A Message from the Chair,
Stacey M. Whitecotton
Arizona State University

Hello to all members of the ABO section. I want to take this opportunity to update you about recent and upcoming activities in our Section.

First, the Annual Meeting in Hawaii provided an excellent opportunity for us to gather for the intellectual exchange of research opportunities and teaching ideas (not to mention the surf, sand, and sunsets). Many thanks go out to Anne Magro (University of Oklahoma) and Chris Earley (University of Connecticut) for putting together an excellent program that included 17 papers presented during 6 research sessions and 12 forum papers. Chris and Jennifer Joe (Georgia State University) will be organizing the ABO sessions for next year's AAA Annual Meeting in Orlando. If you plan to submit a paper to the AAA, please consider sending it to the ABO section (early submission deadline is December 15).

The ABO business meeting marked the change in officers for the Section. Our thanks to Joe Fisher (Indiana University) for his service as last year's chair, and to Elaine Sanders (The University of Texas at San Antonio) for serving as secretary/treasurer for two years. We also announced the results of the most recent officer election. Charles Bailey (University of Memphis) will serve as the Chair-Elect, while Jordan Lowe (Arizona State University West) will serve a two-year term as secretary/treasurer.

We also had a very successful meeting in Denver, Colorado in October. In addition to an interesting variety of research papers, we had several outstanding panel sessions focusing on research opportunities in accounting and auditing, a discussion of the direction of behavioral accounting methods, a session on diversity issues, and an editor's panel with representatives from BRIA, AOS, TAR, and JIS. Several members volunteered to write a brief summary of these sessions, which are included in this newsletter. Many thanks to Sean Peffer (University of Kentucky) for the time and energy he devoted to making this year's conference such a success. Rich Houston (The University of Alabama), who provided valuable assistance by handling the paper submissions for this year's conference, will be spearheading next year's research conference, which we are planning to hold in another desirable and convenient metropolitan location. Details will be coming soon!

The 2003 Outstanding Dissertation Award was presented to Kimberly Sawers (University of California, Riverside). Kim's dissertation entitled "Choice Avoidance in Managerial Accounting Decisions" was conducted under the supervision of Jane Kennedy at the University of Washington and was presented at the research conference.

Theresa Libby (Wilfrid Laurier University) will be chairing this year's outstanding Dissertation Award Committee. Please encourage your doctoral students to consider applying for this award, which now includes a $1,000 monetary prize and an automatic acceptance at the ABO Research Conference. In addition, Seleshi Sesaye (Duquesne University) is accepting nominations for the ABO Research Contribution Award. Further details on both of these awards are provided in this newsletter.

The Nominations Committee, chaired by Joe Fisher (Indiana University), will soon be accepting nominations for the following offices: Chair-Elect, Secretary/Treasurer, and Vice-Chair of Regions. Please consider running for one of these offices, or let Joe know who you think would be a good candidate. If you aren't quite ready to step into one of these offices, but still want to get more involved in the Section, contact Chair-elect Charles Bailey (University of Memphis). He will be looking for people to serve the section in a variety of ways next year. More information on our committee structure can be found on the ABO website.

The ABO Executive Board has put forward two potential changes to our bylaws. These changes, which are described in more detail below, are aimed at improving our Section's ability to get timely input from its membership (via electronic voting) and to get more involvement and broader representation in our Section's governance (by holding the annual business meeting at the Midyear Meeting instead of the AAA Annual Meeting). Please take a moment to vote on these issues when you receive your ballot in a few months' time.

Finally, let me thank Elizabeth Almer (Portland State University) for agreeing to take over the newsletter editor position, and Ralph Greenberg (Temple University) for serving in this capacity last year!

If you have any suggestions, concerns or ideas for the Section, please let me know.