Executive Committee of the American Institute of Physics
Minutes of Meeting
Members Present: Ralph A. Sawyer, Chairman; Wallace R. Brode; S. A. Goudsmit; W. W. Havens, Jr.; R. Bruce Lindsay; S. L. Quimby (Mr. Quimby was present for the morning session only.)
Absent: Francis W. Sears
AIP Staff Present: Elmer Hutchisson; Wallace Waterfall; Henry A. Barton; Mary M. Johnson
The Chairman convoked the Executive Committee at 9:35 a.m.
1. Minutes
Upon motion made, seconded and passed without dissenting vote, the minutes of the meeting of September 27, 1961, were approved as distributed.
2. Financial Statement for Third Quarter and Budget for 1962
Copies of the financial statement and budget for 1962 were distributed (copy attached). The Treasurer stated that, in preparing the budget for 1962, it was assumed that the Institute will be occupying the building addition starting July 1, 1962; that depreciation on the present building will be discontinued as of June 30, 1962; and that we will have rental income of $6,500 from the fourth floor of the addition for the period beginning August 1, 1962, based on an annual rental of $15,500.00. We expect to start amortizing and paying interest on the mortgage in the second half of the year at the rate of approximately $35,000 per annum. Following is a brief summary of explanations made and comments received:
Administrative Expense (Page 5 of the financial statement) will be about $10,000 below budget for 1961, mainly because we did not add administrative personnel to the staff as early in the year as had been hoped. The allocation of Administrative expense is calculated on the basis of statements submitted by members of the administrative staff. Less than 5% of the total AIP administrative costs for 1961 will be charged to Member Societies through the various editorial, journal handling, and dues collecting services performed for them.
Public Relations (Page 6) expense this year will be about as budgeted and a slight increase has been budgeted for 1962.
Education and Manpower (Page 7) is credited with some income from the overhead on NSF grants. The net expense for the present year will be a little below budget. The budgeted increase for next year is primarily due to the Regional Counselor Program for which $10,000 has been budgeted.
The Director explained briefly the background and plans for the Regional Counselor Program. To execute it as planned would cost about $20,000 per year. We have requested grant from various sources without success and it appears that we will have to provide funds to finance this project. AAPT has been asked to increase their contribution for 1962 but we have not yet received their reply. A suggestion was made that other Member Societies might be willing to make small contributions, and this will be pursued.
Advertising income (Page 8) will be about as budgeted by the end of the year. We have raised some rates for 1962 and hope for a substantial increase in net revenue from a slightly increased number of pages. We try just to break even on advertising in Society journals.
RSI (Page 9) net income will be less than expected in 1961. The 1962 budgets for RSI and all other AIP archive journals have been based on a $40 per page publication charge. We believe this is necessary and justifiable and that some Member Society and other journals will adopt publication charges of similar magnitude.
JCP (Page 10) is budgeted with a greatly increased number of text pages next year and will be published twice a month. The subscription price was raised for 1962 and will surely have to be raised again for 1963.
The JAP net income (Page 11) for 1961 will be substantially below budget. There will be 20% more text pages in 1962 than in 1961. We will undoubtedly have to raise the subscription price for 1963.
PT (Page 12) text pages have not been going up so much but the total circulation is rising and this increases costs. Net from advertising in PT this year will approximate $128,000 which does not quite cover the cost, but it is expected that advertising will reach $163,000 in 1962.
PF (Page 13) will show a loss for 1961 because of the increased number of pages and insufficient funds left in the Air Force contract. It is also budgeted for a loss in 1962 but we hope that economies and increased subscription revenue will permit balancing the budget in 1963.
JMP (Page 14) will still be operating under the grant in 1962 so there is no net income or expense.
The Treasurer called attention to certain items on the "Statement of Income and Expense" (Page 4) and stated that we are anxious to have a substantial net income for the next five or six years to help pay for our building addition and overcome our accumulated deficit. The "Statement of Accumulated Earnings" (Page 3) shows that our accumulated deficit rose from $96,524 on January 1, 1961, to $147,261 as of September 30. This is not quite a true picture since $64,372 of this is for the building addition and that amount will be taken from the Building Reserve in the year-end statement.
After some further discussion, the following motions were made, seconded and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the publication charge for all AIP journals except PHYSICS TODAY be increased to $40 per page, effective January 1, 1962.
MOVED that the budget for 1962 as presented be adopted.
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Use of Operating Reserve
The Treasurer recalled that the Executive Committee, at its meeting on December 11, 1959, had approved the establishment of an Operating Reserve, which now amounts to $40,000.00. This was created primarily as a cushion to balance occasional losses on AIP archive journal operations and, inasmuch as it is expected there will be a net loss of about $9,600 from such operations in 1961, the staff would like to cover such losses from the Operating Reserve. The following motion was then made, seconded and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the staff be authorized to draw funds from the Operating Reserve to cover the net loss from AIP archive journal operations for 1961, with the understanding that the amount withdrawn will be replaced from income at the end of 1962, if possible.
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Authorization for Sale of Stock
The Treasurer reported that AIP had received a contribution in the form of stock and that a resolution is needed to effect a sale. Upon motion made, seconded and passed unanimously, the following resolution was adopted:
RESOLVED that any two (2) of the following officers, employees or agents of the Corporation, to wit:
- Director
- Secretary and Treasurer
- Administrative Consultant
- Assistant Treasurer
be and hereby are authorized, on behalf of this Corporation, to sell any stock issued in the name of or belonging to the Corporation and, in connection with such sale, to execute any required documents.
3. Appointments
The Director reported that the following appointments have been made, subject to confirmation by the Executive Committee:
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Editorial Boards
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS
- Lawrence R. Bickford, Jr.
- James S. Koehler
- Arthur L. Schawlow
THE JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
- Marshall Fixman
- George K. Fraenkel
- Henry S. Frank
- William D. Gwinn
- George C. Pimentel
- Per-Olov Löwdin
THE REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS
- Hal O. Anger
- R. A. Dandl
- Henry C. Torrey
- Wolfgang Franzen
- William A. Wildhack
- Richard H. Kropschot
- T. A. Vanderslice
- Joshua Stern (Associate Editor)
JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS
- Eugene P. Wigner
- George E. Uhlenbeck
- Bernard Friedman
- Arthur S. Wightman
- John Ward
- Leslie L. Foldy
THE PHYSICS OF FLUIDS
- W. P. Allis
- T. H. Berlin
- E. P. Gross
- A. Kantrowitz
- W. V. R. Malkus
- S. A. Schaaf
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Chairman of Physicists Group, NBS Advisory Panels
- John H. Dillon
Upon motion made, seconded and passed unanimously, the above appointments were confirmed.
The Director then said he had conferred with the Chairman about the following appointments and suggested they be made:
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Committee to Nominate Chairman, Executive Committee and Director-at-Large
- Harvey Brooks, Chairman
- James G. Baker
- John H. Elliott
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Chairman of Advisory Committee on Corporate Associates
- Emanual R. Piore
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Member of Advisory Committee on Manpower
- Harold Stewart
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Steering Committee for 1962 Magnetism Conference
- J. F. Dillon, Jr.
- J. S. Smart
- H. C. Wolfe
- J. A. Osborn
Upon motions made, seconded and passed without dissenting vote, all of the above nominees were approved.
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Status of PHYSICS OF FLUIDS Editorship
The Director stated that Mr. Frenkiel, Editor of PF, will be spending part of his time in New York City although he will retain his Editor’s office in Washington. The Editor is producing a good journal but his methods of operation have presented many administrative difficulties. Editor’s office costs are very high and it is doubtful whether we can recover some of these costs under our Air Force contract.
4. Committee to Study Evolving AIP-Member Society Relations
The Director recalled that 1961 marked the end of the third decade of the Institute. He commented on the foresight shown by the founders when the Constitution of the Institute was written. In a way hardly foreseen by most physicists, the science of physics has become exceedingly complex and has become inextricably linked with public policy. As a result, physicists have responsibilities in furthering public understanding, in strengthening education, in enlisting support for basic research, and in encouraging the application of physics, in addition to their basic responsibilities in advancing and teaching physics. Actually, because of the foresight of the founders, the responsibility of the Institute in assisting physicists in carrying out these public responsibilities is spelled out as an essential part of Institute objectives. Often, however, when these objectives are pursued vigorously we run into conflict either with individual physicists or Society officers who do not fully appreciate the objectives as set forth in the Constitution. It seems appropriate, therefore, that a committee be established to study the evolving Member Society-Institute relations and to confirm or modify the Institute’s Constitution.
Recently a suggestion has been made by NSF that the Institute study trends in physics and the future funding of basic research in the various areas of physics. This suggestion is so close to that involved in the constitutional study, it is believed that the two should be combined. Before any such undertaking is even considered, however, the question of whether AIP has the support and confidence of all Member Societies should be resolved. The staff wishes to propose, therefore, that a constitutional convention be called to study evolving AIP-Member Society relations and also to study the above-described NSF suggestion.
After brief discussion, the following motion was made, seconded and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that a Committee to Study Evolving AIP-Member Society Relations be established, the membership not to exceed fifteen; and that the Chairman be instructed to ask presidents of the Member Societies each to appoint two members of this Committee from his Society.
5. Status Report on Corporate Associates
The Director distributed a status report on Corporate Associates as of December 8, 1961, copy of which is attached.
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Election of New Corporate Associates
The Director reported that the following organizations had requested to become Corporate Associates of the Institute and, on motion duly made and carried, they were so elected effective January 1, 1962:
Harvey Well Corporation $500 Leesona Moos Laboratories 500 Kelsey-Hayes Company 500 Loral Electronics Corp. 500 Robertshaw-Fulton Controls Co. 500
6. Progress on Building Addition
The Secretary reported that construction of our addition is approximately on schedule and invited Executive Committee members to look out the window during the luncheon break and see for themselves the progress that is being made.
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Arrangement for Mortgage and Construction Loans
The Secretary stated that a commitment has been received from Bankers Trust Company for a mortgage on our property at 5-5/8% stipulating that the addition must be completed by November 1, 1962, with a slight penalty after August 1.
It has been reported at the last meeting that 6% would be the interest rate on construction loans but we have since learned from Bankers Trust that the Institute is eligible for the “prime rate” which, in New York City, is about 4 ½%. There had been some indications of interest on the part of Member Societies in lending AIP construction money at the rate of 6% but, in view of the lower rate at which we can get it, this expression of interest was withdrawn.
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Horace S. Ely Appraisal
The Secretary displayed a copy of the appraisal of our property which was submitted by Horace S. Ely & Company estimating the value, including the completed addition, at $1,150,000.00. He said that various approaches to the estimate were included in the report and the final figure appears to be a very conservative one. The appraisal was requested by Bankers Trust in connection with the mortgage.
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Lease of Fourth Floor
The Secretary reported that a lease has been signed with the Geological Society of America, as authorized by the Executive Committee at its meeting on September 27, 1961, for rental of the fourth floor of our addition at $15,500 per year for a minimum of five years. The Geological Society of America has submitted a request to become an Affiliated Society of the Institute and their application will be presented to the Governing Board for action at its next meeting.
The following motion was made, seconded and passed unanimously:
MOVED that the Executive Committee recommend to the Governing Board that the application of the Geological Society of America to become an Affiliated Society of the Institute be accepted.
The meeting adjourned for luncheon at 12:20 p.m. and reconvened at 2:00 p.m.
7. New Journal Possibilities
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Applied Physics Letters
The Director stated that the subject of a journal of applied physics letters had been considered in the past and it was recently suggested that it be considered again at this time. It could be handled at Oak Ridge by Mr. Crawford, Editor of JAP, with an organization similar to that which produces PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS. The plan is to produce APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS as a monthly during the second half of 1962 and give it without charge to JAP subscribers. It would be a semi-monthly in 1963 and distributed on a subscription basis. The Director distributed copies of a preliminary budget and said that, if the Committee approves the venture, we intend to ask NSF for a grant to get it started. There appears to be sufficient material for such a journal and, judging from the success of PRL, we anticipate enthusiastic acceptance. We understand that NSF would look favorably upon such a proposal from AIP and, as it usually takes them about six months to make a decision, it will be necessary for us to take action soon if APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS is to be ready by July. During the discussion which followed it was suggested that the Member Societies be contacted to insure that there will be no conflicts. The following motion was then made, seconded and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the Director and staff be authorized to request a grant from NSF to support a journal of APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS during its first few years.
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Critical Data Compilation Journal
The Director distributed copies of a suggestion for a Critical Data Compilation Journal to comprise approximately 3,000 pages per year. He said it is possible that the National Academy of Sciences may be interested in this and it might be undertaken as a joint effort. We intend to determine whether there is a need for it before suggesting that any action be taken.
8. Personnel Changes in AIP Staff
The Secretary reported that resignations have been received from Ruth Bryans and Donald C. Cunningham, although Mr. Cunningham will continue to spend one day a week working for us on Student Section activities. Our turnover was 35% in 1959 and 1960 and increased to 46% in 1961. Although other similar organizations with which we have checked seem to have somewhat less, they are all unhappy about turnover. We are trying to determine the causes and take corrective measures if possible.
9. Circulation and Dues Handling Activities
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Status of Conversion
The Secretary stated that a new Data Processing Department has been created in the Institute with Alan Borden, formerly of Remington Rand, in charge. This Department will handle the machine operation phases of our Circulation Department activity and Mr. Borden has been instructed to devote all of his efforts at the present time to making our whole circulation handling system as nearly perfect as possible. We have found that the life of the Scriptomatic card is not as great as we had been led to believe and are examining other processes.
Renewal billing of members, except in a few unusual cases, is reported completed and a major portion of cash received for dues and subscriptions by the end of the third quarter has been allocated. It is now expected that the fourth quarter receipts will be allocated by the end of January, and dues and subscription money for 1962 received in the fourth quarter will be allocated by about the end of February. After that, we expect everything will be allocated within one week of its receipt.
We are not doing any addressing for outside organizations now. Until our own problems have been straightened out and we can spare the manpower and machines, we shall continue to devote full time to our own circulation operations. It has been our policy in the past to refer anyone wishing to purchase a specific Society list to an officer of that Society. If permission is granted the entire revenue is credited to the Society. When the entire Institute mailing list is requested, it has been our practice to sell it for $25 per 1,000 names.
10. Reconsideration of Proposed AIP Solid State Award
The Director reported that the subject of a solid state award to be endowed from royalties on a series of books has been raised again. At the time it was first proposed in June 1960 it was referred to APS who felt (1) that it might conflict with the Buckley Award, and (2) that it would not be appropriate for a particular division of APS, as we suggested, to make a final selection of the awardee especially when the award would not be made at an APS function. Subsequently, the US National Commission for IUPAP was approached but they recommended that AIP make the award. Since the most interested society, APS, was reluctant to handle it, it was referred back to IUPAP who again recommended that AIP take it over. The prize, estimated to be not over $1,000, would be awarded biennially. After brief discussion, it was agreed that further efforts should be made to reach a mutually satisfactory arrangement with the donors of the award and Mr. Havens said he would take it up again with officers of APS.
11. Connotation of “International” in John T. Tate Award
The Director stated that a question has been raised as to the suitability of the word “international” as it appears in connection with the John T. Tate Award inasmuch as it was intended that Americans should be ineligible to receive it. The dictionary defines “international” as pertaining to two or more countries and, under that interpretation, the statement defining eligibility appears to be appropriate. In the discussion which followed objections were made to the exclusion of Americans and the following motion was made, seconded and passed without dissenting vote:
MOVED that the statement of eligibility for the John T. Tate Award be amended to delete the portion which excludes Americans; but that the wording indicate that the award is intended primarily for foreign nationals.
12. Directors Medal
The Secretary recalled that this subject was deferred from the Executive Committee meeting of September 27, 1961. There was a brief discussion of the desirability of this proposed medal for directors as they retire from the Board and the consensus appeared to be that it would be a nice gesture. The staff was instructed to use its own judgment.
13. Multiple Choice Testing
The Chairman reported that AIP has been requested to set up a committee to investigate the subject of multiple choice testing. After brief discussion it was suggested that this subject be referred to AAPT and the Director was asked to consult President Correll about it.
14. Future Meetings
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Next Meeting
The Secretary stated that it had previously been agreed to hold the next meeting of the Executive Committee at the Statler Hilton Hotel, starting with breakfast at 8:00 a.m., on Friday, January 26, 1962.
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June Meeting Date
After brief discussion it was agreed to schedule a summer meeting of the Executive Committee for Friday, June 1, at the offices of the Institute.
The meeting adjourned at 3:25 p.m.