WINTER NEWSLETTER

 

OF THE

 

SOUTHEASTERN SECTION

 

OF THE

 

AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY

 

APRIL 1, 2000

 

The 67th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society  (SESAPS) will be held November 2-4, 2000  (Thursday-Saturday) at Mississippi State University in Mississippi State, MS.  Our host for this meeting will be the Mississippi State University Department of Physics and Astronomy.  The local arrangements committee is chaired by Rodney (Buzz) Piercey who may be reached at (662)-325-2688 (phone), (662)-325-8898 (fax), and RBPl@RA.MSSTATE.EDU (e-mail).   The Program Committee Chair is Ronald Mickens of Clark Atlanta University of Atlanta, GA, who may be reached at (404)-880-6923 (phone), (404)-880-6258 (Fax) and ROHRS@MATH.GATECH.EDU (e-mail).

 

THIS IS THE FIRST CALL FOR ABSTRACTS OF CONTRIBUTED PAPERS: SESAPS will use electronically submitted abstracts (brief instructions are at the end of this newsletter) for publication in the Bulletin of the AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY. The deadline for the receipt of contributed papers and abstracts is no later than Friday, August 25, 2000. The entire program will be organized the following week. All abstracts received electronically by the deadline will be published in the November 2000, BULLETIN of the AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY. All abstracts of contributed papers must be prepared in the standard APS format as specified in recent issues of the APS News. If the abstract is submitted to the APS only on paper, just the title and authors will appear in the BULLETIN.

 

THE ABSTRACT FEE HAS BEEN ELIMINATED, AND THE FEE STRUCTURE FOR THE MEETING HAS ALSO BEEN CHANGED. THE NET COST TO MEMBERS WHO SUBMIT ONE ABSTRACT WILL BE LOWER. The Program Chairman is:

 

Dr. Ronald Mickens

Department of Physics

Clark Atlanta University

Box 172, Atlanta, GA  30311

(404) 880 6923 (Phone)

(404) 880 6258 (Fax)

ROHRS@MATH.GATECH.EDU (e-mail)

 

The scheduled time for your presentation must be obtained from the bulletin WHICH WILL BE AVAILABLE ELECTRONICALLY on the WWW. Meeting rooms will have an overhead projector and chalkboard - to request other audio-visual aids, including 35 mm projectors, please make your request in writing by typing it in the special instructions box of the abstract template. Any questions about the program should be directed to Dr. Mickens.

 

THE INNOVATION FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS IN CONTRIBUTED PAPERS WILL BE CONTINUED! Invited papers at this meeting, as in all APS meetings, are given by experts in areas selected by the Program Committee, and these talks are usually of thirty minutes duration. Contributed papers, however, are on topics of the author's choice and are ten minutes in length. On the day following the abstract deadline, all papers are organized into sessions and the sessions into the program of the meeting. This year the Program Committee will continue an idea suggested by an APS member. Some of the contributed abstracts are of such interest that the committee will INVITE THE AUTHORS to give a SPECIAL PAPER of twenty minutes duration on the topic of their abstract at the beginning of the contributed paper session to which their talk is assigned. There will only be a few such papers selected. The invitations will be listed in the printed program of the meeting and will be verified promptly by mail to the authors. If the author(s) would like to be considered for such an invitation, they are asked to type the following statement in the special instructions box: If invited to do so, the author is willing to expand the talk for the above abstract to twenty minutes.

 

THE 67th ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOUTHEASTERN SECTION of the American Physical Society  (SESAPS) will be held November 2-4, 2000  (Thursday-Saturday) in Mississippi State, MS.  The Physics and Astronomy Department at Mississippi State University will host the meeting.   The conference will cover a number of important and exciting topics, including physics education research, applied physics and industrial applications of physics, material sciences, computational physics, optics and quantum optics, astrophysics, and free electron laser physics.

Naturally, contributed papers on any subject in physics will be accepted but may not have a session devoted exclusively to their subject matter. The Local Arrangements Chair is Rodney Piercey, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762; E-mail: mrbpl@ra.msstate.edu; Telephone:  (662) 325-2688.   The Program Chair is Ronald Mickens, Physics Department, Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA 30314; E-mail: rohrs@math.gatech.edu: Telephone: (404) 880-6923.  For more information on SESAPS 2000 link to URL: http://SESAPS.msstate.edu. This is a very good web site, with lots of information about the area and several good links to attractions, etc.

 

A PROGRAM OF PHYSICS TEACHING DEMONSTRATIONS IS BEING PLANNED.  On Friday afternoon, November 3, starting at 5PM the traditional lecture demonstration session will take place in Hilbun Hall on the Mississippi State campus.

 

THE MISSISSIPPI STATE PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY DEPARTMENT will be our host for this meeting. All primary meeting sessions will be held at the Wise center on campus. Registration on Thursday is from 5-8PM at the Dial Research Facility with an informal reception. On Friday and Saturday, registration will be in the Wise center lobby. All sessions are planned for the Wise center. The banquet will take place Saturday evening in the Bost center following a reception.

 

The Mississippi section of AAPT has agreed to meet with SESAPS. A schedule of their meetings will be in the summer newsletter.

 

THE REGISTRATION FEE STRUCTURE HAS BEEN CHANGED. In order to accommodate the electronic submission of abstracts, the executive committee of SESAPS made the following changes in the registration fee structure. It should be emphasized that a member submitting one abstract will save money with the new fee structure. Registration will be $35.00 for SESAPS and other APS members, $50 for nonmembers, $5 for retired physicists and $15 for graduate students. Awardee and banquet speakers will not pay the registration or banquet fee.  Undergraduate students may register free at the Society of Physics Students' table.

 

A MEETING OF THE SOCIETY OF PHYSICS STUDENTS is also anticipated in conjunction with the SESAPS meeting and will include a student paper session where the Marsh W. White Award will be presented for the best paper given at that session. This meeting is planned for Saturday.

 

TRAVEL SUPPORT WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR STUDENTS THIS YEAR. Students will be pleased to learn that modest travel grants will again be available for those presenting research papers at the SESAPS sessions. SPS students giving papers in the SPS sessions only are not eligible for travel support. An application is included in this letter.

 

NOMINATIONS FOR THE JESSE BEAMS AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING RESEARCH, THE GEORGE B. PEGRAM AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AND THE NEW FRANCIS SLACK AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN SERVICE ARE REQUESTED AT THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE TIME, BUT NO LATER THAN JUNE 1, 2000. The nomination letter should include appropriate supporting information with no more than three letters of support for each nominee. The materials for the Beams award should be sent to:

 

Dr. Donald Clayton

Department of Physics and Astronomy

Clemson University

Clemson, SC 29634-1911

mailto:clayton@gamma.phys.clemson.edu

 

The materials for the Pegram award should be sent to:

 

Dr. Kian S. Dy

Department of Physics and Astronomy

University of North Carolina

Chapel Hill, NC 27599

mailto:kian@physics.unc.edu

 

The materials for the Slack award should be sent to:

 

Dr. Joe Hamilton

Department of Physics

Vanderbilt University

PO Box 1807-B

Nashville, TN 37235

HAMILTJ1@CTRVAX.VANDERBILT.EDU

 

SESAPS members are urged to nominate candidates for these awards, as a large number of candidates generally results in meaningful awards.

 

SUGGESTED NOMINATIONS FOR SECTION OFFICERS should be sent to the Secretary at the address given at the end of this letter for consideration by the Nominating Committee, which is made up of the Executive Committee.

 

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE ELECTION WINNERS. The new vice chair is Walter Croft of Mississippi State. A new executive committee member that will serve from 2000-2003 is David Ernst of Vanderbilt. I, Ken Hardy, was elected for another term, and I thank the membership.

 

MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY AND THE DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY will host the annual meeting of the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society November 2 - 4, 2000.  The meetings will be held at the Wise Center College of Veterinary Medicine Building located in the Southwest quadrant of Mississippi State University.  MSU is located in Starkville, Mississippi, which is in the northeast part of the state.  Starkville is approximately 165 miles from Memphis, Tennessee, 250 miles from Nashville, Tennessee, 290 miles from Little Rock Arkansas, 293 miles from New Orleans, Louisiana, 226 miles from Mobile, Alabama, 170 miles from Montgomery, Alabama, 150 miles from Birmingham, Alabama, and 125 miles from Jackson, Mississippi.  If traveling by automobile, the main highways into Starkville are State Highways 12, 25, and 389, and Federal Highway 82.   Highway 45 South can also reach Alternate U.S. 45 east of Starkville.  The Golden Triangle Regional Airport (GTRA), located between the cities of Columbus, Starkville and West Point, Mississippi, serves the area. This airport is only 15 minutes from Mississippi State University.  Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) recently introduced Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) service between GTRA and Atlanta, Georgia.  Northwest Airlink Airlines also serves passengers through the Atlanta, Dallas and Memphis hubs to anywhere in the world.

 

Lodging has been guaranteed through:

Best Western – Starkville, MS  Phone: 662-324-5555

Hampton Inn – Starkville, MS  Phone: 662-324-1333

Holiday Inn - West Point, MS  Phone: 662-494-7090

Ramada Inn – Starkville, MS  Phone:  662-323-6161

University Inn - Starkville, MS Phone:  662-323-9550

 

Guaranteed room rates vary for each hotel.  Lodging arrangements should be made by September 30, 2000.  MSU is located only minutes from the Starkville hotels. The Holiday Inn in West Point is about 15 minutes away from MSU. Numerous restaurants are located nearby.  Downtown Starkville, where several unique shops are located, is very near the Starkville lodging facilities.  Other shopping centers are also located nearby. Bus transportation to the Wise center will be provided.

 

Registration for the meeting is available online at SESAPS@msstate.edu.

 

 

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WAS GENERATED BY APS TO ASSIST YOU WITH THE PREPARATION OF ELECTRONICALLY SUBMITTED ABSTRACTS

 

Abstract Submission

 

The deadline for the submission of all abstracts is Friday, August 25, 2000, 5:00 pm EST at the APS Headquarters.

 

Q      The deadline is firm, so don’t wait until the last minute; Send early - save yourself the stress.

 

Electronic Submission

 

        Last year, the APS instituted an electronic abstract submission process, which was an enormous success, with almost 80% of all the abstracts being submitted electronically.   We are hoping for an even better turnout electronically this year.  There are many advantages to submitting electronically.

 

·         E-mail message confirming receipt of your abstract

 

·         E-mail notification of the scheduling of your paper

 

·         The complete abstract will appear in the electronic version of the program which will be posted on the APS Home Page, well in advance of the printed program. (Abstracts submitted in paper form will have only the title and author listed in the electronic program)

 

        For information on how to submit an abstract electronically, send an e-mail message to "abs-info@aps.org" and use the word “info” in the text of your message.  To receive the template, send a message to "abs-request@aps.org" and put the words "request <meeting ID>" in the text of your message. The information and/or template will be returned to you by e-mail.   If you have particular questions regarding the information, or need assistance, send a message to "abs-help@aps:org" .

        Submitting electronically is very easy.  The mark-up language we use is LaTex, but you do not need to know LaTex in order to submit an abstract. Simple ASCII text will suffice, unless you need to put mathematical symbols or Greek characters in the text of your abstract - and most of those instructions are very simple.

 

Paper Submission

 

       Abstracts received via postal mail will be accepted; however, only the title and authors of the paper will appear in the printed version of the Bulletin and on the World Wide Web version of the Bulletin.

       Please follow the instructions for the preparation of paper abstracts as they appear in each issue of APS Meeting News. These abstracts should be sent to:

 

<Meeting ID or Meeting Name>

Meeting Abstracts

APS Meetings Department

One Physics Ellipse

College Park, MD  20740-3844

 

        Please do NOT also send a paper abstract to APS if you are submitting your abstract electronically.  All abstracts must be at the headquarters office by the deadline date.  APS assumes no responsibility for mail delays.   Receipt of paper abstracts will not be confirmed unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

 

Some Electronic Do's and Don't’s

 

Do not simply "reply" to the address from which you received the abstract template. Send the abstract to "abs-submit@aps.org'' .  Make sure you have the correct meeting ID <Meeting ID>.

 

One abstract per message! The system is automated. Sending two or more abstracts in one message increases the likelihood that all but the first abstract will disappear into the ether.

 

Use only one sorting category for your abstract in the “Sort Category” field. In order to sort the papers properly, it is important that the system deal with only one request.  If you wish to give additional guidance to those who are putting the program together, please do so in the “Special Instructions” field. The “Sort Category" field has four curly braces. Please use them as follows:

 

\Sort Category {15}{L}{}{}.  Not \Sort Category {15L}{}{}{} and not \sort Category {15}{L}{32}{B}.  Do not remove left over braces.

 

Only submit your abstract once. You should receive an e-mail message telling you that we got your message within 24 hours.    If you have not, contact "abs-help@aps.org".

 

Respectfully,

 

Kenneth A. Hardy

Physics Department

Florida International University

Miami, FL 33199

(305) 348-2605 (phone), (305) 348-6700 (fax)

hardyk@fiu.edu (e-mail)


                                 SOUTHEASTERN SECTION OF THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY

                                                                            EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2000

 

Chair

Dr. Thomas Gallagher

Department of Physics

University of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA 22901

804 924 6817 P

804 924 4576 F

TFG@VIRGINIA.EDU

 

Chair Elect

Dr. Ronald Mickens

Department of Physics

Clark Atlanta University

Box 172, Atlanta, GA 30311

404 880 6923 P

404 880 6258 F

ROHRS@MATH.GATECH.EDU

 

Vice Chair

Dr. Waiter Croft

Mississippi State Univ.

Drawer N.C.

Mississippi State, MS 39762

662 325 2806 P

662 325 8898 F

vlcroft@ra.msstate.edu

 

Past Chair

Dr. Kirby Kemper

Department of Physics

Florida State Univ.

Tallahassee, Fl 32306

850 644 2338 P

850 644 9848 F

KIRBY@PHY.FSU.EDU

 

Treasurer

Dr. Larry Cain

Department of Physics

Davidson College

Davidson, NC 28036

704 892 2347 P

704 892 2894 F

lacain@DAVIDSON.EDU

 

Secretary

Dr. Kenneth Hardy

Department of Physics

Florida International Univ.

Miami, FL. 33199

305 348 2605 P

305 348 6700 F

HARDYK@FIU. EDU

 

Executive Committee 97-00

Dr. Calvin Howell

Department of Physics

Duke University

Box 90308

Durham, NC  27708

919 660 2632 P

919 660 2634 F

howell@TUNL.DUKE.EDU

 

Executive Committee 98-01

Dr. Rodney Piercey

Dept: of Phys. and Ast.

Mississippi State Univ.

Drawer 5167,

Mississippi State, Ms. 39762

662 325 2688 P

RBP1@RA.MSSTATE.EDU

Executive Committee 99-02

Dr. Lawrence Akers

Department of Physics

401 Crewdson Ave.

Chattanooga, TN 37405

423 756 2329 P

423 755 4279 F

larry-akers@utc.edu

 

Executive Committee 00-03

Dr. David Ernst

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN 37235

615 322 2828 P

615 322 1103 F

DAVID.J.ERNST@VANDERBILT.EDU

 

 

APS Representative

Dr. Joe Hamilton

Department of Physics

Vanderbilt Univ.,·PO Box 1807-B

Nashville, TN 37235

615 322 2456 P

615 343 7263 F

HAMILTJ1@CTRVAX. VANDERBILT. EDU

 

 

 

 

 

 


APPLICATION FOR STUDENT TRAVEL SUPPORT TO THE SESAPS MEETING

 

NAME: _____________________________________________________________

 

ADDRESS: __________________________________________________________

 

CITY: _________________________________ STATE: ______________________

 

ZIP: ___________

 

SCHOOL: ___________________________________________________________

 

UNDERGRADUATE/CLASS: ___________________________________________

 

GRADUATE/CLASS: __________________________________________________

 

ABSTRACT TITLE: ___________________________________________________

 

ABSTRACT AUTHORS: _______________________________________________

 

AMOUNT REQUESTED ($100 MAX): ___________________

 

PURPOSE OF REQUESTED FUNDS: _____________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

 

RETURN BY 1 OCTOBER TO:

KENNETH A. HARDY, SECRETARY SESAPS

PHYSICS DEPARTMENT

FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY PARK, MIAMI, FL  33199