NEWS

Call For New Editor and Sub-Editors:
Interesting, Important Work!
No Pay!

Art Hobson, who has served as editor of Physics & Society for nine years, is stepping down as of the April 1996 issue. The Forum has formed a search committee for a new editor and welcomes applicants for editor and for three departmental editors. The new editor would have overall responsibility for format and content, but would have significant help from departmental editors who would handle the gathering and editing of articles, news and book reviews. The new editor receives no monetary compensation, but hopefully experiences both external recognition and internal satisfaction from producing a valuable publication.

We are also looking for volunteers to act as departmental editors for the articles department, news department, and reviews department. Although we will not appoint these editors until the new overall editor has been chosen, we invite you to apply now for any of these three positions.

Applicants must be members of the APS Forum on Physics and Society. Please send resumes and a brief statement as to why you would like to edit Physics & Society BY MARCH 1 to Barbara Levi by mail at 1616 La Vista del Oceano, Santa Barbara, CA, e- mail bgl@aip.org, or fax 805-963-2574. If you might be interested but want more information before sending a resume, or if you have other question, contact Barbara by email or fax or by phone at 805-965-3483.

Postdoctoral Position: Peace Studies Program

The Peace Studies Program of Cornell University invites applications for a one-year postdoctoral fellowship beginning fall 1996 from persons trained in the physical sciences who wish to pursue postdoctoral work on policy issues in the area of international security. The successful applicant will be expected to participate in an ongoing faculty/student working group on technical aspects of arms control and peacekeeping and to conduct research on a topic of his/her own choice. One or two year appointment to start Fall 1996. Salary $28,000, plus benefits and research budget. All requirements for the PhD must be completed at the time of appointment. Send curriculum vitae, a brief statement of research interests and the names of three references to: Elaine Scott, Peace Studies Program, 130 Uris Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-7601. Review of applications will begin 1April 1 1996. Cornell University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

APS/AIP Congressional Science Fellowships

The APS and AIP annually sponsor an opportunity for scientists to spend a year working on Capitol Hill as Congressional Science Fellows, serving on the staff of a senator, representative, or congressional committee. Fellows have an opportunity to learn the legislative process and explore science policy issues from the lawmakers' perspective, and they lend their own scientific and technical expertise to public policy issues. Qualifications include a PhD in physics or a closely related field, interest in applying science and technology to societal problems, US citizenship, and APS or AIP membership. The term of appointment is one year, beginning September 1. Choice of congressional assignment is reserved to Fellows. A stipend of up to $45,000 is offered, in addition to relocation and in-service travel allotments.

Applications should consist of a letter of intent, resume, and three letters of recommendation, sent directly to the address below. The letter should describe the candidate's reason for applying, society membership, and any public service experience. Letters of reference should discuss the candidate's scientific competence, education and experience. Applications must be postmarked by January 15 and sent to: APS/AIP Congressional Science Fellowship Programs, c/o The American Physical Society, 529 14th Street, NW, Suite 1050, Washington, DC 20045. Telephone 301-209-3094 (AIP) and 202-662-8700 (APS).

Applicants might also be interested in the Congressional Fellowships offered by the American Geophysical Union (contact Pat Azriel, 202-462-6900), and by the Optical Society of America/Materials Research Society (OSA contact Susan Reiss, 202-223- 8130; MRS contact Gail Oare, 412-367-3004).

David Hafemeister Wins the 1996 Szilard Award

The winner of the 1996 Leo Szilard Award is David Hafemeister. The Szilard Award recognizes outstanding accomplishments by physicists in promoting the use of physics for the benefit of society in such areas as the environment, arms control, and science policy. It honors those who have made remarkable and constructive application of science in the public interest. The award citation to David Hafemeister reads "For applying physics to issues of nuclear weapons proliferation, arms control, more efficient usage of our energy resources, and other matters of public policy; and for effective communication of such issues to the physics community, policy makers and the general public."

Kevin Aylesworth Wins the 1996 Forum Award

The winner of the 1996 Forum Award is Kevin Aylesworth. The Forum Award recognizes outstanding accomplishment in promoting public understanding of issues at the interface of physics and society. It honors those scientists and others who have effectively promoted and strengthened public understanding of the results and methods of science, the relation of physics to society, and important science and society issues. The award citation to Kevin Aylesworth reads "For promoting public understanding of the problems faced by young scientists."

Help Us Boost Our Forum's Effectiveness By Boosting Membership!

Please help recruit new members to FPS by forwarding the following message to your colleagues who you think might be interested in our activities. You could do this by photocopying the message below (after striping off this header), posting it, and placing copies in colleagues message boxes. Alternatively, you can send out this message by email: On the FPS home page (http://www.aps.org/units/fps/), go to this issue of Physics and Society , copy the message below, and email it to your colleagues. Thank you.

Robert Ehrlich
Chair of the FPS membership committee

Does society care about the future of physics? The answer is unclear, but physicists cannot afford not to care about the future of society. Please consider joining the APS Forum on Physics and Society today. The Forum is a division of the American Physical Society organized to address issues at the interface of physics and society. All APS members may join two Forums free of charge, with a small fee for additional Forums. The benefits of joining the Forum on Physics and Society include:

OUR NEWSLETTER, PHYSICS & SOCIETY Published quarterly, it includes original research articles, reports on Forum-sponsored APS sessions, letters, opinion, and book reviews.

PUBLISHED FORUM STUDIES Five books have been published by AIP since 1985 based on Forum-sponsored studies, including THE ENERGY SOURCEBOOK by Howes and Fainberg (1991), GLOBAL WARMING: PHYSICS AND FACTS by Levi, Hafemeister and Scribner (1992). Forum members may organize and participate in new studies.

FORUM-SPONSORED APS SESSIONS AND SHORT COURSES The Forum organizes several invited sessions at the March and April APS meetings each year. Past sessions have been held on such topics as acid rain, renewable energy, employment issues, risk perception, global warming, and nuclear proliferation.

INTERNET DISCUSSION GROUPS AND COMMITTEES Several internet discussion groups have been created to allow members with particular interests, such as the climate for women in physics, to communicate with each other. A new Forum committee on physics-related science and technology policies obtains, analyzes and distributes science policy information, and has a WWW site with an interactive spreadsheet.

FORUM AND SZILARD AWARDS Both are annual APS awards. The Forum Award recognizes outstanding accomplishments that promote public understanding of physics and society issues, and the Szilard Award recognizes outstanding accomplishments by a physicist in promoting the use of physics for society's benefit.

APS FELLOW NOMINATIONS The Forum is able to nominate APS Fellows, just like other divisions of the APS.

For more details on Forum activities visit our home page at: http://www.aps.org/units/fps/

You can join FPS from the web page, or by contacting the APS Membership Department:

	Membership Dept.
	American Physical Society
	One Physics Ellipse
	College Park MD 20740-3844
	Telephone 301-209-3280
	E-mail membership@aps.org

FPS has organized four sessions for the March 1996 APS meeting in St. Louis:

1. "Physics Journals On The Internet," organized by Phillip. F. Schewe of the AIP, chaired by Maria Lebron of the APS, co-sponsored by the Topical Forum on Instruments and Measurement Science. Speakers:

-- Timothy Ingoldsby, AIP, "Internet Technology for Physics Journals" -- Peter Boyce, Am. Astronomical Society, "Astrophysical Journal Letters Online" -- Jack Sandweiss, Yale Univ. and Phys. Rev. Letters, "Scholarly Publishing at the APS: The Next 100 Years"

2. "Minorities And Women In Physics--Current Status And Issues: A Panel And Audience Discussion," organized by Julia Thompson, Univ. of Pittsburgh, moderated by Julia Thompson, co-sponsored by the Committee on the Status of Women in Physics. There will be a single major talk, by Roman Czujko on the relevant statistics, brief presentations by four panelists, followed by audience questions and comments. The panelists are:

-- Elizabeth Baranger, University of Pittsburgh -- James Gates, University of Maryland -- Howard Georgi, Harvard University -- J.V. Martinez, DOE Basic Energy Sciences

3. "Congress and Physics," organized by Michael S. Lubell, APS Office of Public Affairs, co-sponsored by the Forum on Education.. This session will examine issues pertinent to the process by which Congress supports fundamental science, especially physics.

4. "Jobs and Education: A Progress Report and Open Forum," chaired by FPS past-chair Anthony Nero, co-sponsored by FPS along with the Forums on Education, on Industrial and Applied Physics, and on Careers and Professional Development. The issue of jobs and education has stimulated much recent activity by APS, AIP and AAPT. This session will report briefly on recent developments, then proceed to an open forum. The panelists and their topics are:

-- Anthony V. Nero, Jr. of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, on the work of an ad-hoc APS/AIP/AAPT on jobs and education action items. -- Diandra L. Leslie-Pelecky, Michigan State University, on the AAPT/APS Department Chairs Conference on physics graduate education for diverse career options. -- Leonard J. Brillson, Xerox Webster Research Center, Chair of the Forum on Industrial and Applied Physics, on FIAP's plans for connecting employers and physicists, and other initiatives. -- James K. Freericks, Georgetown University, on the planned new Forum on Careers and Profession Development.

These issues are discussed in the ongoing internet conference on jobs and education initiated after last March's session on this topic. Those wishing to subscribe to this discussion should send an email message whose body reads "subscribe jobs-ed" to: majordomo@physics.wm.edu.

Physics and Society on the WWW!

You'll find all sorts of information on our forum's home page : links to a variety of science-and-society information sources, a list of upcoming events, a complete Physics & Society file back through 1993, links to all FPS-sponsored internet conferences (four are currently in progress), lists of Forum and Szilard Award winners, a list of FPS-sponsored studies and books, our current FPS officers, and more. The internet address is: http://www.aps.org/units/fps/.

Video Film on Verification Experiment

The Verification Project, organized by the Institute for Experimental Physics at the Ruhr-University of Bochum, Germany, has produced a video film about their most recent experiment: "Science for Peace--International Verification Experiment on a German Military Air Base." The film documents and explains the measurements done at Jever- Schortens air base, of take-offs, landings, and overflights, using acoustic, seismic and magnetic sensors. The goal was to analyze whether and how well such signals can automatically detect and classify landings and take-offs, and thus keep account of the number of aircraft on the ground, for verification of disarmament agreements. The experiment was done in an open, academic setting together with international partners from Russia and Ukraine. The colour video lasts 30 minutes, and is suitable for lectures or TV science shows. It is available in VHS format, in English or German. To order, contact: Bochum Verification Project, Institut fur Experimentalphysik III, Ruhr- Universitat Bochum, D-44780 Bochum, Germany.