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The main event
of the RITC this fall will be the upcoming NSS/MIC meeting that
will be held at the Wyndham El Conquistador Resort Hotel in San
Juan, Puerto Rico from October 23-29, 2005. Tom Lewellen and his
committee have been extremely busy preparing for what is shaping
up to be another very exciting meeting at a wonderful location.
More of the details can be found in Tom’s report in this Newsletter,
but I would encourage everyone to make their reservations early,
as it looks like it will be another large meeting and space is very
limited at the hotel.
The other main activity of the RISC during the past several months
has been on the site selection for the 2008 meeting. Three members
of the Site Selection Committee (Craig Woody, Ron Keyser and Roger
Gearhart) visited three potential sites at the end of May and early
June of this year: Berlin, Hamburg and Dresden. They were also met
there by the local German Site Selection Team, led by Uwe Bratzler,
Ralf Engels, Klaus Mueller and Maxim Titov, who accompanied them
to all three sites. In addition, two other members of the RISC Site
Selection Committee (Patrick Le Dû and Erik Heijne) visited
these sites prior to our visit. The Site Selection Committee made
its report and recommended Dresden as the preferred location for
the 2008 meeting, and that Uwe Bratzler be selected as the General
Chairman. However, there was also considerable support for Hamburg
by many of our European colleagues, and the feeling that DESY should
play a significant role in hosting the meeting. The RISC and NMISC
must now vote to approve the final selection of the site, and we
will then proceed to negotiate the final contracts with the host
institution, conference center and hotels. It is hoped that this
process can be completed by early this fall.
Plans are also proceeding rapidly for the 2006 NSS/MIC/RTSD, which
will be held from October 28 to November 4 at the Town and Country
Resort and Convention Center in San Diego. All of the major positions
on the Conference Committee have been filled and several Conference
Committee members visited the Town and Country this past summer.
An official conference announcement and Call for Papers will be
distributed at the NSS/MIC meeting in Puerto Rico with more detailed
information about dates, deadlines, paper submission and registration.
Another major development for the RITC during the past six months
has been a revision to its Constitution. A Constitution Revision
Subcommittee of the RISC began looking at the RITC Constitution
in early January to determine what types of changes would be appropriate
since its last major revision five years ago. One of the main areas
of focus was in the way the RISC and NMISC participate in the planning
and oversight of the NSS/MIC conference. With nearly equal numbers
of NSS and MIC participants attending recent conferences, it was
felt that the RISC and NMISC should have a more equal role in the
oversight process, which includes the selection of the site, the
General Chairman, and the NSS and MIC Program Chairs. As a result,
a new Joint Oversight Committee, made up of members of both the
RISC and NMISC, was set up to provide for the continuation and long
term planning of the NSS/MIC conference. In addition, a Joint Executive
Subcommittee was formed to appoint the Chairperson of the Joint
Oversight Committee and to approve its membership. Other changes
included increasing the term of the RISC chair from two to three
years, eliminating the requirement to subscribe to the Transactions
on Nuclear Science to be a member of the RITC, and various other
smaller changes to make the Constitution more consistent with how
it applies to the RITC today. The revised Constitution was approved
by the AdCom at its meeting in June, and will officially go into
effect unless there are objections by the RITC constituency as a
whole. The entire revised Constitution is printed in this Newsletter,
and anyone having any objections or comments should send them to
me in writing by E-mail at woody@bnl.gov
within 90 days of the receipt of this Newsletter.
This summer, we will also be having our annual election of new members
to the RISC. We have seven candidates on the ballot this year for
five slots with terms starting in January of 2006. The candidates
are Ren-yuan Zhu, Gyuseong Cho, Maxim Titov, Kanai Shah, David Wehe,
John Valentine, and Jerry Va’vra. David Wehe and John Valentine
are no strangers to the RISC, both having served terms previously,
while the others are also well known to many of us as frequent attendees
of the NSS/MIC conference, and having served in various capacities
for the NSS. You should have already received your ballot, so please
be sure to cast your vote and return your ballot on time so that
it can be counted in time for the election.
Lastly, we have had several superb nominees for the RITC Outstanding
Achievement Award this year. The RISC Awards Subcommittee deliberated
at great length to make its final decision on who will win this
prestigious award this year, and the result should be announced
shortly. The award will be given at the NSS luncheon in San Juan,
so please be sure to be there to honor this outstanding individual
for achievements and contributions to our Society.
Craig Woody can be reached at Brookhaven National Laboratory,
Physics Department, Bldg 510C, Upton, NY 11973; Phone: +1 631 344-2752;
Fax: +1 631 344-3253; E-mail: woody@bnl.gov.
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