Executive Committee of the American Institute of Physics
Minutes of Meeting
Members Present: Ralph A. Sawyer – Chairman, S. A. Goudsmit, Ronald Geballe, W. W. Havens, Jr., R. Bruce Lindsay, S. L. Quimby, Mary E. Warga
AIP Staff Present: H. W. Koch, G. F. Gilbert, Lewis Slack, Mary M. Johnson
The Chairman called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. and noted with regret the absence of Wallace Waterfall who was ill.
1. Minutes
Upon motion made and carried, the minutes of the meeting of September 25, 1968, were approved as distributed.
2. Financial Statement for Third Quarter 1968
The Treasurer reported that the financial statement for the third quarter was in the process of being completed and would be mailed to all Governing Board members in a few days. (The statement was mailed on December 17 with a covering letter from the Treasurer and copies are attached to these minutes for others who should have them.)
The Treasurer distributed a Summary Statement of Income and Expense for the nine months ended September 30, 1968. This statement showed an actual net income of $53,362 as compared to a budgeted net income of $34,300. The Treasurer pointed out that those divisions which are charged against AIP income are under budget. Various items of AIP general expense are also under budget. There has been a drop in the honoring of publication charges. The archive journals published less pages than had been budgeted and PHYSICS TODAY published more pages than had been budgeted. The result of these variations from budget is that we will have a higher net income for the year than we had expected.
3. Honoring of Publication Charges
The Treasurer distributed some statistical data on publication charges which showed a drop in honoring for AIP archive journals from 79.53% in January to 66.91% in September of 1968. History shows some annual and greater monthly variations but the low percentage of honoring in the last three months is rather alarming. We have over $1 million in outstanding charges as accounts receivable which go back to 1966 of which approximately 50% is applicable to the American Physical Society. Many of our problems with collections in the past have been due to red tape and misunderstandings but, with the Government cutback in research funds, we are now receiving cancellations of long-standing publication charge commitments.
The Director stated that efforts to enlist support of the scientific community for the publication charge concept are being made and he cited his editorial in the December 1968 issue of PHYSICS TODAY and a recent article in “Science” magazine to this effect. Failure to honor publication charges by Government agencies and contractors has been brought to the attention of top Government officials with promising results. We are gathering material for publication of an article in the spring which will revise and update the H. A. Barton article which appeared in PHYSICS TODAY several years ago. We are very concerned about the possibility of a precipitous and continuing drop in honoring the near future and are doing everything possible to avert it.
4. Budget for 1969
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New Procedure for Ascertaining Publication Charge Honoring and Time Delay in Processing Unhonored Pages
The Director reported that the staff proposed, as a part of the 1969 budget, a new “2-track” policy with respect to publication of honored and unhonored pages. The procedure is to ascertain whether the publication charge will be honored before an article is processed through our Editorial Mechanics Section. Honored pages will be processed as received up to the budgeted limit, but unhonored pages will be set aside for 60 days and then processed at a rate so as not to exceed the total number of unhonored pages allotted for the year. The total number of pages budgeted for each journal is the same as in 1968. The Chairman said approval of the 1969 budget will mean approval of this new “2-track” system.
The Director described the certification forms which will be sent to authors when their articles are accepted for publication, and he reiterated that unhonored pages will have a built-in delay of two months. Mr. Havens suggested that it would be more accurate to describe this as “an indefinite delay with a minimum of two months” as there will probably be a build up of unhonored pages later in the year.
There was a discussion of how to cope with the problem of promises to honor but failure to pay when the bills are rendered. Mr. Havens stated that it is important to require the signature of someone who is authorized to commit the institution, and he made the following motion which was seconded by Mr. Geballe and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that, at the earliest opportunity, the form be altered to the AIP so that it requires either a purchase order or the signature of a person authorized to make financial commitments for the organization.
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Increase in Reprint Prices
The Treasurer distributed a list of present and proposed new reprint prices (copy attached) and stated that these prices have not been changed for a number of years. There will be a 10.7% increase in our cost next year and the proposed new prices have been used in preparing the 1969 budget.
The following motion was made by Mr. Lindsay, seconded by Mr. Quimby and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the schedule of proposed new reprint prices recommended by the staff be adopted, effective as soon as possible in 1969.
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Increased Prices for Soviet Translation Journals
The Treasurer distributed a list of proposed new prices for Soviet translation journals, as follows:
Present Rates Domestic Proposed Non-Member Rates Name Domestic Air Freight Foreign Single Copies Soviet ASTRONOMY–AJ $45.00 $55.00 $59.00 $58.00 $10.00 Soviet Journal of Nuclear Physics 80.00 85.00 90.00 89.00 8.00 Soviet Physics – ACOUSTICS (Changes From Quarterly to Bimonthly) 20.00 30.00 34.00 33.00 6.00 JETP Letters 25.00 35.00 40.00 38.00 2.00 Soviet Physics – SEMICONDUCTORS 80.00 95.00 100.00 99.00 9.00 The following motion was then made by Mr. Quimby, seconded by Mr. Lindsay, and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the proposed new prices for Soviet translation journals be approved, effective July 1, 1969.
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Adoption of Budget
The Treasurer distributed copies of a corrected Page 2 for the proposed budget which had been sent to Executive Committee members on December 5 with a covering letter from the Secretary. Mr. Havens pointed out that the proposed budget provides for losses in connection with publication of conference proceedings. It was explained that these conferences had already been held and we were committed to this item for 1969. Mr. Havens said this means we are subsidizing the publication, which we should not continue to do, and he made the following motion which was seconded by Mr. Lindsay and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that, in future planning, publication of all conference proceedings shall be self-supporting.
The Treasurer answered several questions in connection with various budget items. Mr. Havens raised a question about the future of the History Division, recalling that several times in the past the Executive Committee had agreed this activity should be financed with other than Institute funds if it is to expand and achieve its objectives. The Director said it had also been agreed that we should keep it going for a reasonable time until a substantial endowment can be obtained. He added that, in order the kind of outside support we have received, it is necessary to demonstrate a basic interest on the part of the Institute. Mr. Lindsay stated that he would not want to see it discontinued, but it should not be allowed to become a burden to the Institute.
The Treasurer distributed an analysis of archive journal net income under the proposed 1969 budget which showed that, although a deficit in publication charges is expected, it should be more than offset by subscription income and reprint sales.
The following motion was then made by Mr. Lindsay, seconded by Mr. Havens, and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the proposed budget for 1969 be adopted.
Copies of the 1969 budget, as adopted, are enclosed with these minutes.
5. Employment of Wallace Waterfall During Calendar Year 1969
The Director reported that Wallace Waterfall’s term as Secretary of the Institute is due to expire on December 31, 1968. He said he would like to have Mr. Waterfall continue as Secretary, on a part-time basis, to March 31, 1970. It will be recalled that when Mr. Waterfall reached age 67 in 1967 the Executive Committee and Governing Board took action permitting his continuance.
Mr. Lindsay made the following motion which was seconded by Mr. Havens and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the Executive Committee recommend re-appointment of Wallace Waterfall as Secretary of the Institute on a part-time basis to March 31, 1970, and authorize a mail ballot of the Governing Board.
(A mail ballot was sent to the 27 Governing Board members on December 17, 1968, and as of this writing, 26 affirmative replies have been received. There have been no negative replies to date.)
Upon motion made by Mr. Lindsay, seconded by Miss Warga, and passed unanimously the following resolution of best wishes to Mr. Waterfall was passed:
WHEREAS Mr. Wallace Waterfall has attended every meeting of the Governing Board and Executive Committee in various capacities as an AIP staff member since he became Secretary of the Institute 23 years ago, and
WHEREAS the Executive Committee meets regularly five times a year and conducts lengthy and detailed sessions requiring continuous staff involvement, and
WHEREAS the absence of Mr. Waterfall was regretted by all attendees because of his dedication and loyalty as manifested by the many contributions he has made to the functioning of the Committee, the Institute, and the physics community over many years, and
WHEREAS news of Mr. Waterfall’s bout with Hong Kong flu was deplored, be it therefore
RESOLVED, That the Executive Committee call upon the AIP Director to convey to Mr. Waterfall the Committee’s sincerest regrets at his absence from the meeting and at the temporary affliction that prevented his attendance. The Director should also convey the Committee’s best wishes for a speedy recovery.
6. Report of Committee to Study Current Practices of the Editorial Mechanics Section
Mr. Quimby recalled that the subject Committee (also known as the Subcommittee on Editorial Procedures) on June 7, 1968, had formally requested the Editorial Mechanics Section to endeavor to improve the situation with respect to the cost of Authors’ Alterations. He distributed a report he had prepared on behalf of the Subcommittee (copy attached) indicating that a substantial improvement had been made and congratulating the Editorial Mechanics Section and Mr. Biesel, Manager, for their achievement.
7. Joint Meeting of Publication Board and Committee of Society Secretaries & Treasurers
The Director reported that a joint meeting of the AIP Publication Board and the Committee of Society Secretaries and Treasurers was being planned for January 12 and 13. A tentative agenda has been drawn up and invitations have been sent out. The principal purpose of the meeting will be to discuss economies in journal publication and some specific recommendations for uniform practices will be made. Our printers have told us that considerable sums can be saved by standardization and we hope eventually to arrive at the kind of agreement which came out of a similar meeting a few years ago on uniformity in membership billing and dues collection procedures.
8. Fifth Temperature Symposium
Mr. Slack reported that plans are being made for Fifth Temperature Symposium. The Fourth Symposium was held in 1961 in Columbus, Ohio, under the joint sponsorship of the National Bureau of Standards, the Instrument Society of America, and the AIP. To date ISA and AIP, who made financial commitments for the 1961 symposium, have each received slightly less than $13,000 on sales of the proceedings.
The same three organizations will work together on the Fifth Symposium. As in the past, NBS will take care of the program committee work and ISA and AIP will assist with arrangements and publications and will each put up $5,000 with the understanding that any surplus income will be divided equally between the two. At a recent planning meeting it was agreed that the Fifth Symposium should be held in 1971. The following motion was made by Mr. Quimby, seconded by Mr. Lindsay, and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the Executive Committee approve the commitment by AIP of $5,000 toward expenses of the Fifth Temperature Symposium with the understanding that expenditures will be carefully monitored to prevent any loss to AIP.
Mr. Slack stated it is in order for us to appoint two representatives to the General Committee and the Program Committee, and the following motion was made by Mr. Quimby, seconded by Mr. Havens, and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the Chairman be authorized to make the appropriate appointments.
9. Niels Bohr Portrait
The Director reported that the portrait of Niels Bohr, which had been discussed at the September 25 meeting, had been purchased from Mr. Karen Trier Frederiksen for $2,000 as authorized. It had been temporarily placed in the Niels Bohr Library for inspection by Executive Committee members. In response to our inquiries, the family of Niels Bohr had indicated they had considered purchasing the portrait but had decided not to although they saw nothing wrong with it. The cost of framing would be $125 to $200, and installation of a special display unit would cost approximately $1,000. The Director said the staff would investigate the different possibilities and consider whether we should attempt to get outside funds for framing and/or display.
10. Request to COMPAS to Develop Statement of Policy, for Governing Board Approval, on Non-technical Involvements of AIP
The Director said there is increasing interest on the part of some Society members in the development of a policy statement by AIP on the role of the Institute in non-technical matters. It was suggested that a committee be formed to study the matter and there was some discussion as to whether COMPAS should be asked to consider the question or whether a special committee comprising other than COMPAS members should be appointed. In answer to a question by Mr. Havens, the Director said he felt some of the following matters would fall within the scope of this subject: Should the Institute instruct its representatives on various outside committees? Should coverage in PHYSICS TODAY bear directly on physics, physicists and physics societies or general areas? Should the Editor be provided with certain guidelines?
After some discussion, it was agreed that COMPAS would be the appropriate forum for such discussion and the following motion was made by Mr. Havens, seconded by Mr. Lindsay, and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that COMPAS be requested to develop and recommend to the Governing Board a statement of policy on AIP involvement in non-technical areas of public concern.
The meeting adjourned for luncheon at 12:12 p.m. and reconvened at 2:00 p.m.
11. Appointments
The Director reported that the terms of some AIP representatives and committee members expire at or near the year end, and he recommended that the following appointments be made for the terms indicated:
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Editorial Boards – 3-year terms to December 31, 1971
THE REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS
- Robert H. Noble
- Melvin H. Mueller
- William W. Steger
- Yuan Lee
- A. U. MacRae
- Paul S. DeCarli
- R. N. Keeler
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS & APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS
- Gordon C. Danielson
- J. J. Gilman
- Hermann Statz
THE JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
- Gert Ehrlich
- W. H. Flygare
- John C. Light
- Bruce H. Mahan
- H. I. Schiff
- B. Widom
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Advisory Committee on PHYSICS TODAY – 3-yr. terms to December 31, 1971
- John V. Bouyoucos
- W. W. Havens, Jr.
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Representative to AAAS Council
- H. W. Koch – 2-year term to January 15, 1971
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Magnetics Conference Advisory Committee – 3-yr. terms to November 1971
- Julius M. Hastings
- Morrel H. Cohen
- Paul C. Martin
- Phillip E. Seiden
- John B. Goodenough
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Representative to Scientific Manpower Commission
- A. A. Strassenburg – 3-year term to December 31, 1971
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Personnel Committee
Lewis Slack to replace Wallace Waterfall as Chairman. (Mr. Waterfall will continue to be a member of the Committee.)
The following motion was made by Mr. Havens, seconded by Miss Warga, and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the above appointments be approved, and that the Chairman be authorized to make additional editorial board appointments when candidates are named.
Subsequent to the meeting, the following editorial board appointments were made as authorized above:
3-year terms to December 31, 1971
THE PHYSICS OF FLUIDS
David J. Benney
Robert Betchov
Burton D. Fried
Roy W. Gould
Harold Grad
Harry E. Petschek
JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS
Gerard G. Emch
Martin D. Kruskal
John R. Klauder
Joel L. Lebowitz
James C. T. Pool
Kip S. Thorne
12. Corporate Associates
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Status Report
The Director read a report on the status of Corporate Associates as of December 11, 1968, which had been prepared by Dorothy Lasky (copy attached). He said that we hope to be able to provide Corporate Associates with information packages of various kinds through our Information Program and perhaps make it attractive enough to induce more of them to continue their membership.
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To be Elected
The Director reported that Olivetti Underwood Corp. had sent us a contribution of $500. Although they report no physicists on their staff, we have invited them to become a Corporate Associate in consideration of this gift, if the Executive Committee approves. Upon motion made and passed without dissent, Olivetti Underwood Corp. was elected a Corporate Associate of the Institute contingent on receipt of their application.
13. Heineman Award
The Director reported that the APS awards committee had nominated A. S. Wightman to receive the 1969 Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics. The awardee is presently at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques in Seine et Oise, France, on leave from Princeton. It is hoped he will be present to accept the prize at the banquet during the joint APS-AAPT meeting in New York in February.
14. New Activities Undertaken by AIP for Member Societies
The Treasurer reported that, at the request of APS and with the approval of the insurance carrier, the Institute has agreed to add APS employees to our group life insurance policy, thus enabling the Society to take advantage of our low group rates. APS has also asked the Institute to take over handling of its payroll starting in January 1969 and we have agreed.
For the American Association of Physics Teachers, AIP has undertaken handling of the editorial mechanics for THE PHYSICS TEACHER starting in September 1968 and, in 1969, the Institute will publish the new BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, a monthly, for that Society.
15. Magnetic Tape System
The Treasurer reported that we have been experiencing many difficulties with our new UNIVAC 9300 magnetic tape system. There have been numerous breakdowns of the equipment and, since the beginning of September, we have suffered 175 hours of “down” time. In spite of the problems we still believe the basic system is sound and we would make the same decision again to use it. Other users are having trouble but do not regret having gone to this system. We have appealed to UNIVAC to correct the flaws but they are having their own problems with service personnel. Leasco, from whom we lease the equipment, has urged that the Director write a strong letter of protest to UNIVAC documenting the breakdowns and stating that we may express our dissatisfaction with the scientific community unless effective measures are taken to clear up the difficulties. We are anxious to start putting our accounting operations onto this system, especially payroll.
16. Next Meeting
The next meeting, which was originally scheduled for February 5, was changed to Tuesday, February 4, with the approval of all Executive Committee members. It will be held in Room 504 of the New York Hilton Hotel, starting with breakfast at 7:30 a.m.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:45 p.m.