MINUTES OF THE 1996 USNC/URSI COMMISSION F BUSINESS MEETING

National Radio Science Meeting

University of Colorado at Boulder

Boulder, Colorado

10 January 1996

1. The meeting was opened at 5:05 p.m. by Chairman Julius Goldhirsh. It was moved and seconded that the minutes from the 4 January 1995 meeting be approved. The motion was passed unanimously.

2. Julius Goldhirsh reported that the URSI General Assembly will be held in Lille, France, from 28 August to 5 September 1996. Commission F is allocated 13 participants (formerly called delegates) from the USNC. Julius requested that members who are interested in becoming a participant indicate so to the Commission F Secretary. Ten members have indicated a desire to participate (Only 7 count against the 13 allocation as the present chair, the incoming chair, and member-at-large are considered to be part of the Executive Committee allocation). As there are six slots for participants remaining, members who were not able to make the 10 January meeting and who are certain that they will be able to attend the General Assembly should contact the Commission F Secretary (Kenn Anderson) before the end of February.

3. Membership Committee Report.

Al Gasiewski reported that the membership committee had received 13 nominations.

Al Gasiewski reviewed each nominee's qualifications; a motion to accept the entire slate was put forth and seconded. The entire slate was accepted by unanimous vote.

4. Election of Commission F Vice-Chair.

Julius Goldhirsh requested nominations for Commission F Vice-Chair. Juergen Richter commented that at the last election there had been the suggestion that Commission F follow the example of the USNC Executive Committee in that the current Vice-Chair succeeds the Chair, the Secretary succeeds the Vice-Chair, and a new Secretary is nominated. Julius commented that the suggestion of following the USNC Executive Committee succession example had not been officially adopted by vote of the Commission F body and that for this election the traditional manner of electing a Vice-Chair must be followed.

Bob Crane nominated Ed Westwater, Ezekiel Bahar nominated Don Barrick who declined due to external factors, and Juergen Richter nominated Kenn Anderson. Ed Westwater was elected as the new Vice-Chair.

A motion was put forward to follow the example of the USNC Executive Committee where a new Secretary is elected, the previous Secretary succeeds the Vice-Chair, and the previous Vice-Chair succeeds the Chair. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Kenn Anderson was nominated and elected to Secretary.

A motion was put forward to confirm Wolf Vogel as the new Chair of Commission F. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Secretary, Vice-Chair, and Chair serve three year terms. For this election the term is from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 1999.

5. Items raised at the USNC meeting of 9 January 1996.

A. Julius Goldhirsh reported on the USNC member-at-large status. Al Gasiewski is a member-at-large (his term goes through December 1997). Ed Westwater's term expires this year. Although two member-at-large candidates are elected by USNC each year, no candidate was put forth by Commission F.

B. Julius Goldhirsh announced that the USNC has 144 slots for International URSI Correspondents and that any member or non member could request correspondent status by signing a sheet that was passed around. A correspondent is a person who receives mailings from International URSI regarding International meetings and news.

C. Julius Goldhirsh announced that the USNC has received a proposal from Ishimaru to hold the next General Assembly meeting (in 1999) in Seattle, Washington. The group was in favor of supporting the proposal to hold the General Assembly in Seattle.

D. Julius Goldhirsh commented that the USNC Local Steering Committee raised several issues regarding the acceptance and word length of the abstracts. The general consensus of the group was that the deadline and word length (250 words) should be a suggested guideline. However, it was strongly expressed that the Chair should have the final say in the acceptance or rejection of the abstracts.

E. Julius Goldhirsh announced that three of the six Society Representatives were up for renewal. These societies are IEEE APS, IEEE MTT, and AGU. The consensus of the group was that these three society representatives should be renewed. However, it was suggested that IEEE Vehicular Society and the IEEE Communication Society be added as society representatives.

6. Commission F representation at the USNC/URSI meeting. Julius Goldhirsh reported that the representation of Commission F has been very good over the past few years. He presented a chart showing the growth in number of sessions and number of papers presented.

7. Julius Goldhirsh stated that in the past, Commission F was a co-sponsor with the IGARSS meeting during the even years and with the APS meeting during the odd years. In 1996, Commission F was a co-sponsor with IGARSS where remote sensing abstracts were submitted and with APS where point-to-point propagation abstracts were submitted. Julius suggested that every year we continue to be a co-sponsor of both organizations using the abstract submission example of 1996. The consensus of the group favored co-sponsoring the yearly meetings of both IGARSS and APS with the understanding that abstracts submitted to IGARSS will be concerned with remote sensing and that abstracts submitted to APS will be concerned with point-to-point propagation topics.

8. Overview of future URSI sponsored meetings. Julius Goldhirsh reviewed the future meetings where USNC/URSI has direct participation and co-sponsorship. The list of the meetings, locations, and dates is an attachment to the minutes.

9. New business.

Julius Goldhirsh asked if there were any new business items that needed to be discussed. He mentioned that he had received a request from a retired member who wished to be placed on an emeritus status (one who will continue to receive Commission F information without the requirement to attend at least one business meeting per triennium). A motion was put forth to grant emeritus status to any retired member requesting it. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Ralph Bolganio was elevated to emeritus status.

Gary Brown suggested a round of applause in appreciation of the leadership that Julius Goldhirsh has provided to Commission F. Julius received a thunderous ovation.

No additional new business items were raised and a motion for adjournment was put forth and seconded. Julius Goldhirsh adjourned the meeting at 5:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by,

K.D. Anderson, Secretary

USNC/URSI Commission F

kenn@spawar.navy.mil

OVERVIEW OF FUTURE URSI SPONSORED MEETINGS

Commission F Business Meeting Attendee's List

10 January 1996

Members

Guests