The final NPSS AdCom meeting of 2001 was held on November 10 in San Diego, the site of the 2001 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (NSS/MIC). Despite concerns that events of September 11 might limit attendance, the NSS/MIC was a huge success with 950 attendees and a jam-packed, high-quality technical program. NPSS owes a debt of gratitude to all its volunteers, and in this case our hats go off to General NSS/MIC Chairman Tony Lavieties and his team. Unfortunately, the Symposium on Fusion Engineering (SOFE), which was slated for early October, was cancelled because it was heavily attended by members of the DOE community whose travel was initially restricted in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. The SOFE, in the capable hands of Phil Heitzenroeder, has been rescheduled for January 22-25, 2002. IEEE conferences in general have remained fairly strong in the latter months of the year. Hopefully, things will improve as some stability and confidence returns, but there is always the possibility of another attack somewhere in the world that could put an even bigger damper on things.

NPSS enjoyed many successes last year. All NPSS conferences had near record attendance and quality publications. The society continues to expand its transnational activities. NPSS held conferences in Vancouver, British Columbia and Valencia, Spain, and continues to plan for ICOPS 2003 in Korea and the 2004 NSS/MIC in Italy. NPSS membership remains steady at 3000. We added chapters in France, Russia, Benelux, and Italy.

If you read my reports last year, as well as Peter Staeker's Division Director's column in this Newsletter, you are well aware of IEEE's ongoing financial challenges. IEEE's infrastructure expenses in 2000 exceeded IEEE's corporate revenue plus available reserves and, as a result, all the other operating units within IEEE with reserves (mostly the Societies) then experienced a "Reduction in Reserves." This occurred again in 2001. Due to the poor performance of the stock market, which was exacerbated following the events of September 11, the IEEE is likely to lose somewhere between $30-40 million in 2001. That will bring IEEE reserves from the lofty heights of $110 million to $70M, which could impact the rate at which IEEE borrows money to meet its short-term obligations.

At the TAB meeting in Mexico City, which I attended the week following the NPSS AdCom meeting, a great deal of discussion focused on how future losses will be allocated to the Societies. A Task Force was established last summer to address this issue, and the Task Force presented its status report to TAB. The Task Force was concerned that simply reducing the reserves of Societies, as was done in 2000 and 2001, was not a desirable method of allocation because it didn't encourage good behavior on the part of Societies. Societies that have strong reserves shouldn't be penalized and asked to pay the freight for other Societies that have poor financial management.

NPSS can afford to pay its bills, but many other Societies cannot, so we'll be part of the Marshall Plan or bailout. That doesn't make me happy, but I'd rather have strong finances than be worrying about how to make ends meet. Thank you, Ed Lampo, for your stewardship of NPSS resources. And thank you, technical chairs for getting the job done over the years by running highly successful conferences. In the end it looks like TAB will approve a "Principles" Based Method of allocation, which attempts to match expenses to infrastructure use or type as much as possible. I support this approach in which allocations are intended to closely approach a "pay by the drink" methodology.

The Societies are working at TAB to reduce IEEE infrastructure expenses. From 1996- 2001, IEEE staffing levels grew from 756 to 944 or 25%, but they will be reduced by 10% in 2002. There are many proposals on the table about how to cut expenses, including reducing the number of TAB meetings each year from 3 to 2. Along similar lines, we've formed an NPSS committee under the leadership of Ken Galloway to explore the frequency of AdCom meetings, perhaps reducing them to mirror TAB activity. Unless corporate expenses are checked, there is always the concern that control over spending may be moving away from volunteers to a corporate infrastructure managed by staff.

A Presidential Blue Ribbon Committee led by former IEEE President Wally Read was tasked with examining the composition of the Board of Directors (BOD), the terms of Board members, and the structure of organizational units and committees reporting to the Board. The committee recently issued its report, and its recommendations were reviewed at the November TAB meeting. TAB believes this issue should be halted while IEEE addresses its financial problems. Personally, I dislike organizational change unless it promotes the core business. IEEE's core business is intellectual property and publishing, so I think TAB needs more representation on the BOD.

I also serve as a member of the TAB Products committee. Most of the activity in this committee is focused on the pricing and delivery of IEEE products with a wary eye on the intense competition IEEE faces from Elsevier and other publishing houses. IEEE's income from its Integrated Electronic Library (IEL) continues to grow worldwide and a dedicated sales force has been hired. IEEE's bottom line is hampered because it typically prices its journals to non-members at less than two-thirds of the competition and actually loses money on member subscriptions.

When surveyed, 79% of IEEE members say Internet access to our intellectual property is extremely important to them, but only 20-30% are fully satisfied with the services provided by IEEE. Although AdCom passed a motion last year to allow NPSS members who subscribe to TNS to have on-line access through Xplore¸ to our Workshops and Proceedings, IEEE cannot meet this need at the present time. To address this concern, IEEE is exploring an "IEL for members" that can improve access for individuals who don't work for companies with ready access to IEL.

AdCom passed a motion to permit the Particle Accelerator Conference (PAC) Organizing Committee to digitize its Transactions from 1963-1985 and Proceedings from 1987-1993, which will then be posted on the Joint Accelerator Conference website. This motion was contingent on the PAC01 Conference meeting its financial targets. In return, the PAC Organizing Committee will provide IEEE with copies of the materials to incorporate in IEEE products.

NPSS will hold its biennial retreat in Piscataway next February, which will afford us the opportunity to meet with folks at IEEE headquarters (HQ). Potential issues to discuss at IEEE HQ include the management of overseas conferences; an assessment of IEEE conference and management services; retention, recruitment, and financial aspects of NPSS membership; and a range of editorial issues focusing on fully electronic submission, review, and publication of manuscripts.

Congratulations to Ed Hoffman, who was elected Vice President of NPSS AdCom for 2002! Following his term as VP, Ed will serve as NPSS President for 2003-4. We say goodbye and thanks to Dick Foley for his service as chair of Fusion Technology (FT), Peter Turchi as chair of Pulsed Power Science and Technology (PPST), Glenn Knoll as chair of Radiation Instrumentation (RI), and outgoing elected AdCom members George Blanar, Mark Hopkins, Dick Kouzes, and Tony Peratt. Welcome to Phil Heitzenroeder as chair of FT, Bob Reinovsky as chair of PPST, Ron Keyser as chair of RI, and newly elected AdCom members Patrick LeDû, Dennis Brown, Bill Moses, and Mounir Laroussi.

I welcome your comments, suggestions, and feedback. Best wishes for a healthy, prosperous new year!

Peter Winokur, NPSS President, can be reached at Office of Senator Reid, 528 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC, 20510; Phone: +1 202 224-3542; Fax: +1 202 224-7327; E-mail: p.winokur@ieee.