Executive Committee of the American Institute of Physics
Minutes of Meeting
Members Present: H. R. Crane – Chairman, I. E. Dayton, W. W. Havens, Jr., G. A. Jeffrey, H. William Koch, A. I. Mahan, Gerald Holton
Absent: Joseph A. Burton
AIP Staff Present: H. William Koch, Director; Wallace Waterfall, Secretary; G. F. Gilbert, Treasurer; Lewis Slack, Associate Director for General Activities; Robert H. Marks, Assoc. Director for Publishing & Information; Dorothy M. Lasky, Assistant to the Director; Mary M. Johnson, Assistant to the Secretary
Chairman Crane called the meeting to order at 9:32 a.m.
Koch introduced Richard R. Haggerty and Warren D. Froscheiser of Bell & Howell who had been invited to demonstrate their new microfiche reader. The demonstration was made and a number of questions were asked and answered. The reader is easily portable and intended for individual use. It is expected to be in production in late 1972 and to sell for not more than $100.00.
1. Minutes
Upon motion made and passed without dissent, the minutes of the Executive Committee meeting of March 24, 1972, were approved as distributed.
2. Resolution re Frederick V. Hunt
Waterfall reported that Frederick V. Hunt had died suddenly during a meeting of the Acoustical Society in Buffalo in April of this year and proposed the following resolution which was adopted without dissent:
WHEREAS, the Executive Committee of the Governing Board of the American Institute of Physics desires to record its deep sorrow at the death of Frederick V. Hunt, who served as a member of the Governing Board from 1951 to 1954, as a member of the Executive Committee from 1953 to 1954, and as President of the Acoustical Society of America from 1951 to 1952, be it
RESOLVED, that the Executive Committee of the Institute hereby gives formal recognition to the contributions made by Dr. Hunt to pure and applied physics and particularly to acoustics, and does hereby note in its records the passing from this life of a man who was esteemed by his associates and respected by all; and be it further
RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be transmitted to his family.
3. NSF Indirect Cost Rate
Gilbert reported that on May 17 he had submitted our annual indirect cost rate proposal to NSF requesting a final rate of 19.91% for 1971. In a letter dated May 23 the Foundation advised us that they had reviewed and accepted our proposal. NSF also gave us a new maximum provisional rate of 20% for new grant awards. In answer to a question, Gilbert explained that the new NSF rate allows occupancy costs as direct costs. If space were included in overhead the rate would be about 25%.
Havens noted that our NSF overhead rate has been going up slowly and asked the reason for this. Gilbert replied that the primary reason is the cost of computerization of Accounting. The Government recognizes that such computerization adds to accounting costs for at least a few years. Gilbert said he hoped that the accounting costs would go down later.
4. Confirmation of Mail Ballot re AIP Proposal on Industrial Internships
Slack recalled that, at the February meeting of the Executive Committee in San Francisco, he had reported discussion in COMPAS about NSF interest in the possibility of supporting both an industrial-academic exchange program and an internship program. Subsequent discussions by AIP staff members with officials in Washington led us to believe that NSF might be willing to furnish funds to both the American Chemical Society and AIP to establish industrial internships. A proposal was then written by AIP staff members requesting NSF to give AIP $6,454,450 over a three-year period to operate such a program. Before submitting the proposal to NSF, Koch sent a letter to all members of the Executive Committee dated April 10, 1972, along with a mail ballot asking them to vote on (a) submission of a proposal to NSF and (b) releasing a notice to the press about the industrial internship program at the time of the Washington meeting of APS in April. A majority of Executive Committee members responded favorably on the mail ballot and the proposal was submitted to NSF and the press release was made at the APS meeting.
Slack requested that, as required by New York State law, the above-mentioned mail ballot be confirmed and by motion made, seconded, and carried without dissent, the mail ballot was confirmed.
Slack said that Washington interest in the proposed industrial internships had now cooled and there appeared little likelihood that AIP would get the grant requested.
5. Benedek’s Request for Special Board Meeting
Crane commented on his correspondence with George Benedek, copies of which had been sent to all members of the Executive Committee before the meeting. (Copies attached as Exhibit A.) He pointed out that Society officers as well as AIP Board members had been invited to the Washington briefing by David and, therefore, it might be appropriate to have Benedek’s proposal discussed at the Assembly in Washington this fall at which both Board members and Society officers should be present. It would be helpful if some proposals on what might be done were prepared and distributed before the meeting.
Some discussion followed from which it became apparent that it would be almost impossible to prepare the necessary information and have a special meeting of the Board before the planned meeting of the Board and Assembly in Washington in September. Since Morse played a leading role in preparing the statement which was sent to David on behalf of Society officers following the Washington briefing, Havens suggested that Morse and Benedek be asked to develop something in cooperation with Society officers which can be brought to the Assembly in September and then to the Board if that seems appropriate. Crane agreed to this suggestion and said he would follow through on the matter with Morse and Benedek. Dayton said that the AAPT Executive Board was meeting in Albany very soon and asked that copies of the Crane and Benedek letter be made available to them.
6. Progress on the JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL REFERENCE DATA (JPCRD)
Marks reported that the first issue of this new quarterly has been distributed and the second issue is now at the printer's. This is a joint venture in which NBS prepares copy, AIP handles production, and ACS handles all subscriptions. The present subscription prices are $60 per year for non-members and $20 per year for members of AIP and ACS. ACS has reported that current subscriptions number about 600, mostly non-member. Commercial publishers have strongly objected to the selection by NBS of AIP and ACS as the publishers and have particularly pointed out the favoritism shown AIP and ACS members by the special member subscription rate. We and ACS believe it would be well to negate this objection by offering the member rate to individual members of other scientific and engineering societies. Marks said the AIP staff would like to be authorized to work out such a proposal. The details have not yet been worked out but they would probably be that the special member rates would be publicized to members of other societies by their societies and that members of other societies who wish to subscribe would send their orders in to their societies and they would subsequently be passed on to ACS.
Havens said he was concerned about setting a precedent in offering a member rate to members of other societies on journals published by AIP. Since most of the current subscriptions are from non-members, why should there be a member rate for any societies? Koch said he believed there was some justification in treating this journal differently because NBS furnishes camera-ready copy which is completely paid for by the Government. He said he believed that NBS would go along with either having a single subscription price for everyone or with having a special member subscription price which was available to members of other societies. Koch said he preferred the second alternative but he agreed that it would be wise to see how many member subscriptions we have at the end of another year and, if there are very few, we should probably have only one subscription price.
After further brief discussion the following motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissent:
MOVED that the staff be authorized to work out an arrangement whereby members of societies other than AIP and ACS may subscribe to JPCRD at the member rate or, alternatively, an arrangement whereby all subscriptions will be at one rate with the understanding that the subscription policy adopted is to apply to the 1973 calendar year only and that the matter will be reviewed by the Executive Committee at its June meeting in 1973.
7. Subscription Prices for 1973
Marks reported that subscriptions to AIP archive journals have been dropping at the rate of about 6% per year for the last two years. The shrinkage in subscriptions has been about 10% for members and 5% for non-members. We budgeted for a 6% decrease in 1972 and current indications are that our budget was about right. We believe we should expect about the same decrease in 1973. Net income from AIP archive journals for calendar year 1971 was $530,000 and we budgeted $459,000 for 1972. For 1973 we expect an increase in costs of about 5% which will amount to a possible total of $100,000.00. Marks said he believed that 1973 prices for members should be about what they now are but he recommended that non-member prices be increased approximately 10% for most of the journals. A sheet was distributed (attached as Exhibit B) giving the exact prices recommended for each of the journals. He explained why he was recommending that the 1973 non-member price for RSI be $35 which is more than a 10% increase over the present price of $22.00. The number of text pages has been going down and the journal seems to be losing its attractiveness both to advertisers and subscribers. Marks said he believed the journal should be revamped and its future objectives should be studied by a committee. With the $11 member rate and $35 non-member rate we will have to mail the journal by Third Class mail if we continue advertising in it. Perhaps the journal should not carry advertising and then it could be mailed by Second Class mail with the proposed new rates.
There was some discussion of the proposed new subscription rates in which Dayton questioned the wisdom in raising the non-member rate of RSI by more than 50% whereas the rates on other journals were raised only about 10%. He said he believes librarians were scrutinizing their journal budgets very thoroughly and would certainly notice such a great increase and might decide to drop RSI. After some further discussion the following motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissent:
MOVED that the proposed rates for AIP journals for calendar year 1973 be approved and that the staff be authorized to make appropriate adjustments in air freight rates and back number prices.
Marks reported that subscriptions to Soviet translations journals have held up very well during the past year with a drop of only about 1%. We expect to net about $140,000 from these journals in calendar year 1972 despite the introduction of two new journals which will not show a profit this year. A sheet was then distributed (attached as Exhibit C) showing the current prices on the translation journals and the prices proposed for the July 1, 1973, to June 30, 1974 subscription year. Marks said that three of the journals are still not in the black – Crystallography, Technical Physics, and JETP – and he was recommending a small increase in prices for them. Otherwise the prices recommended for next year are the same as at present.
After brief discussion the following motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissent:
MOVED that the proposed new prices for the Soviet translation journals for the July 1, 1973, to June 30, 1974, subscription year be approved and that the staff be authorized to make appropriate changes in back number prices and foreign postage differentials.
8. Advertising Rates for 1973
Marks recalled that at the June 1971 meeting of the Executive Committee, authorization had been given to increase ad rates on PT from $950 to $1,045 per page and on RSI from $300 to $340 per page, timing of the increase to be left to the discretion of the staff. Because of the general financial situation we did not put the new rates into effect for 1972 but the advertising picture now looks better and we propose to put them into effect this fall for calendar year 1973.
9. Information Program
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Introduction
Koch referred to his letter of June 7 with its seven attachments which had been distributed to all members of the Executive Committee prior to the meeting (attached as Exhibit D). He said he felt it was desirable for all Executive Committee members to have these documents to help them understand the complexities of our Information Program and the problems involved in making it self-supporting in a reasonable length of time. He pointed out that subscriptions to archive journals have been decreasing in recent years and he distributed a sheet (attached as Exhibit E) showing that subscriptions to AIP archive journals, particularly member subscriptions, have been decreasing since 1967 and we believe they will continue to decrease. Many new ideas are being advanced about ways of disseminating the ever-increasing volume of scientific information. New techniques are becoming available to increase the speed of production and reduce the costs of printed material. Proposals are being made which would substitute microform for most of the printed pages now used in disseminating information. Both technical and financial problems are involved in all of these developments and AIP must keep abreast of them.
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General Agreements with IEE
As indicated in Koch’s letter of June 7, The Institution of Electrical Engineers in London is expected to be involved in an important way in the development of our full program. Koch said that he, Marks, and Waterfall went to London about a year ago to discuss with IEE the possibility of merging our secondary publication activities. He asked Waterfall to tell about what had happened since.
Waterfall reported that, after the conferences a year ago, a letter of intent had been prepared setting forth what IEE and AIP each proposed to do toward establishment of a jointly sponsored activity. On authorization of the Executive Committee, Koch signed the letter for AIP and Gainsborough signed it for IEE. The intention was that this letter of intent should lead to a formal detailed contract between the two organizations. During the year which has elapsed efforts to arrive at a contract have been made but many difficulties have been encountered. There was some lack of understanding about what was meant in the letter of intent and certain suspicions have arisen on one side or the other with the result that a final agreement has seemed less likely as the months have passed. Three IEE representatives came to New York a couple of weeks ago and we have been working intensively for the last couple of weeks trying to find solutions. The result is the draft of a new letter of intent which we believe is satisfactory to AIP because it appears to have the same objectives as the letter which was signed a year ago. The picture as we now see it is that AIP and IEE will institute a world physics information program project on secondary services the activities of which will be directed by a management board containing three representatives from AIP and three from IEE. The ultimate objective will be to have a single common abstracts journal, a single titles journal, and a single magnetic tape, all of which may have various subdivisions. The AIP products involved would be CPT, CPAA, and SPIN and the IEE products would be PHYSICS ABSTRACTS, CPP, and the physics portion of their INSPEC tape. We realize that the integration of products could not be completed until for the 1974 calendar year but we should start immediately to work out the details of the integration. Accordingly, Koch expects to sign the new letter of intent within the next month, the management board should be established soon thereafter, and it will be the responsibility of the management board to work out a contract which can be signed by both parties before the end of this calendar year and which will detail the program for 1974 and subsequent years. During 1973 each organization would continue to operate as they have in 1972 except that each organization would expect to use input from the other’s magnetic tape. We realize there are a number of legal complications involved and we will continue to work closely with our attorneys to make sure that we do not become involved in dangerous situations. Waterfall said we now would like to have authorization from the Executive Committee to continue with negotiations as proposed with the understanding that the final contract covering the joint venture will be presented to the Executive Committee for approval before it is signed. After brief discussion the following motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissent:
MOVED that the staff be authorized to proceed with negotiations with IEE on a world physics information project as proposed.
Holton pointed out that the various information programs on which we have been working must assume certain needs and reading habits about the potential users. He wondered whether those aspects of the program had been studied sufficiently and suggested that such a study might be the basis on which we should request another grant from NSF. Koch replied that production of heads and tails of articles by computer for use in journal publishing and also for use in preparation of PHYSICS ABSTRACTS assumes no reader habits different from those which now exist. Some studies of user requirements have been made as our Information Program has developed and we will undoubtedly get more feedback from users as they become acquainted with the new products. Crane remarked that he had sat in with some of the discussions between the staff and the British and he was pleased to report that he felt everything seemed to be going well.
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Production Program and Prices for CPI Products for 1973
Koch said that background information on this subject was contained in his letter of June 7 and attachments which had been sent to all members of the Executive Committee. He then reviewed the history of NSF support for our Information activities. NSF has been insisting that we make the program self-supporting after calendar year 1972 but Koch said he had told NSF that he believed we would have to have $300,000 in additional support for production operations in 1973 and he fully expected we would get it. He then asked Marks to discuss some of the details of the program.
Marks started by distributing a sheet on which he had listed some of the “Contingencies Relative to Projected 1973 Budget for Information Products” (copy attached as Exhibit F). He called attention to the budget for CPI products which had been distributed as Attachment II to the Koch memorandum of June 7 and he indicated that the prices of those products on which the budget was based are as given in the following table:
1972 Proposed 1973 Member Non-Member Member Non-Member CPAA $15.00 $40.00 $12.00 $36.00 CPT 10.00 25.00 12.00 36.00 Combination of CPT & matching CPAA 20.00 — 20.00 — Combination of 3 CPT & 3 CPAA — 150.00 — 175.00 CPM $2,850.00 $2,850.00 SPIN 2,500.00 2,500.00 Marks indicated that we now have eleven subscribers to the SPIN tape, eight to CPM, and about 2,500 to the various sections of CPT and CPAA. He admitted that the 1973 budget calculations are based on many more subscriptions for all of the products than we now have but he felt that the goals were reasonable and that if we did not obtain there we should seriously consider whether we have a worthwhile product.
A number of questions were asked about the proposed budget and about our ability to hold to the production costs included in it. Both Marks and Koch said they realized that operations would have to be streamlined and made more efficient if the costs were to be realized and that plans were being made to do this. By the time the budget for 1973 operations is presented to the Executive Committee in December we should have a pretty clear picture of how production will be handled in 1973 and what costs should be.
Koch indicated that action by the Executive Committee on this subject as suggested in his letter of June 7 would be requested later after discussion of various other aspects of the Information Program.
The meeting was adjourned for luncheon at 12:12 p.m. and reconvened at 1:30 p.m.
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Proposal on Nuclear Science Abstracts
Koch called attention to Attachment F to his letter of June 7. This attachment contains Koch’s letter of June 2, 1972, addressed to AEC and the final draft of the proposal signed by Koch for AIP and by Du Temple for the American Nuclear Society. Koch explained that he had signed this proposal after writing to all members of the Executive Committee on May 23 about the proposal and calling all of them whom he could reach by telephone to get their approval. Quoted below are two paragraphs from the Koch letter of May 23 which summarize the proposed arrangement:
“The proposal to publish (including marketing) Nuclear Science Abstracts has resulted from extensive discussions with E. J. Brunenkant of AEC, and M. S. Day of NSF. This venture is comparable, but larger in magnitude, to the AIP/ACS/NBS publishing arrangement on the Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data. Redesign and packaging by AIP and ANS of Nuclear Science Abstracts as a journal in printed edition, microform edition, and computer tape edition has important implications to our relations with The Institution of Electrical Engineers with respect to Physics Abstracts and with our own primary journals and Current Physics Information program.”
“As you will note, the start-up costs of $75,000 in 1972 are proposed to come from the AEC. Once the program is going, we expect to derive income with which to fund further improvements to Nuclear Science Abstracts, Physics Abstracts, as well as Current Physics Information.”
After brief discussion, the Director suggested action on this subject as proposed on Page 4 of his June 7 letter and the following motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissent:
MOVED that the staff be authorized to complete agreements with AEC and the American Nuclear Society as proposed for the publication of Nuclear Science Abstracts.
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Action on Item 9c – Production Program and Prices for CPI Products for 1973
At this point the Director said he thought it would be appropriate to take action on Item 9c. He indicated that the proposed action appeared on Page 4 of his letter of June 7. Havens said he believed the proposed budget and discussion had indicated quite clearly that approximately $300,000 would be needed from NSF to subsidize 1973 production and he recommended that the possibility of getting by on a subsidy of $150,000 should be eliminated from the motion. The following motion was then made, seconded, and passed without dissent:
MOVED that the staff be authorized to publish the proposed prices on CPI products for calendar year 1973 and accept orders for such products with the understanding that (a) the proposed operating budget for such products appears sufficiently realistic to be adopted at the December budgeting meeting and that (b) we receive reasonable assurance from NSF that the approximately $300,000 needed to subsidize 1973 production will be made available.
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Alternative Solutions to Backlog of Unhonored Pages
Koch referred to Attachment C to his letter of June 7 — "Proposal for Microfilm Supplements for AIP Journals." He also mentioned a recent article in "Chemical and Engineering News" reporting that European groups are studying abandoning full publication in printed form in favor of printing abstracts only and producing the full text of articles on microfilm. Koch said he believed some variation of the proposal in Attachment C would be acceptable to most physicists and would greatly help to reduce the backlog of unpublished papers because it would reduce the publication charges to the authors’ institutions.
In the discussion which followed Dayton raised a question about whether the material appearing in microfilm only would be refereed and Koch responded that he intended all of it should be refereed. Havens asked who would make a decision about how much of an article would appear in print and how much in microfilm. Presumably, the author would indicate his wishes on this point but the journal editor should make the final decision on how much of an article goes in print and how much in microfilm.
Koch pointed out that JCP seemed to be particularly adaptable to the proposed treatment and that journal also has the largest backlog of unpublished papers. Havens recommended that the staff be encouraged to investigate the possibility of the proposal with the editors of JCP and other AIP journals to see if it could be put into effect for 1973. Another suggestion offered was that the printed journal might carry the abstract or an abbreviated version of an article and the full text might be in microfiche which could be inserted in a pocket in the back cover of the journal and distributed with the issue.
The following motion was then made, seconded, and passed without dissent:
MOVED that the staff be encouraged to investigate possible variations of the proposal with the editors of AIP-owned journals with the understanding that the staff is authorized to adopt such a publication scheme for calendar year 1973 if it appears feasible.
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Specific Arrangements with IEE and IOP for 1973
Waterfall said that in discussing Item 9b he told about the proposed arrangement with IEE starting in 1974. During 1972 we have been handling sales and distribution of journals in the Americas for both IEE and The Institute of Physics. The commission arrangements are rather complex but, during 1972, we expect to net about $25,000 from our arrangement with IEE and about $52,000 from our arrangement with IOP. Our arrangement with IEE involves a formula basing payments on the rate of exchange between the dollar and the pound and the devaluation of the dollar after the middle of 1971 will make our net about $13,000 less than anticipated.
We are now working on a new agreement with IEE for calendar year 1973 which we believe should net us between $35,000 and $40,000. We have also just started to work out an agreement with IOP for 1973 but they have not yet fixed American prices for their journals for next year. We expect to be able to work out agreements with IEE and IOP so that our net from sales of their products in the Americas should total about $75,000.
Marks pointed out that IEE is currently selling or trying to sell our CPAA, CPT, CPM, and SPIN in Europe but have not made much progress. They expect to do better in 1973 and we are now working on continuing the sales arrangement for that year.
After further brief discussion the following motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissent:
MOVED that the staff be authorized to complete negotiations with IEE and IOP for the sale and distribution of journals and other products as proposed.
10. Arrangement re AIP Washington Office for 1972
Waterfall explained that, when the 1972 budget was adopted, it was planned that our Washington representative and the Washington Office would be continued as in 1971 through March of 1972. We have been charging 70% of the total cost of the Washington Office to the AIP HANDBOOK and 30% to general AIP expense. We expected all charges to the HANDBOOK to end with the end of March and that, thereafter, all Washington Office costs would be charged to general AIP expense. The 1972 budget anticipated a total of $8,275.00 chargeable to general AIP expense for the year.
Several things have happened to change our plans. Work on the HANDBOOK continued beyond the end of March. Arrangements have now been made with Dwight Gray to spend approximately two days per week on AIP activities for the second half of 1972 and he has also moved to smaller quarters in the Joseph Henry Building where we have been able to rent part-time space from the National Academy of Sciences. The over-all effect of these changes is that we expect that the total expense of the Washington Office chargeable to general AIP expense for calendar year 1972 will total approximately $9,125.00 instead of the $8,275.00 budgeted.
Members of the Executive Committee raised no objection to the arrangements which had been made. Dayton pointed out that there are so many newsletters coming out these days, many of which originate in Washington or purport to give news about what is going on in Government. He raised a question about whether our Washington Office Newsletter was worthwhile. Koch replied that he had received a number of favorable comments about the Newsletter and there had been several requests for it from officers of societies outside of physics. However, Koch agreed that AIP newsletters on all subjects should be studied to see whether they should be continued.
11. Public Information Division Film Projects
Slack gave a status report on these projects. NSF gave AIP a grant of $65,000 to prepare scripts for two films and to actually produce one film. The one film – “Birth and Death of a Star” – has been shot and almost completely edited. It is expected to be shown as a half-hour program on the Public Broadcasting System this fall. NSF has given us another grant of $30,000 to produce the second film which will be on biological aspects of physics. A committee consisting of Franklin Hutchinson of Yale as chairman and representatives of several AIP Societies has been appointed to direct the preparation of this second film. Shooting is expected to begin this fall with next spring scheduled for its presentation to the public.
Slack said that other subjects had been suggested as subjects for films if financial support becomes available. There is a possibility that such films might be sold and produce some income and Holton suggested that commercial television might be interested.
12. Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Executive Committee will be held in Washington, D. C., on September 19, 1972.
13. Other Business
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History Program and Council of Friends
Slack reported that, as of now, 126 people have contributed to the regular fundraising program which has been conducted each year by Friends of the Niels Bohr Library. Contributions have been greater than in past years and the total for the present solicitation is about $5,500.00. Hutchisson has written to 25 or 30 people and is making progress in establishing the new Council. A special mailing piece is being prepared and a mailing list of prospective donors is being assembled. Weiner is also preparing some approaches to various foundations.
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International Affiliates
Koch said he believed it might be worthwhile to work out some type of AIP membership for foreign physics societies such as the new European Physical Society. Koch said he expected to see Casimir, the present President of EPS, in Europe soon and would like to explore with him the possibility of some formal connection between the two organizations. EPS has indicated a desire to advertise their organization in PT and that would form a basis for discussion of the matter with Casimir. It is recognized that some changes in AIP By-laws would probably be necessary to establish a formal relationship.
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Application from AVS to Full Member Society Status
Waterfall distributed copies of a letter from the present President of the American Vacuum Society formally requesting admission of AVS as a full Member of AIP. AVS has been an Affiliate of AIP since 1963 and AIP now performs for AVS a number of services including collection of dues, publication of THE JOURNAL OF VACUUM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, and various secretarial services. The letter from the AVS President contains a number of facts about the current activities and future plans of AVS and members of the Executive Committee indicated they would study the matter and be prepared to recommend action to the Governing Board at its meeting in September.
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Corporate Associates Status Report
Lasky reported that the Advisory Committee on Corporate Associates had met recently and recommended that we should have something at the fall Assembly in Washington which would focus specifically on the Corporate Associates program. A dinner session on the evening of Wednesday, September 20, was recommended and the following motion was made, seconded, and passed without dissent:
MOVED that AIP arrange a dinner for Corporate Associates to be held in Washington on the evening of September 20, 1972.
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Academic Associates
Slack reported that, on May 20, a committee under the chairmanship of E. L. Jossem had met at AIP to consider the desirability of forming an organization consisting of physics department chairmen, the members of which organization would be known as AIP Academic Associates. Some of these people had gotten together a few years ago in Chicago to discuss a similar proposal which had not been very enthusiastically received. The meeting on May 20 brought a similar response from the attendees. One of the reasons for lack of interest was that the financial condition of most physics departments at present did not permit funds for attendance at meetings or for dues in AIP if it appeared necessary to collect dues to provide some of the services proposed. It was also pointed out that schools differed greatly in their needs and it is questionable whether a national organization of department heads could be useful. Some suggestions were made about the possibility of AIP collecting and disseminating information which would be useful to physics department heads. These suggestions will be considered.
There being no further business to be transacted, the meeting was adjourned at 2:50 p.m.