July 2009

Volume 18, No. 7 TM www.aps.org/publications/apsnews APS NEWS APS Election Preview A Publication of the American Physical Society • www.aps.org/publications/apsnews Pages 6 & 7

Women’s Progress Tracked in Reports by APS, National Academies The National Academies re- being selected at proportionally enrolled in physics and did not Canizares of MIT, co-chair of the pers, grant funding, award nomi- leased a study in early June that similar rates as men. In physics delve into the underlying cause of committee that assembled the re- nations, promotions and other job found female scientists at major departments approximately 20 the disparities at the undergradu- port, “[T]he good news is that the opportunities all showed near par- research institutions have made percent of tenure track positions ate level. discrepancies between the number ity with men’s reported rates. The significant progress in overcom- are being filled by women. The “I think you can see even in of PhDs produced and those ap- study did show that women pro- ing many of the professional bar- study found that the main reason the numbers that I showed that plying for faculty jobs and enter- fessors on average earned about 8 riers they have historically faced for this continuing disparity is the physics is still one of the fields ing the faculty is very slight.” percent less than men; however at in academia. Despite these gains small number of women applying that has an unfortunately quite Other encouraging findings the assistant and associate level, however, women continue to re- for such positions. Overall wom- low representation of women at showed that generally once wom- salaries were equivalent. main underrepresented in science en make up only 14 percent of the the higher ranks. It’s certainly en became members of faculties, The study looked specifically faculties overall. PhDs in physics, and 12 percent been improving, at other ranks, they reported few measurable dif- at the full time faculties of the top The congressionally mandated of the applicant pool for univer- but even in the PhD production ferences between them and their 89 Carnegie research universi- study found that women seeking sity positions. The study focused you can see there that the num- male coworkers. Indicators such ties, using data collected through faculty positions and tenure are primarily on women already bers are still too low,” said Claude as the number of published pa- Women continued on page 5

LaserFest Booth Pulls Them In Members Urged to Apply for LaserFest Outreach Grants

Calling all physics per- lish outreach initiatives and yearlong celebration Laser- formers! APS and the Opti- travelling physics demonstra- Fest to highlight the impor- cal Society of America are tions in communities and in- tance of lasers and to illus- seeking grant proposals from stitutions across the country. trate how basic scientific re- their members for outreach APS and OSA are especially search can impact the modern events as part of LaserFest looking to support groups 2010. The two organizations with new and innovative ap- world. plan to jointly award several proaches for these outreach The funding is available to grants of up to $10,000 each activities, particularly if they groups with members in ei- to sponsor activities aimed at could potentially be continued ther APS or OSA, and all pro- reaching and informing the past the lifetime of the grant. posals must be submitted by public about the science of 2010 is the 50th anniver- September 30th 2009. Contact lasers for LaserFest on the sary of Theodore Maiman’s information and a complete Road. construction of the first work- Photo by Michael Lucibella This sponsorship, avail- ing laser. To coincide with proposal application can be Crowds of interested attendees flock to the LaserFest booth that was unveiled able to either individuals or this milestone, APS and OSA found on the website at www. at the CLEO/IQEC meeting in Baltimore in early June, while comics super-hero groups, is designed to estab- have partnered to sponsor the LaserFest.org. Spectra (left) takes a break from saving the world from the evil Miss Alignment. See story on page 5. APS Announces PhysicsQuest Winners Physics is Olympians’ Idea of a Good Time The winners of the APS-spon- school’s name listed there in or- an original comic book, recount- In a small sored 2008 PhysicsQuest contest der to believe that we had really ing the story of young Tesla and classroom at the have been selected. Jason Hol- won,” Holstege said, “[I]t also his adventures to illuminate the University of stege’s 7th Grade Science class at feels good, because the students 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Maryland, nine- the Heritage Christian School in worked hard at understanding the “The goals are to give kids teen pairs of eyes Hudsonville, Michigan won this concepts.” an experience with physics. The stare attentively at year’s grand prize. The class was Each year APS sends out main idea is to teach them some- a blackboard full awarded with a $500 certificate thousands of PhysicsQuest kits thing without them realizing it,” of a complex ar- to the educational supplier Edu- containing simple physics experi- Rebecca Thompson-Flagg, head ray of quadratic cational Innovations, and each ments to teachers and students of outreach for APS said. “The equations. Though student won an iPod Shuffle en- across the country. Each kit in- comic book was a big hit. It was the physics on graved with “PhysicsQuest Supe- cludes four classroom experi- something they hadn’t seen be- the chalkboard is hero.” ments and an activity book aimed fore.” distinctly college “I was pretty shocked when I at middle school students. This In keeping with this year’s Tes- level, the class is Photo by Michael Lucibella got the call on a Friday afternoon, year’s theme focused on the life la theme, most of the experiments composed entire- Olympian Yunfan Zhang (right) takes a break from the and I had to check the website and work of Nicola Tesla. These incorporated the physics of elec- ly of high school rigors of the training camp to enjoy a moment of conver- sation with coach Paul Stanley. out a couple times just to see the kits were also the first to include WINNERS continued on page 7 students. This is the training camp physics problems during the nine- DAMOP Meets in Charlottesville for the 2009 International Physics day competition in mid July. Or- The APS Division of Atomic, about how quantum optic technolo- Long term quantum memory could Olympiad’s US Team. At the end ganizers of both the international Molecular and Optical Physics gy is being used in fields as diverse play an important role in future of the ten-day preparatory camp, event and the training camp strive held its annual meeting in Charlot- as atomic physics, nanotechnology, quantum computer developments, five of the nineteen students were to advance physics education and tesville, Virginia in May. Featuring many body physics, and quantum matter-light entanglement, and mat- selected to travel to Mexico for reward students that have distin- more than seventy sessions, the information science. ter qubit rotations. this year’s international competi- guished themselves in the field. meeting attracted over a thousand Other highlighted talks included Ultracold molecules in opti- tion in July. Though only the five The Olympiad began in 1967 physicists from across the country. Alex Kuzmich of Georgia Tech cal lattices continue to be a major students were selected to go, all in Eastern Europe and expanded The annual award presentations who announced his method for focus of research, with over one nineteen kids in the classroom rep- during the 1970s to include the and plenary talks kicked off the greatly improving the lifetime of hundred papers devoted to the tech- resent some of the brightest scien- rest of Europe and later the rest of meeting. The recipient of the Her- quantum memory. By minimizing nique. One novel use is a method tific minds in the country. the world. The United States first bert P. Broida prize, Gustav Gerber, the sensitivity to magnetic fields, described by Andrew Ludlow of The International Physics participated in 1986 when its team discussed his method to manipulate Kuzmich has been able to store in- NIST Colorado to use strontium Olympiad is the global zenith for brought back three bronze medals quantum systems with femto-sec- formation on atomic coherences atoms suspended in an optical lat- high school physicists. Each year from London, the best any team ond laser pulses shaped by a liquid- that lasts up to several milliseconds, tice to create the next generation teams of high school students from had done on its first outing. The crystal display. Mikhail Lukin, re- rather than the few hundreds of mi- of highly accurate atomic clocks. over sixty different countries vie American Association of Physics cipient of the I.I. Rabi prize, spoke croseconds previously achieved. DAMOP continued on page 7 for the gold by unraveling complex OLYMPIANS continued on page 5 2 • July 2009 APS NEWS

Members This Month in Physics History in the Media

“I always say that what Dan most valuable resource we have.” July 1654: Pascal’s Letters to Fermat on the “Problem of Points” Brown did for the Roman Catholic Ralph Nobles, hoping that a Games of chance are as ancient as human history, Intrigued, Pascal realized he would need to in- Church in ‘The Da Vinci Code,’ tract of land in California slated with archaeologists unearthing evidence of them on vent a new method of analysis to solve the puzzle, he did for me and my research for development will be bought by prehistory digs. Gambling also led, indirectly, to the since the solution would need to reflect each player’s with ‘Angels and Demons’.” the state and preserved, San Jose birth of probability theory, as players sought to better chances of victory given the score at the time the Gerald Gabrielse, Harvard, de- Mercury News, May 22, 2009. understand the odds. In the mid-17th century, an ex- game was interrupted. Thus began his legendary cor- scribing how the film exaggerated change of letters between two prominent mathema- respondence with fellow mathematician Pierre de aspects of his antimatter research “Very reasonably, a political ticians–Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat–laid the Fermat that, over the course, of several weeks, laid for dramatic effect, FoxNews. leader might ask, ‘Is it performing foundation for probability, thereby changing the way the foundation for modern probability theory. Their com, May 15, 2009 up to standards?’ ...The scientific scientists and mathematicians viewed uncertainty respective methods involved listing all the possibili- community is in a position to give and risk. ties, and then determining the proportion of time that “I know colleagues who began an answer.” Born in 1623 in Clermont-Ferrand, France, Pas- each player would win, in order to solve it. reading the book and said it was Raymond Jeanloz, UC Berke- cal was a child prodigy largely educated by his fa- Fermat’s approach rested on a complete enu- nonsense and quit reading it. But ley, on the efficacy of a new global ther, Etienne, a local magistrate who was also well- meration of the possible outcomes. For example, if the book is good entertainment.” monitoring system to listen for connected with some of the most famous intellectu- the winner of a coin toss game needs to win the best Manfred Paulini, Carnegie tremors resulting from a nuclear als of that era, including Rene Descartes and Pierre of five tosses, and one player is ahead 2 to 1 when Mellon, on his role as the science explosion, The Associated Press, de Fermat. As a result, young Blaise the game is interrupted, Fermat rea- advisor of “Angels and Demons,” May 23, 2009. was privileged to sit in on salon- soned there would be four possible Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 15, style meetings of some of the great- outcomes had the game continued. 2009. “Charlie Bolden is well-qual- est minds in Europe. At age 11, Three of those four favor the player ified to continue moving NASA he wrote an essay on the sounds with the edge; ergo, he should win “I’m very happy to see popular out of its years of drift.” of vibrating bodies; the following three-fourths of the pot. A sticking culture introducing these scientific Gene McCall, Los Alamos Na- year, he devised his own proof that point is a counter-argument using issues,” tional Laboratory, commending the sum of the angles of a triangle a different scheme of counting that Boris Kayser, Fermilab, on President Obama’s pick of a for- equals two right angles. only finds three possible outcomes why he thought the presence of mer astronaut to be the new head By the time he was 16, Pas- instead of four. CERN in “Angels and Demons” of NASA, NBC News, May 24, cal had progressed sufficiently in Pascal’s approach sidestepped would be a good marketing tool 2009. his mathematical studies to write this issue by devising an algorithm for science. Chicago Tribune, May a treatise on conic sections, giving employing what is now known as 20, 2009. “We put together the best phys- rise to what we now call Pascal’s induction and incursion. It involves icists, the best engineers, the best Theorem, which states that if a hexagon is inscribed a logical cycle of playing out each possible out- “It’s like trying to win the lot- of industry and academia. It’s not in a conic section, then the three intersection points come for each successive round, starting from the tery. If you buy enough tickets, often you get that opportunity and of opposite sides lie on a straight line. One indication point where the game was interrupted. Once the end you’re eventually going to win.” pull it off.” of how impressive this achievement was is the fact state is reached, it is then possible to work backward John Beacom, Ohio State Uni- Ed Moses, Lawrence Liver- that Descartes, when shown the paper, initially did through the intermediate steps and assign a number versity, explaining the odds of de- more National Lab, on the team at not believe the young teenager had written it. to the probability of winning for each player at the tecting neutrinos at the IceCube the National Ignition Facility, The When Pascal’s father became king’s commission- point when the game was interrupted, and the pot detector in Antarctica, The Co- New York Times, May 25, 2009. er of taxes in Rouen and was struggling with end- would be divided accordingly. lumbus Dispatch, May 17, 2009. less calculations and re-calculations, Pascal–not yet Pascal’s analysis stopped short of considering 19–invented a mechanical calculator for adding and less idealized situations where a finite number of “We think that these giant “If energy is dirt cheap, it gets subtracting to ease his father’s task, which became equally likely possible outcomes could not be list- flares are coming from really, re- treated like dirt,” known as the Pascaline. By 1646, he had become ed, such as the weather, or the stock market. By the ally big star quakes,” Arthur Rosenfeld, Lawrence interested in Evangelista Torricelli’s experimentation early 18th century, Jakob Bernoulli had devised the Charles Horowitz, Indiana Berkeley National Lab, describing on barometers, performing definitive experiments to law of large numbers in an attempt to provide a for- University, describing how the why Americans haven’t integrated demonstrate the existence of a vacuum. The SI unit mal proof that uncertainty decreases as the sample crust of neutron stars, 10,000 energy saving appliances into of pressure is the pascal, in his honor. size increases for problems with an infinite num- times stronger than steel, can pro- their lives, The Wall Street Jour- In 1654, a French essayist and amateur mathema- ber of outcomes. Other developments by leading duce incredible bursts of energy. nal, May 29, 2009. tician named Antoine Gombaud, who was fond of scientists and mathematicians followed, ultimately MSNBC.com, May 18, 2009. “No one has any idea what gambling, found himself pondering what is known transforming economics, actuarial science, and the to do with the space station. We as “the problem of points.” It was first proposed in social sciences. “[A]ny time a major break- 1494 by an Italian monk named Luca Paccioli in his A few weeks after his last correspondence with through is reported without the know what to do with a telescope. The ISS is just a way of keeping treatise Summa de Arithmetica, Geometrica, Pro- Fermat, Pascal narrowly escaped death when his researcher in question showing portioni et Proportionalita. In the game of balla, for carriage nearly ran off a bridge, prompting a re- details of how they carried out the human beings in space. It’s flag- pole sitting.” example, six goals are needed to win the game. The ligious conversion. He switched his focus from experiment, it’s time to start ask- question posed by Paccioli was how one should di- math and science to philosophical and religious Robert Park, University of ing questions. If something seems vide the winnings if the game is interrupted when treatises, and renounced games of chance. He did Maryland, MSNBC.com, May 27, too good to be true, it very possi- one player has five goals and the other has three an occasional bit of math: between 1658 and 1659 2009. bly is.” goals? The player with five goals should have a larg- he explored the cycloid and how it might be used Eugenie Samuel Reich, from er share, but how much larger should his share be? to calculate the volume of solids, for example. “These screw-ups happen…It’s her article and book charting the Gombaud turned to Pascal, who had taken up His early work on probability seeped into his going further than I would have metoric rise and fall of physics gambling when his doctors advised him to abandon philosophical work as well, most notably the fa- gone but doesn’t look like a seri- fraudster Jan Hendrik Schön. The mental exertions for the sake of his health. The year mous “Pascal’s Wager,” wherein he reasoned that ous breach.” Telegraph, May, 18, 2009. before, Pascal had worked out the principles of “Pas- the odds favor belief in God, even though God’s John M. Deutch, MIT, on the cal’s Triangle,” a method for determining the bino- existence cannot be definitively proven. Pascal “All wetlands should be re- accidental publication of highly mial coefficients for a given value of (a+b)n–similar died of a brain hemorrhage on August 19, 1662, turned to the Bay. The Bay is a confidential lists of the country’s to a method devised some 400 years earlier by Chi- just before his 39th birthday. History has yet to re- wetland ecosystem. The Bay is the nuclear stockpiles, New York nese mathematician Yang Hui. cord the outcome of his wager. place we all love to live. It’s the Times, June 2, 2009.

Series II, Vol. 18, No. 7 For Nonmembers–Circulation and Fulfillment Division, Treasurer Society), Steven Rolston (Laser Science), Ted Einstein July 2009 American Institute of Physics, Suite 1NO1, 2 Huntington Joseph W.Serene*, Georgetown University (Materials), Akif Balantekin* (Nuclear), Janet Conrad Quadrangle, Melville, NY 11747-4502. Allow at least (Particles & Fields), Ronald Ruth (Physics of Beams), APS NEWS © 2009 The American Physical Society Editor-in-Chief 6 weeks advance notice. For address changes, please Gene Sprouse*, Stony Brook University (on leave) David Hammer* (Plasma), TBD (Polymer Physics), send both the old and new addresses, and, if possible, (Ohio Section), Heather Galloway* (Texas Section), TBD Coden: ANWSEN ISSN: 1058-8132 include a mailing label from a recent issue. Requests Past-President (4 Corners Section) from subscribers for missing issues will be honored Arthur Bienenstock*, Stanford University Editor•...... Alan Chodos without charge only if received within 6 months of the ADVISORS Art Director and Special Publications Manager...... Kerry G. Johnson General Councillors issue’s actual date of publication. Periodical Postage Paid Design and Production...... Nancy Bennett-Karasik Robert Austin, Christina Back*, Marcela Carena, Eliza- Representatives from Other Societies at College Park, MD and at additional mailing offices. beth Beise*, Katherine Freese, Wendell Hill*, Nergis Fred Dylla, AIP; Alexander Dickison, AAPT Proofreader...... Edward Lee Postmaster: Send address changes to APS News, Mem- Staff Science Writer ...... Michael Lucibella Mavalvala, Jorge Pullin bership Department, American Physical Society, One International Advisors Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844. International Councillor Sabayasachi Bhattacharya Louis Felipe Rodriguez Jorge, Mexican Physical Society; Robert Mann, Canadian Association of Physicists APS COUNCIL 2009 Chair, Nominating Committee APS News (ISSN: 1058-8132) is published 11X yearly, Editor, APS News, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, Angela Olinto Staff Representatives monthly, except the August/September issue, by the MD 20740-3844, E-mail: [email protected]. President Alan Chodos, Associate Executive Officer; Amy Flatten American Physical Society, One Physics Ellipse, Col- Cherry Murray*, Lawrence Livermore National Chair, Panel on Public Affairs Director of International Affairs; Ted Hodapp, Director lege Park, MD 20740-3844, (301) 209-3200. It contains Subscriptions: APS News is an on-membership publi- Laboratory Duncan Moore of Education and Diversity; Michael Lubell, Director, news of the Society and of its Divisions, Topical Groups, cation delivered by Periodical Mail. Members residing Division, Forum and Section Councillors Public Affairs; Dan Kulp, Editorial Director; Christine Sections, and Forums; advance information on meetings abroad may receive airfreight delivery for a fee of $15. President-Elect Charles Dermer (Astrophysics), P. Julienne (Atomic, Mo- Giaccone, Director, Journal Operations; Michael of the Society; and reports to the Society by its commit- Nonmembers: Subscription rates are available at http:// Curtis G. Callan, Jr.*, Princeton University lecular & Optical Physics), Mark Reeves (Biological), Stephens, Controller and Assistant Treasurer tees and task forces, as well as opinions. librarians.aps.org/institutional.html. Nancy Levinger (Chemical), Arthur Epstein (Condensed Vice-President Matter Physics), David Landau (Computational), James Administrator for Governing Committees Letters to the editor are welcomed from the member- Subscription orders, renewals and address changes Barry C. Barish*, Caltech Brasseur* (Fluid Dynamics), Gay Stewart (Forum Ken Cole ship. Letters must be signed and should include an ad- should be addressed as follows: For APS Members– on Education), Amber Stuver, (Forum on Graduate dress and daytime telephone number. The APS reserves Membership Department, American Physical Society, Executive Officer Student Affairs), Roger Stuewer (Forum on History the right to select and to edit for length or clarity. All cor- One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844, of Physics), Stefan Zollner (Forum on Industrial and Judy R. Franz*, University of Alabama, Huntsville * Members of the APS Executive Board respondence regarding APS News should be directed to: [email protected]. (on leave) Applied Physics), David Ernst* (Forum on International Physics), Philip “Bo” Hammer (Forum on Physics and APS NEWS July 2009 • 3

“Physics First” Battles for Acceptance

By Gabriel Popkin high school.” cessful physics experience for all “Physics First” is a movement In the past decade, Physics students does not necessarily mean that encourages high schools to First has also begun to see support limiting that experience to ninth offer a full-year physics course at higher levels, such as at school grade,” says Lavine. to ninth-graders, before they take district headquarters and even at Is it Working? chemistry and biology. Also some- the state level. Districts that have One of the challenges in evalu- times called “early high school offered Physics First at most or all ating the success of Physics First Serendipity schools include Baltimore, Carroll, physics,” the “physics-chemistry- is the difficulty in selecting the by Michael S. Lubell, APS Director of Public Affairs biology (PCB)” sequence, or the and Prince George’s Counties in criteria by which to measure it. As It may not be a true “come- cently stepped down from his “cornerstone to capstone (C-to-C) Maryland; San Diego in Califor- Young, the Maryland teacher, puts to-Jesus moment,” but within the Intel board chairmanship, pre- program,” Physics First has been nia; Little Rock in Arkansas, and it, “What constitutes success of last year, more members of Con- sented her with the Task Force on gaining momentum as an orga- Boston and Cambridge in Massa- the PCB sequence? Is it increased gress than I can count have turned American Innovation’s Legislator nized movement of educators and chusetts. numbers of physics majors in col- to science as the savior. And for of the Year award. Pelosi was vis- physicists since around 1990, al- Wide-scale implementations of lege? Increased enrollment in several of them, it represents a re- ibly moved, but just how much I though the concept of teaching Physics First face challenges that science electives? Increased par- ligious conversion and not a born didn’t learn until a few days later physics to ninth-graders goes back individual schools may not. A prin- ticipation in physics competitions? again experience. during a conversation with Lou- several decades before that. No- cipal challenge is finding teachers More positive attitudes of students In the fifteen years I have been bel Prize-winning physicist Leon to teach the additional ninth-grade toward science? Some yet to be ise Slaughter (D-NY, 28th), who prowling the corridors of power, I Lederman, Physics First’s most classes. Most districts are already determined measure of ‘scientific chairs the House Rules Commit- must admit that I rarely encoun- prominent proponent, estimates grappling with physics teacher literacy?’” tee. tered anyone who was overtly that around 2,000 US high schools shortages. Thus, district-wide In fact, AIP data show that most During the weeks preceding hostile to science. If there was have now adopted some version of implementations have required a schools implementing Physics the award ceremony, Pelosi had a Luddite in the crowd of 535, I the program for at least some of significant amount of professional First do not even follow the full been embroiled in a dispute over never met him–or her. More often their freshmen. development for the so-called PCB sequence, which supporters whether the CIA had misled Con- what I received was a pat on the One of the principal driving “crossover teachers”—often biol- also sometimes call the “right-side- gress on its use of “water board- back, with the implied, but never forces behind this effort is its sup- ogy teachers—who are now tasked up” sequence. According to AIP ing” at the Guantanamo detention spoken words, “You’re a nice, porters’ belief that the traditional with teaching a subject they may data, only 37% of public schools center, as she alleged, or whether, smart fellow and I’ve enjoyed biology-chemistry-physics course not be familiar with. and 57% of private schools imple- as her critics asserted, she was talking to you, but I’ve got more sequence, which has been the stan- In addition, many experienced menting Physics First use the full covering up her tacit, politically weighty matters to deal with.” dard high school science sequence teachers may be accustomed to PCB sequence. In addition, not all opportunistic support for the No more. Take David Obey in the US since the late 1800s, mathematically advanced, self- schools teaching physics to ninth- practice in 2003 when the CIA (D-WI, 7th), for example, the needs to be updated to reflect a selected juniors and seniors, and graders offer the subject to all said it had briefed her on its use. powerful, intelligent and occa- modern understanding of chemis- may not welcome the challenge ninth-graders—some offer it only The usually feisty Speaker, sionally irascible chairman of try and biology. According to an of teaching a conceptual physics to mathematically less advanced seemed to have lost her spark in the House Appropriations Com- informational guide published in course to ninth-graders. Lederman ninth-graders, others to more ad- the weeks preceding the Task mittee. For years three attributes 2007 by the American Association has pointed out that a number of vanced students, and still others to Force event, and in one memora- summed up his political persona: of Physics Teachers (AAPT): “1) veteran physics teachers say they a subset with a range of abilities. ble press conference, she fumbled a commitment to helping hard- in order to understand modern mo- “don’t do freshmen.” Despite the great variety in im- for words, a warning sign for any working have-nots; advancing lecular biology and the biochemi- The movement’s most signifi- plementations of Physics First, and politician that the opposition’s medicine and healthcare; and car- cal processes in cells, students cant setback occurred in the San the difficulty in determining how volleys were landing close to rying around a pack of carefully need a solid background in both Diego Unified School District. In to evaluate it, some basic trends their intended target. sharpened pencils in his white physics and chemistry, and 2) mas- 2001, the superintendent decided have emerged. The program does Pelosi, according to Slaugh- shirt pocket, points up. When the tery of the basic physics concepts to implement Physics First in all of substantially increase the percent- ter, was feeling beleaguered. And number of pencils exceeded four, of electrostatic and nuclear forces the district’s high schools. This ef- age of students at a school who Barrett’s presentation of the in- his staff knew not to mess with and the concept of energy storage fort was at the time, and apparently take physics. In 2005, 73% stu- novation award, she said, came him–his eddied state of agitation and transfer are crucial to the un- remains, the single largest-scale dents at public schools and 100% at a time the Speaker needed her could quickly turn into a class F4 derstanding of chemical structures, implementation of the program. of students at private schools spirits to be buoyed most. That On the strength of a large grant, tornado. atomic binding, gas laws, and the implementing Physics First took it came from Barrett, a fellow the district selected Active Phys- Science concerns, apart from periodic table of the elements.” physics at some point in their high Californian, who has Republi- ics by Arthur Eisenkraft as their medicine, would never have led A publication by the nonprofit school careers, versus 31% of stu- can leanings, clearly touched her text, and embarked on a massive him to add another pointed pencil Biological Sciences Curriculum dents at public schools and 57% of deeply. professional development effort to his storm alert system. Science, Study, also known as BSCS, ex- students at private schools not im- Congress and the White House to double their corps of around 40 in general, was not one of his pri- presses a similar viewpoint: “Co- plementing the program, according are calling on science, especially physics teachers. orities. herence, we argue, is the primary to AIP data. the physical sciences, including However, the effort was beset On the question of whether But within the last year, Obey reason to consider the C-to-C ap- math and engineering, to help by complaints from teachers who physics is beneficial for later has become a science champion. proach.” pull the nation out of the deepest felt the program was being forced chemistry and biology study, a And when the Science Engineer- The History recession in more than half a cen- upon them, and by parents who recent study of college science ing Technology (SET) Working Physics First began appear- tury; to address global warming found the curriculum insufficiently Group presented him with the ing in schools due to the efforts students published by Phil Sadler rigorous. In addition, according to George E. Brown, Jr. Public Ser- by cutting greenhouse gas emis- of individual teachers. Because of and Robert Tai in Science found Dan Lavine, a resource teacher in vice Award this past April, he in- sions; to make the country less the greater leeway private school that students who had taken a high the district’s High School Instruc- terrupted his overbooked sched- dependent on foreign oil; to lower teachers have in determining their school course in one science sub- tional Support Department, ninth- ule and trekked across the Capitol the cost of medicine through bet- own curricula, the program is con- ject did not perform significantly graders with inadequate back- to the Senate Hart Office Building ter use of information technol- siderably more prevalent in private better in college science courses in grounds in math did poorly in the for the first time in his life–by ogy; to strengthen our national schools than public schools—the another subject. The authors wrote, physics classes they were forced his own admission–to receive the defenses; and to reduce the threat American Institute of Physics “With regard to the ‘Physics First’ to take, which led to poorer out- plaque. of terrorism at home. Those are (AIP) estimates that 8% of private movement, the lack of a relation- comes in the future. “Students that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pretty high expectations. And it’s schools had implemented Phys- ship between the previous study lack algebra skills tend to perform (D-CA, 8th) might not have un- not clear that science can deliver ics First in some form in 2005, as of physics and later chemistry per- poorly in ninth-grade physics,” dergone quite the same epiphany, on all of them. compared to only 3% of public formance, or the previous study of says Levine “and these failures are but in the last year her zeal for But no one has been calling on schools. chemistry and later biology perfor- correlated with significantly lower science has reached new heights. the physical sciences to address Consistent with this self-selec- mance, casts doubt on the impact graduation rates.” This column has too few inches emotional vulnerabilities, espe- tion, teachers’ opinions on Physics of changing the traditional high- The San Diego district stopped for any significant exposition, but cially those of elected officials. First seem to depend strongly on school science sequence.” How- requiring schools to teach physics if you Google “science, science, As the case of the Speaker dem- whether or not they taught physics ever, Michael O’Brien and John to ninth-graders in 2006. Now, 20 science, science” you will quickly onstrates, however, science can to ninth-graders classes, with over Thompson point out in a recent of the district’s 27 high schools of- get the gist of my point. be serendipitous. It sometimes 70% of those teaching such classes Physics Teacher article that “the fer physics to at least some ninth- In May, in recognition of her yields rewards we never antici- expressing favorable opinions on transition from high school to col- graders, but of these, only one work, Craig Barrett, who had re- pate. the PCB sequence versus less than lege courses is very different from tracks all freshmen into a physics 25% of those not teaching phys- the ninth-to-tenth-grade transition. course. Nevertheless, according to ics to freshmen. Rose Young, an The Future provide professional develop- were encouraged by early prog- Lavine, most students who enter enthusiastic Physics First teacher Recently Physics First has ment, curriculum, and lab equip- ress. high school with poor math skills at Liberty High School in Carroll moved to a new level with two ment to the crossover teachers About the future of Physics do take physics in the 11th or 12th County, Maryland, says “teaching state-wide efforts—one that origi- being recruited to teach the new First generally, Lederman says, grade, for the unrelated reason physics to ninth-graders is great— nated in the governor’s office in physics classes. Although it is too “the momentum is picking up,” that district officials recommend they can engage in it and see it Rhode Island, and another that is early to fully assess the success of but “we need more physics teach- that these students take physics around them right away. We try to a partnership between two uni- these efforts, representatives of ers and lots more data…It will rather than chemistry to meet the make it fun so they will come back versities and a number of high these initiatives at a recent AAPT take another decade to get our state’s physical science graduation to physics a second time later in schools in Missouri. Both efforts symposium devoted to “Early educational ‘system’ into the 21st requirement. “Achieving a suc- are supported by large grants that High School Physics” said they century.” 4 • July 2009 APS NEWS Letters

Accelerating Universe: Who Knew What When? Ed. Note: We featured the ac- January, mine is that data of ade- the reality of cosmic acceleration. lipses shows that the statistical un- Hubble Space Telescope. A big- celerating universe in our “This quate precision to make the case in Monthly searches were employed, certainty in the values of Omega_ ger sample does not always yield a month in physics history” column a refereed journal were just ahead. but not invented, by the SCP. lambda and Omega_matter from more precise answer. in January. This was followed by Riordan makes three additional Replacing eyes with computers the High-Z Team in our September All of us have had a great scien- a series of letters in February and points. He says that Saul Perlmutter to find supernovae in digital data 1998 AJ paper was every bit as tific adventure in learning that the April. With the two letters below, pioneered the technique of taking was an important development. In good as that from the SCP in their universe is accelerating. That thrill we close our discussion of the his- successive photographs four weeks 1988, Danish astronomers used June 1999 Ap J paper, despite our of discovery is part of the fun of tory of how this discovery was apart in the dark of the moon to their 1.5m telescope at the Eu- having a smaller sample of high doing science, and it is based on a made. discover supernovae, that experi- ropean Southern Observatory to redshift objects. That’s because we long sequence of contributions by Michael Riordan’s letter to APS mental particle physicists “familiar search for supernovae. They took had a larger sample of low-redshift News (April 2009) contained a with manipulating vast quantities digital images each month of gal- objects from both Calan/Tololo many minds and hands. That long vivid account of the scene as Saul of data” felt up to the task of find- axy clusters, registered the new and the Center for Astrophysics, chain of cooperation is what I'd Perlmutter presented the results of ing supernovae in digital images images with the old, scaled the sky, an object-by-object way of deter- call success. the Supernova Cosmology Project from CCDs while astronomers did convolved the images to match at- mining the reddening to each su- at a Santa Cruz colloquium in De- not, and that the SCP result had mospheric blurring, and subtracted pernova, and a larger fraction of Robert P. Kirshner cember 1997. His narrative of Saul “significantly better statistics” than to find new stars in distant galaxies. excellent measurements from the Cambridge, MA reporting evidence for low cosmic the High-Z Team result. Each de- All this manipulation of data was mass density and unlimited expan- serves a brief factual response. done in real time at the observatory. Having read and reviewed his Hubble expansion was not decel- sion is fully consistent with what Saul Perlmutter led the SCP By astronomers.Their discovery of book, I am well aware of most of erating as expected, but instead both the High-Z Team and the SCP with determination, but he did not SN 1988U, a Type Ia supernova at the details Kirshner discusses in accelerating. said in January 1998. This confirms invent the rhythm of the moon, the cosmologically interesting red- his letter. But I don’t think they • that by early 1998, the re- the point I was trying to make in which approximately matches the shift, z =0.31, was reported in Na- invalidate my two principal as- sults of neither group alone were my February 2009 letter to APS 21-day rise time of supernovae ture. I wrote the “News & Views” sertions: sufficient for cosmologists to News: that the persuasive evidence and leads to a four week cycle for explaining the importance of this • that a group of mostly par- conclude that this momentous for something qualitatively differ- efficient searches. This pattern of work. Experimental particle physi- ticle physicists led by Perlmutter conclusion was true; both were ent–cosmic acceleration–came just observing in the dark of the moon cists invented their own methods, (yes, building on prior work by needed because they addressed a little later. February 1998 if you was pioneered by Caltech’s Fritz but pixel-by-pixel subtraction to Kirshner and other astrophysi- important weaknesses in the oth- like Alex Filippenko’s conference Zwicky, starting in the 1930’s. find supernovae for cosmology was cists) pioneered the use of Type ers’ analyses. talk at the Dark Matter meeting, Monthly spacing of the search was carried out first by Danish astrono- 1a supernovae to serve as preci- Taken together, however, the March 1998 if you like the High- used extensively in the Calan/To- mers (who didn’t think it was very sion standard candles in measur- two observations were quite con- Z Team’s Astronomical Journal lolo search in Chile to find objects difficult.) If their detector had been ing the expansion rate of the Uni- vincing. submission. Ruth Daly’s point in for scheduled follow-up. This set a little bigger, perhaps they would verse; both the LBL and High-Z her letter to APS News is that ideas of data on nearby supernovae was have found cosmic acceleration. teams subsequently employed Michael Riordan about acceleration were in the air in used by both groups to establish Finally, comparing the error el- such a technique to find that the Santa Cruz, CA

Letter Condemns Attacks on Iranian Students, Universities Molten Salt Reactor Will Solve Energy Problems During the last week, mem- wishes to express its outrage and Our country will need lots more into a liquid fluoride thorium reac- the result that today South Africa has bers of the Iranian security forces condemn such violent attacks on electric power in the foreseeable tor that offered improved safety and more imaginative nuclear designs future. Back-of-the-envelope calcu- efficiency, 1/30th the waste volume in plain clothes have attacked the universities and student dormi- than we do. The US needs to put lation shows that all green “alterna- (compared to a uranium reactor), universities and many student tories. “stimulus” funds into researching dormitories in Iran. In one of the tive” sources combined–wind, solar, reduction of high-level waste stor- nuclear power innovations, rather dormitories in Tehran, several stu- etc–are not going to cut the mustard, age requirements from over 10,000 than coasting on 1940-era designs. IrAP Board of Directors because of inherently low energy years to around 300 years, reduced dents have been killed. In solidar- And who will advocate such fund- densities. If foreign oil and dirty target-value to terrorists (due to non- ity with the university professors Ed. Note: APS News received ing, if not you as a physicist? Pro- coal are out, the only way left is the production of weapons material), and students in Iran, the Iranian- the letter above on June 22 from tecting your grant? Speak up, if you dreaded “nuclear option.” Here is cheaper construction costs and raw American Physicists (IrAP) Net- IrAP President Mostafa Hemmati have the guts and dare to boast of work Group Board of Directors of Arkansas Tech University. where physicists ought to step up materials (over 1000 times the fuel to bat. They consider themselves reserve), etc.? After 1969, dominat- the “moxie”! The silence is deafen- knowledgeable about energy alter- ed by technically-uninformed, fear- ing. April Meeting Hosts Future Physicists natives…but how many know that driven nuclear revulsion, America Thomas E. Phipps, Jr. By Gabriel Popkin the meeting by her advisor, Todd before 1969 this country did suc- curtailed research and even junked cessful proof-of-concept research half-completed nuclear plants, with Urbana, IL Eighty-one undergraduates and Tinsley, who brought a total of six at least one high school student Hendrix students to the meeting. gave talks, presented posters, and Tinsley said that all Hendrix under- mingled with physicists and gradu- graduates do a “capstone” project, ate students at this year’s APS April and the April Meeting provides a Meeting in Denver, Colorado, as venue where they can present their part of the second Future Physicists research to a nationwide audience. By Michael Lucibella Days program. Two sessions of “Without the [$200] travel stipends talks were devoted to undergraduate APS provided I could not have research, and the participants also brought all the students who wanted attended a special luncheon as well to come,” said Tinsley. as an awards ceremony that includ- Future Physicists Days were ed a round of the Society of Physics jointly sponsored by APS, SPS, Students’ (SPS) Physics Jeopardy. and the Council on Undergraduate Dominick Rocco, a junior from Research, in order to provide under- the University of Wisconsin-Madi- graduates with early exposure to the son, won an award for his poster on scientific conference culture. the “Seasonal Variations of the At- According to Cathy Mader, a mospheric Muon Flux in IceCube,” Hope College professor who coor- a neutrino telescope under construc- dinated the students’ activities, this tion at the South Pole. “I love the year’s program evolved as a result talks, and the maximum exposure of students’ feedback from last year. to professional physicists,” said Rocco, who was inspired to go into Mader said “We changed the format physics by his high school teacher. to allow undergraduates to partici- Junior Mallory Kay Young, of pate in more of the meeting activi- Hendrix College in Arkansas, said ties. We found they really appreciat- her favorite session was the net- ed the chance to go to sessions and working luncheon for women in meet professionals in the field.” physics. Young won an award for For more information about Fu- her talk on “Neutrino-Stimulated ture Physicists Days, go to www. Pair-Creation in Supernovae.” She aps.org and search on “Future Phys- said she was inspired to come to icist”. © Michael Lucibella 2009 APS NEWS July 2009 • 5 LaserFest Booth Debuts at CLEO LaserFest made an early public at CLEO/IQEC was the first of- science. One segment the organiz- Education C orner appearance at June’s Conference ficial LaserFest event aimed at dis- ers are especially trying to reach A column on educational programs and publications on Lasers and Electro-Optics and seminating information about next out to are youngsters. This fall APS International Quantum Electronics year’s activities. The booth featured will release its annual PhysicsQuest APS Releases Education Video Conference (CLEO/IQEC) in Balti- stickers, posters, light-up pins and kit themed to coincide with Laser- more. APS, partnering with the Op- other giveaways emblazoned with The APS website now features a five-minute video on a CD -motor activity Fest. Aimed at middle school stu- created by APS educator Ed Lee for the APS High School Physics tical Society of America, unveiled LaserFest logos and information dents, next year’s kits will feature the yearlong celebration of lasers Teachers Days. In the video, APS education and diversity director Ted about the LaserFest website. As classroom laser experiments and a at the conference to get a head start 2010 approaches, the booth’s focus Hodapp and outreach director Becky Thompson-Flagg trade quips as comic book starring Spectra, Laser- they explain how to do the activity and how the motor works. The video, at promoting the wide array of pro- will expand further as events and Fest’s super-heroine. In it she will which is intended to be a resource for high school teachers who want grams planned for next year. programs start to take off. It will explain the history and physics of to do hands-on activities in their classrooms, can be found on the APS Timed to coincide with the travel to scientific and teaching con- website by searching on the keyword “teachers day” and clicking on 50th anniversary in 2010 of Theo- ferences featuring information and the laser while combating her arch Downloadable Workshops & Research Talks. The website also provides dore Maiman’s construction of the demonstrations on how to convey nemesis, the evil Miss Alignment. an annotated handout explaining the various steps of the activity. first working laser, LaserFest will to the public the importance of la- “I never would have thought of highlight the importance of lasers sers. a comic book, but I like it,” Daniel NSF STEP grant proposals due in late September through history and their potential Ramlagan said that the reaction Mittleman of Rice University said, The National Science Foundation’s Science, Technology, Engineering, for future innovation. Throughout by the optics scientists at CLEO/ “I think it’s a very cool idea. I have and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program (STEP) seeks to increase the year a variety of programs and IQEC was overwhelmingly posi- a seven-year-old at home. I’m very the number of undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and events nationwide will raise pub- tive. The LaserFest booth at the in favor of her becoming a physicist mathematics (STEM) majors. Among other activities, currently funded lic awareness about the laser and conference’s PhotonXpo was one projects focus on recruiting STEM majors from current high school when she grows up.” and undergraduate student populations, provide scholarship support its applications in today’s world. of the trade show’s most popu- Funding from the National Sci- and research opportunities for potential majors, and help build bridges Planned programs include public lar exhibits. People could be seen ence Foundation and the Depart- between universities and local community colleges and K-12 schools. demonstrations, traveling shows, wearing the light-up LaserFest ment of Energy will also help La- The NSF is soliciting two types of proposals—those that provide for full videos, and educational materials giveaways throughout the conven- serFest promote the importance of implementation efforts at academic institutions, and those that support for schools across the country. tion hall. By the end of the confer- laser science. The agencies have educational research projects on associate or baccalaureate degree “The goal is to introduce the ence, nearly three hundred people awarded $300,000 in grants for attainment in STEM. For more information, see www.nsf.gov/funding/ public to lasers and convey the idea had signed up for the LaserFest e- events such as LaserDays and La- pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5488. that basic science is very important, newsletter. serFest on the Road, to bring the especially because so many things “I think it’s a great idea,” said AAPT 2010 Summer Meeting we use in our daily life are laser- Xaio Qin Li from the University excitement of lasers to people na- The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) 2010 Summer based or use lasers in some way. of Texas in Austin, “Lasers are one tionwide. Meeting will run from Saturday, July 25th to Wednesday, July 29th in The fiftieth anniversary is a great of the greatest technical inventions “Anything to interest young Ann Arbor, Michigan. The theme of the meeting will be “Discovering way to highlight that,” Nadia Ram- ever.” people in lasers is a good thing,” the Universe: Democritus and Galileo to Fundamental Particles lagan, APS’s LaserFest project Co- LaserFest is designed to appeal said Andy Bayamian of the Nation- and Cosmology.” Just prior to the meeting will be a workshop on the ordinator said. to broad segments of the popula- al Ignition Facility, “We don’t have Advanced Lab, and immediately following the meeting will be the 2009 Physics Education Research Conference. For more information, see The program is just getting tion, including educators, legisla- enough young people going into la- www.aapt.org. underway. The traveling booth tors, and anyone else interested in ser technology,”

Standards to Provide Educational Achievement for Kids WOMEN continued from page 1 Act (SPEAK) Act surveys conducted between 2004 policies and maternity leave. it is possible to find solutions for On June 10, Congressman Vernon J. Ehlers (R-MI, and APS Member) and 2005. Incorporating nearly Other organizations have also women who do make the choice and Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) introduced the SPEAK Act, 500 departments and over 1800 endeavored to promote women in of physics as a career and feel which would create or adopt voluntary national standards for K-12 math faculty members, the study fo- the sciences. The American As- they encounter difficulties. As and science education. This is an effort to provide more consistency in cused on six disciplines; biology, sociation for the Advancement soon as the number of women in states’ standards in these areas. For more information, go to thomas. chemistry, civil and electrical of Science partnered with the science grows, there will be more loc.gov and search on Bill Number H.R. 2790 or S. 1231. engineering, mathematics, and cosmetics company L’Oréal USA role models for other women to physics. to establish its Fellowships for follow.” OLYMPIANS continued from page 1 The information collected by Women in Science in 2004. This Not only is it essential to re- Teachers along with the University six problems long, from which the the National Academies closely year the fellowship awarded five tain talented women in the field, of Maryland have organized and final group was selected to attend parallels the findings in the re- women $60,000 in grant money but also to find new ways to trained each US team since the be- physics camp. All of the students cently published report of the to aide their research, up from draw them to it in the first place. ginning. More than a dozen other attending the camp are considered APS-sponsored 2007 Gender $40,000 from last year. “It is important to generate organizations including APS and the part of the US team, and the five se- Equity Conference. The confer- This year two of the five re- interest in young girls to study American Institute of Physics also lected at the end of the camp make ence report states that “the phys- cipients were physicists. Tiffany physics starting in grade school. help to sponsor the team. up the traveling team. ics workforce in academia and Santos, of Argonne National This is difficult to do because in This year’s traveling team is After the camp concludes, the national laboratories remains one Labs, won for her work syn- most cases, the physics teachers made up of: David Field, a sopho- members of the traveling team are of the last areas in science where thesizing epitaxial oxide het- are male.” Santos said, “If young more from Andover, Massachusetts; sent home with a hefty packet of women are significantly under- erostructures and superlattices. girls do not see women teach- Bowei Liu a sophomore from Fre- homework, mostly problems culled represented relative to their pro- Beena Kalisky of Stanford Uni- ing science, then they are likely mont, California; Marianna Mao, from previous Olympiads. There’s a portion in the population.” In ad- versity said she will use her grant not to consider it as an option… a senior from Fremont, California; brief, three-day refresher camp held dition it assembled a broad series to further develop a SQUID mi- Women are just as capable as Anand Natarajan a senior from in mid July right before the traveling of suggestions and recommenda- croscope for imaging and char- men in studying physics, but they San Jose, California; and Joshua team jets off to the city of Merida on tions to better retain women fac- acterizing individual magnetic are getting lost along with way, Oreman a senior from Los Angeles, the Yucatan Peninsula. ulty at universities and national nanoparticles. mainly due to these gender bias- California. At the Olympiad, the US team labs and encourage more woman “This scholarship made me es and societal perceptions. “It’s been really intense but re- will face off against over sixty coun- to seek degrees in physics. think specifically about the status The fellowship was estab- ally really worth it,” said Oreman tries on three complicated theory Many of the recommendations and contributions of women to lished to help women advance upon learning he had been selected problems and an experimental lab. from the conference report dove- the field of physics… it is not a their postdoctoral research in the to the final delegation, “I’m re- Last year the United States placed tailed with recommendations secret that there are only a small sciences. Recipients are chosen ally thrilled, it’s going to mean a lot second overall, its best standing yet. made by the National Academies number of women in physics, by a panel of seven leading sci- more work, but it’s definitely worth The US Team generally places in or study. Both recommended more especially if you look at higher entists in a range of fields. This it.” near the top ten in the world, facing aggressive recruitment by institu- career levels,” Kalisky said, year’s panel included three phys- Getting through to the Olym- some of the toughest competition tions, as well as greater transpar- “Today’s culture and technology icists and the president the Na- piad has been quite a feat for the from nations such as China, Russia, ency about promotion and tenure makes daily life much easier, and tional Academies. students. To make to the training at Vietnam, and Iran. UMD, each student passed through To prepare for this challenge, a rigorous selection process. More the training at physics camp was you do need time to relax.” Despite the intensity of the the students. Paul Stanley, the aca- than 4,000 students from over 350 rigorous and intense. For ten days “It’s gotten to the point we training, there’s very little jockey- demic director for this year’s team, schools across the country took the straight the students rose early to can’t work them much harder and ing for position for a coveted spot said that they want to establish an preliminary first round test. Dubbed face a full schedule of lectures, labs probably shouldn’t work them on the traveling team. Instead there environment where the students the “F=MA Exam,” the multiple and practice exams. Topics ranged much harder,” said Andrew Lin, an is a strong sense of camaraderie can both shine academically and choice test focused primarily on in- from basic wave mechanics and assistant coach. Lin started out as a among the students. enjoy themselves while meeting troductory mechanics. oscillations to relativity and other member of the team eleven years “I never felt that the camp was other like-minded high school stu- The top 400 scorers on the test modern physics. ago, and has returned each year about fostering competition over dents. moved on to the quarterfinals. “It’s tiring after a while,” said to help coach. He said that since the five traveling team spots,” said “They love it,” Stanley said. There, students were given three junior Dan Li, who attended last then, “the Olympiad has grown… Marianna Mao, “Physics is our “They can be who they are without open-ended problems on a much year’s camp as well, “It’s a lot of I’d like to think that it’s improved idea of a good time.” being self conscious about being broader range of topics. From there, fun getting to work on physics with- [and] I think the students are bet- The coaches have sought to the only kid in the room who likes the top 150 scorers took a third quiz, out distractions, but after a while ter.” foster this collegial spirit amongst physics.” 6 • July 2009 APS NEWS 2009 GENERAL ELECTION PREVIEW The APS Nominating Committee is pleased to present the following candidates for the 2009 APS annual election. Members will elect a Vice President, Chair-Elect of the Nominat- ing Committee, two General Councillors, and an International Councillor. The election is open from June 15 through August 31, and those who are elected will begin their terms on January 1, 2010. Full biographies and candidates' statements can be found at: http://www.aps.org/about/governance/election/index.cfm. Most APS members who vote will do so online after receiving email instructions; a paper ballot option is also available.

VICE PRESIDENT Robert L. Byer Robert C. Richardson Stanford University Cornell University

Professor Robert L. Byer is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor Bob Richardson attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute be- of Applied Physics at Stanford University. He has conducted re- tween 1954 and 1960 where he obtained both BS and MS degrees search and taught classes in lasers and nonlinear optics at Stanford in physics. His thesis work involved NMR studies of solid 3He. University since 1969. He has made numerous contributions to la- He obtained his PhD degree from Duke in 1966. In the Fall of ser science and technology. He received his BS degree in physics 1966 he began work at Cornell University in the laboratory of in 1964 from the University of California, Berkeley, and his MS and PhD degrees in 1967 David Lee and were later joined by Douglas Osheroff. Their re- and 1969 in Applied Physics from Stanford University. search goal was to observe the nuclear magnetic phase transition in solid 3He. Byer has served as department chair of Applied Physics in 1980-83, and 1999-2002; As- In the Fall of 1971, they made the accidental discovery that liquid undergoes a pairing sociate Dean of Humanities and Sciences from 1984-86, and Vice Provost and Dean of Re- transition similar to that of superconductors. The three were awarded for that work the Si- search at Stanford University from 1987 to 1992. He has been director of the Hansen Ex- mon Prize in 1976, the Buckley Prize in 1981, and the Nobel Prize in 1996. perimental Physics Laboratory from 1997 to 2006, and the Edward L. Ginzton Laboratory Bob has been on the Cornell faculty since 1967. He served as Director of the Labora- from 2006 to 2008. tory of Atomic and Solid State Physics from 1990 to 1997 and is currently the F. R. New- He was elected President of the Laser and Electro-optics society of the IEEE in 1984 and man Professor of Physics. After 32 years of teaching he joined the Cornell Administration of the Optical Society of America in 1994. He has served on the AIP Governing Board from to serve as the Vice Provost for Research and as the Senior Science Advisor to the Provost 1993 to 2000 and was a founding member of the California Council on Science and Tech- and President of Cornell. nology in 1989 and served as chair from 1994 to 1998. Richardson has served on a number of boards related to research and teaching among Byer will receive the Frederic Ives Medal/Quinn Endowment from the Optical Society which are: The National Science Board, the governing body of the NSF; The Duke Uni- of America in 2009 and was awarded the IEEE Photonics Award in June, 2009. He has been versity Board of Trustees; The Board of Directors of the American Association for the Ad- the recipient of the IEEE Third Millennium Medal, the A. L. Schawlow Award of the Laser vancement of Science; The Board on Physics and Astronomy of the NRC; The Board of Institute of America, the R. W. Wood prize of the OSA, the Quantum Electronics Award of Directors of Brookhaven Science Associates; and The Board of Directors of Associated the Lasers and Electro-optics Society, and the Adolph Lomb Medal of the Optical Society University Incorporated. of America. He is a fellow of the APS, AAAS, LEOS, LIA and OSA. He was elected to the Richardson has made it a point to serve on committees and panels of the APS. He National Academy of Engineering in 1987 and to the National Academy of Science in 2000. served on the APS Panel on Public Affairs (POPA) in 1989 to1991. Richardson’s princi- He has served on the Editorial Boards of Optics Letters, Journal of Applied Physics, Ap- pal contribution to POPA was to chair the committee that wrote the statement of ethics for plied Physics Letters, Review of Scientific Instruments, and the Proceedings of the IEEE. He members of the APS. In 1990 through 1991 he was a member of CISA, the Committee on served on the NRC Committee on Optical Sciences and Engineering, and the NRC Com- International Scientific Affairs. He served as Vice Chair, Chair, and Past Chair of the Divi- mittee on Inertial Confinement Fusion. He served as Vice Chair of the NIST NRC Advisory sion of Condensed Matter Physics from 1994 through 1996. Finally, he served on the PPC, Board, Physics Panel. He completed a four year term on the Air Force Scientific Advisory Physics Planning Committee (PPC) between 1998 and 2002, the last three years as the Board in 2006. He is serving on the LLNL, NIF, and PS Directors Review Committee and Chair. In that capacity he gave testimony before Congress four times on behalf of the APS. on the SLAC Coherent Light Source Science Advisory Committee.

CHAIR ELECT-NOMINATING COMMITTEE GENERAL COUNCILLOR

Gregory Boebinger Steven Girvin Girish S. Agarwal National High Magnetic Field Yale University Oklahoma State University Laboratory Steven Girvin is the Eugene Girish S. Agarwal is Regents Pro- Greg Boebinger is director of Higgins Professor of Physics and fessor at Oklahoma State Univer- the National High Magnetic Field Professor of Applied Physics at sity and holds the Noble Foundation Laboratory (MagLab) and a Pro- Yale University where he also Chair. He received his PhD in Phys- fessor of Physics at Florida State serves as Deputy Provost for Sci- ics from the University of Rochester University and the University of ence and Technology. His research in 1969. He has worked at many cen- Florida. Dr. Boebinger received his PhD in Physics from interests are in condensed matter, ters around the world, including the Joint Institute for Labo- the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1986 where he quantum optics, and cold atom physics. While nominally a ratory Astrophysics, University of Colorado, and Max-Planck was a Hertz Fellow and Karl Taylor Compton Fellow during theoretician, he works exceptionally closely with experimen- Institute for Quantum Optics, Garching. He served as Director his research measuring the magnetic field dependence of the talists. He has broad oversight for all natural sciences depart- and Distinguished Scientist at the Physical Research Labora- fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE). ments within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, as well as sev- tory, Ahmedabad, India, and held the Einstein chair of the In- His research career has been centered on the utilization of eral administrative units. dian National Science Academy. intense magnetic fields as a thermodynamic parameter to ac- In 1999 he co-founded the Boulder Summer School in Agarwal is a theoretical physicist with contributions span- cess and elucidate new correlated electron phases. Prior to Condensed Matter and Materials Physics. Professional service ning many areas of quantum optics, coherence and statistical MIT, he was a Churchill Fellow at the University of Cam- includes: Member, Executive Committee, Division of Con- optics, and plasmonics. He is the author of a well-known re- bridge, working on the then-newly-discovered organic super- densed Matter Physics, APS, 2001-2004; Divisional Associate search monograph “Quantum Optics”. He introduced the idea conductors, focusing on structural phase transitions underly- Editor, Physical Review Letters, 2000-2002; Member, Nation- of coherences induced by vacuum, which is important in un- ing magnetic ordering. After MIT, he received a NATO Fel- al Research Council Panel, which wrote the decadal report on derstanding the quantum control of matter. lowship to the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris. In 1987, he Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, 1996-98; Member- His 1975 papers on the QED phenomena at surfaces joined Bell Laboratories where he engineered and constructed at-Large of the Gordon Research Council, 2009-11; Member showed, much before the development of near field techniques, with his colleague a pulsed magnetic field program that was external advisory board, Harvard MIT Center for Ultra-Cold how to probe surface features by using dipolar fields. His the- the first to achieve millisecond-duration magnetic fields - ex Atoms, 2008-; Member external advisory board, Harvard ory of optical resonance in fluctuating fields became the driv- ceeding 70T. His high-magnetic-field research included reso- Smithsonian ITAMP, 2008; Member external advisory board, ing force of many theoretical and experimental studies in the nant tunneling spectroscopy, chaos in quantum wells, new cor- University of Maryland –NIST Joint Quantum Institute, 2009-; area. He discovered how entanglement can be transferred from related electron states in double quantum wells, and the low- Member, Advisory Council, Princeton University Department field to atoms which led to methods for the production of the temperature behavior of the high temperature superconductors of Physics, 2009-15. squeezed states of atoms; these ideas are now being applied in the absence of superconductivity. His research has contin- Girvin received a BS in physics from Bates College to Bose condensates. He was recently elected a fellow of the ued while MagLab Center Leader at Los Alamos National (1971), an MS from the University of Maine (1973), and PhD Royal Society, UK. He has been a fellow of the APS and the Laboratory (1998-2004) and MagLab Director (2004-present) from Princeton (1977). He did his postdoctoral research at In- Optical Society of America for many years. His awards include responsible for all three MagLab campuses. diana U. and at Chalmers U. in Göteborg, Sweden. After serv- Max Born Prize from the Optical Society of America, Hum- He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the ing as a staff physicist at the National Bureau of Standards boldt Research Award of Germany, and the Physics Prize of American Association for the Advancement of Physics. (now NIST) from 1979 to 1987, Girvin joined the faculty of TWAS, Trieste. Among his service on numerous boards and committees is his Indiana U. Girvin moved to Yale in 2001; in 2007 he was ap- chairing of the Neutron Advisory Board for Oak Ridge Na- pointed Deputy Provost. Honors include Fellowship in the Marta Dark McNeese Spelman College tional Laboratory. For the APS, he has served on the Buckley APS, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Prize Selection Committee and the Committee on Meetings American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is Marta Dark McNeese serves as during the shift from the notorious ‘phone book’ to wireless. a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Foreign a professor in the Physics Depart- His outreach includes dozens of public lectures and demon- Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. For his ment at Spelman College. She re- strations appearing on the History Channel and Discovery work on the quantum Hall effect he shared the 2007 Oliver E. ceived her BS in Physics with an Channel. Buckley Prize of the APS. Astronomy minor from the Univer- APS NEWS July 2009 • 7

ANNOUNCEMENTS ELECTIONS continued from page 6 sity of Virginia in 1992. Subsequently, she attended MIT, receiving a PhD laser-plasma phenomena and of plasma-based light sources.” He was elect- Now Appearing in RMP: in Physics in 1999. She worked as a Postdoctoral Associate in the Center ed a Fellow of IEEE in 2006 for his work in plasma science. He has served Recently Posted Reviews and for Bio-Molecular Science and Engineering at the Naval Research Labora- on many panels and committees. He has advised fifteen graduate students Colloquia tory for one year. In 2000, she accepted the position of Assistant Professor including two recipients of APS best thesis prizes and mentored 7 postdoc- You will find the following in at Spelman College. toral researchers. the online edition of Dr. Dark’s research focus is laser interactions with biomaterials. She Reviews of Modern Physics has contributed to research with various materials including the study of at electro-optical effects on nematic liquid crystals, and the photoacoustic and INTERNATIONAL COUNCILLOR http://rmp.aps.org photothermal effects in soft fibrocartilage tissues. She regularly participates Blas Alascio in her Department’s activities to revise and reform the physics curriculum Wetting and spreading Argentine Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y based on the modeling of real phenomena. Tecnica-Centro Atomico Bariloche Daniel Bonn, Jens Eggers, Dr. Dark has served on local and national committees, ranging from co- Joseph Indekeu, Jacques chair for the Chemical and Biological Physics section of the National Soci- Blas Alascio graduated at the University of Meunier and Etienne Rolley ety of Black Physicists, to New York University’s “Physics in the Science Tucumán, Argentina in 1962 and obtained his Wetting is a pervasive phe- Curriculum” Network Summer seminar. Currently, she is completing her PhD in physics from the same university in 1964 nomenon which is the key to term on APS Committee on Minorities. She has also served on the Ameri- after successive scholarships at the Instituto de capillary flow in plants, the se- can Association of Physics Teachers Committee on Minorities. Física in Bariloche and the University of Califor- cret ingredient of ice skating, nia (Berkeley). and necessary for the proper Stephen C. McGuire In 1964, he joined the Argentine Comision Nacional de Energia Atomi- coating of optical and electronic Southern University and A&M College ca, working at the Centro Atomico Bariloche, where he led the Solid State devices. However, the basic understanding of wetting is far Theory group from its beginning in 1965. Later, he acted as Head of the from simple and there are still Stephen C. McGuire is professor of physics Basic Research Department of the same institution from 1982 to 1984 and many open questions and puz- at Southern University and A&M College and a from 1986 to 1995. zles. In this review, the authors Fellow of the American Physical Society. He re- He was simultaneously (1966 to 2007) full professor at the Physics In- lead the reader through the cur- ceived his BS in physics from Southern Univer- stitute (later Instituto Balseiro) in Bariloche where he taught quantum me- rent knowledge of static and sity, MS in nuclear physics from the University chanics, statistical physics, and condensed matter physics. He has also been dynamic wetting, spreading on random substrates, and high- of Rochester, and PhD in nuclear science from Cornell University. After a visiting professor at the Universidad de Cordoba, Argentina, and at the light the burning issues in the receiving his doctorate, he spent four years as a staff scientist at the Oak University Louis Pasteur, Grenoble, France. field. Ridge National Laboratory. Upon joining the physics department at Ala- His main research interest is in Solid State Physics. He has been an as- bama A&M University in 1982 he began research with the High Energy sociate member of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Tri- Particle Astrophysics Laboratory of the Marshall Space Flight Center. In este, Italy from 1970 to 1980 and a visiting scientist at the same Centre Correction 1989 he was appointed to the Cornell faculty. In 1999 he returned to South- (1984-1985). During Abdus Salam’s Directorship of the Centre, Blas Alas- In the story headlined "Phys- ern University, a major producer of undergraduate minority physics majors, cio has integrated several Committees concerning the international activi- icists Bring Their Moxie to Na- as chair of the department of physics, a position he held until 2009. ties of the ICTP, and has also been a Member of the Committee for Evalua- tional Intelligence" in the June His research focuses on solid-state materials, and his teaching interests tion and Projection of the ICTP presided by Prof. L. Matheus (1978). APS News, there were two in- emphasize the integration of technology in the development of science ed- He has also been a member of the Scientific Committee of the Interna- accuracies that we wish to cor- ucation. tional Centre for Condensed Matter Physics in Brasilia from its creation in rect. At the press conference He is a past-president of the National Society of Black Physicists (1987- 1988 to 2007. The Brasilia Centre was created by the University of Brasilia mentioned in the report the 1989). In 2004 he was named Outstanding Research Investigator at South- to increase the exchange of scientific knowledge between Brazil and the speakers were NIST scientists ern University and A&M College and in 2005 he was named the Faculty international community, especially with the Latin American community. only; there were none from Los Researcher of the Year in its College of Sciences. He has also been cofounder and member of the Advisory Committee of Alamos. The microcalorimeter From 1988-1989 he served as chair of the APS Committee of Minori- the Balseiro Foundation in Bariloche, Argentina from 1991 to the present that was described can be used ties (COM) in Physics. He has also served as an APS-sponsored minority and president of the Committee from 1991 to 1996. The Balseiro Founda- to make the delicate distinction speaker and as a member of the advisory board of its Insurance Trust. tion is an institution devoted to the support of research in science and tech- between Uranium and Radium, McGuire holds the concurrent positions of Visiting Associate in the Di- nology and its transfer to society. not Uranium and Radon as vision of Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy at the California Institute He received the 1982-1983 “Teófilo Isnardi” prize from the Academia stated in the report. We thank Joel Ullom of of Technology and Guest Researcher at the National Institute of Standards Nacional de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Argentina, and has been NIST for bringing these errors and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, MD. He is a member of the exter- a Fellow of the APS since 1998. to our attention. nal advisory committee of the Materials Science Research and Engineering Center of the University of Chicago and is the Southern University Prin- Belita Koiller Physics Institute, Federal University cipal Investigator for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave (LIGO) been a research fellow of the Brazil- Observatory Project. He also serves on the Executive Committee of the of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ian National Research Council since LIGO Science Education Center. Belita Koiller is a Professor of Physics at the 1985. In 1995 she was the first wom- Instituto de Fisica, Universidade Federal do Rio an to be elected a full member to the Warren B. Mori de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil. Belita Koiller received Brazilian Academy of Sciences in University of California, Los Angeles her PhD in Physics in 1975, at University of Cali- the Physical Sciences division. She Professor Warren B. Mori received his BS fornia, Berkeley, where she worked in theoretical was decorated “Comendador da Or- from UC Berkeley in 1981, and his MS and PhD Condensed Matter Physics under the supervision dem Nacional do Mérito Científico” from UCLA in 1984 and 1987, respectively. He of Leo Falicov. She returned to Brazil upon completing her PhD, starting her by the Presidency of Brazil in 2002. has been on the research and regular faculty of professional activities at the Physics Department of the Pontificia Universi- Belita Koiller is a L’Oréal UNESCO the Physics and Astronomy and of the Electrical dade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC/RJ) where, in 1992, she was appoint- 2005 Laureate for Women in Physi- Engineering Departments at UCLA since 1987. ed Full Professor. She left PUC/RJ in 1994 to become Full Professor of the cal Sciences (Latin America). Starting in 1998 he has been a full professor in both departments. Since Physics Institute at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), where She served for 3 years, starting the fall of 2006 he has been the Director of the UCLA Institute for Digital she remains to the present. At PUC/RJ, she was Chair of the Physics Depart- in 1994, as a member of the ICSU Research and Education. ment in 1983/1984. She was elected three times as a General Councilor of Committee on Capacity Building in His current research interests are in plasma physics, laser and beam the Brazilian Physical Society, for the 4-year periods starting in 1993, 1999, Science. Since 2005 she has been a plasma interactions, plasma-based accelerators and light sources, inertial and 2005. In 2008 she chaired the 29th International Conference on the Phys- member of the Executive Committee confinement fusion, high energy density science, relativistic shocks, and ics of Semiconductors, held in Rio de Janeiro and sponsored by IUPAP. of the International Human Rights high performance computing. Prof. Mori holds patents for upshifting light Belita Koiller is a condensed matter theorist. She has collaborated with Network of Academies and Scholar- frequency by rapid plasma creation, and for the use of relativistic ioniza- several institutions in the United States including with UC Berkeley, Johns ly Societies, which assists colleagues tion fronts for tunable radiation. He was awarded the International Center Hopkins University, and the Condensed Matter Theory Center at the Univer- (scientists and scholars) who suffer for Theoretical Physics Medal for Excellence in Nonlinear Plasma Physics sity of Maryland. She was in the Editorial Board of Applied Physics Letters repression. In 2008 she became a by a Young Researcher in 1995, and in 1997 he was elected a Fellow of the and Journal of Applied Physics for three years, starting 2006. member of the IUPAP Commission APS for his “outstanding contributions to particle simulations of complex Belita Koiller received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1982, and she has on Semiconductors.

WINNERS continued from page 1 DAMOP continued from page 1 tricity, emphasizing its close con- quests them. In addition, by focus- junction with next year’s Laser- Christopher Foot of the Univer- their behavior and the need for nection with magnetism. These in- ing on seventh and eighth grades, Fest program, the 2009 kits will sity of Oxford discussed his new new specialized programming cluded dropping a magnet through the kits help to fill a gap in physi- include a series of laser-based method to rotate a two-dimen- languages. a coil of wire to induce a current, cal science teaching resources for experiments and original laser su- sional optical lattice which he To lighten things up a bit, using an electrical current’s mag- that age group. perhero Spectra. hopes to use to further investigate Diandra Leslie-Pelecky of the netic field to change the direction “Middle school kind of gets Even the method for picking the quantum Hall effect. University of Texas, Dallas pre- forgotten about,” Thompson- a compass points, and combin- the winners affords students and Erik Winfree of Caltech ex- sented the public lecture about ing a magnet and battery to turn a Flagg said, “It’s hard to target teachers a physics lesson. This panded on the established idea the physics of car racing. Draw- pinwheel. The kit also taught stu- them directly.” year’s winners were chosen using of using artificial DNA-like ing on her book, The Physics of dents about how light bends in a PhysicsQuest started in 2005 a random number generator based sequenced molecules for com- Nascar, Leslie-Pelecky spoke transparent medium whose index as a tie-in with the World Year on fluctuations in atmospheric puter memory. Winfree dis- to the crowded hall about how of refraction is greater than 1. of Physics celebration. The first cussed what kind of additional everything from fundamental radio static. This yields truly ran- The kits have become favorites kit featured experiments and ac- technologies would be needed mechanics to thermodynamics among school systems with lim- tivities based on the life of Al- dom numbers, as opposed to pseu- to make molecular programs and molecular structures play a ited resources and home schooled bert Einstein. Subsequent kits do random numbers which are feasible, including the theoreti- major role in the most popular students because they’re offered highlighted scientists Benjamin usually calculated by a computer cal models that might describe racing sport in America. free of charge to anyone who re- Franklin and Marie Curie. In con- using a complex algorithm. 8 • July 2009 APS NEWS The Back Page

ccording to a recent survey by the Federal mal subjects review processes. A relatively ADemonstration Partnership (FDP), on av- Administrative Burdens Stifle Faculty simple fix for this is to allow universities to erage faculty are spending 42% of their feder- charge a fee for these services. Such fees are ally-funded time on administrative matters that and Erode University Resources already in place for human subjects studies do not include proposal writing. Two decades funded by nongovernmental agencies like ago, that number was only 18%. This heavy By Arthur Bienenstock pharmaceutical companies. It would be par- commitment of researchers’ time to administra- ticularly painless to implement during the tive functions is a terrible waste of faculty time next two years, when NIH’s ARRA funding and government money. Many of the tasks that is so appreciable. faculty are performing could be managed better, and at The most appropriate way of dealing with the true in- a lower cost, by skilled administrative staff who are, for creases in university administrative burdens resulting example, familiar with the requirements associated with from federally-funded research would be to lift the cap personnel actions, export control, as well as human and on administrative cost reimbursement. In this regard it animal subject protocol reviews. [The Federal Demon- should be noted that other nonprofit and for-profit insti- stration Partnership is a cooperative National Academies tutions do not face such a limitation on indirect cost re- of Sciences initiative among nine federal agencies and imbursement. Instead, they receive full cost recovery. The 120 institutional recipients of federal funds, seeking ef- same principle should apply to universities. Whenever ficiency and effectiveness in government-university re- detailed studies have been performed, university indirect search administration. Its report is available at http:// cost rates are less than or equal to those in the other sec- www.thefdp.org/Faculty_Committee.html] tors. There is no justification in singling out universities The situation is likely to grow worse as faculty help for this differential treatment. to provide the new information required for research While this solution would address the financial prob- funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment lems that universities face due to unreimbursed indirect Act of 2009 (the “stimulus” bill). Just as the govern- nized in the various discussions of administrative support costs, it would not necessarily ease the burdens of the ment is clearly recognizing, through increased funding, and indirect cost reimbursement, is the increase in the ra- faculty. One can count on government auditors to at- the important role scientific research plays in the nation’s tio of NIH funding to that from other agencies. The ratio tempt to keep the indirect cost rate as low as they can economy, it is adding additional administrative burdens to of NIH funding to that of all agencies grew from 52% in achieve. Indeed, it is rare that a university negotiates with those leading that research. The situation is likely to be 1992 to 63% in 2007, according to Appendix Table 5-6 in the Department of Health and Human Services the indi- exacerbated by universities’ spending cutbacks associated the National Science Foundation’s publication, Indicators rect cost rate that an objective reading of OMB Circular with the economic downturn. Universities will almost un- 2008 (http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind06/). The admin- A-21 would imply. As a consequence, it is quite unlikely doubtedly decrease the administrative support they pro- istrative costs associated with human and animal subject that lifting the cap will lead to a significant increase in vide to faculty in the face of quite significant budget cuts. experiments make the average indirect administrative direct and local administrative support for faculty. Given It is vital that we give considerable thought to how the costs associated with NIH funding significantly greater past history, it is also likely that some faculty will pro- situation might be improved. than those associated with research funded by the other test strongly to Congress should there be a move to lift Three factors have contributed to this increase. The agencies. In addition, the Institutional Review Boards as- the cap. In response to that, Congress may not react com- first is the set of changes made to OMB Circular A-21 in sociated with human subject research require a great deal pletely rationally and with a broad perspective. the early ‘90s. This circular (http://www.whitehouse.gov/ of faculty time for which they are not, for the most part, Still another approach would be to eliminate the pro- omb/circulars/a021/a021.html) contains federal regula- compensated. While it is important to have faculty in- hibition in OMB Circular A-21 on the direct charging tions governing the reimbursement of universities for put on these boards, participation takes the faculty away of administrative support for faculty. I believe that this, both direct and indirect costs associated with the per- from direct participation in their research. The $10B ap- coupled with the above-mentioned fee for human and formance of federally-funded research. Direct costs are propriation for NIH contained in the American Recovery animal subject review, is the politically most feasible ap- those that can be associated with a specific research proj- and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will only exacerbate this proach. It places the decision as to whether the funding ect, such as faculty and graduate student salaries, research situation. of administrative assistants is appropriate and desirable in supplies, etc. Indirect costs are those that are associated It is important to understand the financial burdens the hands of the faculty member and the agency program with the performance of federally funded research, but placed on universities by federal reimbursement and officer. These are the people most capable of making that which cannot be attributed to a specific project. These in- cost-sharing policies. According to Indicators 2008, uni- decision. clude items like university research administration, utili- versity expenditures on R&D rose from $3B to $9B be- The one objection that has been voiced to this ap- ties, and research building depreciation. Indirect costs tween 1990 and 2006. Approximately one-half of this is proach is that universities are likely to decrease the ad- are further subdivided into Administrative and Facilities. for unreimbursed costs and cost sharing. This amounts to ministrative support that they provide via indirect cost One of the changes to A-21 limited the reimbursement something like an increase from $0.5K to $1.5K per re- reimbursement if the faculty can fund that support direct- of indirect administrative costs to 26% of the related di- search university student over that period for these costs. ly. My own sense is that this concern is irrelevant in the rect costs. Since most universities lose money with this This increase is shocking, given the heat that Congress present climate. The severe economic situations in which reimbursement rate, almost all of them cut back the lo- has thrown at public universities for average tuition in- most universities find themselves, coupled with the less- cal administrative support upon which faculty could draw creases from less than $3000 per year in the early 90s to than-full indirect cost recovery, will necessarily lead to directly while centralizing the corresponding administra- approximately $6000 per year presently. The increase is such cutbacks. Unless direct charging is allowed, the 42% tive functions. The A-21 changes also meant that faculty of great concern because it is limiting access of those in figure discussed above will only increase. The nation will no longer charge for administrative functions directly to the lower economic strata to the public institutions, and lose the research time of the faculty that it has selected the grant. Prior to this change, one or more faculty would thus limiting the traditional American dream. It would be through careful peer review processes to lead the nation’s commonly hire an administrative assistant who was, or much wiser for the government to fully fund the research basic and long-term applied research. would become, skilled in the administrative functions it supports, so that universities have the $9B for educa- I cannot close without noting that discussions of in- directly associated with the specific research. A-21 no tional expenses like financial aid. direct cost rates are painful for faculty. We all want to longer allowed reimbursement for this function. As a con- I believe that a comprehensive review of the validity maximize the funds that we have available for use in the sequence of these two changes, faculty took on adminis- of both university and governmental policies is in order. laboratory. As principal investigator for the Stanford Syn- trative tasks previously performed more effectively and In particular, universities should make sure that they are chrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL), I was one of the inexpensively by administrative assistants. meeting federal requirements in an efficient manner. For two or three largest single “payers” of indirect costs for Over the almost two decades since these changes took example, they should ensure that Institutional Review many years. Throughout those years, SSRL was constant- place, the administrative burden on university resources Boards are using exemptions effectively and appropriate- ly short of staff. A 1% increase in the indirect cost rate and faculty has also grown as a result of increased lo- ly. Too often, universities err on the side of conservativ- typically meant a decrease by one of the number of SSRL cal and federal requirements. These include export and ism, wasting considerable faculty time in reviews of hu- staff, which we could ill afford. Hence, I was, and remain, ITAR control, environment, health and safety reporting, man subject protocols that should have been exempted. very sensitive to that rate. Yet, I believe, for the reasons controlled substance regulations, as well as requirements Similarly, the federal government should review the discussed above, that the government should provide full related to human and animal subject experiments. Dur- regulations that apply to universities. It should ensure reimbursement for both the direct and indirect costs of re- ing the time that I was Stanford’s Vice Provost and Dean that regulations associated with export control, ITAR, and search and also ensure that faculty research time is used of Research and Graduate Policy, 2003-2006, Stanford controlled substances are appropriate for the university effectively. Thus, I urge faculty to support both a lifting typically allocated around 20% of its funds available for environment. of the administrative cost reimbursement rate cap and the new endeavors to research compliance. Universities dare The big issues, however, relate to OMB Circular A-21 direct charging of relevant administrative support. At the not reduce central administrative staff needed to meet and indirect cost reimbursement. Here, several options same time, they should ensure that faculty representatives these requirements. Indeed, universities perceive many are open. The first, which OMB probably would prefer, is can provide reasoned oversight of their universities’ indi- of these regulations as vital for the appropriate conduct to maintain the status quo. While that will make life easy rect cost rate proposals. If faculty do support these mea- of research–which should be federally funded as part of for OMB, it will not deal with the general consequences sures, they will become politically viable. the research support. Given the financial exigencies that of unreimbursed indirect costs and cost-sharing, nor will Arthur Bienenstock is the Special Assistant to the Pres- universities face presently, therefore, it is more likely that it ease the administrative burdens that faculty face. ident for Federal Research Policy and Director, Wallen- they will cut back on local faculty administrative support. As discussed above, some of the most expensive com- berg Research Link, at Stanford University. He served as The third contributing factor, largely unrecog- pliance items that universities face are the human and ani- APS President in 2008.

APS News welcomes and encourages letters and submissions from its members responding to these and other issues. Responses may be sent to: [email protected]