March 30, 1973

Executive Committee of the American Institute of Physics

Minutes of Meeting

Members Present: H. R. Crane – Chairman, Joseph A. Burton, I. E. Dayton, W. W. Havens, Jr., H. William Koch, A. I. Mahan, Gerald Holton

Absent: G. A. Jeffrey

AIP Staff Present: H. William Koch, Director; Wallace Waterfall, Secretary; G. F. Gilbert, Treasurer; Lewis Slack, Assoc. Director for General Activities; Robert H. Marks, Assoc. Dir. for Publishing & Information; Dorothy M. Lasky, Assistant to the Director; Mary M. Johnson, Assistant to the Secretary

Chairman Crane called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m.

1. Minutes

Upon motion made and passed without dissent the minutes of the Executive Committee meeting of January 31, 1973, were approved as distributed.

Holton said he thought it would be useful to make a tape recording of Executive Committee and Governing Board sessions to be held until the subsequent meeting. He said he was not requesting that the recordings be transcribed but there have been times when he would like to have been able to hear exactly what was said in the discussions.

Waterfall said he planned to record various committee reports at the Governing Board meeting on the following day and was quite willing to record all Governing Board and Executive Committee sessions as requested by Holton. There may be occasions where a verbatim transcript of a report is desirable for attachment to the minutes but, in such cases, speakers may request an opportunity to edit their reports.

2. Report on McGraw-Hill and AIP HANDBOOK

Slack recalled that he had reported at the December 15, 1972, meeting on the problems which had arisen because of the confusion at McGraw-Hill in connection with marketing the latest edition of the AIP HANDBOOK. He then read a statement entitled, "McGraw-Hill Fiasco" (Exhibit A) giving the current status of our controversy. He said that the AIP staff is still very unhappy about what has happened but the furor created seems to have pretty well died down and we propose to do nothing more about it. Sales of the HANDBOOK have been substantial and we hope to at least recover our costs.

3. AAAS Section Affiliation

Slack distributed a document (Exhibit B) explaining the current situation. After brief discussion it appeared to be the consensus that AIP should consult the Member Societies about requesting affiliation with other AAAS sections than Section B and base our decision on their wishes.

4. Separate Dues Billing

Gilbert said that the staff proposed to hold a meeting of the AIP Committee of Society Secretaries and Treasurers about the middle of May to resolve the matter of separate dues billing for 1974 and also to discuss various aspects of the revision of the subscription fulfillment system. He said that a letter would be sent out in a few days to determine the best date for such a meeting.

Gilbert said he had previously advised Society officers that dues billing could be done for each Society separately if it wished. APS has already indicated that they want a separate dues billing. Present indications are that the other Member Societies and AIP may wish to have a joint billing.

5. Review of Governing Board Agenda

Koch commented that the Governing Board agenda had been deliberately structured so that most of the reports would be made by other than staff members and he hoped that Governing Board members would take a prominent part in the discussions.

Waterfall said that, following previous custom, it would be appropriate for the Executive Committee to make specific recommendations to the Governing Board about actions required on items 6b, 11, and 12 of the Governing Board agenda.

Secretary’s note: Much of the discussion which took place during this part of the meeting was very informal and many of the ideas expressed were repeated at the Governing Board meeting on the following day. Furthermore, there were a number of assumptions and conjectures about what the various committees might report on the following day and it does not appear either necessary or appropriate to include such discussions in the minutes of this meeting. The Secretary is therefore limiting the record to include only actions taken and statements which he believes should be a matter of record.

  1. Annual Report for 1972 – Authorization to Publish in PHYSICS TODAY

    Koch said that copies of the proposed annual report had been sent to all Executive Committee and Governing Board members. He will assume that they have read it and will make only brief remarks and ask for questions. He pointed out that the report is supposed to cover only the 1972 calendar year and deliberately does not mention many things which have come up since the first of this year and are now being discussed.

    Executive Committee members asked a number of questions and made suggestions about various changes in the report. These were noted for use in preparing the final draft of the report.

    1. Financial Report for 1972

      Gilbert distributed copies of a letter dated 30 March 1973 addressed to all Governing Board members which had just been prepared and which he intended to distribute to Governing Board members at the meeting on the following day. He pointed out that the 1972 audit has not been completed and the figures given in his letter must be regarded as estimates but he believes they are reasonably accurate. The statement shows an estimated net expense for the year of $20,156. Gilbert commented on a number of items and several questions were asked which were answered by various staff members. Ma1ay of Gilbert's comments were repeated in the Governing Board meeting.

    2. Financial Handling Charge for 1974

      Gilbert said that the By-Laws provide that the Governing Board shall fix the amount of this charge annually, not to exceed one per cent (1%). It was set for five-eighth's of one per cent (0.625%) for 1973 and the staff recommends that it be continued at 0.625% for calendar year 1974. The following motion was then made, seconded, and passed without dissent:

      MOVED that the Executive Committee recommend to the Governing Board that the financial handling charge for calendar year 1974 be set at 0.625%.

    1. Long-Range Planning Committee

      The Executive Committee showed no interest in discussing this subject prior to hearing the report to be made to the Governing Board by Chairman Seitz on the following day.

    2. Ad Hoc Committee on Physics and National Problems

      Without knowing what Morse would report to the Governing Board on the following day, Executive Committee members briefly discussed the three background documents, including notes on the meeting with Stever of NSF, which had been distributed to all Governing Board and Executive Committee members.

      Havens said that APS was very conscious of the national importance of the energy problem and that plans were being made for topical conferences on this subject at the APS meeting in Chicago in January 1974. It seemed to be the consensus of Executive Committee members that this particular subject was probably of greater interest to APS than to other Societies and that APS should properly take the lead in any action.

      Holton pointed out that the subjects of energy and health seemed to dominate the conference with Stever but he said he hoped that, in any further conferences with NSF, there could be discussion on education and other subjects of interest to physicists. He said he believed that AIP as well as APS should assume an important role in helping solve national problems.

    1. Corporate Associates Advisory Committee – Plans for Fall Meeting

      Discussion on this subject assumed that Fusfeld would recommend to the Governing Board expanding the fall meeting of Corporate Associates and Society officers to include selected heads of academic physics departments. Slack recalled that AIP had held several meetings of physics department heads to see if some organization would be helpful. No great enthusiasm had been shown. Dayton pointed out that attending any proposed assembly would involve both time and expense and he doubted whether physics department heads would be willing to commit themselves to such an expense without being shown a very substantial program from which they could hope to benefit.

    2. Advisory Committee on AIP Information Program

      Koch indicated he believed there was nothing to discuss on this subject until after hearing Herring's report.

    1. Status of Publishing Activities

      Marks gave a preview of what he proposed to present to the Governing Board on the following day. (See item 9a of Governing Board minutes.)

      Havens complimented AIP on the economies which have been accomplished in publishing journals during the last few years. He pointed out, however, the costs of disseminating the results of physics research are too high for the restricted budgets of most research institutions. There are violent objections to the present publication charges and organizations such as AEC are suggesting that they typewriter compose their own articles and submit camera-ready copy for offset printing. This should result in a substantial reduction in the publication charge and they believe their overall costs will be less. Havens said that AIP would be expected to provide answers to such proposals.

      Havens also said that the proposals made by Koch to the APS Publications Committee in his letter of 14 March 1973 (copy included in packet sent to all Governing Board and Executive Committee members) had not been enthusiastically received by the APS Committee. He said he felt that the Current Information Program was not something that could be sold as a complete package. At the June meeting the Executive Committee will have to take a look at each of the products in the Program separately to determine which can be sold profitably and continued, and which must be discontinued at least for the time being. Havens said he believed that most of the Information Program would be very valuable to physicists in the long run but that many see little value in it now and are not willing to support it financially.

      Koch said he wanted it understood that he agrees with the position Havens and Burton have taken. AIP has been promoting the various CPI products vigorously with the hope of building markets for them but recognizes that, by June of this year, decisions will have to be made about which products can be continued on the market in 1974 and what changes will have to be made in AIP operations to make those continued profitable.

  1. Approval of SPS Constitutional Amendments

    A summary of the proposed SPS constitutional amendments had been distributed to all Governing Board and Executive Committee members and, after brief discussion, the following motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissent:

    MOVED that the Executive Committee recommend to the Governing Board that the proposed amendments to the SPS constitution be approved.

  2. Appointment of Committees and Representatives for Current Year

    The following motion was made, seconded, and approved without dissent:

    MOVED that the Executive Committee recommend that the Governing Board approve the appointment of the committees and representatives as proposed, and authorize the Chairman and Director to make such other appointments as are needed during the year.

  1. Status Report on Revision of Subscription Fulfillment System

    Gilbert distributed copies of his memorandum addressed to the Governing Board and dated 31 March 1973 which he proposed to distribute to the Governing Board on the following day (copy attached to Governing Board minutes). There was considerable discussion about complaining letters received by Society officers and their efforts to appease their members. Gilbert said he believed that the total number of Society members affected was about 7,000 and that approximately 82% of the total membership had experienced no difficulty. It was agreed that, although the number of affected members may not seem large, they have suffered longer than seems reasonable and it is particularly important to find some procedure so that address changes can be made and new members added to the address lists much more promptly. It is unreasonable to expect a new member to be happy about waiting four months or more before he starts receiving any Society publications.

6. Next Meeting

Waterfall said that the staff was planning for the next meeting of the Executive Committee some time in June. Members would be canvassed to determine the most suitable date.

7. Other Business

  1. Translation of Chinese Physics Journal

    Koch reported that the Chinese have started publishing a new journal of physics. It is to be a quarterly and the two issues we have received indicate that it should contain about 300 pages per year. Examination of the first two issues by qualified physicists here may leave some doubt about the quality of the journal's contents but our Translation Advisory Board believes the journal should be of interest to American physicists and has strongly recommended that we publish an English translation. We have already submitted a proposal to NSF requesting a subsidy of $14,400 for the first year but we believe we should undertake publication even though we may not receive the NSF subsidy. Koch requested that the Executive Committee approve AIP action in requesting the subsidy from NSF and also authorize the staff to proceed with publication of the new journal even though the subsidy is not received.

    After brief discussion the following motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissent:

    MOVED that AIP proceed to publish an English translation of the new Chinese physics journal as proposed.

  2. Reaffirmation of Terms of Contract with Sigma Pi Sigma

    Slack reminded the Executive Committee of the contract between AIP and Sigma Pi Sigma which was signed five years ago when the Society of Physics Students was created. Sigma Pi Sigma assets existing at that time were turned over to a trustee committee to be held for a period of five years and then turned over to AIP under certain conditions. Slack reported that the assets now amount to approximately $20,000 and that the trustees are ready to turn them over to AIP but it seems appropriate that AIP at this time should reaffirm its understanding of the conditions under which it is receiving the funds. These conditions are that the funds received are to be used by AIP only for improvement of undergraduate physics student organizations or for the promotion of educational student activities. There is a further provision that AIP is to consult with the Council of the Society of Physics Students as to the use of the funds.

    The following motion was then made, seconded, and passed without dissent:

    MOVED that the Executive Committee reassure the trustees of Sigma Pi Sigma that AIP is aware of its contractual obligations in accepting the Sigma Pi Sigma funds now being offered and will be governed accordingly with respect to their use.

  3. Affirmative Action Program

    Slack recalled that, for a number of years, large Government and other laboratories which submit many papers for publication in AIP journals have been issuing large blanket purchase orders periodically to cover publication charges. We were recently informed by AEC that they regard such purchase orders as contracts in which the contractor is obligated to abide by the rules and regulations of the Office of Equal Opportunity. Our investigation reveals that, to satisfy AEC, AIP must not only operate in accordance with the spirit of OEO, which we do, but we must also adopt and publicize what is called an "Affirmative Action Program." Slack then presented a draft of the kind of statement which he believed was required with the understanding that some statistics regarding our goals needed to be added.

    In the discussion which followed Dayton said he had recently had considerable experience with an affirmative action program at his university. He indicated he believed we would have to make some definite commitments along with timetables in stating our goals. He also said it would be very important for AIP to appoint an Equal Employment Opportunity Officer immediately and that such officer should be someone not directly connected with the personnel activities of AIP.

    After further brief discussion the following motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissent:

    MOVED that the policy statement .attached to these minutes (Exhibit C) be adopted by the Institute and that AIP management be instructed to appoint immediately an Equal Employment Opportunity Officer and proceed to develop the required goals and timetables.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:05 p.m.