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the Board has not favored "open" meetings, the Regents have been unanimous in their view that information regarding their actions should be communicated openly and widely to the Congress, press, and public. To that end the Regents have arranged for briefings by the Secretary or Under Secretary for interested members of the press following each meeting, for the distribution of written summaries of the proceedings, and for the mailing of the full minutes of the meetings to the appropriate Congressional committees.

In a recent discussion of these matters, the Regents noted that it has been said that the Institution is obliged to open its meetings under the Government in the Sunshine Act (5 U.S.C. Section 552b). Subsequently the Regents have been counseled that this act does not apply to the Smithsonian, as it is not in the executive branch, not an independent regulatory agency, and not headed by a collegial body -- the primary criteria for applicability.  As a consequence the responsibility for determining the prudence of opening such meetings rests within the discretion of the Board of Regents. The Board has weighed the advantages and disadvantages of such an action in light of its trust obligation to manage the Institution efficiently and effectively.

While recognizing that open meetings would undoubtedly speed up communication for the media and would tend to eliminate concerns that information was being withheld, the presence of observers would undoubtedly affect the board's deliberations and therefore its actions and decisionmaking. Because of their remote residences, the Regents generally do not have opportunities for meeting as a group and with the executive staff of the Institution except at their scheduled meetings. Between meetings they must depend heavily on written communications and the work of their