Executive Committee of the American Institute of Physics
Minutes of Meeting
Members Present: Ralph A. Sawyer – Chairman, Stanley S. Ballard, Ronald Geballe, W. W. Havens, Jr., R. B. Lindsay, Robert G. Sachs, Mary E. Warga, H. W. Koch
AIP Staff Present: H. W. Koch, Wallace Waterfall, G. F. Gilbert, Lewis Slack, Mary M. Johnson
Chairman Sawyer called the meeting to order at 3:05 p.m.
1. Minutes
At the June 11 meeting of the Executive Committee, recommendations to increase subscription prices of various AIP-owned journals were made, including a recommendation that PHYSICS TODAY prices be raised from $2.00 to $3.50 for members and from $4.00 to $7.00 for non-members. Mention is made in the minutes of the discussion of the PT price increase but it was not covered specifically in the action taken. The Secretary suggested that the June 11 minutes should be clarified by adding the following sentence to Paragraph 2 on Page 4: “It was proposed that the member subscription price of PT be raised to $3.50 and the non-member price to $7.00.” Upon motion made, seconded, and carried without dissent the minutes of the meeting of June 11, 1969, were approved with the above addition.
2. Confirmation of July 15, 1969 Mail Ballot
By memorandum dated July 15, 1969, (copy attached) two proposals were submitted to members of the Executive Committee for a vote by mail. The Secretary reported that all Committee members had approved the first proposal. All but one had approved the second proposal and he had abstained on the basis that he did not have sufficient information. After brief discussion a motion was made and passed without dissent ratifying the results of the mail ballot.
3. Financial Matters
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Statement for First Quarter 1969
Mr. Gilbert said that the financial statement for the first quarter of 1969 had been mailed to all Governing Board members on September 8. The statement showed a net income for the period of $8,036. Since preparing the statement Mr. Gilbert said he had learned that the Conference on Magnetism and Magnetic Materials is going to contribute $10,000 toward the publication expenses of the Conference Proceedings which were published as a supplement to the March 1969 issue of the JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS. This contribution will have the net effect of increasing our net income for the first quarter of 1969 to $18,036. Copies of the March 31, 1969, financial statement and Mr. Gilbert’s covering letter of September 8 are enclosed for those who should have them.
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Financial Projection to December 31, 1969
Mr. Gilbert distributed copies of his projection (copy attached). Mr. Gilbert emphasized that a projection for the year based on results of the first quarter is hazardous but there appears to be no reason for concern at this time.
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Leasing of Safe Deposit Box at Bankers Trust Company
Mr. Gilbert pointed out that the Institute had maintained a Custodian Account at Bankers Trust Company for a number of years at an annual cost of $50. The only thing in the account at the present time is a $1,000 U.S. Treasury Note belonging to the Society of Rheology. There is no longer any need for the Custodian Account and the best solution seems to be to rent a safe deposit box for $8.00 per year to hold the Treasury Note. The Society of Rheology has asked the Institute to rent the box and has agreed to pay for the rental. Bankers Trust Company requires Executive Committee authorization to rent the box and, on motion made, seconded, and passed without dissent, the authorization was granted.
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New NSF Indirect Cost Rate
Current NSF regulations require that AIP submit an indirect cost rate proposal annually based on audited figures for the preceding year. Mr. Gilbert said that a proposal had been submitted and that a new overhead rate of 18.18% of total direct costs less capital items, major subcontracts, occupancy costs, and participant support costs had been granted. In addition, indirect costs are allowed on major subcontracts at 1% of subcontract costs. This new rate will be applied to all new grant awards made by NSF. Our previous rate was 15.84%.
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Filing of IRS Form 990-T with Disclaimer
The IRS requires exempt organizations to file a Federal tax return form 990-T with respect to gross income of $1,000 or more derived from an unrelated business. IRS contends that income from advertising in journals such as ours is unrelated business income. Mr. Gilbert said that, on advice received from our legal counsel and our independent accountants, we filed a form 990-T for the Institute covering the calendar year 1968 showing no tax due. We annexed a disclaimer stating that we maintain our advertising revenue does not constitute an unrelated business and are filing the return merely to comply with current filing requirements.
4. Rental of Space at 300 East 42 Street
At the time of the June 11 meeting of the Executive Committee it seemed probable that we might have to take quick action on rental of additional space for the Editorial Section. Accordingly, the Executive Committee authorized the Property Committee to rent up to 5,000 square feet of space if suitable space could be found. The Property Committee subsequently exercised its authority in renting 3,000 square feet of office space in the Honeywell Building on Second Avenue and 42 Street at a rental cost of $36,000 per year. The lease runs from August 1, 1969, to April 30, 1971. We chose the April 1971 expiration date because that is about the time our lease in the Commerce Building expires and be then we hope to be able to rent a larger space which will accommodate the entire Editorial Mechanics Section. The Honeywell space is already occupied by the PHYSICAL REVIEW group of the Editorial Mechanics Section.
The Secretary reported that office space in Manhattan is very tight and the prices are unusually high at the present time. There are many new office buildings under construction and the newspapers report that, between now and the end of 1972, approximately 57 million square feet will be ready for occupancy. This is more than was built since the end of World War II. On the basis of these facts we have been encouraged to believe that we will be able to rent more advantageously during 1971.
A motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissent approving the action taken by the Property Committee in renting space in the Honeywell Building.
5. Abstract Charge and Article Charge
Beginning in 1962, with the approval of the Societies, the Institute started collecting $10 per article on most articles on which the publication charge was paid in both AIP and Society journals. The money so collected was used to subsidize member subscriptions to PHYSICS ABSTRACTS and the charge became known as an “Abstract Charge.” The number of subsidized subscriptions declined year by year and continuation of the subsidy was questionable. With concurrence of the Societies, the Executive Committee, at its meeting on February 4, 1969, voted to discontinue subsidizing member subscriptions to PHYSICS ABSTRACTS after the 1969 calendar year. No action was taken at that time to discontinue the collection of the abstract charge because it appeared that the funds so collected might be needed by the Institute in connection with its Information Program or by the Societies in connection with some of their publishing activities. At the March 22, 1969, meeting of the Governing Board there was further discussion about continuation of the $10 per article charge and, at the June 11 Executive Committee meeting, the Chairman was authorized to appoint and did appoint a Subcommittee to Study the Concept of an “Article Charge” to replace the abstract charge.
The Director reported that the Subcommittee had met on August 6 and, after considerable discussion, had concluded that the abstract charge should be discontinued and that we should also give no further consideration to an article charge at the present time. In discussing the Subcommittee’s report the Director mentioned that the Institute may eventually find it necessary to make some sort of a charge per article in connection with the physics Information Program but we do not yet know what that charge should be. Mr. Havens pointed out that the Societies have indexing and other costs in connections with their publications which are based on the number of articles rather than the number of pages and that continuation of some kind of charge per article might be justified. On the other hand, he said it was not yet clear that there should be such a charge, what it should cover, and how much the charge should be. After further brief discussion the following motions were made, seconded, and passed without dissent:
MOVED that collection of an abstract charge for AIP-owned journals be discontinued after the current calendar year and that the idea of replacing the “Abstract Charge” with an “Article Charge” be dropped for the time being.
MOVED, furthermore, that it be recommended to the Societies for which AIP publishes journals that they authorize discontinuation of the abstract charge in their journals after the current calendar year.
6. Report from Subcommittee to Study Publication of Conference Proceedings in AIP Journals
For several years questions have been raised periodically about the wisdom of publishing conference proceedings in AIP-owned journals. In discussing the 1969 AIP budget at the June 11 meeting Mr. Havens called attention to the fact that publishing papers from the Magnetism and Superconductivity Conferences in JAP actually represented an expense to the Institute. As a result of the discussion a motion was passed authorizing the Chairman to appoint a Subcommittee to Study the Publication of Conference Proceedings in AIP Journals. A subcommittee consisting of Messrs. Havens, Ballard, and Lindsay was appointed.
Mr. Havens said his subcommittee did not favor supplements to AIP journals as a means for publishing the proceedings of conferences. Instead, it was suggested that the Institute develop a series of publications entitled, “Conference Proceedings in Physics.” The issues would come out at irregular intervals, there would be no subscription list, and each issue would be financed individually by an understanding with the management of the conference that the issue would be subsidized by the conference in such a way that AIP would lose nothing. Mr. Havens said he believed that many libraries would place blanket orders and he believed that we would be able to sell about 1,500 copies of each issue. The Societies would, of course, be free to adopt any policy they wished with respect to their own publications but the subcommittee hoped that they would urge conference managements to publish as a part of the AIP series.
After some further discussion the following motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissent:
MOVED that the report of the Subcommittee be accepted and that the AIP staff develop a detailed plan for issuing a series of publications called, “Conference Proceedings in Physics” in line with the recommendation of the Subcommittee.
7. Translation Journal Inventory
The Secretary recalled that, at the June 11 meeting of the Executive Committee, the Committee had endorsed the position of the staff in refusing to pay the $149,000 net income from the sale of back numbers between June 30, 1964, and December 31, 1967. We had previously told NSF that we believed the production cost of the June 30, 1964, inventory to be approximately $53,000 and we had agreed to negotiate on the basis of that cost but NSF had refused. The Secretary reported that he, the Board Chairman, and the Director had gone to Washington on July 9 to visit Mr. Rosenthal and make it clear to him that AIP had no intention of paying the $149,000 but would still be willing to negotiate on the basis of the inventory cost. We left Washington with a promise from Mr. Rosenthal that he would discuss the matter with NSF officials. The next contact was when Mr. Rosenthal visited us in New York on September 24. At that meeting he indicated a willingness to negotiate. After much discussion it became clear that $53,000 was the lowest figure which NSF would consider and we made it clear that that was the highest figure we would consider. Each party agreed to check with his principals to see whether that figure would be acceptable as a settlement. Mr. Rosenthal called the Director on September 26 and said that NSF would accept the $53,000. The staff now recommends to the Executive Committee that we offer NSF $53,000 in settlement of the translation journal inventory with the understanding that such payment will give AIP a clean bill of health for the period prior to December 31, 1966, which was covered by the recent NSF audit.
The following motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissent:
MOVED that the AIP staff be authorized to offer NSF $53,000 in settlement of the translation journal inventory matter as described above.
8. Corporate Associates
The Secretary reported that $500 had been received from the Heliodyne Corporation for corporate Associate dues for 1969 and that $500 had been received from the International Nickel Company for dues for 1970. On motion made, seconded, and passed without dissent, the Heliodyne Corporation and the International Nickel Company were elected Corporate Associates.
9. Appointments
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Management Committee
The Director said he had been having once-a-week meetings of a group consisting of himself, Messrs. Gilbert, Slack, and Waterfall, and Miss Dorothy Lasky, to discuss various management problems. He said he found these meetings very helpful and would like to establish this committee as a formal committee of the Institute. The Executive Committee agreed.
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Editorial Boards
The Director reported that he had requested the editors to make recommendations regarding editorial boards of the various journals but, so far, had received recommendations only from the editor of THE JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS. The Director requested and was granted authority to make editorial board appointments as recommendations are received from the editors.
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Committee to Nominate Candidates for K. T. Compton Award
The Director pointed out that the four K. T. Compton Awards had been made at three or four-year intervals, the last one to Alan T. Waterman in 1967. He suggested it might be desirable to appoint a committee to start considering possible candidates for the next award. It was moved, seconded, and passed without dissent that the Chairman should establish such a committee.
10. Service Charges to Member Societies
The Director recalled that, at the June 11 meeting and previously, the possibility of charging the Societies for some of the services we now furnish free had been discussed. He had indicated his intention of bringing the matter up at the Assembly of Society Officers on October 1 and the Executive Committee had asked that the proposals be discussed with the Committee before being presented to the Society Officers.
The Director said he intended to propose that the Societies pay for out-of-pocket expenses of the Institute in manning press rooms and placement registers at Society meetings. Placement registers have been held only at the joint APS-AAPT meeting in New York or Chicago and at the APS meeting in Washington. Those two Societies get the greatest benefit from such placement registers and it seems only logical that they should bear the out-of-pocket expense of the Institute in operating that part of the Placement Service. The budget of the Public Relations Division is not adequate to allow the Division to send staff to man press rooms at all meetings of all Societies. The policy has been to pick a few of the larger meetings in New York City or nearby so that travel expenses could be held to a minimum.
It appeared to be the consensus of Committee members that the geographical location of a meeting should not be the determining factor in deciding the services to be performed there by AIP and also that the Societies should be willing to pay for out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the Institute in providing such services. It was agreed that the Director should present the subject at the Assembly of Society Officers.
11. Review of Governing Board Agenda and Assembly Program
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Application for Affiliation from The American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Inc.
The Secretary pointed out that this Society had first approached the Institute about affiliate membership in August 1965 and we told them at that time that we were trying to clarify criteria for various classes of membership. In continued correspondence we told them in July 1968 that we were revising our by-laws. Up to that time we had not received a formal application from them but we did receive such an application in August of this year and along with that application they sent full information about their Society. The predecessor of their Society was organized in 1941, the Society now has 5,300 members and it is a 501(c)(6) organization. A spot check of their membership list would indicate that not more than 2 or 3% of their members are members of AIP Member Societies. Their Society has not yet requested AIP to perform any services for it but our experience has been that affiliates frequently request such services and their status as a 501(c)(6) organization makes it questionable whether we could perform services for them without jeopardizing our tax position.
After some discussion among members of the Executive Committee it was agreed that there does not seem to be enough community of interest between The American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Inc., and AIP to justify our accepting them as an Affiliated Society of AIP. It was agreed that should be the recommendation of the Executive Committee to the Governing Board.
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Future Meetings
The following dates were agreed upon for future meetings:
Executive Committee Friday, December 19, 1969 Executive Committee Wednesday, January 28, 1970 (breakfast–Palmer House) Executive Committee Friday, March 20, 1970 Annual Meeting Saturday, March 21, 1970 (9:30–10:00 a.m.) Governing Board Saturday, March 21, 1970 (beginning at 10:00 a.m.)
12. Other Business
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COMPAS
Mr. Slack recalled that, at the December meeting of the Executive Committee, COMPAS had been requested to prepare a proposed policy statement on non-technical involvements of AIP. Mr. Slack passed out copies of a draft of such a policy statement with the suggestion that Executive Committee members read it and come prepared to discuss it at the next meeting of the Committee.
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American Physicists Association
Mr. Geballe called attention to the formation of a new organization known as the American Physicists Association. The by-laws of that organization make it clear that their purpose is to promote the welfare of physicists rather than the welfare of physics. It was pointed out that AIP could not undertake such activities on a large scale under its present charter.
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Subscription Agency Discounts
The Secretary pointed out we have recently had a deluge of complaints from subscription agencies about the small discounts we allow them on subscriptions. There is not yet any evidence that we are losing subscriptions because of our tough policy but we may sooner or later have to examine the subject again.
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Salaries of Officers
The Director asked Messrs. Gilbert and Slack to leave the room and then discussed their salaries. The following motion was then made, seconded, and passed without dissent:
MOVED that Messrs. Gilbert’s and Slack’s annual compensation be increased from $25,000 to $27,500 per year, effective October 1, 1969.
The Chairman called attention to the fact that the Director had been with AIP about three years without a salary change and suggested that it might be well to appoint a small committee to consider it. By motion made, seconded, and carried without dissent, the Chairman was authorized to appoint such a committee.
13. Adjournment
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:20 p.m.