October 2004:
Summary of ASAC response to a charge on large proposals:

* The ASAC feels that the best way to handle all large programs (both
joint programs and those from a single partner) is to have an international
Proposal Review Committee (IPRC) that is empowered to rank and/or choose
between large proposals submitted to ALMA in a given semester.

* The ASAC feels that scientific duplication in large proposals is to be
discouraged.

* The ASAC sees no need to invoke a special mechanism for legacy programs
at this time with ALMA.

* For smaller projects involving collaborators from more than one partner,
the ASAC suggests that ALMA adopt a Joint Proposal mechanism similar to
the one currently used by the Gemini Observatories.

* The ASAC feels that duplicate observations of a given position in the sky
should be discouraged unless there are good scientific reasons (variability
studies are an obvious exception to this rule).

* The ASAC is not concerned about duplication of scientific goals by two
or more small programs.

October 2005:
* The ASAC still believes that a single international Program Review Committee
would best serve the ALMA project, minimizing several of the concerns on
joint programs and scientific duplication of programs.

* The ASAC believes that ALMA will be sufficiently revolutionary that no special
provision is required for large or legacy projects.

* The ASAC recommends that a small fraction of non-partner applications should
be supported, subject to review by the PRC, especially as the ALMA project
matures.