Executive Committee of the American Institute of Physics
Minutes of Meeting
1. Convene – Roll Call
The meeting was called to order at 7:10 am by Chairman Frauenfelder. Frauenfelder offered a champagne toast to Havens, whose extensive service to AIP on the Executive Committee was ending at this meeting, “for his many contributions to AIP, APS, and to physics.”
Members Present:
Hans Frauenfelder, Chair
Peter B. Boyce
Kenneth W. Ford, Executive Director
Roderick M. Grant, Secretary
William W. Havens, Jr.
Shirley A. Jackson
F. Dow Smith
Martin Walt
Jack M. Wilson
Jerry M. Woodall
Members Absent:
None
Non-voting Participants:
Robert T. Beyer (ASA)
William A. Duax (ACA)
Jean St. Germain (AAPM)
Kurt F Wissbrun (SOR)
Staff:
Robert E. Baensch, Director of Publishing
Arthur T. Bent, Treasurer
John S. Rigden, Director of Physics Programs
Nathalie D. Wagner, Assistant to the Secretary
2. Report of Secretary
Grant presented the draft Minutes of 1 October and 10-11 December 1989 meeting for approval. The 1 October 1989 minutes were approved. The 10-11 December minutes were approved following clarifications of comments attributed to Havens (page 3) and concerning Ingoldsby’s report (at the September meeting) on FAMIS.
3. Financial Matters
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Financial Handling Charge for 1991
Bent reported that management was recommending that the financial handling charge for business done on behalf of Member Societies for 1991 be the same as for 1990. The following motion was made by Havens, seconded by Boyce, and unanimously CARRIED.MOVED that the Executive Committee recommends to the Governing Board that the financial handling charge for 1991 be set at five-eighths of one percent of the business done on behalf of the Member Societies.
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Resolution for Bank Account for Equicor
Bent stated that management has acted to change the manner in which premiums for employee health insurance coverage are handled. Funds will be deposited to an account at Chase Manhattan Bank, and the insurance carrier, Equicor, will draw down on these funds as needed. A resolution to establish the new bank account is required. The following motion was made by Havens, seconded by Walt, and unanimously CARRIED.Be it RESOLVED that an account be established at Chase Manhattan Bank for the purpose of facilitating payments to Equicor.
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Preliminary Unaudited 1989 Financial Statement
Bent commented briefly on the Unaudited 1989 Financial Statement, which will be presented in detail at the Governing Board meeting. He noted that in 1989 there was a Net Operating Revenue of $181,000, which combined with the Net Investment Revenue of $2,213,000 resulted in a Net Revenue of $2,394,000. The 1989 Budgeted Net Revenue was $864,000. -
Allocation of 1989 Net Revenue to Designated Funds
Bent reported that the management committee recommends that 100% of the 1989 Net Revenue be allocated to the Publication Fund (the same recommendation as was made for 1988 Net Revenue). The following motion was made by Smith, seconded by Walt, and unanimously CARRIED.MOVED that 100% of 1989 net revenue be allocated to the Publication Fund.
4. Application for Corporate Associates Membership
Ford presented an application for Corporate Associate status, at the $500 per year dues level, from the Goodfellow Corporation, Cambridge Science Park, Cambridge, England, and Malvern, PA, USA. The following motion was made by Walt, seconded by Havens, and unanimously CARRIED.
MOVED that the Executive Committee elects the Goodfellow Corporation as an AIP Corporate Associate at the $500 per year dues level.
5. Approval of AIP Prizes and Awards
Havens raised questions about the procedures used in selecting science writing award winners in general, and in particular in the choice of Jerry Bishop of The Wall Street Journal as the winner of the 1990 Science Writing Award to a Journalist. Ford, Frauenfelder, and Havens each expressed their concerns that the series of articles by Bishop overemphasized evidence for cold fusion as reported by scientists in Utah, while they underemphasized reports which found either no supporting evidence for, or evidence contrary to, the Utah claims.
Ford stated that the judging panel had been composed of three science writers and three physicists, each of whom were asked to judge about 50 submissions. The Bishop series, consisting of 14 articles over a one year period, was selected unanimously as the winner by the panel.
Rigden noted that there have been 47 AIP science writing awards given to date, and this constitutes the first instance where questions have been raised. Frauenfelder commented that even one inappropriate award can hurt AIP more than ten excellent ones.
Havens proposed that the science writing awards be approved by the Executive Committee on recommendation from the award selection committee(s). (This proposal is consistent with current policy which requires that either the Executive Committee or Governing Board approve selection committee recommendations for the Compton, Gemant, Meggers, and Tate Awards.) The following motion was made by Havens, seconded by Smith, and unanimously CARRIED.
MOVED that, in the future, all prizes and award to by AIP shall be approved by the Executive Committee.
6. Review of Governing Board Agenda
As the result of time constraints, no review was possible at this time.
7. Future Meetings
Grant noted that dates for the December (1990), and February, March, and June (1991) Executive Committee meetings have not been set. He said that he would talk with Frauenfelder and Ford, and announce these dates before the close of the Governing Board meeting.
8. Recommendations to Governing Board on Space and Location Issues
Frauenfelder said that he would like the Executive Committee to come to a decision on space and location issues so that a clear motion can be presented to the Governing Board for its consideration during the afternoon. He reviewed the situation:
- The decision has been made that publishing will remain at Woodbury.
- The APS Executive Committee, in a split decision, decided to recommend to its Council that if AIP decides (a) to relocate to College Park, MD, APS should do likewise, (b) to remain in New York City, APS should do likewise, or (c) to move to Baltimore or Philadelphia, APS should remain in New York City.
Havens clarified that the vote of the APS Executive Committee had been split, with elected officers in favor of the recommendation, and staff officers opposed to any consideration of a move away from New York City.
Frauenfelder proposed that the Executive Committee develop a recommendation to the Governing Board for AIP to move its headquarters to the College Park, MD area. He further proposed that, if a move to that area takes place, AIP should provide (1) strong incentives to Member Societies to join AIP with an equity position at the new location, and (2) support at the requisite level to those member societies that choose to remain in New York.
Woodall commented that he was distressed by the suddenness with which College Park, MD, had appeared as a prime candidate for relocation, and attractive possibilities in New York City had been ignored or rejected. He distributed and discussed a memo he had addressed to the Governing Board on space and relocation issues. He suggested that the three-location scenario which he had previously proposed might be a compromise solution: the publishing center on Long Island, and other AIP operations divided between locations in NYC and proximate to Wash DC. He based this conclusion, in part, on the following points (here abstracted from his memo):
- It has been decided that AIP publishing activities will remain on Long Island;
- 8 of 10 current AIP member societies have operations either in NYC of near Wash DC;
- APS is undecided about where it wants to locate;
- Some of the Washington DC based societies will not be directly affected by AIP relocation plans;
- Current NYC resident societies will be affected profoundly, and in most cases adversely, should AIP leave NYC; and
- There are no compelling financial reasons for moving AIP operations away from NYC."
He proposed a motion, to be recommended to the Governing Board, which would direct management to develop detailed plans for such a three-location scenario for consideration at the fall 1990 meeting of the Governing Board.
There followed general discussion, and several suggestion for rewording Woodall's proposed motion were accepted. The following motion was made by Woodall, seconded by Wilson, and CARRIED by a vote of 6 YES, 1 NO and 3 ABSTAIN. [Note: by action of the Executive Committee, the vote of non-voting participants is included herein. rmg]
MOVED that the Executive Committee recommends that the Governing Board adopt the following motion concerning AIP space and relocation issues:
In order 1) to respond to the need to consolidate AIP operations into fewer locations with adequate space for current operations plus anticipated growth, 2) to respond to the future needs and interests of the Washington DC based Member Societies, and 3) to maintain a level of AIP operations needed to support those NYC resident societies who wish to remain in New York City,
it is RESOLVED that AIP operations shall be consolidated at three separate sites: Long Island, New York City, and a site within a fifty mile radius of Washington DC. Member Societies shall be offered the opportunity to take an equity position in any properties acquired by AIP.
The committee then began its discussion of various enabling motions, but ran out of time. Frauenfelder then announced that there would be a meeting of the (1990-91) Executive Committee that evening at which time this discussion would continue. He asked Ford, Grant, and Woodall to consult with him so that draft motions could be presented for consideration at that time.
9. Executive Session
Staff and Officers, including Ford, were excused for an executive session at 8:50 am. The minutes of the executive session are reported in the official minutes only.
10. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 9:35 am following the executive session.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND GOVERNING BOARD MEETINGS
4-5 Jun (5 p.m. Mon - 4 p.m. Tues) Executive Committee, NY, NY
20-22 Sep (9 a.m. Thurs - 12 N Sat) Exec Comm, Woods Hole, MA
21-22 Oct (6 p.m. Sun - 5 p.m. Mon) Governing Board, Albuquerque, NM
23-24 Oct (Tues, Wed) AIP Corp Assoc, Sandia Natl Lab, Albuquerque, NM