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Mr. Humelsine read a letter from Chairwoman Oakar (Task Force on the Libraries and Memorials of the Committee on House Administration) to the Regents.  The letter raised questions about the processes for the selection of citizen members of the Board of Regents, the possibility of holding Regents' meetings open to the public, the possibility of inviting members of House and Senate subcommittees (or their representatives) to Regents' meetings, and the matter of restoring summer evening visiting hours.  After discussion it was agreed that Mr. Humelsine would respond to Ms. Oakar on the Regents' behalf.

[[underlined]] Report of the Audit and Review Committee [[/underlined]]

The Audit and Review Committees met on March 21 at the National Zoological Park.  Coopers and Lybrand's consolidated audit of fiscal year 1984 trust and Federal funds resulted in a "clean opinion" on the Smithsonian's accounts. It was noted that it was virtually impossible to measure the true financial value of services contributed to the Institution by its large number of volunteers.  After Mr. Mann reviewed Coopers and Lybrand's Report to Management, Mr. Hughes briefly described actions being undertaken in response to its recommendations.  In discussion, Mr. Mann described the mutually supporting benefits of auditing both the trust and Federal funds, making an audit of each more meaningful and revealing than was the case prior to 1981 when only trust funds were audited.

Mr. Peratino introduced the 1984 annual report of the Office of Audits.  He noted that there had been generally satisfactory follow-up on their recommendations, with the most significant problem being the Institution's continuing inability to provide sufficient resources to establish complete control over the valuable rare books. Messrs. Hughes and Adams pointed out the great expense in cataloguing these holdings and the difficulties of imposing centralized library management and controls over the bibliographic tools which are essential to the Institution's scholars in their day-to-day work in diverse locations.  In response to a question about the Smithsonian's audit schedule, Mr. Peratino said that the Office of Audits is presently on a six-year audit cycle and their goal is a five-year one; resources to achieve that goal were requested for fiscal  year 1986 but were denied by the Office of Management and Budget.  Mr. Peratino also noted that the gem collection in the National Museum of Natural  History now has improved controls and is being well managed.

Mr. Acheson referred to issues that have arisen regarding the Smithsonian's recent decision, as approved by the Regents at their January 28, 1985 meeting, "to proceed with the planning, design, and construction of food service facilities on the basis of direct Smithsonian financing."  Senator Garn expressed regret that he had not been present at that meeting because he continued to favor the original concept of requiring the restaurant contractor to furnish the capital for the construction and renovation of the facilities.  Mr. Adams replied that, while the principle may be reasonable, the specific terms resulting from negotiations with Mariott-LeRoy suffered from serious defects which outweighed the advantages envisioned of this approach.  The Committee then discussed several of the proposed terms and the factors