhibits of state-of-the-art statistical products and opportunities, a placement service, society and section business meetings, committee meetings, social activities, and networking opportunities. The theme of this upcoming meeting is Celebrate Diversity in Statistics, an appropriate topic given our curriculum and student body.

Membership: Although I am not currently a member of any of the sponsoring organizations, I am a member of the Society for Epidemiologic Research and the American Public Health Association, two related organizations with strong statistical components. Attendance at this meeting would allow me to learn more about the American Statistical Association and consider prospective membership, this being an appropriate action, given my course teaching responsibilities. (I teach Biostatistics, Computational Public Health Statistics, and Epidemiology)

Objectives: My objectives for attending this meeting include:

•	Learning more about the American Statistical Association in preparation for prospective membership

•	Attendence of continuing education course for teachers of statistics

•	The bringing back of educational techniques and materials for my students.

Budget: The registration fee for the meeting is $242 (for non-members), and hotel accommodations (at the Headquarters Hotel Westin Indianapolis) is $102 per day × 3 days = $306. Tuition fees for the Continuing Education courses are between 200 and $340. Airfare is estimated at approximately $300. Ground transportation is estimated at $60. Food and incidentals in the form of per diem requirements is estimated at$50 per day × 3 = $150. The estimated budget is therefore $242 + 306 + 340 + 300 + 60 + 150 = $1398.

Summary: Attendance at this meeting would allow me to learn about the American Statistical Association and update my skills for the teaching of statistics. I therefore encourage you to look upon this application favorably.

Dates: Key dates are:

•	May 2000 - Preliminary program in Amstat News and on the JSM web site

•	May 15, 2000 - Registration materials available

•	July 14, 2000 - Hotel reservations deadline

•	July 14, 2000 - Last day for advance registration forms to arrive at the ASA office