President of CASCA
Michael, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at York University, is the current President of CASCA.
It is a pleasure for me to announce for the first time that CASCA has a new website with a new and more convenient URL: www.casca.ca.
CASCA Board decided at last year's Halifax meeting that it was time for our Society to have a more modern website, a website that was more complete and aesthetically pleasing, but not heavily graphics intensive. The Board sought advice from the Graduate Student Committee, and shortly thereafter, Glen Petitpas (McMaster) began work in conjunction with Serge Demers (CASCA Secretary) and me (with input from the entire Board) to redesign the site. Much credit and many thanks to Glen for his efforts. I would also like to thank Loic Albert (Montréal) for translating many of the documents into French, and JJ Kavelaars (McMaster) for his assistance with acquiring our Society's new domain name.
As most members are undoubtedly aware, CASCA 2000, to be held 25-28 May 2000 at UBC, is just around the corner. I urge all members to pursue the meeting's website, casca2000.astro.ubc.ca/ and to register in the near future. This promises to be a scientifically exciting meeting in a very pleasant venue. Invited talks are planned in the following areas:
I hope to see you there.
Phase II of the Long Range Plan (LRP) concerned with informing Canadians outside our immediate community about our Plan is well underway. Already, most of the Presidents of Universities with major astronomy groups or departments have been personally apprised of the LRP by local delegations. (Deans of Science and Vice-Presidents Research have also been brought up to speed at the same time.) Special attention has been given the Presidents of research-intensive institutions whose advice will likely be sought by politicians and those ultimately making the funding decisions. In fact, the LRPP has been invited to make a brief presentation of the Plan to members of the so-called G-10 group of (research intensive) universities at their meeting at McMaster University on April 1 and 2.
An official launching of the LRP could not be scheduled until the French translation was available. Ralph Pudritz, Chair of the Panel, has informed me that the French version is in its second round of galley proofs and is now within a week or so (at time of writing) of being completed, permitting a launching in the near future. An "Outreach Team" is currently being organized to co-ordinate this effort, as well as to devise an appropriate strategy between now and the next federal budget. This Team includes a CASCA representative, Robert Lamontagne. I am happy to report that a bilingual, professional, web-based version of the LRP is currently being produced and will also be available for the launching. I believe that this website will likely be the single best tool for informing and, one hopes, enthusing the Canadian public about our goals.
Even before the French version of the LRP was available, our story was covered by some media; in particular Science magazine, a couple of the major newspapers, and even a segment on the Discovery Channel. Equinox will do a piece for its May issue. It is hoped that media attention will increase considerably, once the bilingual version of the Plan and the website become available. At that point, it will be important to ensure that selected politicians and those with influence are informed about our initiative. A carefully designed launch of the report is now being considered and a strategy for effective outreach to the public and the government is being designed. Our community has a vital role to play in ensuring that a multi-tiered outreach campaign is implemented between launch and the next Federal budget.
It should be mentioned that the LRP has been well received by the Presidents of NRC, NSERC and CSA. A very positive sign is that NSERC has asked that the LRP be scrutinized by an International Review Panel in the near future. A strong endorsement of the LRP by this Review Panel will provide NSERC with a compelling case to support it financially.
It is CASCA's plan to devote a lunch session at CASCA 2000 to a progress report on the implementation of the Long Range Plan.
For quite some time now, CASCA through the Joint Subcommittee for Space Astronomy (JSSA) has lobbied for a Professional Astronomer; that is, someone from our ranks, to be hired by the Canadian Space Agency. The CASCA exploder message of March 9th therefore came as welcome news: there is a distinct possibility that this position, at least on an interim basis, will be created.
Those who are interested in this possibility, either personally or in recommending a colleague, should contact David Kendall (Dave.Kendall@space.gc.ca 613-990-0790) or, alternatively, Peter Martin, Chair of JSSA (pgmartin@cita.utoronto.ca; 416-978-3150).
As members have undoubtedly learned via the exploder, CASCA is actively seeking an editor for this newsletter, Cassiopeia. Gordon Walker, our current editor under whose guidance Cassiopeia has flourished, will step down after the June solstice issue.
To repeat the e-mail, "The main responsibilities of the editor are to solicit articles, organize and oversee the technical implementation of the html newsletter and ensure it is ready by the due dates. Technical assistance with the html and web site management will be provided, but familiarity with html and web techniques would be beneficial. Expenses of the editor are covered by CASCA and the editor coordinates directly with the CASCA board."
"The editor of Cassiopeia provides an important service to our society. If you are interested in serving please send an e-mail to CASCA board via Russ Taylor at russ@ras.ucalgary.ca."
Finally, this is my last "Message" as CASCA President. I would like to thank Gordon Walker (editor) and Gerry Grieve (webmaster) for raising our newsletter to such a high standard and for accepting my contributions days after the deadline!
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Michael De Robertis
<mmdr@yorku.ca>
President of CASCA Michael, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at York University, is the current President of CASCA. |
 late Spring
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Cassiopeia -- 2000-ME |