PHYSICS & SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

October 2005

Physoc organized an invited/ contributed session on "Physics and Society Education." It included an invited talk on nuclear waste issues, and an invited talk on growth and land use issues that will put pressure on Utah in the coming years. There were also seven contributed talks on environmental concerns, technology, oil and population, the peak oil problem, wind energy, and Einstein and symmetry. We also organized a Crackerbarrel Session (see summary below). There were several other physics-and-society happenings, not organized by physoc: four workshops (underrepresented groups in physics, energy in the 21st century, teaching physics for a socially just society, and the population game), a commercial workshop on physics for all (active physics), a plenary session on nanoscience and our technological future, and an invited/ contributed session on research on teaching physics for social justice.

SUMMARY OF CRACKERBARREL SESSION IN SALT LAKE CITY

About 25 attended. The discussion was led by Jane Flood. The first item was a discussion of the website, at http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/~lindenf/pse/ . Peter Lindenfeld, who was unable to attend the Salt Lake City meeting, organizes the site. The only comment was that the site should be updated on a regular basis, something that Peter is probably already doing.

As our second item, John White reported on the Committee on Science Education for the Public (CSEP). CSEP is the "parent" committee for physoc--a few physoc members are members of CSEP, and physoc's sessions at meetings are officially sponsored by CSEP. John introduced the new CSEP Chair, Steven Shropshire. John reported that AAPT has decided to limit the number of workshops and sessions offered by each AAPT committee, and that CSEP will be allowed 2 workshops and 4 sessions at each future meeting. Physoc's crackerbarrel session will count as one session, so our usual invited/contributed session plus our crackerbarrel will add up to half of the CSEP allowance for sessions at the summer meeting. John also reported that meeting attendees will be allowed to present only one talk at each meeting, regardless of whether that talk is invited or contributed. John stated his view that social issues will be emphasized more and more within AAPT because of global warming and other concerns that are becoming more pressing.

Jane announced that CSEP is looking for volunteers to join their committee. The committee has 9 members. They are appointed by the AAPT's Executive Board for 3-year terms. Each committee member is expected to attend at least 4 of the 6 committee meetings that occur during their 3-year term. There is a committee meeting at each national AAPT meetings (summer meeting, winter meeting). However, it seems that the winter meeting will be discontinued around 2008. If you want to volunteer to be a CSEP member, contact Steve Shropshire, shropshi@physics.isu.edu, or contact a member of the AAPT Nominating Committee at http://www.aapt.org/Directory/nominating.cfm, or submit the nomination form at http://www.aapt.org/aboutaapt/nominationform.cfm. Self-nominations are fine.

The next item was a discussion of physoc activities. It was suggested that physoc organize a session at the winter meetings, in addition to our inv/contr session and crackerbarrel at the summer meetings. There wasn't a lot of interest in this idea, mainly because the winter meeting will probably be discontinued around 2008.

We then discussed plans for the Syracuse meeting in summer 2006. It was suggested that, since AAPT has issued an excellent statement on the evolution/ creationism issue, AAPT should sponsor a session or a plenary talk at that meeting about this topic. The group felt that physoc should organize (and CSEP should sponsor) an invited/ contributed session titled "Physics and Society Education," and that this session should seek out local (Syracuse) talent on energy and the environment. John Roeder, who organized our session in Salt Lake City, has volunteered to organize this session in Syracuse.

Everybody felt that we should have a crackerbarrel session at the Syracuse meeting, titled "Crackerbarrel on Physics and Society Education."

Finally, we had a general discussing of how we can promote the goal of the P&S Education Group to promote education about physics-related social topics. Shawn Reeves suggested that we should press textbook authors to put more socially-oriented topics into their textbooks. Art Hobson suggested that we should urge teachers to include topics such as global warming in their high school and college physics courses. Somebody suggested that AAPT plenary talks on social topics, such as Sidney Drell's talk on nuclear weapons at the 2004 summer meeting, should be videotaped and distributed to schools. Somebody suggested that physoc members should take it upon themselves to suggest plenary speakers on societal topics for future AAPT meetings. There was a vigorous discussion of whether a topic such as global warming, or evolution/ creationism, should be debated, or simply presented, in sessions devoted to such a topic. To put this another way: There is an existing scientific consensus on global warming (it is happening) and on evolution/ creationism (evolution happened, creationism is not science). Nevertheless, there is popular dissent from these scientific views. Should both the scientific side, and the dissenting side, be represented in sessions devoted to such topics?

CONCERNING THE SYRACUSE MEETING, SUMMER 2006

We will have our usual invited/ contributed session titled "Physics and Society Education," to be sponsored by CSEP. We'll need two invited speakers. If you have suggestions, contact John Roeder, , who is organizing the session. Speakers need to come from Syracuse or nearby, or be willing to travel to Syracuse. In addition, Steve Shropshire is organizing a session on energy and environment. The format for this session is yet to be determined, but a series of invited talks is being considered, followed by a poster presentation in the same room with the posters also on display later in the general exhibit hall. Our P&S Education session will have time for 6 or 8 contributed 15-minute papers on any physics-related societal topic, so please be thinking about what topic you might present!

WORKSHOPS

Greg Mulder's "Energy In the 21st Century" workshop and Art Hobson's "Population Game" workshop were successful at the Salt Lake City meeting, each one drawing nearly 20 participants. Art's workshop will be offered again next summer at the Syracuse meeting, and Greg's will be offered at some other future meeting, perhaps the 2007 winter meeting in Seattle. Try to enroll in one of these workshops, and mention them to your colleagues!

PHYSOC MAILING LIST

We have lots of interesting discussion on this list. There are now 200 people on the list. 15 were added during the SLC meeting. MANY members are removed from the list every year simply because they change their address and don't tell us. If your email address changes, PLEASE INFORM US by emailing ahobson@uark.edu.

To send an email message to everybody on the list, address it to . You can do this easily by entering this address into your email address book and assigning it a nickname such as "physoc." You then need only type "physoc" into the "To" line of the email. Think before you hit "Send," because all 210 members will receive your message. The "reply" command is now set for the group to send only to the original sender, not the entire group. But to send to the group, you need only delete the sender's address and insert the physoc address instead. Even easier: hit the "reply to all" command that exists on most email systems.

The physoc list is for all of us. Use it for anything you want to share with the group: alert us to publications or talks, alert us to relevant news, send a copy of your own article or letter to the editor, ask the group for information, etc.

Our email discussions make a difference! Do spread the word about this list to others who might be interested in physics & society education! If you know anybody who wants to join this list, ask them to email ahobson@uark.edu providing their email address and name (first name first).