September 8-11, 1976

Executive Committee of the American Institute of Physics

Minutes of Meeting

The extended summer meeting of the AIP Executive Committee, held at Woods Hole during September 8-11, 1976, was divided into six sessions starting at about 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 8, and ending at about 11:15 a.m. on Saturday, September 11; as follows:

Session A – September 8, 4:10-5:15 p.m. at the Sheraton Inn, Falmouth, Mass., followed by a reception and dinner

Session B – September 9, 8:40-11:30 a.m. at the National Academy of Science’s Houston House, Woods Hole, Mass.

Session C – September 9, 1:00-5:10 p.m. at Houston House

Session D – September 10, 8:40-11:35 a.m. at Houston House

Session E – September 10, 7:20-9:40 p.m. at the Sheraton Inn

Session F – September 11, 8:45-11:15 a.m. at Houston House

The following were present for all sessions unless otherwise noted:

Executive Committee Members: Philip M. Morse, Chairman, William A. Fowler, W. W. Havens, Jr., H. William Koch, Sidney Millman, Melba Phillips, Jarus W. Quinn

Absent: Robert T. Beyer, Laurence W. Fredrick

Nonvoting Participants: F. K. Edmondson (AAS) substituting for Fredrick – present at Sessions A, B, C, D; Jacques Ovadia (AAPM) – present at Sessions B, C, D, E; J. E. Goldman (MAL) – present at Sessions D, E, F; Martin Greenspan (ASA) substituting for Beyer

Invited to report on activities of the Building Plans Committee: H. Richard Crane, Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on Building Plans of AIP – present at Sessions E, F

AIP Staff Present: H. William Koch, Director; Sidney Millman, Secretary; G. F. Gilbert, Treasurer; Lewis Slack, Assoc. Dir. for Gen. Activities; Robert H. Marks, Assoc. Dir. for Publishing; Dorothy M. Lasky, Asst. to the Director; Mary M. Johnson, Asst. to the Secretary

Session A

Introduction and Review of Agenda

Morse opened this session by noting that, in addition to discussing very leisurely the agenda items planned for this extended summer meeting, it might be well also to examine the principal recommendations contained in the report of the Long-Range Planning Committee to see to what extent they are applicable at the present time.

Koch, in his introductory comments, referred to his document, previously distributed, stating the purpose of this meeting to examine in some depth ways and means of effecting substantial improvement of AIP services to Member Societies. He specifically mentioned three services:

1. Industrial Placement of Physicists
2. Management Services to Societies
3. Consolidation and Computerization of Publishing Services

The first is related to our AIP Placement Service. AIP has been searching for a replacement for R. W. Sears for at least six months. He wanted to be sure that AIP is closely coupled with APS. He would like to explore a joint APS-AIP activity and have an active committee during the formative period of whatever program AIP develops. APS feels it has a particular need to help its members find jobs in industry and Koch felt that AIP should be importantly coupled with the APS people involved in this activity.

Havens noted that the matter of finding more jobs for physicists has been discussed in various APS committees. The problem is that there are not enough jobs in the other sciences as well. The physics community has been dependent on the Government and this source has been declining. Several members of the APS Ad Hoc Committee on Industrial Relations are going to visit industrial companies and discuss with the personnel managers various suggestions for making smaller industrial companies more aware of physicists and their potentialities. He noted also that there has been some criticism of the mechanics of the AIP Placement Service conducted at Society meetings. Maybe it should be run with private interview rooms. There are other suggestions for improving the individual components of the manpower and placement services, but there are essentially no new good ideas. What we are looking for are new mechanisms. ACS has surveyed the newspapers and collected Xerox copies of the ads from "N" papers, put them into one journal, and distributed it to all unemployed chemists. APS has suggested that AIP adapt this technique to its needs and run it as an experiment for some number of months for all the Member Societies. He also noted that the APS Committee on Applications of Physics tried to get some statistics on the potential for industrial jobs but they were completely unsuccessful.

Morse emphasized the need for getting someone to take Sears’s place who has close contact with the industrial laboratories. It is important to get the faculty people reacquainted with the needs of industrial labs. Koch wondered whether such a person would also help to identify qualified physicists for top executive positions in Government.

Quinn stated that the Optical Society has had numerous approaches from organizations that want to hire physicists specializing in optics. His feeling is that all these people ought to be directed to a more responsive Placement Service at AIP. He was not enthusiastic about an AIP-APS joint committee. Fowler agreed with Quinn.

In the discussion which followed, a consensus emerged that such an advisory committee should be an AIP committee with several Societies represented. This would not preclude APS’ appropriating extra funds for a particular manpower placement activity it wants to promote.

Koch commented next on the second of the services AIP provides, and that is, management services for Societies. He wondered why AIP cannot compete favorably with Smith Bucklin & Associates Inc., which AAPM uses for administrative services. He mentioned also the problems encountered in the arrangement of Society-sponsored meetings. He raised a question as to whether AIP should hire a person whose function would be to assist in providing management services and meeting arrangements, if needed. Greenspan noted that many Societies have volunteer[ed] help to arrange meetings. Arrangements may not always be perfect; if it is done professionally it might be better but it would be more expensive than a Society would like. Phillips noted that the American Association of Physics Teachers people miss Emily Wolf who was highly knowledgeable and very valuable in making hotel arrangements for Society meetings.

Referring to the AAPM arrangement with Smith Bucklin, Quinn felt that the appeal of such an organization is a structural one. Under that arrangement, AAPM deals only with one person who presumably handles all your problems instead of having to deal with many staff people at AIP.

Referring to the third service area, that is, the consolidation and computerization of publishing services, Koch felt that discussion on that could be deferred since it will be taken up in detail during the sessions to follow.

Session B

1. Minutes

Upon motion made and passed without dissent, the minutes of the June 29, 1976, meeting of the Executive Committee were approved.

2. Status of Computer Installation and Operation

Koch reported that the computer has been installed and is operating satisfactorily in the new computer room. It required six weeks to make physical and electrical connections. All components except two uniscopes were received; they are scheduled for delivery in October or November. There is an excellent chance of producing the next issue of Current Physics Index on the new system. The computerization of Accounting and Subscription Fulfillment should be completed by December.

3. AAPT Proposal on Advertising

Marks called attention to a letter from Clifford Swartz, Editor of The Physics Teacher, and to Koch's correspondence with James Gerhart, Secretary of AAPT, copies of which had previously been distributed. He noted that AAPT already handles the composition of TPT and now proposes to handle the sale of advertising and related billing, scheduling, collection of funds, and contract with the printer. He added that AAPT is, of course, free to do this and that AIP is cooperating by showing the AAPT staff the mechanics of handling advertising production.

Koch stated that, since this constitutes a change in the official contract between AAPT and AIP, it is important to put it in the record. Referring to his correspondence with Gerhart, he noted Gerhart’s statement that AAPT has essentially approved the proposed change although there has been no official action by the AAPT Board. Koch added that AIP is proceeding as if it has had an official request from AAPT for this change. Marks added that AIP is going to proceed on the basis that the changeover will be effective with the January 1977 issue of TPT. We are assisting in the training of their staff.

Phillips stated that the AAPT Publications Committee has recommended this course of action. She added that they believe more advertising can be sold for the kind of audience that TPT has. She displayed a graph which showed a drop of over 50% in TPT advertising in the last few years. She certainly could not argue against this proposed change since the TPT staff seem to be confident that they can handle the additional work and sell more advertising. Morse suggested that it would be well to elicit an official letter from AAPT on this matter. Koch replied that he will request such a letter.

4. OSA Proposal on Advertising

Marks reported that Jarus Quinn has proposed that OSA handle the sale of advertising for Applied Optics; the drop in advertising for that journal has been following pretty much the same trend showed for TPT. Quinn confirmed that OSA has had this drop-off and added that the nearest competition does not seem to fall off like that. His own calculations show that OSA is losing money on the AO advertising. One alternative OSA has considered is to drop advertising altogether but it decided to make one more try.

Marks described the setup of the AIP Advertising Division and noted that it produces an annual income of over one million dollars from advertising and exhibits of which $700,000 is from advertising in Physics Today. He will watch very carefully what happens to the TPT and AO advertising under the new arrangement. If they do better, maybe AIP should take another look at its centralized advertising effort.

Morse remarked that the journals appear to become more specialized. Havens added that this is true of exhibits as well. Fowler suggested that we elicit the same type of letter from OSA ae we are asking from AAPT.

5. Sale of Mailing Lists

Slack reviewed the current practices with respect to the sale of mailing lists, as given in his August 23 memorandum to Koch, copies of which had been distributed previously to members of the Executive Committee. He noted particularly the marked change in the use of mailing lists by AAPM. The number ordered for Society purposes has increased from three for 1974-75 to 18 for 1975-76, sixteen of them since January 1, 1976. On the other hand, the number of orders for commercial lists which AIP has received is about the same as for the previous year.

Havens pointed out that the capacity to generate these lists is made possible by the computer and this is the basis for the policy of crediting the income from the commercial sale of these lists to the Data Processing account, thereby reducing the cost to all Societies.

Gilbert noted that AIP monitors the use of its lists very carefully. Any income from such lists is credited to Data Processing. We will send to any Society Secretary copies of his own Society's list and he can do whatever he wants with them.

Quinn stated that OSA has a cooperating society membership although there is only one such member in this classification. That society runs a lot of meetings and asks for such lists; OSA sells its list to them at the non-profit rate. That society gives OSA its list for nothing. All commercial requests go to AIP. Fowler thought that these transactions, specifying the use to which a Society puts these lists, should be a matter of record. The Executive Committee reaffirmed the policy that these mailing lists should be made available at cost for Society use only.

Havens stated that APS has received requests for its membership list on magnetic tape and he has replied that it is not available. His own feeling is that we should not send out magnetic tapes because of the uncertainty as to the various uses to which it might be put. He thought it might be well to formulate an official policy on this. Certainly, for the present, during the interim transition of moving the computer and establishing our own computer operations, no excess computer programming and production should be done for any outside organizations. Gilbert stated that we do not sell mailing lists on magnetic tape. He suggested that the Committee on Society Services be asked to investigate this matter thoroughly and report to the Executive Committee.

The following motion was made by Havens and passed without dissent:

MOVED that magnetic tapes of Society membership not be made available to any outside organization.

Requests for commercial use directed to any Society should be turned over to AIP.

6. Report of Actions by Publishing Policy Committee

1. Joint Articles in Reviews of Modern Physics and Soviet Physics-Uspekhi

   Marks reported that the Publishing Policy Committee had discussed this issue and had recommended that, in translating Uspekhi, AIP should delete those articles which are Soviet translations of articles that had appeared in RMP. Havens agreed with this recommendation so that selected review articles would not appear in both RMP and the English translation of Uspekhi. He saw no problem with an RMP article appearing also as a Russian translation in Uspekhi. Essentially, APS endorses one publication in each language, as recommended by its Publications Committee.

   Marks pointed out that some subscribers to Uspekhi who are not subscribers to RMP expect to see all significant articles that were in the Russian original translated in the AIP English version of Uspekhi. Havens thought that this might be taken care of by a notation in an issue of the translated Uspekhi to the effect that a certain review article was not translated because it appeared in RMP. Fowler added that it might be well to be on the lookout for possible complaints from Uspekhi subscribers in this respect.

2. Honoraria for Review Articles in Journal of Applied Physics Supplement

   Koch reported that the Publishing Policy Committee recommended that an honorarium of up to $500 be set for review articles in the JAP Supplement, and that no page charges be assessed. He thought that AIP can build this into the finances of the journal for the next year. Havens noted that any overlap with RMP would not be large. He thought the articles have to be examined very carefully to see whether they are in direct competition. Koch was confident that the editors of both journals will cooperate in this respect and see if they can stimulate more review articles over-all.

   The following two motions were introduced by Havens and passed without dissent:

   MOVED that the Executive Committee authorize the payment of honoraria of up to $500 per article for review articles to be published in the JAP Supplement, effective January 1, 1977.

   MOVED that page charges not be assessed on review articles appearing in the JAP Supplement.

3. Journal Masthead Listings

   Koch reviewed the background history of requests by Societies to be listed on AIP journal mastheads starting with APS having its name on the Journal of Applied Physics and Applied Physics Letters mastheads. A trend developed, and now all the Societies want to get into the act. He then read the resolution of the Publishing Policy Committee. He proposed that we consider having the Optical Society of America listed on the masthead of APL for three years, in line with the recommendation of the Publishing Policy Committee.

   The following motion was introduced by Havens and passed without dissent:

   MOVED that the Executive Committee approve the following recommendation of the Publishing Policy Committee with respect to journal masthead listings:

   "Masthead listing of a Member Society on an AIP journal shall be recommended to the AIP Governing Board by the Publishing Policy Committee on application of a Member Society (but not by any division or committee of a society), when an appropriate case has been made to the Publishing Policy Committee. Such masthead listing shall run for a period of three years, renewable subject to review by the Publishing Policy Committee and recommendation of the AIP Governing Board."

   A second motion was introduced by Quinn and also passed without dissent:

   MOVED that the Executive Committee approve the request of the Optical Society of America to be listed on the masthead of APL.

4. Copyright Policy Statement

   Koch reported that the Publishing Policy Committee endorsed the previous action of the AIP Executive Committee to provide Corporate Associates with a free license to photocopy articles in AIP journals in 1977. Havens added that the APS Publications Committee also recommended to Council that APS endorse this policy for its journals.

5. Recommendation to Include AIP and Member Society Journals in National Technical Information Service Reprint Service

   Koch stated that a proposal from William T. Knox, Director of the National Technical Information Service, to include articles from AIP journals in its reprint service was approved by the Publishing Policy Committee. The reprints would be obtained from the British Library Lending Division and AIP would receive a royalty of 50¢ per article regardless of the length of the article. NTIS would sell copies of such articles at a flat rate of $4.00 to $4.50 per article. Since AIP would not be required to furnish any reprints, this would be a source of an additional modest income.

   The following motion was made by Quinn and passed without dissent:

   MOVED that AIP accept the invitation from NTIS to participate in its reprint service under the conditions described above.

   Koch stated that, encouraged by this authorization, he will proceed to contact the Member Societies about the inclusion of their respective journals in this program.

6. Use of Smithsonian Science Information Exchange Magnetic Tape Listings of Research Projects for a Companion Journal to Current Physics Index

   Koch called attention to a letter from Smithsonian Science Information Exchange, copies of which had been distributed previously, proposing to publish a quarterly journal about half the size of CPI. They would use their magnetic tape listings of Federally-funded projects in physics to produce a printed journal of research projects in progress, with an author and subject index at the end of the year, as a companion piece to CPI. The reader would thus be told in advance what kind of research has been funded. They feel there would be a market for it. Whether we should think of this as a joint project, or a marketing arrangement in which they would be completely responsible for production, is not clear at the present time.

   Quinn stated that there already exists a commercial publication that does exactly this in all technical subjects. However, there is so much material in it that one cannot easily find anything one is looking for. Koch asked whether, in view of the lack of enthusiasm for this, we should consider a marketing arrangement only. Greenspan added that, if so, AIP should do it on a trial basis. Havens stated that his recommendation would be to go along with the marketing scheme if SSIE is willing to assume all the risks.

7. Confirmation of Telephone Ballot on Subscription Rates for Soviet Journal of Quantum Electronics

Marks reported that he had received a suggestion from Quinn that AIP make SJQE available at a member price to individual members of AIP Member Societies. The Publishing Policy Committee discussed it and agreed that it would be useful to try it out. He noted that we still do not have 400 subscriptions and the added member circulation should result in greater exposure of this journal, and that would help increase nonmember subscriptions. The nonmember price is $270 and we are talking about a member price of $25. The four members of the Executive Committee that we were able to reach by telephone approved this proposal.

Quinn then introduced the following motion which was passed without dissent:

MOVED that the telephone ballot of the Executive Committee, resulting in approval of the proposal to make the Soviet Journal of Quantum Electronics available at a member price, be confirmed.

8. Informal Discussion re Einstein Papers

Koch reported that a suggestion was made to him by Dr. Otto Nathan, who is one of the three trustees on the Einstein papers project, that AIP regard this project as one of the number of projects at AIP for which we would try to raise money. The amount involved is of the order of $1.5 million over five to ten years. Koch discussed this suggestion with Martin Klein, John Wheeler, Herbert Bailey, and E. R. Piore, and the consensus is that we at AIP should do nothing, certainly for the time being. Wheeler felt that there must be some individual with $1.5 million eager to have his name prominently associated with this project.

9. Report of Actions by AIP Advisory Committees

Phillips stated that, as Chairperson of the Nominating Committee, she needs information about the terms of the various committee members so that her committee would know whose terms expire next March and for whom new nominees have to be supplied. Slack noted that the committees were requested to establish their own terms of office and "statements of purpose" in the initial notification of appointment. Only three have met thus far and supplied to us their statements of purpose. Morse suggested that Millman prepare a letter for Morse’s signature to be sent to the various committee chairmen asking them to designate their members’ terms and advising them that, unless we have heard by the first of December, the Chairman and the Secretary will have to make an arbitrary decision on terms. We should add that there is no reason why a present committee member cannot be appointed for another three-year term. Millman and Phillips agreed to draft appropriate letters for Morse’s signature.

10. Recommendations of Search Committee for a Replacement for R. W. Sears

Koch reported that the subject committee, consisting of John Johnson, A. M. Clogston, and J. F. Ebersole, has been very active during the past six months though not too successful. Of all potential candidates considered by this committee, there is one still in the running. He is a chemist and is scheduled to retire from the Exxon Corporation next December. Another possible candidate is one of the physicists on the APS Ad Hoc Committee on Industrial Relations. He is coming to AIP for a discussion on September 14, and the outcome of that meeting will be reported to the Executive Committee at its next meeting.

Koch noted that during the past months the characteristics of the job have changed, since Manpower Statistics has been separated from Placement. The new man would be strictly in charge of the latter. Havens added that the physicist who is to be interviewed is interested in the job because he thinks it will be a great challenge. He has had a large number of jobs over the time he has been a professional. Havens felt that this job may have to be more clearly defined. If we can find some industrial physicist who is close to retirement, he would be ideally suited.

Havens also thought that a lot more money is going to have to be put into the Placement area than in the past. He noted that Manpower Statistics grew out of the NSF Register project, and thought that this Executive Committee ought to review what the purposes of the Manpower Statistics Division are. Fowler added that there are a lot of people who might ask, "Why are you compiling more statistics when what you should be concentrating more on is finding jobs for physicists." Morse wondered whether we should not first answer the question as to whether there is additional money that can go into this job. Fowler added that, if the new man is to worry also about jobs in academia and how to change the average age there, he is going to need a bigger budget. Havens thought that the most important thing is to get the man. The requirement that it be a full-time job may be too rigid a requirement.

11. Supply of Services to Physics-related Organizations

Koch observed that he can see a greater and greater need for AIP to respond to requests for certain services from organizations outside of the AIP family. We presently market The Institute of Physics (London) journals in North America. We hope to supply tapes to Engineering Index. We talked earlier about possible marketing of the Smithsonian Institution volume if it is produced. The American Mathematical Society would like to have AIP compose pages for their journal when our typesetter gets going. It is advantageous for us to have a typesetter running full time. If we were to acquire a building and have extra space, we would be working with outside organizations in renting the space, and having our building filled would lower the costs to AIP Member Societies. He asked whether members of the Executive Committee saw any danger in AIP’s going into ventures of that sort. Gilbert felt that we would have no problem if we perform services for or rent space to other 50l(c)(3) organizations that are closely related to the discipline of physics. There were no objections.

12. Professional Liability Insurance

Gilbert called attention to a specimen policy and related documents on this subject, which were distributed previously, and discussed the terms of the proposed insurance policy and the resulting savings in having an all-inclusive policy. A letter giving the premium and coverage in summary form is attached as Exhibit A. Gilbert stated that the Executive Committee must decide whether or not the peace of mind one buys with such a policy is worth the cost of about $5,000 per year.

The following motion was proposed by Quinn, seconded by Havens, and passed without dissent:

MOVED that AIP take an appropriate Professional Liability Insurance policy at an annual premium of about $5,000.

13. Correspondence with Merriman of The Institution of Electrical Engineers

Koch referred to recent correspondence between Morse and Merriman of IEE, and the letters from E. L. Brady to Morse and Barlow, all leading up to the advisability of Morse’s and Koch's taking a trip to London, as now scheduled for the second week in October. Fowler expressed the hope that this trip will finally bring negotiations with IEE to a successful conclusion.

On a related matter, Marks informed the Executive Committee that the ERDA contract for Nuclear Science Abstracts will be extended for another 18 months. This should result in about $100,000 in income for AIP.

14. Election of Reynolds Metals Company as a Corporate Associate

Lasky reported that Reynolds Metals Company has applied for membership as a Corporate Associate at the rate of $250. They had three physicists as of 1973. Upon a motion that was passed, Reynolds Metals Company was elected a Corporate Associate of the Institute.

Session C

Financing of AIP

1. Deficit Operation of Physics Today; AIP Share of Cost of Member Address List

Havens, discussion leader for this topic, called attention to a document giving relevant budget excerpts prepared by Gilbert, and opened the discussion by examining that document. He expressed his view that Physics Today is a very valuable magazine to the physics community. It is also useful as an "advertising" medium for physics by sending copies to Congress and to the Press. Referring to the 1976 budget page in Income and Expense for PT, he noted that the projected deficit of about $100,000 is somewhat artificial because of the arbitrary $150,000 charged to PT for subscription fulfillment. Gilbert added that AIP distributes 52,000 free copies to members of Member Societies. It costs $3.00 per copy and is certainly not covered by the $1.00 member assessment charge. Havens observed that if AIP were to charge APS members anywhere near the cost of producing PT, the subscriptions to PT would drop markedly. The increase in income from subscriptions would be more than offset by the loss in advertising income, since it is the total circulation that affects the charge per advertising page.

The question was raised about the possibility of saving some postage expense for PT if one could change the rating from Third Class to Second Class mailing (as much as $30,000 annually). Gilbert was encouraged to look into this. (Subsequent exploration did not uncover any promising approaches at this time, especially in view of anticipated increased rates for Second Class mail.)

Marks reported on a recently instituted operation by Control Data which runs an electronic newspaper called Technotec. They sell space on their electronic tape to people who have something to sell (patents, ideas, products). Subscribers get access to the tape and, if they find something of interest, they can pay to contact the organization that has something to sell or a problem that needs a solution. They have 15,000 subscribers. We might be able to offer a listing in Technotec to those who advertise in PT and could thus derive some commission from Technotec. It might be another way to build income for PT. The following motion was proposed by Havens and passed without dissent:

MOVED that the management of AIP look into the possibility of additional income from Technotec.

2. Member Assessment Charge

Havens next called attention to a 3-page document on the member assessment charge, which had been distributed previously, and invited comments on the subject. Fowler thought it was terrible that the physicists and astronomers of this country put only $1.00 a year into the Institute for the various member-related activities such as History, Public Relations, Physics Today, and Manpower. Quinn agreed and added that, when the member sees that his profession is being protected or advanced, he does not mind paying the higher dues. He noted that IEEE and ACS have huge Washington operations and he thought it is that image which enables them to have higher membership dues. Havens also expressed the belief that there would be no objection if the member assessment charge went to $2.00. He mentioned the success in collecting voluntary contributions. The following motion was introduced by Phillips and passed without dissent:

MOVED that the Executive Committee recommend to the Governing Board that the specific dollar amount be taken out of the AIP Constitution, and be determined some other way by the Governing Board.

Morse instructed the Secretary to prepare an appropriate Constitutional amendment with the essential ingredients that the specific amount be deleted and that the Societies will have to agree on the amount each time it is changed.

3. Allocation of Costs of General Activities

Havens called attention to a document, previously distributed, giving the 1976 budget figures for General Activities, and went over some of them. In looking at the expense column for the Society of Physics Students activities, Phillips inquired about the status of the career booklet which Dion Shea started working on about a year ago. He had a first draft of such a booklet last December. She thought that there should be more effort to get it out. Slack noted that the last good career booklet was produced when A. A. Strassenburg was head of the Education Division. Slack has urged Shea to follow the system of booklets prepared by the Society of Civil Engineers. Shea expects to have the first one out soon. Slack expressed the hope that the APS Education Committee would come up with something on industrial physics. Koch noted also that we cut back our Education Division activities with the thought that some would be taken over by the Societies.

Turning to the Manpower Statistics budget column, Havens wondered whether a committee to review the Manpower Statistics activity ought to be set up. Morse asked whether such a narrowly defined committee would take a broad enough view. Fowler proposed an alternative suggestion and that is to hear an hour’s discussion of what the Manpower Statistics Division does. Koch felt that such a discussion falls within the new committee structure which stipulates that each committee is to report, either in writing or orally, to the Governing Board once a year. It would be no problem to arrange for Beverly Porter, Director of the Division, to come to the next meeting of the Executive Committee and spend about 20 minutes to tell the Committee what her Division does. Quinn thought that the Assembly of Society Officers, scheduled for October 8, would be a good place to do it since more Society officers would have an opportunity to hear her report. Havens agreed with Quinn and, after a brief discussion, it was decided to ask her to give the review at the Assembly.

4. Minimum Obligation of Societies

Havens opened the discussion of this topic which was considered a touchy subject in the report of the Long-Range Planning Committee and one to which there was no good solution. He thought a Society should withdraw if it has nothing to do with the Institute. His recommendation was that we continue in about the same way as we are now doing, examining every aspect of the relationship between the Societies and the Institute, and commenting on them to the Executive Committee and Governing Board.

Morse wondered about those Member Societies that want additional services. Is this something that ought to be considered as standard operation or is it something in general that the Member Societies frown on? Should the standard criterion be whether the Society is willing to pay for it? Koch noted that this is substantially what has been going on. Havens thought that a Society should pay for any activities it particularly wants and benefits from. He saw no reason why it should not contribute more to that particular project even if the benefits derived are not limited to that Society. The Executive Committee should determine how much of AIP’s money should be put into such a project.

Quinn gave the following examples to illustrate what he thought was inappropriate as additional support from a Member Society: If APS decides it needs more public relations in a specific area and it appropriates $100,000 for it, and gives it to AIP’s Public Relations Division, the Institute becomes identified with pushing the interests of one Society. Similarly, he objects to the joint AIP-APS committee which had been proposed by Koch the day before. On the other hand, APS could if it wants buy AIP staff time for one of its projects. That is the kind of distinction he would like to make. Fowler agreed with Quinn and stated that he, too, is opposed to the setting up of joint AIP-APS committees.

Session D

Publishing

1. Computer Based Photocomposition

Quinn, the discussion leader for this topic, gave a brief description of the evolution of photocomposition. About five years ago monotype started escalating exponentially and machines came on the market for doing photocomposition. Mack Printing was the first company that started throwing out monotype and substituting typewriter composition. At AIP, we now have the possibility of driving a photocompositor directly by a computer. What we have to look at is whether or not one can pick up a software package that will enable us to come out with a product which is comparable to typewriter composition and lower in cost. Marks added that Mack Printing has set up this summer to computer-compose Applied Optics, Physics Today, and several other journals. Their prices are competitive with typewriter composition.

J. R. Roesser started his own company called Science Typographers, and has done mostly book work so far. He has offered his software to AIP at a price of $25,000. Additional programming work would run another $25,000. He has made a similar offer to the American Mathematical Society for the composition of their journals. Marks suggested that AIP hire John Seybold again as a consultant to evaluate three or four possibilities, particularly the Roesser offer. The estimated cost for Seybold’s consulting would be about $3,000. His report could be reviewed by the Publishing Policy Committee.

Havens described what APS has done with the Bell Laboratories UNIX system which looks very promising, at least on the basis of its performance at Bell Labs. It remains to be seen whether it will perform as well on a routine basis. APS will experiment with computer composition of some issues of Physical Review.

Quinn noted that we are currently paying for typewriter composition at a price ranging from $25 to $32 per page. Mack is now offering computer composition for $24 to $28 per page. AIP ought to develop an alternate capability in the field of computer photocomposition. Havens stated that one of the alternatives is to wait and see the result of the APS experiments. A decision is going to have to be made as to whether we should do an experiment with another production system. Quinn thought that Seybold could help evaluate Atex, Roesser, and UNIX. Havens wondered whether it would be better to wait six months and then have Seybold help to evaluate the competing systems. Morse felt it would be worth having a second evaluation if something else that looks promising comes along. In the meantime it may be good to get Seybold in as soon as possible. Koch agreed that, since we currently have four avenues to follow, we should get appropriate guidance.

The following motion was made by Quinn, seconded by Havens, and passed without dissent:

MOVED that the Executive Committee authorize the expenditure of up to $5,000 for analysis by Seybold of existing software packages, and for his opinion on when the Institute ought to move toward the purchase of one and on what would be involved in adapting it to our new photocomposition machine.

Marks added that we can convert our present photocomposition programs to run on the photocomposer that we are purchasing. In three to five years we could be photocomposing all our pages, plus other Societies’ if we elect to run a two- or three-shift operation.

On a related item, Koch reported that J. A. Burton had proposed that the license for the use of the UNIX software, which will be issued by Western Electric, should go to AIP and its Member Societies. APS would pay the full cost of the acquisition of this license which is $22,000. If AIP wanted also to use the UNIX software, it would have to pay Western Electric about $7,400 and also reimburse APS in the amount of about $7,300. This adds up to $14,700 which is half of what would be the total cost of about $29,400 for the license agreement. Koch asked for Executive Committee action authorizing him to sign the license agreement with Western Electric. A motion authorizing Koch to sign the license agreement with the Western Electric Company for the UNIX software was passed without dissent.

Public Relations

1. Communicating Physics to the Public at Large

Fowler, the discussion leader for this subject, first made some introductory remarks. He has always taken the attitude, as a research physicist, that the product we produce is a publication. We do a good job in the main of preparing a product for our peers. We do a fair job in communicating to our peers in a larger sense. He feels that, as scientists, we have not really produced a complete product until we have also communicated to the public at large. Not only because they are paying with their taxes for what we are doing, but because we owe it to them to make clear what we are doing. We could justify the expenditures we make in Public Relations and associated activities largely on the ground that it is the completion of our communication enterprise. He feels that physicists are much too modest and it is a false modesty. We fail to accept the responsibility we have in using the special tools we have in the solution of what are now becoming incredible problems for the whole of society. There are many problems in housing, transportation, urban development, where physicists can be useful. He thought that the organization that should do this is the AIP. The problem is due in part to the fact that people in the media only get excited when physicists agree that a major breakthrough has been achieved. As a result, there is an uneven distribution of knowledge among the public as to what we are doing.

Morse added that a very large fraction of Governmental decisions nowadays depend on science, and we hope the basic decisions are made by the citizens. If they are not up to date on what is available in science, they cannot make very good decisions. Therefore, it is a duty of anybody who can help them in this regard to do it. There should be a continual flow of information to the public. Fowler thought that this is the only country where most of the congress is made up of lawyers. Havens noted that the Congressional Science Fellowship Program in which APS, and now also OSA, is participating has been very successful. It has introduced some technical competence in the legislative machinery. Quinn reported that legislation is being considered to establish a program similar to the county agricultural agents to provide information to the public or local industry on how they can use technology in their lives.

Referring to a summary document which had been distributed prior to the meeting, Slack reviewed some of the Public Relations Division activities during the past year. These dealt primarily with the press. He mentioned the recent press release on the superheavy element as an example of a successful press release. Fowler thought that this particular press release was far superior to the one that came out of the National Science Foundation. He thought that some kind of emergency procedure should be set up where a few people with expertise in various areas can be reached at all times.

Slack then read the statement of guidelines dated August 23, 1976, which he had previously distributed, and invited comments. Koch thought that we ought to add a fifth guideline prohibiting joint press releases to the four listed in Slack’s memorandum. After a brief discussion, the following motion was proposed by Fowler and passed without dissent:

MOVED that the Executive Committee approve these guidelines for press conferences and press releases, including the addition suggested by Koch.

The guidelines are as follows:

1. AIP press releases are appropriate for any papers accepted or scheduled for publication in AIP or Society-owned journals or for papers scheduled for delivery at Society meetings. These releases serve to call attention of science writers and the general public to research judged to be of special interest or significance, i.e. to be newsworthy, and being reported to the physics community via its regular journals and meetings.

2. Press conferences held under AIP auspices are called when a news item is of such particular importance by virtue of scientific significance, technological application, or widespread interest that the advantages of a press conference in providing more rapid or more detailed interaction between the press and physicists are called for. In general, they will deal with papers presented at Society meetings and will be held at these meetings. Occasionally they will deal with reviewed papers accepted for publication and can be held at AIP or elsewhere.

3. In the absence of compelling urgency, AIP will not organize press conferences on journal articles until after they have been reviewed.

4. In general, press activities dealing with papers appearing in journals or being delivered at meetings will be confined to those in which AIP itself, or one of its Member Societies, is involved.

5. There will be no joint press releases.

Phillips reported that she recently received a request for lists of glossaries which were prepared some time ago in connection with the Seminars for Science Writers that were organized by AIP. She wondered whether such seminars should be reinstated. Havens stated that the science writers felt these seminars, as they had been presented previously, were no longer appropriate and would not go over well at the present time. As a result, a new format was developed for high energy physics and used last April at the Washington meeting of the APS. Slack agreed that today’s science writers are better trained, but felt there may be a need for updating old glossaries and issuing glossaries in new areas. He noted also that newspaper editors are much less likely to underwrite the expenses of their science writers to attend background meetings.

Slack noted that in the past a senior person organized the science seminar, and the resulting glossary of technical terms was generally prepared by a junior colleague at the same institution as the organizer. Marks wondered whether a book containing a collection of glossaries in many physics fields would have a wide audience; he was worried about updating the information from time to time. Fowler did not think that would be difficult; in fact, he volunteered to do it in nuclear physics and in astrophysics.

Goldman observed that one of the things that has happened is that the romance of physics, which had a high public appeal immediately after World War II, has lost some of its attraction. In the last decade, the public has become more aware of the great engineering feats. Nobody has been stressing to the public the part that physics has played in these accomplishments. Some thought ought to be given as to how we could implement the kind of seminar on what role physics is playing. Fowler emphasized the related recurring question as to who is going to pay for these activities.

(The following discussion actually took place during Session F, but is reported here for the sake of continuity.)

2. Radio-Audio Tapes of Syndicated Programs

Slack next turned to the topic of radio-audio tapes. He noted that television is very expensive, and radio has begun to show a resurgence. This offers an excellent opportunity to reach a large number of people at a fairly reasonable cost. The AIP Public Relations Division has been impressed by the efforts of the American Nuclear Society. They have one program for each month, largely in interview format. Their budget for that is about $10,000 a year.

Following the encouragement from the Executive Committee last December, we hired James Berry and assigned this job to him. He came to the conclusion that radio stations are delighted to carry science-oriented material. Shorter material is easier for them to slot. Slack referred to a long list of possible topics (included with the material previously distributed) that would be suitable for this purpose. He played two samples of cassettes that would be made available to radio stations: one on "Earthquakes" and the other on "Physics of Fire."

There were some specific comments on the tapes played. Fowler suggested that we include somewhat more mundane topics in these tapes. One might also have an interview with a graduate student about what he is working on. Havens noted that Sir Lawrence Bragg had a series on British television about kitchen physics.

Slack stated that once a radio station agrees to take our tapes, we have to supply them on a regular basis. We would plan to send out about a dozen at a time. Slack was encouraged to come up with specific proposals and related budget estimates.

3. Other Possible Topics for Consideration

Koch then turned to a different public relations topic. He stated that, in 1981, AIP will celebrate its 50th anniversary. He wondered whether the Executive Committee would encourage the AIP staff to start planning for it. He would like to have a U.S. Postage stamp, as the American Chemical Society managed to have issued on the occasion of its 100th anniversary. Fowler and Phillips both felt that the issuance of an appropriate stamp should be encouraged. Quinn suggested that someone from AIP should interview James Stack of ACS, who arranged for the chemistry stamp.

Slack next asked for comments on the suggestion of making available to physics-degree granting departments lay-language abstracts of papers presented at Society meetings. About 200 departments were queried and about 38% of these indicated interest. Some departments have indicated they would be willing to pay the mailing expense. There was some discussion on the pros and cons of distributing lay-language abstracts, but no great enthusiasm. No action resulted.

Session E

Report of Building Plans Committee

Crane opened the discussion by referring to the report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Building Plans of AIP, which had been distributed two days earlier. (Copies of this report were also distributed to members of the Governing Board in preparation for the October 9 Board meeting and are available to the recipients of these minutes who are not Governing Board members. A copy is also attached to the official minutes of this Executive Committee meeting.)

Crane noted that his report has the unanimous agreement of all members of his Committee. He recalled the context in which the recent flurry of activity over location has occurred. The need to reassess the AIP location and possible consolidation of the Institute activities has been closing in on us for many years. The Long-Range Planning Committee was too preoccupied with immediate problems to devote much time to the longer-range topic. The intense activity during the past year was triggered by the availability of the Levitt Building in Lake Success, Long Island. That building was a bargain, and it looked like the ideal home for the entire AIP operation. However, it soon developed within the AIP family that the real headquarters would have to remain in Manhattan and that any building contemplated for Long Island would be the secondary, mainly the production operation. The Levitt Building immediately made less sense when thought of as a production facility, for it was built as a headquarters. Although the purchase of the building was voted down by the Governing Board, the new Committee considered it and spen[t] a substantial portion of its July meeting seeing and discussing it. However, by the time of the August meeting of the Committee, it had gone off the market. Some Committee members felt relieved that the air had been cleared, as was pointed out by Havens in a letter, that having two headquarters-type buildings would be an unstable situation.

Crane referred to the five recommendations contained in the Committee report, and made some comments about each:

Recommendation	Comment
Headquarters in Manhattan.	By the time the new Committee began its work, this had become in effect one of the given boundary conditions. The Committee discussed this question and concurred.
Production activities located to insure performing these services to the Member Societies qualitywise and costwise better than competitive with any sources outside the AIP.	Deserves emphasis; losses of business introduce positive feedback, for they can increase fixed charges for the remainder; AIP’s life depends on price competition with commercial suppliers or in-house production by Member Societies.
(a) Direction of movement of production activities must be outward from the City.	This recommendation is based on the figures developed by the AIP staff. The Committee was strongly convinced of both (a) and (b).
(b) Consolidation at 2 locations to be accomplished in as small a number of years as possible.
AIP should purchase a building with adequate land for possible expansion... on Long Island.	Favor owning over renting, provided the property owned is in a prospering location.
AIP management should remain alert to opportunities for buying a more desirable headquarters building and selling present one; there is no urgency in moving the headquarters.	The Committee gained the strong feeling that officers of Member Societies would not support such luxuries or expansions that would result in increases in dues or subscription rates. If extra space should be required in Manhattan, one should resist the temptation to delay the movement of production out of the City.

Havens expressed agreement with the report of the Committee. He expressed the opinion that AIP should acquire some land and a building on Long Island as a first priority, and raised the question of making a bid for the IBM building, which would have to be in the hands of IBM by October 8.

Marks stated that the immediate requirement is about 55,000 usable square feet. This includes offices for APS, but does not provide for expansion. The present headquarters building, coupled with the Long Island building under consideration, would just about do it. The combination would provide space for about 150 people in New York and 200 on Long Island. If we acquired the IBM building, we would still have to move people out to Long Island. We would want to keep in New York Physics Today, Advertising, Manpower, Public Relations, Society headquarters and Accounting. The IBM building has meeting rooms, a cafeteria, and three elevators. Havens felt that some of the headquarters arrangements should expand a little bit.

Koch pointed to a rough sketch on the blackboard giving the locations of the various Long Island buildings that have been considered, and noted that the Chemical Bank building in Suffolk has 34,000 square feet. We looked at several buildings on a recent visit to Long Island. There is also available a former cancer research building. It has two floors with 18,000 square feet per floor. It is located slightly west of the Nassau-Suffolk line, right at the intersection of the Long Island Expressway and Northern State Parkway. It would probably sell for $800,000 to $900,000. He suggested that the Executive Committee should first be authorized to proceed to negotiate a price on the cancer research building. The Ad Hoc Committee on Building Plans and the Executive Committee might visit it and make sure it is the right solution for us. Koch added that it would take $300,000 to renovate that building and make it more suitable for the contemplated AIP operations. Gilbert noted also that the proposed building is not presently being taxed.

The following motion was made by Phillips, seconded by Quinn, and passed with no dissent:

MOVED that the Director be authorized to negotiate a price for the Chemical Bank building, or its equivalent.

The discussion then turned to the IBM building. Marks stated that AIP needs at least 40,000 square feet in Manhattan for its headquarters-related activities. If we were to acquire the IBM building, we would initially consolidate all activities presently in three locations in Manhattan into the IBM building. After the production-related activities get moved out to Long Island, there would be some excess space and that could be easily rented to outsiders since the building, with its three elevators, is eminently suitable for multiple tenancy.

Havens noted that the various searches and inspections have not come up with an alternate building in a desirable location in Manhattan that would fit AIP's needs. You either have to take a very old building or you have to build your own, and the cost for the latter is a lot more than the physics community can afford. He thought an arrangement for the purchase of the IBM building could be worked out with APS supplying some of the capital. He could not, at the present time, get into the details but noted that our attorney has said it is better to have just one owner. Koch stated that the bid on the IBM building has to be submitted by October 8 and has to be accompanied by a check for $10,000 which is refundable if we are not the successful bidder, but which would be forfeited if IBM .accepts our bid and we decide not to go through with the purchase. Crane thought that one would have a hard time selling Society officers on having a larger headquarters at the expense of raising their costs. Morse agreed that, unless costs are kept low, the Societies will not support it.

Koch reminded the Executive Committee that, from AIP’s point of view, complete consolidation at Lake Success was the best solution if the Levitt Building were still available. Because of the Societies’ interest in having a headquarters in Manhattan, we have now come up with the dual location concept. He thought we could do very well in the present building and the one to be acquired on Long Island. Havens agreed and stated that, once we follow the recommendation of the Ad Hoc Committee on Building Plans to have two locations, we are already agreeing to an increase in operating costs.

Crane wondered, if the IBM building is purchased and the present Manhattan operations moved into that building, and our present headquarters rented, whether the whole business of moving to the suburbs could be delayed. Marks replied that it is going to take two to three years to start moving from Manhattan to Long Island. We would not move the computer out of the City for two years anyway.

The following motion was introduced by Havens and passed without dissent:

MOVED that the Executive Committee accept with thanks the report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Building Plans of AIP.

Quinn noted that putting up $10,000 now gives the Societies the chance to discuss whether they want the IBM building. Havens then made a motion which was amended by Quinn, and the following amended motion was seconded and passed with no dissenting votes:

MOVED that the AIP Executive Committee authorize the Director to put in a bid on the IBM building for $2,500,000, provided arrangements can be made with APS for suitable financing of the building and provided that an analysis by the AIP staff of the worst possible case of acquisition does not lead to a significant increase in operating costs.

Edmondson, as a nonvoting participant from the Astronomical Society, noted that he was pleased with the result of this vote.

Session F

Characteristics and Need for a Center for Physics

Koch gave a brief introduction to the report prepared by Professor Alex Harvey. This report is the result of the study authorized by the Executive Committee at its April 1976 meeting. It became available a few days before the Woods Hole meeting and was, therefore, only briefly touched on at this session. Fowler thought it was a fine report although he was not impressed with some of the details describing the recommended modification of the present headquarters building. He introduced a motion thanking Professor Harvey for his report. The motion was approved unanimously. Further discussion of the report was deferred until the next meeting of the Executive Committee and of the Governing Board.

Review of Recommendations in the Long-Range Planning Committee Report

Following Morse’s suggestion at Session A, the Executive Committee reviewed the principal recommendations of the Long-Range Planning Committee report which were listed under the heading, "Matters on Which There is Essentially Unanimous Agreement," to see to what extent the recommendations are appropriate for 1976. Some of these recommendations, such as the minimum obligation of a Society to AIP, had already been discussed at the earlier sessions of this meeting.

There were no comments on Recommendations Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 5. On Recommendation No. 4, concerning communication between the AIP staff and Societies, it was noted that the Assembly of Society Officers fulfills part of this function. The monthly letter from the Director’s Office is another vehicle.

Recommendation No. 6 dealing with the possible move of the headquarters is, of course, under very active consideration.

Recommendations Nos. 7, 8, and 10, dealing with the responsibility of the Societies for maintaining the viability of the Institute and the related minimum obligation, were covered in Session C.

Recommendation No. 9, dealing with the financial contribution of the Societies to AIP, has been taken care of by the proposal for an amendment to the AIP Constitution removing the specific dollar value from the member assessment charge.

On Recommendation No. 11 dealing with the structure of the meetings of the Governing Board and subcommittees, this present extended summer meeting of the Executive Committee is, in effect, a response to that recommendation.

Meeting Summary and Planning for October Meetings

Melba Phillips, the discussion leader for this topic, reviewed the highlights of the discussions and actions of the previous sessions. She noted that on Placement; especially industrial jobs, no formal action was taken but that the subject is to be pursued with vigor and that all Societies are involved in it through AIP.

On the sale of mailing lists, the present policies were endorsed and it was confirmed that AIP should not make available such lists on magnetic tapes.

The Executive Committee approved the various recommendations of the Publishing Policy Committee. There was strong enthusiasm and support expressed for the Physics Today operation. The consensus was that it is very much worthwhile and most were convinced that it need not necessarily show a profit.

It was agreed that the member assessment charge should be one of the sources of support for the General Activities Branch. The machinery was set in motion to remove the specific dollar fee ($1.00) from the AIP Constitution. The Societies will still have to approve changes in the amount. The anticipated change is to increase it to $2.00.

There was a recommendation that Beverly Porter make a report to the Governing Board or to the Assembly of Society Officers on the activities of her Manpower Statistics Division. Havens added that he, as Secretary for the next Assembly, took that as a cue to suggest to Arthur Schawlow, Chairman for the Assembly, that all of the General Activities Division directors present to the Assembly a review of the activities in their respective divisions.

The topic of minimum obligation of the Societies to AIP was again discussed with the decision to leave things as they are.

On the computer photocomposition program, it was decided to hire John Seybold again for his advice, but not to commit ourselves too early on a specific software system because things are moving too fast.

The Executive Committee approved Slack’s policy statement on guidelines for press releases.

It was decided to send a letter to AIP committee chairmen asking them to decide on terms of office for their respective committee members. This information is needed by December 1 by the Nominating Committee.

The summary of actions in Session E, dealing with building plans, was given by Morse. He noted that the Executive Committee approved AIP administration’s taking whatever action is appropriate to get a Long Island building, and that it is hoped that it will come before the Governing Board in time for final action. There was complex action with regard to submitting a bid for the IBM building which involved several "if’s." In the worst case, $10,000 might be lost. Crane added that the recommendation of his Ad Hoc Committee on Building Plans gives highest priority to getting the publishing operations moved out to Long Island.

Morse also observed that, earlier in the present session, the Committee talked about several programs (as a continuation of discussions started in Session D) in the Public Relations Division and agreed that Slack should proceed with them as planned. He was encouraged to come to the Executive Committee with specific plans and budgets.

Enthusiasm was expressed for preparing glossaries and also for getting the career booklet out quickly.

Morse raised the question about the reaction of Committee members to the format of an extended Executive Committee meeting. Fowler said that he found this meeting very profitable. Koch stated that, from the staff's viewpoint, it is very useful to have time to discuss these matters in depth. He thought that, although we should not establish a general plan, we should consider next spring the desirability of having another such meeting next fall. Havens added that the fact that such a meeting is to be held stimulates a lot of thought and written papers, and stimulates the airing of problems which should be discussed. He felt the specific time should be reviewed and he thought there are a large number of places in the resort area where one can get reasonable prices after Labor Day.