July 2002 NEWS Volume 11, No. 7 A Publication of The American Physical Society http://www.aps.org/apsnews Physics Bachelors on the Rise After 10-Year Decline 2002 APS General Election Preview A new study issued by the entering directly into physics gradu- grees awarded in the U.S., only tinue with physics at the under- American Institute of Physics (AIP) ate study. about 3.3 are awarded in physics, graduate level in the future,” says The APS announces its second reports that, for the first time in According to Patrick Mulvey in and during the 1990s, physics Mulvey. Most respondents said annual Society-wide electronic nearly a decade, the production of AIP’s Statistical Research Center, the bachelor’s degree production de- they chose to major in physics election. Members for whom the physics bachelor’s degrees in on data in the report are based on re- clined sharply by 27%. “In a sense, because they were intrigued by APS has valid e-mail addresses will the rise. The graduating class of sponses from 2,721 physics seniors physics lost some of its market the subject matter, followed be notified via e-mail regarding 2000 produced a total of 3,849 from 763 degree-granting US phys- share,” says Mulvey. Especially hard closely by the influence of the election procedures and all mem- bachelor’s degrees in physics, an ics departments, who were hit were the larger departments high school teacher or college bers are encouraged to use the increase of 7% over the class of surveyed during their final year of that included graduate as well as professor who taught their first web-based voting process devel- 1999, and that number is expected undergraduate physics study. The undergraduate programs, and it is physics course. Ironically, very oped by Survey and Ballot Systems, to continue to rise at least for the center has been collecting data on these departments which are now few students cited long-term Inc. of Eden Prairie, Minnesota. next two years. The report also senior-level physics and astronomy largely responsible for the recov- employment goals as their pri- The election website will be found that there has been a slight majors from both students and de- ery in degree production. mary influencing factor in open from June 15 until Sep- increase in recent years in the pro- partments for more than 30 years. The report found that the like- choose to major in physics. tember 33.3tember Paper ballots will be portion of new degree recipients For every 1000 bachelor’s de- lihood of an individual receiving Once students have declared a provided upon request or for a physics bachelor’s degree is major, the study found that 76% of those for whom the APS does much higher if he or she has taken physics majors said they had not have a valid e-mail address. Boston Area Fellows Meet a high school physics course; 92% worked on an undergraduate re- Those who are elected will be- of physics bachelor’s said they had search project, which Mulvey says gin their terms on 1 January take at least one physics class in “gives undergraduates a feel for re- 2003. A brief biographical sum- high school. Based on this find- search through practical hands-on mary for each candidate is on ing, “With the increasing student experience, solving real problems, page 6. Complete biographical in- enrollments seen in high school not just those in curriculum-based formation and candidates’ physics in recent years, one can labs.” Such participation could also statements can be found on the be optimistic in thinking that be an indicator of whether they will APS Website: http://www.aps.org/ more students may choose to con- See BACHELORS on page 3 exec/election2002/ Friedman Testifies in Washington on NSF Doubling Bill Former APS President Jerome grant applications because of fi- Photo by Darlene Logan Friedman, a Nobel laureate and nancial constraints. Increasing the APS hosted a reception for Fellows in the Boston area on May 1 at the Harvard professor of physics at the Mas- NSF budget would allow it to in- Faculty Club. Shown here are (left to right) Frans Spaepen, David Litster, and sachusetts Institute of crease the number, size and Denis McWhan. APS President Bill Brinkman served as master of ceremonies. Technology, testified before the duration of research grants, and Venkatesh Narayanamurti, Dean, Division of Engineering & Applied Sciences at Harvard was the local host. The program focused on APS education programs House Science Subcommittee in reduce the backlog of research and Dan Kleppner, (MIT) also gave a short presentation on the APS-sponsored early May in support of proposed facilities’ upgrades, says Smith. study of boost-phase missile defense that he is co-chairing. legislation authorizing 15% in- Friedman devoted much of his creases in the budget of the testimony to the issue of major re- National Science Foundation in search equipment and facilities Panel Probes Possibilities each of the next three years. construction. “The NSF currently H.R. 4664, currently known as does not provide the scientific com- in Particle Physics the “Investing in American’s Future munity or Congress with a derly planning by the research com- Act”, was authored by subcommit- prioritized list of approved munity. As a result, science has “The Future of U.S. tee chairman Nick Smith (R-MI), projects,” he said, commenting on suffered and international research High-Energy Physics” who said that part of the rationale NSF’s decision-making process for partners have been left dangling.” he is a big topic that was behind the legislation was the construction and operation of ma- cited the lack of an NSF funding re- addressed from differ- subcommittee’s concern that the jor facilities. “The lack of quest for the Rare Symmetry ent points of view by NSF may be rejecting too many transparency has prevented or- See FRIEDMAN on page 4 participants in a special session at the meeting of the Division of Par- APS News Interview ticles and Fields (DPF) HHHHighlightsighlightsighlights Ethnic Profiling, Other Issues Still in Williamsburg, VA in Photo by Jessica Clark late May. Left to right: Stanley Wojcicki, Raymond Surround Wen Ho Lee Case Participating were Orbach, Joseph Dehmer, William Brinkman. 2002 APS General By James Riordon APS President William 6 Election Preview F. Brinkman, Director Members to Elect New The bad guys used to wear to wear the uniforms of our own Officers, Councillors from of NSF’s Physics Division Joseph L. US scientists. The LHC will be opera- 2002 Slate of Candidates. black hats in grainy old cowboy country’s soldiers and law enforce- Dehmer, Director of the Depart- tional in about five years, and the movies, and the good guys wore ment agents. Based on that list, a ment of Energy’s Office of Science particle physics community is al- white. Cinematic profiling was a turncoat spy is likely to be a white, Raymond L. Orbach, and DPF ready looking ahead to the next big handy way to let audiences know middle-aged male employed as a Chair Stanley G. Wojcicki. The accelerator, which will probably be whom to cheer and whom to jeer guardian of US national security. panel was chaired by APS Past an electron-positron linear collider. during the inevitable, climactic Robert Hanssen (FBI), Aldrich President George Trilling. Orbach stressed that this must be an shoot out. In real life, of course, Ames (CIA), and George Trofimoff Orbach talked about some areas international effort from the start, villains are not always so obliging (US Army Reserves) are among the of research in high-energy physics regardless of where the machine is - and when it comes to espionage, high profile spies who betrayed the that he felt were exciting and deserv- built, and expressed concern that “we they’re often downright contrary. country while working in counter- ing of a high level of support from don’t have a mechanism to bring gov- In an August 2001 CNN list of espionage. But one spy suspect on his office. One was the Large Had- ernments together to work towards twenty-two recent espionage sus- the CNN list stands out: Wen Ho ron Collider, now under this end.” pects, twenty-one US traitors Lee is an Asian-American, a former construction at the CERN laboratory Second on Orbach’s list was the Back Page: Richard Craig on land since 1984 not only shunned Los Alamos National Laboratory in Geneva with significant help from See PANEL PROBES on page 3 8 mines. black hats, but as a rule preferred See WEN HO LEE on page 2 2 July 2002 NEWS This Month in Physics History “It seems by the time they left the “Although they have a weird June 1963: Discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background class, they were looking at the world name, Wimpzillas are among the with a more critical and more scien- most reasonable of current specula- Sometimes the most stunning tific eye.” tive ideas in the field.” scientific discoveries are the least —Jim Kakalios, University of Minne- —Angela Olinto, University of Chicago, expected, and occur more by ser- sota, on using comic books to teach on a possible dark matter candidate, endipity than by intent. Take the physics, AP, May 9 2002 New Scientist, June 3, 2002 ✶✶✶ ✶✶✶ case of Bell Labs physicists Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, who “Anywhere you find waves you And finally, some quotes having set out to map radio signals from find solitons.” to do with alleged misconduct by the Milky Way and wound up be- —Randall Hulet, Rice University, on cre- scientists at Bell Labs: ing the first to measure the cosmic ating solitons in Bose-Einstein condensates, background radiation (CMB).