Greetings Fellow Illinois Physics Teachers,
An august subgroup of the AAPT convened from the 6th through the 11th in the month of the same name, 2005. The University of Utah, in Salt Lake City, provided facilities for the summer national meeting and access to stunning visual treats that ran the gamut from: The Salt Flats, Great Salt Lake and the attendant state capitol that shares its name; to the majestic Wasatch Mountains looming as sentinels to the east.
Sunday evening, August 7th, from 5-6, was the Section Officers Exchange. The primary motivation of this particular hour was to inform and rouse the rabble. This was particularly successful on both accounts in considering the recommendation put by the executive board to halve the number of national meetings. Allow me to invite you to the highlights of what transpired:
I. The top of Page 10 of the Summer 2005 edition of the Announcer contains the appetizer to the most substantial food for thought at the meeting…elimination of the winter meeting to be replaced with regional or topical ones that would expect to draw fewer members. This was motivated by a dedicated task force recommendation to the Executive Board as a measure to produce meetings that were more financially viable.
II. Winter meetings for 2006 through 2008 that have already been awarded and planned, will convene. The first to be eliminated would be the one that would normally be scheduled for 2009.
III. Alternate years, commencing with January 2009, will see Themed Conferences (ergo, integrated meetings with other societies, strand activities within another societies meeting, co-sponsoring sessions within another societies meeting and sponsoring regional AAPT meetings) and Collaborative Activities (e.g. upper-level/graduate physics course offerings, what defines a physics major, integration of contemporary physics content into introductory physics offerings, or teacher preparation) as the respective working titles for these replacement events.
IV. Subgroups of three to five members discussed these revelations with a good measure of self-interest to augment the bigger topic.
V. Data was collected from the forum to present the suggested modification in the form of a vote. Greater than 80% of those that cast their opinion were in favor of dismissing the recommendation and retain the current format of two annual meetings. Yours truly went enthusiastically with the majority in this measure.
VI. A member of the Executive Board assisted in quelling the anxiety and contentious air in closing this session by notifying us that they fund speakers to section meetings. I hope Illinois will be a recipient of this gesture going forward.
The subsequent two hours was scheduled to provide the umbrella to cover the Section Representatives meeting. The AAPT will be entering its 75th anniversary as institution. Items of import include:
I. Send a list of officers to the national meeting and check to see if each Section is up to date. Are we?
II. PER (Physics Education Research) Journal is available as an online newsletter in September, 2005. http://prst-per.aps.org
III. There is a search for a replacement to replace Bernard Khoury as Executive Officer of the organization. Bernie is stepping down after a long tenure in that capacity.
IV. AAPT has endorsed and recommended the statement on Cosmology and Evolution found on page 9 of the Summer 2005 Announcer.
V. Senior Physicist and Book Editor positions are begging to be filled at the National Offices.
VI. World Year of Physics has been successful in bringing increased visibility to our chosen profession. Congratulations to all of us that have continued to help that transpire at what ever level you have succeeded at.
VII. Innovative High School Physics Teacher Grants are available at in two nice packets that may prove easy to find funding: $500 to examine state standards; $500 for a member with $200 to assist in defraying the cost to attend and present at a meeting.
VIII. Teacher Prep Grant also is available for Section Meetings. I believe we have already taken advantage of this last academic year.
IX. Increasing the card carrying, dues paying membership from around 10,000 to 11,000...Help recruit at all levels.
X. For online teaching resources, check www.comPadre.org. It is a quite sweet suite of delectable treats to accompany your current food for thought. There should be something to enrich all of our palates, ultimately to the benefit of our students.
While yours truly also attended the 2-year College Physics Teachers subcommittee, I will not bore the majority that do not find themselves lucky enough to be one...only joking...just seeing if you were still perusing this missive. The one item I will stress is that I volunteered to head a session on Physics and Sports at the Syracuse University National Meeting next July 22-26. Upstate New York is where I was reared from middle school through undergraduate degrees at SUNY-Oswego. Hence, I am trying to bring something back to that community and hope that perhaps one or more of you may be willing to assist me in showing the East Coast some Midwest savvy regarding the subject matter. If interested, please let me know personally. Yes, I plan on giving one on either Ice Hockey or Weight Training. I don't want to strong-arm anyone...
Thank you again in entrusting me to bring you all the news I felt like reporting. Fortunately, it was the lions' share of what I remember...junior moments!
Respectfully submitted,
Eric Peterson
Highland Community College
Freeport, IL 61032
e-mail:
epeterson@highland.edu