Executive Committee of the American Institute of Physics
Minutes of Meeting
1. Convene — Roll Call
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Ramsey at 12:45 p.m., following lunch.
Executive Committee Members Present
Norman F. Ramsey, Chairman of AIP; Robert T. Beyer; Joseph A. Burton; Roderick M. Grant, Secretary; H. William Koch, Director; David Lazarus; Theodore E. Madey; Jack M. Wilson; Ann E. Wright
Non-Voting Participants Present
Robert Marshak; Edward C. McIrvine; Melvin H. Mueller; Harold F. Weaver; Kurt F. Wissbrun
AIP Staff Present
Gerald F. Gilbert, Treasurer; Robert H. Marks, Associate Director for Publishing; Lewis Slack, Associate Director for Educational Services; Lawrence T. Merrill, Assistant to the Director; Nathalie A. Davis, Assistant to the Secretary
For clarity in presentation with reference to the printed agenda, events recorded here are not necessarily in the same chronological order in which they occurred.
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Death of Henry A. Barton
Koch reported that Barton, the first Director of the Institute, had died on 11 October. Barton had served in that position for 26 years.
Slack distributed and read a resolution noting Barton's contributions to the Institute. Following comments on the wording, a motion was made by Lazarus, seconded by Madey, and unanimously carried to recommend this resolution to the Governing Board for its approval.
BE IT RESOLVED:
On this 23rd day of October at the time of its meeting in Palo Alto, California, the Governing Board of the American Institute of Physics memorializes in its minutes its profound sadness and sense of loss at the death of Henry A. Barton.
The first Director of the Institute, he led its work for 26 years. He constantly held before the physics community the sense of statesmanship that led the founders to establish the Institute in 1931. He made a working force out of the vision of the good that can be accomplished for physics and the nation that can come from cooperative and united efforts of the independent societies working together. His foresight in recognizing issues and problems of significance readied the Institute to meet them successfully. His creativity and wisdom in financial matters established the firm base that characterizes the Institute still.
His sparkle and warmth are fondly remembered by all who knew him.
The Secretary is directed to incorporate this resolution in the minutes of the meeting and to convey it to Dr. Barton’s family.
2. Report of the Secretary
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Minutes of Executive Committee Meeting of 9-10 September 1983
The draft minutes of the 9-10 September 1983 meeting were distributed prior to the meeting. It was decided by consensus to delete the references to specific attendance, except where recorded votes are involved. The minutes were accepted by acclamation.
3. Recommendation of Committee on Finances re Investment of Funds
(This item was discussed later in the meeting so that Weaver could be present, but it is reported here in the order that it appeared on the Agenda for the meeting.)
Weaver gave a report on the activities of this Committee since its inception in May 1983. Two meetings have been held. The first one served to define the duties and responsibilities of the Committee. A full report of the second meeting is given herewith.
The Committee on Finances concerned with investments met at the Institute on 6 and 7 October 1983.
They were given oral presentations of proposals by representatives from the seven (7) following prospective investment managers:
- Advest, Inc.
- Avatar Associates
- Bankers Trust Company
- Drexel Burnham Lambert
- First Manhattan Co.
- Minis & Co.
- A. R. Schmeidler & Co.
Each oral presentation took 45 minutes and was followed by a 15-minutes period of questions and answers...
They then reviewed the investment objectives of the Institute and spent considerable time reviewing the various proposals.
The Committee submits the following recommendation for approval by the Executive Committee and Governing Board:
MOVED that the short-term investments of the Institute be invested with the following investment managers in the amounts indicated:
| Avatar Associates | $2,000,000 |
| First Manhattan Co. | 1,000,000 |
| Drexel Burnham Lambert | 200,000 |
Also that $800,000 be invested in no-load mutual funds to be selected and monitored by the Committee on Finances (Investments) and the Treasurer of the Institute.
Respectfully submitted by the Committee on Finances (Investments).
The Committee recommended that available funds be pooled before the distribution, but that a strict account be kept of the percentage originating from each source. Performance of the funds will be reviewed quarterly, and in some cases monthly. A report will be given at every Executive Committee meeting.
On the basis of previous actions of the Governing Board, the following motion was made by Wilson, seconded by Lazarus, and unanimously carried by a show of hands (Wright was absent during the voting):
MOVED that the Executive Committee recommend approval of the following recommendations of the Committee on Finances:
That the short-term investments of the Institute be invested with the following investment managers in the amounts indicated:
| Avatar Associates | $2,000,000 |
| First Manhattan Co. | 1,000,000 |
| Drexel Burnham Lambert | 200,000 |
$800,000 is to be invested in no-load mutual funds to be selected and monitored by the Committee on Finances (Investments) and the Treasurer of the Institute.
4. Review of Action Items on Governing Board Agenda
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Item 7.C.i. Implementation of Educational Services Development Plan
Slack said he will bring to the Governing Board a recommendation to establish a committee on education policy. All Member Societies will be represented on this committee. New items to be considered for next year are recommendations for a new staff person for Manpower Statistics (starting in July 1984) and an additional historian for the History Division's budget (starting in January 1984).
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Item 7.C.ii. Formation of Policy Committee on Educational Services
Koch noted that the Institute has many educational services but no channels for Executive Committee decisions on priorities or surveying these as a package. The establishment of this committee would be a step forward. He noted that no real way to charge for educational services exists at present. Changes in the Memorandum of Agreement will be appropriate to establish how these are to be charged.
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Item 7.C.v. Issuance of Public Statements
Koch said that a statement regarding public statements had been drafted and that Geballe will discuss this at the Governing Board meeting.
Marshak suggested that if a Member Society issues a statement, AIP might consider issuing it also, since more resolutions on the same topic carry more weight. Burton added that any Society that has a statement could send it to the other Societies.
Ramsey felt that the CPP could handle such a matter fairly quickly, and noted that it is made up of Member Society representatives.
Burton said that in APS, the general sentiment from a recent meeting was that it was better for the president of the Society to issue statements, with Council issuing statements very infrequently. Ramsey thought that the inverse would be true for Governing Board statements.
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Item 8.C.i. Recommendation to Expand Publication Board
Marks noted that the Executive Committee had previously authorized recommending to the Governing Board that editors of all journals be invited to attend as regular participants of the Publication Board, a qualification necessary until the entire Memorandum of Agreement is considered for revision.
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Item 10.C.ii. Audit Committee Recommendations
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Appointment of Auditors for 1983
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Proposal to Change Fiscal Year
Gilbert said the report was routine, with the exception of one item: the recommendation to change the AIP year to a 1 July-30 June fiscal year, but the Committee thought this should wait until the computerization of accounting is completed.
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Statement of Revenue and Expense for Six Months Ended 30 June 1983
Gilbert distributed copies of the Statement of Revenue and Expense for Six Months Ended 30 June 1983 (attached herewith). He said it is a very favorable report and is close to the original budget. In the publishing operations, the Soviet publishing program was behind schedule in June, and reporting can only be on mailed issues. The page charges were doing well. Member Society contributions are listed here as 0; however, since 30 June, $39,500 has been received from APS and AAS.
Lazarus said that APS at their next Council meeting will recommend lowering page charges. Marks said this would also be considered by AIP for the 1984 budget.
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Item 10.C.iii. Recommendations of Committee on Fiscal Policy
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Society Payments
Gilbert reported that the Committee had discussed Society payments to AIP. Because of late Society payments, AIP is, in fact, financing Society operations. Since the recommendation that Societies pay their bills promptly was made in August, the Society treasurers are complying.
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Short-term Interest Payments
Regarding short-term interest payments to Societies, the cost of paying interest on small sums is very high, as it is now computed manually. The IOP has told AIP not to pay interest on sums under $50,000. The Committee recommends switching to electronic calculation of interest payments, as soon as it becomes feasible. In the interim, they recommend using an average monthly rate, with a minimum threshold of $50,000.
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H. Item 10.C.iv. Report of Committee on Finances
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Role of Committee
Koch noted that the Committee will only make recommendations, not the final decisions.
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Investment Recommendation
Gilbert pointed out that the previous action of the Governing Board was for both the Executive Committee and the Governing Board to approve investment decisions. Ramsey said that it would be advisable for the Governing Board to delegate this approval to the Executive Committee.
The following motion was made by Beyer, seconded by Burton, and unanimously carried.
MOVED that it be recommended to the Governing Board that they delegate to the Executive Committee responsibility for making investment decisions on the basis of the recommendations of the Committee on Finances.
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Item 10.C.vi. Gemant Bequest — Sale of Residence
Slack gave a progress report on the Gemant estate. Actions on the estate are made on the advice of the Institute. Burton thought that the Governing Board should delegate to the Executive Committee the power to authorize sale of the house.
Gilbert said this is a first for the Institute, and wondered if the Executive Committee would delegate this authority to Management, since the matter might need to be settled quickly.
On the suggestion of Ramsey, Madey moved, Lazarus seconded, and the Executive Committee unanimously carried the following motion:
MOVED that unless the Governing Board should disapprove, Management would be authorized to act on selling of the Gemant house.
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Item 12. Applications for Affiliated Society Status
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Engineering Information Inc.
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SPIE
Koch said that both of these societies had previously been approved by the Executive Committee for recommendation to the Governing Board.
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5. Additional Discussion Items
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Seybold Report on Electronic Communication
Koch said that an internal task force had studied the electronic needs of the Institute. The Seybold firm was then hired to do a study; two staff members spent two days at AIP and prepared their report (contained in the Governing Board agenda). Management wants to minimize investments in this area in the next few months in order to spend money wisely. They think it is not appropriate to propose a plan that would be completed by next summer. The Seybold Report shows that both hardware and software are becoming more flexible and that a delay of a few months may be advantageous. He noted that AIP is now experimenting with a Personal Computer that will emulate a Data General terminal.
Koch said that several Radio Shack portable terminals were purchased recently for Management, who are experimenting with them.
Grant said that there should be a proposal built into the budget for these items.
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Photocopying and Copyright Developments
Koch said that he continues to bring copyright statements to the Executive Committee because it is a very important principle as we move into computer developments. More income is now derived from computer services, and it is essential that we protect the investments that are the base of our operations.
The NFAIS committee of which he is a member is working on a statement that will attempt to satisfy both primary and secondary publishers. With a composite tape, it is vital to have a common copyright statement.
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Relations with FIZ and INSTI
Koch distributed a 7 October 1983 press release from Chemical Abstracts Service which reviews the background and agreement between CAS and FIZ. This is important to follow because we have a stake in FIZ. He thinks that this not-for-profit network will become popular; INSTI has low operating costs which will be passed on to the consumers. Marks noted that heretofore Chem Abstracts has not had abstracts, but titles only. With INSTI, they will now put abstracts online for the new titles.
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Bequests and Philanthropic Donations
Koch noted Governing Board Attachment N, which contained the exchange of letters between Sung Hi Rhee and Koch, letter to Rhee from Ramsey, and a memo from Gilbert on his past experience with bequests and philanthropic donations. There has not yet been a response to Ramsey's 16 September letter.
Gilbert said that any letter proposing a philanthropic donation is taken seriously; he assumes a positive attitude and spends considerable time on this sort of thing, but so far there have been no results.
Marshak suggested that it is sometimes helpful to enter the discussions directly in addition to going through attorneys, as they tend to delay matters. Ramsey agreed that it would be appropriate for him to follow up on his letter in the next few weeks if we did not hear otherwise.
6. Report on Moscow Book Fair
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Relations with Soviet Agencies and Editors
Koch said that the Institute has sent two representatives to this biennial fair since its inception, because of our sizeable investment in the Soviet translation journals. This year Lerner and Gilbert attended.
Gilbert gave a report of the fair. It gives an opportunity to meet with the Russian editors and people who handle our contracts. While there, he and Lerner took book translation options on several books relative to our new book publishing program.
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Compliance with Agreement
Marks said that an additional reason for attending the fair is to remind the Soviets that we have a formal agreement and to see if there are new journals we want to add to our publishing program. They have recently given one journal to another publisher. As our contract calls for first option, we have filed a complaint to re-establish our position, although this particular journal may not be one that we would have wanted to publish.
7. Appointment of Task Force on AIP-Society Development Plan
Koch said this task force met for discussion prior to the Executive Committee. The purpose is to look with a broad perspective at relations between AIP and the Member Societies. This is important to work in the educational services area. We need to look at the Memorandum of Agreement, the Constitution, and the committee structure.
Ramsey felt there should be as many members on this task force representing the Societies as from AIP. One additional name proposed was Wright.
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“Possible International Roles for Scientific Societies” — R. Marshak
Marshak had just returned from a trip to China, made with Joseph L. Birman, chairman of the committee on the Chinese-American Cooperative Basic Research Program. They have signed an agreement to take 15-30 senior scholars in atomic and molecular physics for a one-year period. The students will be paid $12,000, to be partially paid for by grants. One requirement is that there be regular meetings of the students involved, so that they can more effectively develop programs when they return. Every host professor may go to China for one month, all expenses paid, which will be helpful to China's developing research programs.
Marshak thought that the help of AIP in some areas would be useful. One area he suggested would be that of servicing of equipment. Perhaps contacts with manufacturers can provide some help with this problem. Chinese research would welcome having some of our obsolete equipment. AIP might be in a better position than APS to pull this sort of thing together. Another area of potential help is in supplying back numbers of journals to fill in gaps resulting from the Cultural Revolution.
There is also interest in Latin America. As a result of a Symposium on Pan-American Collaboration in Brazil in the summer of 1983, which APS representatives attended, $375,000 is being provided next year by the NSF (at the initiation of APS) to assist Brazilian physicists.
He noted that U.S. universities have 350,000 foreign students. 3,000 members of APS recently expressed an interest (on their dues form) in international activities. The International Physics Group is being formed as a result of these responses. A meeting, chaired by Leo Falicov, will be held in November to develop a set of policy guidelines for this group. Marshak invited Koch to attend to see if there are implications for AIP.
The International Conference on the Development of Physics will be held in October 1984 in Trieste in conjunction with the IUPAP meeting; it will cover all aspects of how the physicists in the developing world can be helped. APS feels it is important to get a broad discussion of this. They will send delegates, and AIP may want to be part of their delegation.
Madey commended the APS for these efforts. He noted that IUVSTA (an international body of vacuum associations) is helping to assist countries in this.
Wright concurred in the need for assistance. She described equipment she had seen in Tanzania which could not be used because of missing parts. She thought that AIP might help in ancillary areas.
Grant mentioned other possibilities which had occurred to him as a result of his China trip last year. Perhaps workshops or short courses could be planned to coincide with visits of Chinese physicists to this country. He has encouraged AAPT to look into these possibilities.
8. Appointment of Committee to Review Journal of Mathematical Physics
Koch said that six years ago AIP started a review of the archival journals. JMP is the only one which has not yet been reviewed. He has asked for recommendations for committee members; Larry Biedenhorn will be Chairman.
9. Report on Journal Inventories at Lancaster Press
Marks noted the report by Parisi on journal inventories; everything in this report refers to pre-1979 publications. There are presently over 3 million copies in warehouses in Lancaster; he thinks the inventory should be reduced by two-thirds.
Burton advanced the idea that it would be a good time to make these journals in the surplus inventory available to developing countries and to minority institutions, with the understanding that the recipient pays the freight. Marshak suggested considering less wealthy European countries as recipients as well.
The following motion was made by Wilson and seconded by Madey, who noted that it should be specified that this is a one-time offer. The motion was unanimously carried.
MOVED that AIP make available pre-1979 AIP-owned journals (as available in inventory) for developing countries and minority institutions, with the recipients to pay freight costs.
Marks said that it would be appropriate for Society representatives to go back to their Societies to see if they concur in this plan for their journals. AIP will give exact counts of journals to the Societies. Marks suggested providing more detailed information to the Committee on Publishing Policy for their next meeting; it could then go to the Executive Committee in December.
10. Allocation of SPIN Costs in Audit Report
Marks distributed a handout showing the schedule of revenue and expense for secondary and other publishing services from the audit report for 1982, with explanations of the schedules. This schedule was greatly simplified for the auditors. He reviewed the details. The audit statement does not include the Physics Briefs tape. Overall, AIP and the Member Societies are benefiting, although the audit report does not show it. There is no easy way to prorate costs of this sort in a large, complicated organization. AIP's budget expense would be reduced by $165,000 if we eliminated these programs, but the income would then be reduced by $335,000; i.e., the essential overhead will not go away.
In response to Wilson's question, Marks said if we try to recover full costs, we would lose the contracts. For these contracts, one has to go to the government with audited costs and justify the price, and it would not be possible to make them pay the total cost. These contracts are bearing part of the production costs; they are cost-effective and are assisting in disseminating physics information.
11. Other Business
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Optional Supplementary Retirement Plan
Gilbert distributed a handout giving the details of the proposed plan, which is another step in improving AIP's employee benefit program. We now have a supplementary retirement annuity plan with TIAA-CREF. An additional plan had been requested by a number of employees, so the Management Committee recently met with several organizations and reviewed proposals. They felt that the 401(k) plan of the Connecticut General Insurance Co. was the best; the company, founded in 1953, has an excellent record. All contributions would be by the employee only, with no AIP contributions.
The following motion was made by Burton, seconded by Wright, and unanimously carried.
MOVED that the Treasurer be authorized to establish a 401(k) voluntary tax-advantaged investment plan with Connecticut General Insurance Co. for Institute employees.
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Electronic Mail
Ramsey noted that several electronic mail systems are being discussed and tried, and felt that it would be best to decide on a single system to be used generally by AIP and by the Member Societies.
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Physics Today Ad Rates for 1984
The rate card for 1983 and a memo giving proposed 1984 rates were distributed. Marks said the increase is 7% for PT. Rates for the Buyer's Guide are 23% higher than for regular issues of PT, as this will have a much longer life.
The following motion was made by Madey, seconded by Lazarus, and unanimously carried.
MOVED that the advertising rates for Physics Today and the Buyer's Guide for 1984 be set at the rates given in the 14 October 1983 memo from E. P. Greeley to R. H. Marks.
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Scheduling of Woods Hole Meeting
Preference was stated for holding the meeting on the weekend following Labor Day. It was decided to hold the meeting on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (6-8 September 1984).
12. Executive Session
The staff was excused for the executive sessions at 4:30. This is reported in the official minutes only.
13. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned, following the Executive Session, at 5:35 p.m.