Executive Committee of the American Institute of Physics
Minutes of Meeting
Present: George R. Harrison (Chairman), Gaylord P. Harnwell, George B. Pegram, H. K. Schilling, John C. Steinberg
Guest: Paul E. Klopsteg, Chairman of the Anniversary Meeting Committee
AIP Staff: Wallace Waterfall, R. R. Davis, D. H. Goodfriend, T. Vorburger
1. Minutes:
The minutes of the meeting of May 17, 1951 were approved as distributed.
2. Anniversary Meeting:
Mr. Klopsteg, Chairman of the Anniversary Meeting Committee, was present and plans for the meeting were discussed in detail. The AIP staff reported on arrangements already made and asked for decisions on the following matters:
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Badges. It had been suggested that ribbon badges be used. The Secretary reported that ribbon badges would cost about eighteen cents each whereas the standard cellophane identification badges would cost only eight and one-half cents each. It was the consensus that the standard identification badge should be used. The names of the Member Societies as well as the Institute will be printed on the badges. Different color stock will be used for members, exhibitors, and guests.
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Room reservations. To date reservations have been received for only about 500 persons. It was agreed that a second notice and hotel reservation card should be sent out immediately.
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Recording of symposium speeches. It was decided that the Secretary should arrange with Mr. Howard Hardy of the Armour Research Foundation for double recording equipment and that stenotypists would not be employed.
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Seating at Opera House. It was agreed that all of the orchestra and the center section of the balcony at the Opera House should be reserved for members and guests. Side sections of the balcony will be open to the public.
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Opera House arrangements. There will be no chairs on the platform at the Opera House. Mr. Harrison will find out whether symposium speakers need special projection equipment and advise Mr. Waterfall who will make arrangements therefor.
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Publicity. Mr. Davis will be in charge of publicity. Arrangement will be made for the Press at the hotel, the Opera House, and the banquet. Releases will be prepared for the Press. Arrangements for interviews with the symposium and banquet speakers will be made at the hotel, and the Press should be requested not to try to interview or photograph the speakers at any other time or place. Arrangements should be made to have photographers at the reception, special bar, and banquet.
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Reception. It was agreed that there should be a reception immediately preceding the banquet for past and present members of the Governing Board, officers of Member Societies, speakers and special guests, and wives. Mr. Waterfall was asked to make arrangements for the reception and to prepare and mail invitations.
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Expenses. It was agreed that the Institute should pay traveling expenses for the symposium speakers who cannot charge expenses to other accounts. Madeline Mitchell Tate is to be invited and expenses paid. Mr. Harrison will advise speakers about expenses and will invite Mrs. Tate.
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Speakers’ Table at Banquet. The following will be invited to sit at the speakers’ table: G. R. Harrison, P. E. Klopsteg, Senator McMahon, K. T. Compton, presidents of the five Member Societies, Mayor Kennelly, Governor Stevenson, Senator Dirksen, Senator Douglas, G. B. Pegram, H. A. Barton. No tickets will be collected at the speakers’ table. Reserved tables will be set up for past and present members of the Governing Board, officers of the Member Societies, and wives.
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It was decided that a bar should be set up on the mezzanine for the members preceding the banquet. Mr. Waterfall will make arrangements with the hotel.
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Ladies program. It was agreed that the best guess we can make regarding the number of ladies planning to attend is about 400. Mr. Klopsteg will advise Mrs. Leedy accordingly.
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Stationary. The Secretary was asked to supply Messrs. Harrison and Klopsteg with special club size AIP stationary for use in connection with the meeting.
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Budget. The Secretary presented a budget for the meeting. He pointed out that 54 booths (all available) have been sold. Income from booths, registration fees, and profit on October PHYSICS TODAY advertising should total about $19,000. Expenditures are budgeted at about $17,000. It appears therefore that income should cover expenses.
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October PHYSICS TODAY. Mr. Davis outlined the contents of the October issue of PHYSICS TODAY and asked for suggestions about carrying the symposium papers in future issues. It was suggested that Mr. Darrow’s paper be carried in the November issue, Land’s and Fletcher’s in December, and Fermi’s, Condon’s and Slater’s in January. Mr. Davis’ layout for the October issue was approved and it was suggested that in addition to what he has planned, he run photographs of the past Chairmen of the Institute.
3. Statement of Operations for first six months of 1951:
The Secretary presented for the information of the Committee the statement of operations for the first six months of 1951. Whereas the budgeted profit for the calendar year 1951 was $11,400, the actual profit for the first six months is $13,529, and the anticipated profit for the entire year is over $20,000 even after increasing the page budget for JAP as requested by the Editor. The two reasons why the year’s profit should be greater than anticipated are because advertising should yield about $7000 more than expected and the deficit on PHYSICS TODAY should be approximately $2500 less than expected.
This anticipated year-end addition to the surplus of the Institute is gratifying in view of the fact that the Institute’s present surplus is not adequate for the volume of business we are doing.
The reduced cost of PHYSICS TODAY and the increased surplus gave rise to further discussion about the possibility of working out some plan to send PHYSICS TODAY to all Institute members. The staff was instructed to review this situation and have further figures for discussion at the next meeting.
4. JAP Page Budget:
Mr. Waterfall reported that Editor Hutchisson had requested that the JAP page budget for 1951 be increased from 1400 to 1550 pages because he has had a larger amount of material submitted than expected. In view of the satisfactory state of the budget as indicated in Item 3 above, it was moved, seconded, and carried that THE PAGE BUDGET FOR JAP FOR 1951 BE INCREASED FROM 1400 PAGES to 1550 PAGES.
5. Mail Ballot:
The Secretary reported that a mail ballot had been taken on the percent contribution of Member Societies to the support of the Institute in 1952 in order to conform to the agreement that Societies be notified of this action prior to September 1. The financial statement discussed in Item 3 above had been sent to the Committee with the mail ballot and the percent contribution was set by unanimous vote at 13%. On motion made, seconded, and carried, the mail ballot was confirmed.
6. Election of Associate:
The Secretary reported receipt of an application for Associateship from the California Research Corporation, a subsidiary of Standard Oil of California. On motion made, seconded, and carried, the California Research Corporation was elected as an Associate of the Institute.
7. Optical Society:
The Secretary reported that, following conferences with representatives of the Optical Society, a letter dated June 27, 1951, had been received from the Secretary of OSA containing a new resolution by the Board of Directors of OSA. This new resolution indicates that progress has been made toward preparing a new Publication Agreement with AIP, but, since more time is needed to complete it, the effective date of cancellation of the present Publication Agreement is changed to December 31, 1952.
The Secretary said that the Institute staff has been asked by OSA and had agreed to draft a new Publication Agreement in line with discussions held. This will be done within the next few months.
8. Social Security:
According to the new Social Security law, the Institute would be eligible to participate. Study has indicated that a combination of Social Security and the present AIP pension plan can be worked out so as to provide better pension benefits for AIP employees at no greater cost to the employees or to the Institute than the present AIP pension plan. Both Social Security costs and AIP pension plan costs will increase in the future in a way which cannot be accurately predicted. However, it is proposed that a new combination plan be worked out such that the cost to the Institute under the combination plan for 1951 would be no greater than the actual cost under the Institute plan for that year.
Before the Institute can be accepted under Social Security, the Institute must authorize a vote by its employees and if two-thirds or more of the employees favor Social Security the Institute can apply for coverage.
After some discussion, the following motion was unanimously passed:
MOVED that a vote on adoption of Social Security be authorized and that, if the required number of employees approve, the Institute apply for coverage under Social Security. It is understood that a combination Social Security-AIP pension plan will be presented to the Executive Committee for approval, such plan to cost no more if it had been in effect in 1951 than the actual cost of the Institute plan for that year.
9. Instrument Society of America:
As authorized at the last meeting, the Secretary reported that the staff had had several conferences with officers of ISA regarding their use of RSI as their official journal. There was some discussion but no definite proposal was presented and no action taken.
10. Student Sections:
The Secretary presented applications from Colgate University and from the University of Southern California to become student sections of AIP. Both appear to have met requirements and the applications were approved.
11. Next Meeting:
The date for the next meeting of the Executive Committee was tentatively set for Friday, December 7, 1951.