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The APS Amendment on Professional Responsibility

NOV 01, 1972

On 30 October 1971, Robert H. March, of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, submitted a petition to the Council of the American Physical Society, signed by 276 APS members and proposing an amendment to the APS Constitution. “The Amendment on Professional Responsibility” was printed in the January issue of the APS Bulletin, along with an invitation by PHYSICS TODAY to APS members for letters expressing opinions about the proposed amendment. Since then PHYSICS TODAY has received over sixty letters voicing widely divergent views on the proposed amendment. Below is a copy of the amendment and a sampling of the letters received (all those letters supporting the amendment without reservation plus a selection of those expressing various degrees of reservation).

DOI: 10.1063/1.3071092

Robert H. March

Jay Orear

Thomas W. Karras

A. R. Tobey

Albert R. Menard

John R. Vig

Robert W. Morse

C. T. Alonso

William B. Ericson

C. Keith McLane

Anthony J. Pawlicki

E. J. Woodbury

L. S. Birks

F. Rohrlich

J. S. Huebner

W. James Lyons

Richard H. Bube

Walter G. Planet

Ralph A. Evans

Howard Weisberg

Stuart T. Martin

Paul R. Camp

Robert Maurer

Royal Weller

On behalf of 276 members of The American Physical Society, I have introduced the amendment to the APS constitution described in the January issue of the Bulletin of that Society. I urge the membership of APS to give this amendment their most careful consideration.

More about the Authors

Robert H. March. The University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.

Jay Orear. Cornell University.

Thomas W. Karras. Berwyn, Pennsylvania.

A. R. Tobey. Los Altos, California.

Albert R. Menard. University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

John R. Vig. Eatontown, New Jersey.

Robert W. Morse. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

C. T. Alonso. Yale University.

William B. Ericson. Grumman Aerospace Corp, Levittown, New York.

C. Keith McLane. Boulder, Colorado.

Anthony J. Pawlicki. Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

E. J. Woodbury. Hughes Aircraft Co., Tarzana, California.

L. S. Birks. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C..

F. Rohrlich. Syracuse University.

J. S. Huebner. Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.

W. James Lyons. [APS] Council Committee on the Constitution, Bylaws and Regulations.

Richard H. Bube. Stanford University.

Walter G. Planet. Bowie, Maryland.

Ralph A. Evans. Research Triangle Institute, Triangle Park, North Carolina.

Howard Weisberg. University of Pennsylvania.

Stuart T. Martin. WCAX‐TV, Burlington, Vermont.

Paul R. Camp. University of Maine, Orono, Maine.

Robert Maurer. University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois.

Royal Weller. Yankeetown, Florida.