A P S N E W S AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1997 THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY VOLUME 6, NO 8 APS NewsTry the enhanced APS News-online: [http://www.aps.org/apsnews]

Department Chairs Explore Issues in Undergraduate Education

special conference of physics continuous, nation-wide reform in un- However, he re- A department chairs, held May 9-11 dergraduate physics. ported that “inter- at the American Center for Physics in “Undergraduate physics programs are active- engagement” College Park, Maryland, focused on the under increasing pressure from univer- methods seem to issue of undergraduate education in sity and college administrations, industry improve both con- physics. The conference was sponsored and funding agencies to better educate ceptual under- by the APS and the American and train our students at all levels, from standing and student Association of Physics Teachers, and introductory courses to advanced senior- attitudes towards was intended to help department chairs level courses,” said Jerry Gollub physics, which is of physics departments nationwide (Haverford College), who co-chaired the cause for some op- improve their undergraduate physics conference with Roger Kirby (Univer- timism for the programs along the lines of the latest sity of Nebraska, Lincoln). “The future. For ex- research results on physics education. expectations for our programs have ample, Eric Mazur The impetus for holding such a con- changed, and evidence is mounting that of Harvard Univer- ference derives from two recent reports: they need revitalization.” Specifically, sity has found that Participants in the conference of Physics department chairs at the light “Shaping the Future” from the National Gollub noted that most departments the use of peer in- and shadows “classroom” session. Science Foundation, and “From Analy- have a small number of physics majors struction, which sis to Action,” from the National with respect to faculty size, and that actively involves students in the teach- of Washington, has found that the gap Academy of Sciences, both of which many faculty and students have ex- ing process, makes physics more between what is taught and what is exhort the higher education commu- pressed dissatisfaction with their accessible for students, as well as im- learned in introductory physics courses nity to reform and revitalize experiences, particularly in introductory proving their conceptual learning. is much greater than most instructors undergraduate science education. In courses. “We are being asked to change the way realize. In fact, on certain types of quali- addition, the AAPT sponsored a Sep- According to Robert Hilborn of we teach,” said Edward Redish (Univer- tative questions, student performance tember 1996 conference to discuss Amherst College, current statistics in- sity of Maryland, College Park). “Instead is essentially the same, before and af- possible reform efforts in this area, re- dicate a steady decline in the number of only training tabletop research sci- ter instruction, in calculus-based and sulting in a widely distributed report of physics majors, and a survey of the entists, we are now being held responsible algebra-based physics, with or without entitled “Physics at the Crossroads” that conceptual understanding of several for adding value to all of our students.” standard laboratory or demonstrations, calls for the development of an infra- thousand introductory physics students Lillian McDermott, who heads the Phys- and regardless of the size of the class structure to support the notion of indicates cause for serious concern. ics Education Group at the University (continued on page 7) Inside APS Selects First Two Mass Media Fellows News Physics Departments Explore Innovative he APS has selected two young physicists as the Society’s non-specialists; and understand edito- Curriculum Approaches ...... 2 first Mass Media Fellows. Jeffrey Chuang, a physics gradu- rial decision-making and the ways in Physics departments are trying new approaches T to better prepare students for today’s job market. ate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which information is effectively dissemi- NSF Integrative Graduate Education and is spending ten weeks this summer at the Dallas Morning nated. Research Training Program ...... 2 News in Dallas, Texas. David Kestenbaum, a staff scientist at Chuang received his BA in chemis- The NSF has established a multidisciplinary Fermilab, is spending his ten-week summer fellowship ten- try and physics from Harvard University graduate training program to help PhDs pre- pare for the job market. ure as an intern at WOSU-AM radio in Columbus, Ohio. in 1996. He is currently a candidate for The APS Mass Media Fellowship Program was established a PhD in physics at MIT, where he is Rooney is Named Next APS Congressional Fellow ...... 3 last year as a means of improving public understanding and engaged in research in quantum com- David Kestenbaum Peter Rooney of the National Research Council appreciation of science and technology. Specifically, the fel- putation theory. As a research assistant is the new APS Congressional Fellow. lowship provides physicists with an opportunity to in Harvard’s physics department, he de- Proposed Tax Bill Targets Graduate participate in the news process by learning to describe com- veloped computer simulations to study Assistants ...... 3 A tax proposal released in June targets gradu- plex technical subjects in a manner comprehensible to the dynamics of creating an antimatter ate teaching and research assistants among atom. He spent other exclusions. two summers as a Shelter Island Conference Celebrates 50 All of Physical Review Available Online research assistant Years ...... 3 at the Center for June 1997 marked the 50th anniversary of the The July 1 release of Physical Review B online and Physical Review E online marked first Shelter Island conference. the successful completion of APS’ plan to make the entire Physical Review available Superconductivity, Study Shows Importance of Publicly- on the World Wide Web. Joining Physical Review Letters and the rest of Physical working on high- Funded Science to Industry ...... 4 Review, PRB-online and PRE-online offer features such as browsable tables of con- temperature Jeffrey Chuang A recent NSF study extols the value of publicly- tents for current and previous issues, advance listing of accepted papers scheduled superconductors, and as a research as- funded basic science to industry. for upcoming issues, a PDF file of the full article, enabling users to print articles with sistant at the National Superconducting APS Awards Twenty-six Scholarships to Minority Undergrads ...... 6 the same look and feel as the print version, and versatile full-text or bibliographic Cyclotron Laboratory in East Lansing, 26 minority students were awarded corporate- search capability. Michigan. sponsored scholarships. APS members may enter an online-only subscription to Physical Review Letters or While at Harvard, Chuang was a New Facilities, FELs, Accelerator Applica- any of the Physical Review for $25 each, and those who have a paper subscription to news reporter for the Harvard Indepen- tions Highlight PAC’97 ...... 6 Physical Review Letters or any of the Physical Review will get a free subscription to the dent, a weekly campus newspaper, on The Pac’97 conference featured plans for the next generation of high-energy and nuclear fa- online version of the corresponding journal. the editorial staff of the Harvard Sci- cilities, as well as advances in free electron A paper subscription to either part of Physical Review B (B1 or B15) will qualify ence Review, a college magazine lasers, and accelerator applications. APS members for a free subscription to the online version of the entire Physical designed to explain scientific topics to the general community, and served on Opinion Review B (B1 and B15), which includes Rapid Communications. APS members who APS VIEWS ...... 4 have a paper subscription to either part of Physical Review D (D1 or D15) will get a the publicity staff of the Harvard- Membership Department Manager, Mary Pat free subscription to the online version of the entire Physical Review D (D1 and D15). Radcliffe Television Organization, a Paris, shoots for 100% member satisfaction. If you have not renewed your membership yet and would like to take advantage college TV station. Ultimately he would ZERO GRAVITY ...... 4 of this offer, you may add your online journal selections on your renewal invoice and like to teach college-level physics and The lighter side of science remit the appropriate amount. Please take the time to print your email address work in science policy. TAKE PHYSICS LOCAL ...... 5 Outlines strategies for bridging the gap between legibly in the space provided on the invoice so that we may notify you by email as to Chuang said. “Science is critical in the physics community and society. how you may register online and select your personal username and password. many areas that the public must con- If you have already renewed your membership but would like to add a subscrip- sider, including business, the Announcements ...... 7 tion, you may contact the APS Membership Department at 301-209-3280 (telephone), environment and public policy.” The Back Page ...... 8 Congressman George Brown suggests ways to 301-209-0867 (fax), or [email protected] (email). Kestenbaum received his B.S. in reform education in the sciences. (continued on page 3) APS News August/September 1997 Physics Departments Explore Innovative Curriculum Approaches

central theme of the at salaries ranging from $30K -$51K per in physics. Subsequently they take one second-best to an academic appointment. A recommendations from the APS year. However, physics has not been computer science course per semester “In subtle ways, academia teaches students Task Force on Careers and Professional sucked out of the MPP physics bach- over the next three years. In addition, that they ought to go into academia,” said Development is that academic elors degree: five graduates are they are required to complete a project Wolff. “There are challenging industrial programs of physics departments need currently in PhD programs. “By focus- in the Department of Computer Science jobs; a lot of great science has come out of to try new approaches to better prepare ing on the needs of local industry and and a PhD thesis in physics. industrial projects.” students to take advantage of the bringing industry into the department Encouraged by the success of this Moorehead State breadth of career and employment as a partner in physics education, the initiative, the two departments plan to University options available to them. [See report SWT physics department has strength- introduce a three-year program com- Simply walking off campus on the APS home page (www.aps.org) ened itself by providing a more useful bining a MS in applied physics with a and into the community can inspire under the Career/Employment button]. degree to its students and a more use- MS from the Department of Computer new ideas and opportunities for phys- There are many examples of phys- ful product to its community,” said Science. New interdisciplinary courses ics departments. The physics ics departments around the country that Gutierrez. in materials physics and chemistry will department at Moorehead State Univer- have undergone the necessary self-ex- be designed and a summer internship Louisiana State University sity in Moorehead, Minnesota has amination and devised innovative new program will be introduced, allowing The Department of Physics altered their traditional physics major approaches to the physics degree, and students to do research at government and Astronomy and the De- after consulting with an array of local to physics teaching. A sampling of some laboratories and industry. of these programs is featured below. partment of Computer businesses. Moorehead’s goal is to Science at LSU have devel- Massachusetts Institute of make physics majors more marketable Southwest Texas State oped an interdisciplinary curriculum Technology by emphasizing workplace related University which offers graduate students the op- MIT’s Department of Phys- skills. The most significant modifica- One innovative approach is portunity to obtain a PhD in physics ics has implemented numerous tion is the addition of an internship the Materials Physics Program and a MS in computer science. This ini- initiatives designed to broaden and experience as one of the electives avail- (MPP) at Southwest Texas State Uni- tiative is an effort to integrate high strengthen its interactions with indus- able to students. Physics majors may versity (SWT), under the leadership of performance computing and commu- try, under the auspices of its Physics also substitute business courses for Professors Carlos Gutierrez and Heather nications (HPCC) with research and Industry Forum. Specifically, last year some physics courses. Local businesses Galloway. While still undergoing the education in the physical sciences. The the department began helping gradu- have been very receptive to this con- approval process that will make it a HPCC program was started in 1990 by ate students to seek summer cept, and Moorehead’s department legitimate degree, MPP is an alterna- Professors Rajiv Kalia and Priya employment, or “externships,” with in- chair, Vijendra Agarwal, thinks that this tive major to the traditional physics BS Vashishta, who established a Concur- dustries or national laboratories, sort of flexibility will lead to many in- that emphasizes courses and hands-on rent Computing Laboratory for offering credit towards the department’s ternship and future employment experience designed to prepare stu- Materials Simulations (CCLMS) at LSU. breadth requirements for the PhD de- opportunities for physics majors. Faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and gree. According to Peter Wolff, who dents for the local high-tech industry. Rutgers University students at the CCLMS are involved in serves as department liaison to indus- SWT is located in San Marcos, near Rutgers University multidisciplinary research programs in try, the program placed six students Austin, in the Silicon Hills region of has also seen the fu- computational materials science, phys- with major companies in 1996 and Texas. The world’s leading semicon- ture and has introduced four options ics and astronomy, chemistry, algorithm doubled that number this year. Wolff ductor companies — including Intel, for the BS in physics: 1) the professional design, parallel programming environ- said, “Industrial people like to see Motorola, AMD, and National Semicon- option, designed for the grad-school ments, and advanced scientific resumés with industrial experience. It’s ductor — have facilities in the region bound; 2) the five-year engineering visualization. The State of Louisiana proof that the student has some of the and SWT has engaged these compa- option; 3) the general option, which is equiped the CCLMS with a number of qualities they are seeking — breadth, nies for advice on how to appropriately curricularly flexible and popular with parallel machines and visualization plat- flexiblity, collaborative ability — that prepare undergraduate physics majors premeds; and 4) the applied option, forms. With support from NSF the CCLMS are not taught as part of the traditional for the local high-tech workforce. for those headed for technical jobs. has been connected to other massively physics training.” Gutierrez reports that MPP graduates Rutgers’ approach has been quite suc- parallel machines and visualization plat- To help facilitate direct contacts with have a much easier transition into the cessful. Over the last three years, they forms in the country via a high-speed industry, the physics department holds workforce than SWT’s traditional phys- have produced 109 bachelors in phys- network. a six-week recruiting open house each ics majors, with more options, and ics; 45 bachelors will be granted this Students working toward a dual de- fall, hosting one to three companies attractive salaries. Over the last four year, representing more that 1% of the gree take core courses in physics and each day and arranging interviews with years, BS students were placed at national total; 24% of these are women preparatory computer science courses, students when desired. There is also a Motorola, Applied Materials, AMD, and and 16% are underrepresented minori- before taking the qualifying examination Visiting Scientist Program for industrial other semiconductor-related industries ties. Notably, the applied option is very scientists, intended to foster more col- popular, with 29% of the majors choos- laborative research with industry. In ing this route. Similar to SWT in addition, the department is trying to APS COUNCIL 1997 designing its applied track, Rutgers has broaden its course offerings in phys- President looked to the needs of local industry: APS News D. Allan Bromley, Yale University ics. For example, there is now a popular President-Elect optics. Thus, Rutgers’ applied concen- course in biophysics. Wolff sees similar Coden: ANWSEN ISSN: 1058-8132 Andrew M. Sessler, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory tration is in optics, and the applied Vice-President opportunities in computational and Series II, Vol. 6, No. 8 August/September 1997 Jerome Friedman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates have naturally garnered jobs © 1997 The American Physical Society Executive Officer chemical physics. Judy R. Franz, University of Alabama, Huntsville (on leave) in the local optics industry. Editor: Barrett H. Ripin Treasurer Wolff admits that there are still some Newswriter: Jennifer Ouellette Thomas McIlrath, University of Maryland (on leave) “cultural” barriers to be overcome. Editor-in-Chief Please send information about other Production: Elizabeth Buchan-Higgins Martin Blume, Brookhaven National Laboratory Many faculty members were reluctant Past-President innovative physics programs to: Barrett Coordinator: Amy Halsted to lose their graduate students for the Robert Schrieffer, Florida State University Ripin, APS Associate Executive Officer, APS News (ISSN: 1058-8132) is published 11X yearly, monthly, summer and students still feel that going except the August/September issue, by The American Physical General Councillors at email address [email protected]. Society, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844, (301) Daniel Auerbach, Virginia Brown, Jennifer Cohen, Charles Duke, into an industrial position is somehow 209-3200. It contains news of the Society and of its Divisions, Elsa Garmire, S. James Gates, Donald Hamann, William Happer, Topical Groups, Sections and Forums; advance information on Anthony M. Johnson, Zachary Levine, Paul Peercy, Susan Seestrom, meetings of the Society; and reports to the Society by its com- Virginia Trimble, Ronald Walsworth, Sau Lan Wu mittees and task forces, as well as opinions. Chair, Nominating Committee NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Gerard Crawley Letters to the editor are welcomed from the membership. Letters must be signed and should include an address and daytime tele- Chair, Panel on Public Affairs Research Training Program phone number. The APS reserves the right to select and to edit Robert M. White for length or clarity. 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Services; Michael Stephens, Controller and Assistant Treasurer Awards will be made in amounts up to $500,000 per year (including direct and indirect costs) for a duration not to exceed five years; up to an additional $200,000 (continued on next page) 2 August/September 1997 APS News Rooney is Named Next APS Congressional Fellow he American Physical Society vapor-deposited thin metal films. From science and information materials and serving as T selected the 1997-1998 Congres- a practical standpoint, the development science research and devel- a spokesperson for the sional Fellow at its annual spring of advanced materials for a wide vari- opment. He also served as school in various public meeting in Washington, DC in April. ety of applications depends on the study director for three dif- forums. He was also a vol- Peter Rooney, a program officer for the ability to control the microstructure of ferent NRC panels: the unteer board member of National Research Council (NRC), will vapor-deposited films, requiring a ba- Space Studies Board Task the Sonoma County Envi- serve one year as a special legislative sic understanding of the kinetics of Group on Issues in Sample ronmental Forum in Santa assistant in a congressional office of his vapor deposition and growth. Return, which examined Rosa, California, from 1984 choice, following an intensive, ten-day While completing his graduate work, planetary protection issues to 1986, which lobbied lo- orientation period and interview pro- Rooney worked as a research assistant surrounding a possible Mars cal and regional government cess. Rooney applied for the APS at the University of California, sample return mission; the bodies in support of envi- fellowship “in order to build on my Berkeley’s Microfabrication Laboratory Space Studies Board Com- ronmental issues. current science policy experience and as well as at UCSD’s Center for Magnetic mittee on Human Exploration, which The APS Congressional Fellowship gain in-depth exposure to the Congres- Recording Research. Both are industry- reviewed and evaluated the varied ap- program is intended to provide a pub- sional policy-making process,” he said. affiliated technology research centers. It was proaches NASA has adopted to manage lic service by making available “I welcome the opportunity to contrib- his experience working in such an envi- space science human exploration mis- individuals with scientific knowledge ute to the promotion of science and ronment that stimulated his interest in the sions; and the Naval Studies Board and skills to members of Congress, few technology policies that promote sci- issue of U.S. industrial competitiveness, es- Committee on Assessment of Fire Sup- of whom have a technical background. entific research and contribute to the pecially as it relates to technology-intensive pression Substitutes and Alternatives In turn, the program enables scientists strength of our economy.” industries. He also spent seven years as a to Halon, which examined the status to broaden their experience through di- Rooney received his BS in physics successful entrepreneur before attend- of research and engineering directed rect involvement with the legislative from Sonoma State University in 1986 ing college, co-founding WWC, Inc., a toward developing alternative fire sup- and political processes. “Fellows gain and completed his PhD at the Univer- holding company that manages farmland pression agents to replace halons on a perspective which, ideally, will en- sity of California, San Diego, in 1995. and oil and gas producing properties, naval platforms. hance not only their own careers but His research focused on studying the as well as a chain of five specialty food Rooney also has considerable expe- also the physics community’s ability to effect of deposition conditions on stores and affiliated restaurants. rience in public service outside the more effectively communicate with its chemical order in single crystal, thin One of Rooney’s primary responsi- national political arena. From 1980 to representatives in Congress,” said APS film binary metal alloys, to determine bilities at the NRC has been to manage 1982 he was a member of the Board of Vice-President Jerome Friedman. how the kinetics of film growth and, the annual assessment of technical pro- Trustees of Sudbury Valley School, a “Today’s budget climate makes this in particular, the enhanced mobility at grams for the areas of the National private, non-profit elementary and sec- ability of increasing importance as the surface relative to the bulk, affect Institute of Standards and Technology ondary school in Framingham, shrinking resources force hard choices the short and long range order in (NIST) that are engaged in physical Massachusetts, writing public relations between worthy projects.”

Proposed Tax Bill Targets Graduate Assistants Shelter Island Conference Celebrates 50 Years tax proposal released in June by to waive the tuition of its graduate teach- June 1997 marked the 50th anniversary of the first Shelter Island Confer- Rep. Bill Archer (R-TX), Chair of ing and research assistants in return for the A ence, attended by twenty-five physics luminaries. Held June 2-4, 1947, this the House Ways and Means Commit- services provided by the student. meeting was one of the most fruitful of a series of specialized scientific con- tee, has targeted graduate teaching and “Eliminating the exclusion from tax ferences held immediately after the end of World War II, sponsored by the research assistants. Graduate students of these tuition waivers would have a National Academy of Sciences, to counter the feeling that scientific and tech- teach up to 40% of the courses on some catastrophic effect on students, as well nical societies had grown so large, or become so narrowly specialized, that of the nation’s largest university cam- as the entire education system,” said no critical discussions were taking place at their meetings. Much like the 1911 puses and conduct a large portion of Kevin Boyer, NAGPS Executive Direc- Solvay Conference set the stage for developments in quantum theory, the the nation’s technological, defense, tor. For instance, students with a $10K Shelter Island gathering marked the initial stimulus for postwar developments medical, engineering, chemical and stipend and tuition waiver of $20K per in quantum field theory. These included effective, relativistically invariant other research. The bill prompted an out- year would force the student to pay computational methods, Feynman diagrams, QED, and renormalization theory, cry from the National Association of taxes on $30K in “income.” This is de- among others. A second Shelter Island conference was held in 1983 at the Graduate-Professional Students (NAGPS), spite the fact that the student would only original Rams Head Inn. [Photo from Niels Bohr Archive] whose members and students held a June have $10K in “cash income” from which 19 Lobby Day in Washington, DC. to pay the tax. “This isn’t tax relief that will help Three other provisions in the tax make education more accessible,” said code also target graduate/professional Bryan Hannegan, a graduate student students: (1) the HOPE scholarships will at the University of California/Irvine be curtailed; (2) the deduction for higher and NAGPS President. “The proposed education expenses specifically ex- changes in the tax code could push cludes graduate school; and (3) the people out of graduate school due to extension of the Employer Provided costs, could force universities to dra- Educational Assistance portion of the matically increase teaching and research tax code (Section 127) applies only to assistant salaries, could increase tuition undergraduate courses. for undergraduates throughout the U.S., Individuals concerned about the tax and could dramatically reduce the value bill should contact their own members of our nation’s research dollars - much of Congress immediately. This is particu- of it federal money.” larly true for those whose House and Senate Shelter Island conference participants, June 1947. From left to right: I.I. Rabi, Linus Specifically, the proposed provision representatives are on the Conference Com- Pauling, John Van Vleck, Willis Lamb, Gregory Breit, Duncan MacInnes, Karl Darrow, George would eliminate a subsection 117(d) of the mittee. For access information check Uhlenbeck, Julian Schwinger, Edward Teller, Bruno Rossi, Arnold Nordsieck, John von tax code that presently allows universities [http://congress.org]. Neumann, John Wheeler, Hans Bethe, Robert Serber, Robert Marshak, Abraham Pais, J. Robert Oppenheimer, David Bohm, Richard Feynman, Victor Weisskopf, Herman Feshbach.

NSF Programs (continued) will be available for appropriate state-of-the-art research instrumentation and Mass Media Fellows (continued from page1) special purpose research materials during the first year of the award. The number and size of the awards will depend on the advice of reviewers and on the avail- physics from Yale University in 1991, where he studied the fractal structure of ability of funds. About 20 awards per year are anticipated during the first three schizophrenic brain waves and helped develop a detector based on scintillation years of the IGERT program. fibers. He received his PhD in physics from Harvard University in 1996, with a Applicants compete for support from the IGERT program in a two-stage thesis presenting the discovery of the top quark, having worked on the research process. Preproposals outlining the planned IGERT activity must be submitted no team that discovered it. later than 5:00 PM EDT, September 8, 1997. These will be reviewed by In addition to his scientific work, Kestenbaum worked as a freelance writer multidisciplinary advisory panels, after which approximately 60 applications with for the Chicago Reader, and has written articles for both the CERN Courier and promising programs will be invited to submit a formal proposal. The formal FermiNews, as well as an essay for Modern Physics, an undergraduate textbook. proposals must be submitted electronically no later than 5:00 PM EDT, December Eventually he would like to combine his scientific research career with one in 15, 1997. science writing. “I enjoy boiling down a scientific idea and expressing it in a Inquiries about the IGERT program in the Directorate of Mathematical and coherent, compact way,” he said. “Ideally sentences should have the same dis- Physical Sciences, can be directed to Henry N. Blount III, 703-306-1946; email: tilled beauty that a theory or an equation does.” [email protected]. Further information, including proposal criteria and application He added, “Not everyone needs to be science literate, but as scientists it is our information, can be obtained from the NSF World Wide Web page [http:// responsibility to communicate our endeavors to the taxpayers who fund us and www.nsf.gov] by accessing “IGERT” under “Crosscutting Activities” in the section are affected by our work.” entitled “Program Areas.”

3 APS News August/September 1997 OPINION APS VIEWS Study Shows Importance of Publicly- Funded Science to Industry How do you make 40,000 physicists happy? The value of publicly-funded basic science to industry is extolled in a March By Mary Pat Paris, APS Membership Manager 17, 1997 study performed for NSF by CHI Research, Inc., an international con- sulting firm. Entitled, “The Increasing Linkage Between U.S. Technology and Although I’d love to offer a snappy comeback, Public Science,” the study examines the connection between U.S. industrial the truth of the matter is, I can’t. The reality of it hit patents and their citation of publicly-funded research papers. home recently as I reviewed the results of the most Underlying the study’s findings is that public science is a driving force behind recent APS membership survey. I should clarify that high technology and economic growth. The report is based on tracing tens of I tried to find one particular service or benefit that thousands of references from recent United States patents, issued in 1987-88 and drives physicists to retain APS membership. What I 1993-94, to the scientific research papers they cite. discovered is that “it” just doesn’t exist. According to the report, 73% of the papers cited by U.S. industry patents are Does this mean that I must give up my goal of public science, authored at academic, governmental, and other public institu- 100% member satisfaction? Again, my answer is no. tions worldwide. Across all countries and technologies reviewed, the paper The staff and officers of APS regularly receive calls, finds a steady increase in science linkage for at least two decades. That linkage letters and e-mail messages from members who ask is growing fastest in the U.S. References from U.S. patents to U.S.-authored questions, or offer comments and suggestions on how research papers have tripled over a six- year period. we are doing. While this gives us some feel for how our efforts are received by The report finds this linkage of patents to science papers to be very subject- the members, it does not necessarily reflect the pulse of the membership as a specific, being strongest in biological and medical technologies. It is less whole. There are many more members who do not take the time to let us know pronounced in physics, although physics — along with chemistry, engineering, how we rate in their eyes. In October, 1996 APS solicited a sample of members and biomedicine — is one of the four most heavily-cited scientific categories to complete a grueling 80 page survey (actually 8 pages; it just seemed like 80) for 1993-94 patents. For research papers in physics, NSF support is cited most in which we asked for the answer to “How are we doing?” often, followed by the U.S. Navy, the DOE, the U.S. Air Force, DARPA, the U.S. Preliminary results of the survey are in and APS Committees are busy debat- Army, NASA, and the DOD in general. ing what the numbers mean. Some results are open to interpretation, others The report concludes that “public science plays an essential role in supporting obviously clear. Demographics top the list of survey results and not surprisingly, U.S. industry, across all the science-linked areas of industry, amongst companies report the very diverse nature of APS members. The common bond is physics large and small, and is a fundamental pillar of the advance of U.S. technology.” but the similarities seem to end there. Age, gender, level of education, employ- ment status, and subfield of physics, make a “typical” APS member hard to define. We know that strength is in diversity, however each of these groups has zero expectations of the role its professional association should fill, and rarely agree gravity on exactly how this should be accomplished. I am referring to specific tangible and intangible benefits offered to members in exchange for their dues. If Dr. Seuss were a Technical Writer… The survey shows that large groups of members look to APS for its journals. Others value the benefit of presenting papers at APS meetings. Students look to Here’s an easy game to play. us for career guidance, while some see our insurance programs as critical to Here’s an easy thing to say. maintaining membership. The survey also indicated that some members only belong because of Physics Today. Online journal access services are important If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port, to some, but not others. Education and outreach rated high on some members’ And the bus is interrupted as a very last resort. lists while increased resources for public affairs topped others. And the address of the memory makes your floppy disk abort, I was personally surprised to see how many members rated the paper Mem- Then the socket packet pocket has an error to report! bership Directory higher than the online Membership Directory. I expected that If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash, since the online directory reflects “up-to-the-minute” changes, members would And the double-clicking icon puts your window in the trash, prefer that to a paper version that is technically out of date when it is printed. I And your data is corrupted ‘cause the index doesn’t hash. was wrong, and the survey results showed me how important it is to ask you on Then your siutation’s hopeless and your system’s gonna crash! a regular basis what is important. The APS Committee on Membership regularly reviews current and proposed You can’t say this? benefits of membership. Last year, the Committee approved, and we offered, the What a shame, sir! opportunity for APS members to subscribe to Internet access through EarthLink™. We’ll find you Some members loved it, others called and wrote about what a waste of resources another game, sir! they thought it was. I have received praise (and just as many complaints) from members about the decision to stop mailing BAPS in advance of meetings, and If the label on the cable on the table at your house the increased use of electronic communication with members. Similarly, I have a Says the network is connected to the button on the mouse, file of letters from members who wrote in support of a statement APS made But your packets want to tunnel on another protocol, several years ago. I also have a file of members who terminated their member- That’s repeatedly rejected by the printer down the hall, ship as a result of the same statement. And your screen is all distorted by the side affects of Gauss, My goal as Membership Manager is 100% member satisfaction. I always knew So your icons in the windows are so wavy as a souse, this was a tough goal to strive for, however the survey has convinced me that Then you may as well reboot and go out with a bang, while it is tough, it is possible as long as I change my definition of satisfaction. ‘Cause as sure as I’m a poet, the sucker’s gonna hang! 100% member satisfaction does not mean that all members will be happy with When the copy of your floppy’s getting sloppy on the disk, every benefit or service offered. By putting together a “cafeteria plan” of benefits And the microcode instructions cause unnecessary RISC. from which to choose, and by participating in a wide range of education, out- Then you have to flash your memory and you’ll want to RAM your ROM. reach, international, and public affairs, each member should come away 100% Quickly turn off the computer and be sure to tell your mom! satisfied with their decision to maintain membership in APS. I invite you to consider your level of satisfaction with APS as a whole. How does Author Unknown your membership benefit you, and how can we make your membership more worthwhile? Call, write, e-mail, and respond to surveys. We need to hear from you! George Soros Honored for Aiding FSU Science On June 4, 1997, leadership from The American Physical attempting to continue their work and Society gathered in New York for a reception and dinner to to provide needed individual travel as honor George Soros for his support of science in the former well as library journal distribution sup- Soviet Union (FSU). At the event APS President, D. Allan port which continues today through the Bromley, formally recognized Mr. Soros “for his outstand- Open Society Institute. In addition, Mr. ing efforts in working to preserve the scientific heritage of Soros’ $100 million endowment of the In- the nations of the former Soviet Union.” In the aftermath of ternational Science Foundation brought the collapse of the Soviet government, the very existence another $16.57 million to the physics com- and future of one of the largest and most important physics munity in the FSU. communities in the world became endangered. Under the Mr. Soros continues to involve him- leadership of 1992 APS President Ernest Henley, an APS self in APS affairs in a leadership position Task Force on the Crisis in the FSU was appointed to over- as a vice chair for The Campaign for see the development of support programs to assist these Physics, a $5 million fund raising effort colleagues. The major contributor to these programs was to launch and expand science educa- George Soros, whose network of foundations gave $1.2 tion programs of APS and AAPT (a D. Allen Bromley presents George Soros with a certificate of appreciation while Judy Franz and Ernie Hanley look on. million for APS Emergency Small Grants to physicists partner in the Campaign).

4 August/September 1997 APS News OPINION Take Physics Local by P. W. “Bo” Hammer, Assistant Manager of Education, American Institute of Physics.

hysicists are fiddling, but not as science is not going to grow much professional certification. are many ex- PEinstein once did. As we glory in above inflation. The key to our long- Furthermore, engineering and busi- amples of physics the centennial of the electron, our pro- term professional survival, therefore, is ness schools aggressively track their departments fession may be crumbling around us. to re-establish physics’ pact with soci- alumni. Workforce-bound graduates around the coun- Consider our operating environment: ety. We must do this by reaching out from regional and urban commuter try that have While the total number of college to our local communities and building schools are especially valuable because devised innova- graduates is at an all-time high, the symbiotic relations whereby physics they tend to stay local. Maintaining tive approaches number of bachelors degrees in phys- and the communities we serve become good alumni contact and relations is to the physics ics produced annually is at a 37-year mutually dependent partners. In other key because alumni who get jobs even- degree and to low, approaching 4,000. [See graph and words, physicists and physics depart- tually progress into positions of physics teaching, some of which are APS Views on page 6 of the July 1997 ments need to take physics local. influence and may be able to provide highlighted in this issue of APS News. issue of APS News.] The opportunities to take physics internships, jobs, contracts, and advice. These departments are quite varied in Furthermore, for every 1000 bach- local are particularly rich in urban and These are the types of interactions nature, but they all have made the op- elors degrees awarded each year, only regional centers that usually have af- which are necessary if a department is erational connection between society, 3.6 are in physics, compared to an his- fordable higher education at public two- going to be an important community the communities their universities serve, torical level of about 5 per 1000. Over or four-year colleges. resource. and their departments’ long-term sur- half of all college graduates are women, Yet, many of these departments do The physics community can rebuild vival. but in physics we are hovering just not have PhD programs and cannot its pact with society, not by mimicking Our profession is threatened, not by below 20%. Similarly, with Blacks and compete for federal funding against the engineering, but by maintaining the the priorities of Congress, the President, Hispanics, our numbers are in the big research universities in their states. curricular, innovative, and complex or an ill-informed public, but by our single digits and out of proportion to As state budgets for higher education problem solving strengths of physics. own complacency about our changing the total number of minorities gradu- become tighter, pressures are building Furthermore, if physics students are our role in society. The federal government ating from college. A visit to physics to phase out the physics major in de- customers, then many physics depart- will continue to fund a broad-based departments is likely to reveal malaise partments which produce few ments are struggling because of poor program of basic research in physics. and anxiety among students concerned undergraduate majors. With a national marketing and inadequate attention to However, funding will decline over the about their professional future. And why average of less than six majors per de- the needs of these customers. We must next five or more years and will not not? Funding for R&D is in decline. Our partment, many urban and regional assess and act on the needs and goals sustain today’s population of PhD- own publications lament the job situa- departments are already feeling the of our students, and on how physics granting physics departments and the tion for physics graduates, and physicists heat. The solution is for physics de- can be put to service for the good of doctorates they produce. Yet, our de- entering the workforce face an unrecep- partments to take physics local, the local community. Engineering and partments live in communities that have tive audience of employers. Taken becoming such visible and valuable business schools thrive in this environ- real needs, representing the new uni- together, these conditions indicate a pro- resources to their local communities ment because of the continuous ebb verse of opportunities for physics. Just fession in distress, yet what we observe that no sane university or state admin- and flow of people between campus as the business, engineering, and edu- are symptoms, not the disease. istrator would dream of even nicking and the private sector. The secret is to cation schools on many campuses After World War II, physics depart- them with the budget axe. build symbiotic relations through hu- operate symbiotically with the local ments and the federal government This concept is not so far-fetched. man interaction and human resources. environment, so can physics. The se- entered into an agreement whereby Consider the aggressive outreach and Another area where physics depart- cret is to get out there and meet the physicists would perform federally utility that engineering, business, and ments can take leadership is in the managers, scientists, and engineers in funded basic research in exchange for education schools provide to their com- training of K-12 science teachers. Qual- the community and ask them how training PhDs and providing the tech- munities. Engineering schools are ity pre-college education is arguably the physics can help. Then do it. nological advances that strengthened particularly good models because they single greatest need within urban ar- This is a challenge to the physics the U.S. military and industry. The out- and physics draw from a similar pool eas and one in which physics community to assess itself as our pro- come of this bargain was a research of potential majors. Yet while physics departments now play a very small role. fession makes this transition into the and training enterprise that drove the struggles to keep its annual number of Physics departments must become pro- post-Cold War, globally competitive emerging US high-tech economy. What majors above 4,000, the engineers have active in the training of teachers for the world. The APS and AIP want to help ails us today is that federal budget pres- been turning out around 100,000 gradu- simple reason that better K-12 science physics departments make this transi- sures, the end of the Cold War, and ates per year. Why such a discrepancy? education results in better prepared tion proactively and successfully so that global competition have chipped away One explanation is the natural link, college students, a larger and higher physics’ foundation in society is built at the tenets of this contract. The pact made in the minds of students and quality pool of potential majors, and a to last. The AIP Education Division is between physics and society has eroded employers, between the value of an population of high school and college collecting success stories with the goal of and our vision of the future is blurred engineering degree and the types of graduates who are more at ease with identifying models for change, establish- as we cling to the Cold War bargain jobs in the technical workplace. Engi- science and technology and ready for ing a network of community-focussed that sustained our academic and indus- neering, business, and teaching work in our technical economy. physics departments, and disseminat- trial research enterprise. programs provide students with a vi- Reestablishing the pact between ing this information to the physics The bachelors degree was a neces- sion of their professional futures in ways physics and society by taking physics community. We welcome your stories sary station on the PhD assembly line, that physics does not because there is local is not a blue-sky concept. There and your comments on this challenge. but was never really viewed as a wor- no explicit physics industry. thy end product, even though fewer Engineering and business than 8% of all physics bachelors have schools are intimately cog- Factoid become PhD physicists doing research nizant of the needs of their or teaching. Yet, despite their neglect customers, typically local in- by the physics community, physics dustry. When asked, bachelors and masters students have companies will tell you that gone on to productive professional they need skilled workers, lives because of the utility of the phys- problem-solvers, and ics degree. people with bachelors and Our professional base — the phys- masters degrees who can ics bachelors degree — is disappearing think on their feet and learn in response to a perception among stu- new tasks quickly. dents and many employers that physics But engineering schools is no longer a viable professional op- don’t just produce a hot em- tion. If this base erodes much further, ployable commodity by the damage could take years to correct, churning students through putting the U.S. years behind its com- the curriculum. Engineering petitors in the interim. schools often provide a lot The problem with rebuilding this more bang for students’ tu- base is that we cannot rely as we once ition buck than physics by did on the federal government to pro- adding meaningful value to vide the bricks and mortar. There is the degree through extracur- intense pressure to bring government ricular benefits such as spending into balance. The structure internships, co-op positions, of the federal budget and its off-limits connections to companies entitlements mean that even in the rosi- that have a history of hiring est of fiscal scenarios, funding for their graduates, and

5 APS News August/September 1997 APS Awards Twenty-six Scholarships to Minority Undergrads

he APS has awarded corporate- The APS scholarship program oper- and presented a poster paper at the 1997 Science Center for Holocaust Studies, Tsponsored scholarships for the ates under the auspices of the APS APS March Meeting while still in high Unidad (a Hispanic culture club), the 1997-1998 academic year to 26 minority Committee on Minorities, and is sup- school. math team, and the Arista National students who are majoring, or plan to ported by funds allocated from the APS Another scholarship recipient is Honor Society. He has also participated major, in physics. Since its inception in Campaign for Physics. Scholarships are Joanne Byars, who will be entering the in Books for Bosnia, Hands on New 1980, the scholarship program has awarded to African-American, Hispanic University of Chicago this fall. Byars York, and the Julliard School Music helped approximately 200 minority American or Native American students who received perfect (800) scores on the ver- Advancement Program. students pursue physics degrees. Each are high school seniors, college freshmen, bal and math sections of SAT, and also The other new scholars for and their scholarship consists of $2,000, which or sophomores. Roughly half are awarded on the writing, chemistry, literature, institutions, are: Danon Price (Emory), may be renewed once, and which may to students enrolled in institutions with his- biology, and American history SAT Charlesly Joseph (Brown), Juan Nieto be used for tuition, room and board. torically or predominantly Black, Hispanic, subtests! In high school, she was the (Harvard), Robert Villareal (Southwest “We are extremely impressed by these or Native American enrollment. After be- founder and president of the science Texas State University), Mark Hill (MIT), young scholars and look forward to ing selected, each scholar is matched with honor society, and president of Mu Al- Jean Morrow (Harvard), Edward Little watching them evolve into productive an available scholarship, as well as an ac- pha Theta, as well as a volunteer in (Cal Tech), Andrew Mercado (U.S. Air scientists as well as outstanding models complished physicist to act as a mentor. other community programs. In addi- Force Academy), Elvis Dieguez (Uni- for the next generation of minority sci- David Anjelly is one of the newly tion, she found time to engage in two versity of Miami), Taran Villoch (Ball entists.” said Judy Franz, APS Executive selected scholarship recipients, and will independent study courses in physics State University), Michael Boss (Case Officer. “We are proud to have them take be starting his freshman year at Yale at her high school and to take an el- Western University), and Tasha Oswald part in our APS scholarship program.” University this fall. Despite being born ementary abstract algebra course at the (UC, San Diego). Out of 90 applicants, 15 new schol- partial blind, he has been involved in University of South Florida. Students whose scholarships were arships and 11 renewal applicants were varsity track and field, varsity cross-coun- Minority scholar Seth Guinals will renewed are Gregory Baeza (Emory), selected. The Committee on Minorities try, math tutoring and community service begin his freshman year at MIT this fall. Terance Barkus (Morehouse College), in Physics noted that the quality of the programs. He was selected as one of 20 He is a graduate of Bronx High School Martha-Elizabeth Baylor (Kenyon Col- applications was extremely high, so students to attend the Summer Research of Science. He became involved in a lege), Carina Curto (Harvard), much so that the number of scholar- Institute at SUNY at Stony Brook in 1996. Syracuse University summer research Adetokunbo Lukan (University of To- ships was increased from 24 to 26. The There he began an independent research program allowing high school students ledo), Jaime Morales (University of committee also noted that this year’s project with the Department of Materials to participate in research with a faculty Texas, El Paso), Lisa Morton (Califor- batch of students are extremely well- Science earned him semifinalist status at member. His project was to mathemati- nia State University, Chico), Melinda rounded, excelling in sports, languages, the Westinghouse science competition. cally model the micromechanical Nickelson (Bryn Mawr College), Ann community volunteer activities and mu- Anjelly has scientific publications pending, behavior of cavities formed in compos- Margaret Orthuber (UC, Santa Cruz), sic. Fifteen of the scholarship recipients was an invited speaker at SUNY Stony ite materials, such as steel. In addition, Eugenio Ortiz (Princeton) and Conan have engaged in some form of research. Brook’s student research symposium, Guinals was a member in the Bronx Viernes (University of Washington). New Facilities, FELs, Accelerator Applications Highlight PAC’97

lans for the next generation of high- facility at Duke University to explore fast neutron beams for cancer therapy. nuclear science developed by the DOE/ Penergy and nuclear facilities, as well the capability and application of high According to Y. Jongen of Ion Beam NSF Nuclear Science Advisory Commit- as recent advances in control software, power, synchronized multiwavelength Applications, research-oriented accel- tee. Brookhaven’s W.T. Weng, who is free electron lasers, and accelerator ap- infrared, ultraviolet, and gamma ray FEL erators tend to be complex and chair of the next PAC meeting, CAP99 plications, were among the highlights light sources. expensive. In contrast, most accelera- in New York City, reported that the of the 1997 Particle Accelerator Con- John Madey of Duke University, tor applications are done with low to three to four orders of magnitude in- ference (PAC’97), held 12-16 May in believes the size, cost and capabilities moderate energy protons or electrons, crease in both peak intensity and Vancouver, British Columbia. The 17th of such facilities are well-suited to the but with large average beam power, average flux gained in the last 30 years in this series, the conference covered resources and interests of multi-disci- and tend to be simple and inexpen- have made it possible to construct high new developments in all aspects of the plinary research universities. sive to operate. intensity proton accelerators. Herman science, technology and use of accel- The TESLA FEL at DESY in Germany TRIUMF and Northrup Grumman Winick of SLAC said that concepts and erators. PAC’97 was held under the joint makes use of the high quality electron have developed a new system for the designs being developed for fourth- auspices of APS Division of Physics of beam that can be provided by the su- detection of explosives and drugs, generation light sources that will Beams and the Institute of Electrical and perconducting linac to drive a single- called the Contraband Detection Sys- increase the brightness and coherence Electronics Engineers , and was spon- pass FEL at wavelengths far below the tem (CDS), based on the resonant of the radiation using storage rings. sored by the U.S. DOE, the NSF, and visible region. In order to reach wave- absorption of gamma rays by nitrogen- the ONR. lengths of 6 nanometers, the TESLA 14. According to TRIUMF’s Bruce Test Facility currently under construc- Milton, the collaboration has produced Opening Plenary Session tion is being extended to 1 GeV beam 3D images of the nitrogen regions which The opening plenary session on energy, using the principle of self-am- may be used to determine if small Monday morning focused on the cur- plified spontaneous emission. amounts of nitrogen-based explosives, rent status of various projects deemed According to DESY’s Jorge Rossbach, heroin, or cocaine are present in vital to the future of particle physics, the key prerequisite for such single- scanned containers. including the second operational run pass, high-gain FELs is a high intensity, Bernhard Ludewigt of Lawrence Ber- of the LEP collider at CERN and the diffraction limited electron beam to be keley National Laboratory reported that first commissioning of the super pho- generated and accelerated without deg- accelerator-driven epithermal neutron ton ring-8GeV in Japan, a radation. Once proven in the sources are becoming an attractive al- third-generation synchrotron radiation micrometer to nanometer regime, this ternative to nuclear reactors for Boron source for X rays. In addition, C. Joshi scheme should be applicable down to Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT), de- of UCLA reported on the proposed use Angstrom wavelengths signed to deliver a localized dose to of lasers to accelerate particles to high The study of the Inverse Free Elec- tumors. energies in short acceleration lengths, tron Laser (IFEL) as a potential mode Lynda Williams, the Physics Chanteuse, using the very high electric fields asso- Closing Plenary Session of electron acceleration has been pur- gives the PAC banquet attendees an ciated with laser beams. Speakers at a The focus was on the future of high easy way to remember Maxwell’s sued at Brookhaven National Monday afternoon session provided energy and nuclear physics at Friday equations. Laboratory for a number of years, ac- status reports on upgrades to Fermilab’s afternoon’s closing cording to Arie van Steenbergen. The Main Injector and Recycler, construc- plenary session, studies focus on the development of a tion of Brookhaven’s Relativistic Heavy which included an low energy, high gradient multistage Ion Collider, and the Large Hadron overview of the linear accelerato. The BNL team re- Collider project scheduled for comple- recommendations cently completed a successful tion at CERN by 2005. of the 1996 Long proof-of-principle experiment with a Range Plan for Free Electron Lasers single module accelerator unit. Free electron laser (FEL)research has Accelerator Applications proceeded during the last 25 years from Historically, particle accelerators marginal proof of principle experiments were developed initially for nuclear, to the construction and operation of then for particle physics research, even- user-oriented devices. Among the ma- tually resulting in accelerator jor milestones are the first experimental applications in medicine and industry. results from the FEL facility at the Tho- This includes the production of radio- mas Jefferson National Accelerator isotopes for medical diagnostics and Facility (see APS News, July 1997), as Andrew Sessler (left) the production of electrons, protons or well as the development of user being presented the APS Wilson Prize by John Peoples.

6 August/September 1997 APS News Announcements

AWARD NOMINATIONS SOUGHT Thesis Award in Computational Physics Please refer to the APS Membership Directory, pages xxi-xxxvi, or the APS home page for complete information regarding rules and eligibility requirements. Established by APS Council

AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING DOCTORAL THESIS The purpose of the newly established Nicholas Metropolis Award for Outstanding RESEARCH IN ATOMIC, MOLECULAR OR Doctoral Thesis Work in Computational Physics is to recognize doctoral thesis OPTICAL PHYSICS research of outstanding quality and achievement in computational physics and to encourage effective written and oral presentation of research results. Sponsored by members and friends of the APS Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics. The Award was named to honor Nicholas Metropolis for his outstanding contribu- tions and numerous accomplishments in area of computational physics. Purpose: To recognize doctoral thesis research of outstanding quality and achieve- ment in atomic, molecular or optical physics, and to encourage effective written Support for the Award is from the Journal of Computational Physics, a publica- and oral presentation of research results. tion of Academic Press. The award consists of $1,500, a certificate to be presented Nature: The award, which is given annually, consists of $1,000 and a certificate at an awards ceremony of the Division of Computational Physics and a travel citing the contributions made by the recipient. The award will be presented at allowance of up to $500. the APS April Meeting in Columbus, Ohio, in April 1998. Nominees must submit an abstract for presentation at the meeting. The selection committee will choose Announcements soliciting nominations will appear in the APS News, the APS finalists who will be required to present their work orally in a special invited Prize and Awards webpage and other venues in early 1998. paper session devoted solely to such presentations. The selection committee will choose the winner from among the finalists based on both oral presentation and the written material described below. All finalists will receive a travel sti- pend of $500. Rules and Eligibility: Doctoral students at any university in the U.S. or abroad CAUGHT IN THE WEB who passed their thesis defense for the PhD in the disciplines of atomic, mo- Notable additions to the APS Web Server. The lecular or optical physics after 5 December 1995 are eligible for the award, except for those whose thesis advisors serve on the current selection committee. Any APS Web Server can be found at http://www.aps.org APS member may submit a nomination for this award. APS News Online latest edition Meetings The complete nomination package must be submitted by 5 December 1997 to the • DCMP: Online Invited Symposium chair of the selection committee: Carol Tanner, Department of Physics, University APS Committees and Governance Nominations for March ‘98 of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, Phone: (219) 631-8369, Fax: (219) 631- • Speaker Lists for Minorities & Women • DFD: Meetings information updated 5952, email: [email protected]. in Physics (with online updates) and Industrial and Applied Speakers Membership: • New Guide to Member Services Units • Pay APS invoices online Department Chairs Explore (continued from page1) • DBP, FIAP, FHP, TGMA, STX: pages • Membership home page updated and proficiency of the instructor. To ad- viewed it as a broadening of educational updated dress this shortcoming, her group is and career options, implemented by in- developing a set of instructional tutori- creasing elective courses and lowering als in introductory physics that the number of required courses,” said supplement, but do not replace, tradi- George Skadron of Illinois State Uni- GRANT OPPORTUNITIES FOR tional lectures and textbooks. versity, who headed one breakout The conference featured two “classroom” group. The other group’s recommenda- ACADEMIC LIAISON WITH INDUSTRY (GOALI) sessions to illustrate how instructional tions included surveying employers to tutorials can promote the intellectual en- learn what skills they seek in potential The National Science Foundation provides funding to encourage and support gagement of students. In each, the employees, introducing topical courses innovative interactions between universities and industry. The program has participants worked through a set of re- to capture the interest of more students, particular interest in providing opportunities for search-based instructional materials developing multiple tracks to encourage developed by McDermott’s group to diversity of career goals, and improving 1) faculty, postdoctoral, and student research on and experience with supplement the lectures and textbook the student advisory process. Many insti- production processes in an industrial setting; of a standard introductory physics tutions have already begun to implement 2) industrial scientists and engineers to bring industry’s perspective and course. The tutorial on electric circuits some form of these suggestions (see re- integrate skills to academe; and guides students through the process of lated article, page 2). 3) interdisciplinary university-industry teams to conduct long-term constructing a conceptual model for For example, Louis Bloomfield of the projects. electric current from direct experience University of Virginia has developed a with simple circuits consisting of bat- course for non-science students entitled For full program details and contact information, refer to: teries, bulbs and wires. Participant “How Things Work,” introducing them http://www.nsf.gov/home/crssprgm/goali/start.htm observations form the basis for a scien- to physics in the context of everyday tific model that can be used to predict objects. Each segment of the course and explain the behavior of simple elec- covers about 25 familiar objects, rang- tric circuits. The tutorial on light and ing from bicycles to clocks, and from shadow requires students to make ob- microwave ovens to nuclear reactors. PHYSICAL REVIEW CD-ROMS AVAILABLE servations using bulbs, masks and The conference also featured numer- screens to account for various phenom- ous other breakout sessions, exploring such CD-ROMs for the 1996 volumes of Physical Review Letters, Physical ena, such as the formation of images issues as the reward systems for faculty, Review C, and Physical Review D are available to APS members for and shadows due to extended sources. courses for non-physics majors, recruitment $25 each. All three CD-ROMs contain the same contents and func- Conference participants separated and retention of women and minorities in into two breakout groups to discuss the physics, improving the mentoring process, tionality as the online version of the respective journal. The CD-ROMs development of flexible curricula. “We and discovering more accurate ways to mea- can be used in Windows, Apple Macintosh, and Unix Sun SPARC sure learning. Saturday Solaris and HP environments. All CD-ROMs include a booklet provid- evening the participants ing basic information on installation and use, and technical support reconvened to share sum- is available. maries from each breakout session, and to hear keynote speaker If you have not renewed your membership and would like to order a Robert Eisenstein of the CD-ROM, you may add the selection on your renewal invoice and NSF provide a view on remit the appropriate amount. If you have already renewed your mem- the future of physics from bership but would like to order a CD-ROM, please contact the APS Washington, DC. Membership Department at 301-209-3280 (telephone), 301-209- 0867 (fax), or [email protected] (email).

7 APS News August/September 1997 THE BACK PAGE Reforming Graduate Education in the Sciences by Congressman George E. Brown, Jr. or a number of years, I have been performance of R&D. This unthinking institutions that is just as narrow. Fadvocating a two track agenda for linkage of R&D to graduate education With the federal government’s the science and engineering commu- means that the number of Ph.D.’s pro- steady funding of R&D through the nity. I have repeatedly urged scientists duced reflects the availability of 1980’s, we rewarded higher education and engineers to become more in- academic R&D funding, rather than institutions that were able to capture volved in the political and policy having a relationship to a set of na- some of that R&D funding. This encour- process and I have stressed the need tional goals for S&E graduate aged schools to work their way up the for a reassessment of our national re- education. And, we do an inadequate Carnegie Classification of Academic search and development (R&D) job of monitoring conditions in the Institutions ranking system “ladder,” to enterprise in light of the major changes graduate education system and do not Research II status (receiving between that it faces. The first element of this conduct sophisticated national analy- $15.5 million and $40 million annually agenda is well underway amidst nu- ses of the ongoing situation with S&E in federal support) and then to the top merous signs of a heightened political advanced education. The predictable category of Research I status (at least $40 presence by the science and engineer- result of this haphazard system is a se- million in annual federal support and ing community. Unfortunately, progress ries of surprises such as the current awarding at least 50 doctoral degrees). on the second agenda item is not as “overproduction” of S&E Ph.D.’s. Receiving more R&D money meant ex- visible. And nowhere is this reassess- When federal R&D spending rose panding the size and prestige of the ment needed more than in the area of through the 1980’s, this prompted a rise institution and allowed more graduate academic research and graduate edu- in the numbers of graduate students. students to be supported off of those cal sciences that we have seen in phys- cation. But the full nature of this relationship grants. The results are predictable. ics, chemistry, and mathematics. If true, The need for a reexamination of our is not understood and there is no gov- Between 1988 and 1993, the num- this means that restoring funding for National R&D efforts has been well dis- ernment source able to document how ber of Carnegie I research universities federal R&D will not only not fix the cussed. With the end of the Cold War, much of the $12 billion in federal R&D jumped 30%, from 68 to 88. Given that problems in graduate education, but the clear and simple justifications for funding for academic research (1995 these schools graduate 65% of the sci- may make them worse. If true, this data much of our R&D efforts, found in our figures) went to support graduate stu- ence and engineering PhD’s, the indicates that broad S&E graduate edu- competition with the Soviets and the dent education. Without this structural capacity of the system to pro- cation reform is needed before we can need to contain global Communism, information it is impossible to tell if our duce PhD’s may have expanded as well. discuss levels of funding. have disappeared. No clear mission has current levels of S&E graduate educa- But while this fact gets passing men- But this reform requires the active emerged to take the place of that pre- tion in the NSF 1996 Science and involvement of the higher education vious, easily communicated goal. Engineering Indicators, the reasons for community, a group that has not pro- Pressures to balance the budget have and details on this expansion are not vided much public information and eroded funding for R&D programs, “But in an odd and fully understood or analyzed. But it analysis on these issues. This reform clearly displayed in the recent budget ironic twist, it may be seems evident that the federal will also require the candid participa- agreement that outlines about a 14% government’s linkage of R&D and tion of the scientific and engineering decline in civilian R&D over the next that the availability of graduate education sent clear signals to professional societies and focused dis- five years. resources is to blame for higher education institutions that they cussion, such as we see in this All of these changes will force us to some of the problem we should move into research and expand publication. And we will need open reassess our past policies and goals for their research and graduate education and painful discussions by leading sci- academic R&D and graduate education, face.” capacity. entific institutions, involving not only where such policies and goals exist at We do not understand how this dy- the esteemed Ph.D.’s from the 1960’s all. This new funding reality means that namic plays out in individual disciplines, and before, but some people who have we can no longer accommodate the because neither the federal government limitless aspirations of every institution tion support are too high, too low, or nor the National Academy of Sciences and discipline in the science, engineer- about right. And, there is no way of know- collects and analyzes relevant data by ing, and academic community. The ing what we will do to S&E graduate discipline or profession on an ongoing “ restoring funding for stress of this change is already becom- education as we cut federal R&D programs basis. For that information you have to federal R&D will not ing apparent and is producing a higher in order to balance the budget. go to the various scientific societies, education system that is financially But being able to measure levels of such as the American Institute of Phys- only not fix the problems strapped while the public is treated to support tells us little without some idea ics, which does have good statistics and in graduate education, news stories of excessive tuition in- of our goals for S&E education. We can provide analysis. But this ad hoc creases. And the worst is due to come have seen some discussion of these process does not meet our current need but may make them in the next decade when the children goals in recent studies citing the need for a more sophisticated review of worse.” of the “Baby Boomers” begin to enter to diversify and broaden graduate edu- graduate education. Again, we are so college in large numbers and further cation to prepare S&E graduates for jobs used to the old, simple paradigm that complicate the situation. outside of academia. These discussions evolved during times of plenty that we recently minted doctorates and are liv- Our science and engineering (S&E) reveal the consequences of our past are flying blind into a time of limited ing through the current situation. graduate education efforts are already simple linkage of graduate education resources. The time is long past when we can a mess and will suffer further disrup- to academic R&D: the creation of a sys- But in an odd and ironic twist, it may placate taxpayers and parents with re- tion unless we openly address the tem of training and rewards that is be that the availability of resources is assuring anecdotes about physics problems we face. The direct and myopically focused on academic R&D to blame for some of the problem we Ph.D.’s who were lucky enough to get simple motivation for our national sci- as a career choice. It is no wonder that face. In a study submitted for publica- jobs modeling stock prices on Wall ence and technology efforts during the this system resulted in an “overproduc- tion by two researchers at the University Street. Serendipity is an inadequate Cold War obviated the need to develop tion” of Ph.D.’s seeking academic of California, San Francisco, there public policy, even in times of plenty. a sophisticated set of goals and justifi- appointments as federal R&D increased emerges what seems to be a direct re- There is a need for more sophisticated cations for the linkage between and then fell. But this revelation is a very lationship between increases in answers than, “Trust in market forces academic research and graduate edu- superficial one and begs further discus- extramural funding at the National In- to rectify the situation.” The federal cation. What passes for policy in this sion of national S&E education goals. stitutes of Health and numbers of government, institutions of higher edu- area is really a set of simple assump- This revelation also prompts an ex- doctorates awarded in the biological sci- cation, directors of research labs, and tions that we have accepted as truths amination of the role of academic ences. Other trends include an scientific societies have all passively for forty years, assumptions that are institutions in contributing to our cur- flattening grant size, lower success rates conspired to create the current market being challenged by the complexities rent graduate education problems, for for extramural R&D applications, ad- forces that are producing a dysfunc- we face today. if there is an “overproduction” of vancing aging at the point of first grant tional situation. We must all work For nearly twenty years, we have Ph.D.’s one is lead naturally to an ex- and first position, and lengthening time together to change the market forces. linked academic R&D grants and gradu- amination of “overcapacity” within the spent in postdoctoral positions. In ate education, assuming that some academic R&D system. While there has short, it may be that high funding for George E. Brown, Jr. is serving his 17th portion of our R&D funding will go to been growing discussion of the nar- biomedical R&D, combined with our term as Representative of the 42nd dis- support graduate students. But we never row career focus of S&E graduate simplistic model for R&D and gradu- trict of California. He is the ranking clearly spelled out our higher educa- students there has been little discus- ate education from the Cold War, is Democrat on the House Science Com- tion goals separate from the sion of the reward system of academic creating the same stress in the biologi- mittee.

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