Congratulations to Dave Aspnes, elected President of the American Vacuum Society. Dave will serve as President-Elect in 2004, President in 2005, and Past President in 2006.

Congratulations to Jerry Bernholc, recipient of the 2003 Jesse W. Beams award of the Southeastern section of the American Physical Society. The citation for the award reads:

"For seminal contributions to the theory of materials, especially C60, nanotubes, and semiconductor surfaces, and for the development of novel, enabling methods for computing the properties of materials".

Jerry is our second winner in the last ten years.

Congratulations to Bruce Sherwood, elected Fellow of the American Physical Society from the Forum on Education. His citation reads:

"For pioneering applications of computers in physics instruction such as PLATO-based mechanics and EM Field, and development of tools for creating such applications, including TUTOR, MicroTutor, cT, and VPython."

Congratulations to Ruth Chabay, elected as the 4-year college representative on the Executive Council of the American Association of Physics Teachers.

Congratulations to Bob Beichner for a successful national conference recently organized on "Reforming the Calculus-Based Introductory Physics Course". Presenting were Ruth Chabay and Bruce Sherwood, and attending were Jim Chilton, Prabha Ramakrishnan, and Richard Patty.

Bob also presented at the AAPT/AIP new faculty workshop attended last week by Laura Clarke, Paul Huffman, and ninety-eight other new physics faculty from throughout the US.

DOE announced Monday its top priorities for science research facilities in the coming decades. More details on this important science policy decision are at www.sc.doe.gov

The facilities cover the range of science supported by the DOE, including fusion energy, materials science, biological and environmental science, high energy physics, nuclear physics and advanced scientific computation.

Priority one is ITER, an international collaboration to build the first fusion science experiment capable of producing a self-sustaining fusion reaction, called a burning plasma.

Capability, to be located at multiple sites, that would increase by a factor of 100 the computing capability available to support open scientific research.

Four facilities tied for Priority three: the Joint Dark Energy Mission, a space-based probe, being considered in partnership with NASA, designed to understand dark energy which makes up more than 70 percent of the universe; the Linac Coherent Light Source that would provide laser-like radiation 10 billion times greater in power and brightness than any

existing x-ray light source; a Protein Production and Tags Facility that would mass produce and characterize tens of thousands of proteins per year; and the Rare Isotope Accelerator that would be the worlds most powerful research facility dedicated to producing and exploring new rare isotopes not found naturally on earth.

Physicist to be December Commencement Speaker.

Make plans to hear Dr. Shirley Jackson give the Fall Commencement address.

Dr. Jackson is President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a very successful theoretical physicist. A number of our graduate students met her at the 2003 meeting of the National Society of Black Physics Students, held at RPI last spring.

Physicists are the 15th highest-paid professionals in the U.S.

According to the 2001 Occupational Employment Statistics Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, Physicists rank 15th in the list of the top 20 highest-paying professions in the US, with an average annual salary of $83,750.

Additionally, Roman Czujko, director of the Statistical Research Center at the American Institute of Physics states that "Physicists are among the most, shall we say, 'agile' of degree recipients."

The physicists appearing on the list are either college professors or research scientists, people working in the direct application of physics, he says. While these types of physicists are paid well, physics doctorate holders also fit well into higher-paying niches in the private sector.

The entire list of the top 20, with their average annual salaries is below:

1. Surgeons: $137,050

2. Obstetricians and gynecologists: $133,430

3. Anesthesiologists: $131,680

4. Internists, general: $126,940

5. Pediatricians, general: $116,550

6. Psychiatrists: $113,570

7. Family and general practitioners: $110,020

8. Dentists: $110,820

9. Chief Executives: $107,670

10. Airline pilots and flight engineers: $99,400

11. Podiatrists: $94,500

12. Lawyers: $91,920

13. Optometrists: $88,100

14. Computer systems managers: $83,890

16. Air traffic controllers: $83,350

17. Petroleum Engineers: $81,800

18. Nuclear Engineers: $80,200

19. Judges and magistrates: $79,540

20. Marketing Managers: $78,410

(Adapted from "The 20 Best Paying Jobs in the US" [ editorial.careers.msn.com/articles/highestpay/]
by Ben Murray)

Congratulations to Jim Chilton and Stephen Kohut, who correctly identified the botanical name of the "mystery fruit" in the front office. The Osage Orange (or "Hedge Apple") is classified as Maclura pomifera.

Nov. 26, 27, 28: Thanksgiving Break (starts at 1:15 pm Nov. 26)

Dec. 5: Last day of class, Fall 2003

Dec. 8 to Dec. 16: Final Exams

Dec. 17: Fall Commencement

Reminder: NO tests in the last week of class. University policy prohibits faculty giving tests during the last week of class. Exemptions must be approved in advance by the Department Head and the Dean. See the NC State University Handbook for Advising and Teaching, p 5-14. ( www.ncsu.edu/provost/hat/current/)

Posting Grades: Faculty may post grades (test or final) by social security number, ONLY with written permission from the student. Without such written permission, neither the grade NOR the social security number with a blank grade may be posted.

Additional information is in the NC State University Handbook for Advising and Teaching,p 5-18. ( www.ncsu.edu/provost/hat/current/)