Restructuring from Section to Division: Exercise in Research

impressive computer program involving medieval Spanish manuscripts is in progress at the University of Wisconsin. A long-term, cooperative effort, the project would require a large and dedicated staff, its structure and personnel to be determined. As a possible model I would suggest an editorial board consisting of one or two General Editors supported by a number of Associate Editors and Contributing Editors. The General Editor(s) would direct the program and have the final responsibility for entering all materials into the computer system; each Associate Editor would participate in and oversee the compilation and preparation of information relating to a given playwright; and in this function the Associate Editors would be aided by the Contributing Editors. Thus would one Associate Editor coordinate the work on the plays of Lope, another those of Tirso, another Calderón's, and so on. This project would be an invaluable tool for research in the drama of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. I hope it will be possible to place the proposal on the agenda of the next meeting of the Comediantes. Irving P. Rothberg Univ. of Massachusetts RESTRUCTURING FROM SECTION TO DIVISION: EXERCISE IN RESEARCH On May 6, 1976 the Modern Language Association membership of Division 68: Spanish Literature of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, received notice that the special poll of its members was completed and that the results were 234 votes in favor of splitting the Division, and 24 votes opposed. In accordance with the poll and the vote of the Executive Council of the MLA in October 1975, there will now be at the annual conventions two divisions for Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Literature; one division will be Poetry and Prose, and the other division will be Drama. These two divisions supplant the former Spanish Sections: Spanish 2: Renaissance and Golden Age Literature, and Spanish 3: Comedia. The formation of these two divisions was the culmination of a year long endeavor that, like the dedication to research , entailed a voluminous amount of thought, study, planning, and correspondence . It involved the entire membership of the two new divisions, but especially it involved those scholars interested in the Spanish comedia, drama of the Renaissance and the Golden Age, and in particular, more than anyone, it involved Professor Charlotte Stern of Randolph-Macon Woman's College, the chairperson for 1975 of the Spanish 3 Section now Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Spanish Literature: Drama Division). Just for the record, the following is a summary of the events that transpired in the sometimes frustrating, but always dedicated and vigorous struggle for active professional service and the search for truth and enlightenment . The sequence of events referred to above began when the MLA membership was informed in November of 1974 of the MLA Executive Council's decision to restructure the annual program of meetings by merging the Spanish 2 and Spanish 3 Sections into one Division . Since both of these were strong 119 sections, it had been expected that they would automatically become two separate divisions along with the rest of the sections in the restructuring pattern. But, through some misinterpretation of facts this did not come about. The Spanish 3 membership became immediately skeptical of this arrangement and at the December 1974 meeting the following resolution was proposed before the Comedia Section by the Spanish 3 representative to the MLA Delegate Assembly : "The membership of Spanish 3: Comedia wishes to convey to the Executive Council its strong desire to continue the Spanish comedia as an independent division on the MLA Annual Program." The resolution, introduced by John Lihani and seconded by Jack H. Parker, was overwhelmingly approved by over 150 members (with one dissenting vote ) . The resolution was likewise approved by Professors A. R. Clemente and Alice M. Pollin, chairpersons of Spanish 2 for 1974 and 1975, respectively, as well as by the Spanish 2 Executive Committee. The resolution was brought to the attention of the Executive Director of the MLA with 154 names of those members in attendance who had participated in the voting on the resolution. The resolution with the signatures was duly delivered to MLA Headquarters on January 3, 1975. The MLA Headquarters acknowledged the letter on January 16, but disregarded...