From the Executive Director

From the Executive Director In 1997, the Secretariat of the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association moved from Boise State University, where it had resided for twelve years, to Washington State University. Those ofus who took on the task ofrunning this organization and publishing its scholarlyjournal - myself, Rachel Halverson, Ana Maria Rodriguez-Vivaldi, Michael Delahoyde, Bryce Campbell, and later Doryjane Birrer - were a bit unaware ofall that we were getting into, yet were excited about the possibility ofleading the organization into the new century. The three years since RMMLA moved to WSU have witnessed much change in the organization and in the profession itself, some for the good, some for the bad. RMMLA has, like its sister MLAs and other professional organizations, seen its membership base fluctuate significantly, yet can boast a very solid core ofloyal members who participate regularly in our convention as both organizers and as presenters. Convention attendance in Salt Lake City, Santa Fe, and Boise was healthy, and our upcoming conventions in Vancouver, British Columbia and Scottsdale, Arizona, are already shaping up to be exciting and well-attended. The reputation of the RMMLA convention as being a congenial place for graduate students, junior faculty, and senior faculty alike to test out new ideas and research methods is well-founded and a great source ofpride. The accomplishments ofthe Editors ofthe RockyMountain Review ofLanguage and Literature, however, is to me an equal source of pride and it has been these triumphs which have received the most recognition from the profession. Early on, the Editors recognized the need not only to maintain the high standards ofscholarship and presentation already established for the journal by Boise State University , but also to move toward an electronic mode ofdelivery for the publication. The creation ofa new look for the print journal, both in the cover design and the typography, underscored the link to our geographical region and the commitment the Editors hold to presenting in a crisp, scholarly way, the exciting research being conducted by our members. The move to an online format for the journal was accomplished by working with programmers to determine the most effective structure for the dissemination ofthe journal's content ofarticles and reviews, as well as with Web designers for the creation ofa clean and functional interface for the journal. And while these efforts on the part ofMichael, Ana Maria, Rachel, Bryce, and Doryjane are frequently and gratefully acknowledged by members of this organization, they have also been recognized by those outside the RMMLA. In 1 999, the RockyMountain Reviewand the RockyMountain E-Reviewwere awarded second prize by the Council ofEditors ofLearned Journals (CELJ) in its "PhoeFALL 2000 + ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVIEW * 9 nix Award for the Rejuvenation ofan ExistingJournal." Moreover, this year at the Annual Convention ofthe MLA, the RockyMountain E-ReviewWi\\ be highlighted in a session on Web-based scholarly publishing. At the beginning ofthe year, we welcomed a new Editor to our Editorial Staff: Birgitta Ingemanson, Associate Professor ofRussian at Washington State University . Birgittajoins Michael Delahoyde as Co-Editor ofthejournals, as Rachel and Ana Maria step down from the position, having responsibilities in their language section that take them away from active involvement in the journal. Given this change in our roster, I have asked the Editors of the Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature to allow me to write what is normally called "From the Editors" in this issue so that I can publicly thank all of our editors, but at this moment most especially Rachel and Ana Maria, for their marvelous espritde corps and their hard work in putting together a top-notch journal, as well as for their help to me in running this organization and putting on the convention. It has been a pleasure to work with such conscientious, professional, and energetic colleagues , and I thank them for that. I look forward to another three years (or more) of fun and hard work with everyone in the Secretariat, and I encourage all our members to consider contributing to the RMMLA publications and to continue their support of this, their regional professional organization, rf? IO H· ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVIEW * FALL 2000 ...