Introduction:
The idea for this talk came from my experience as a CASCA Board member and particularly my two years as CASCA President. It seemed to me that many of the things CASCA does and deals with today are very different from the time when I was a member at large more than 30 years ago. (the only student member that Board has had!) And this is reinforced by conversations with former society presidents. The article will be a combination of slides from my presentation and added text to fill in roughly what I said on June 15, 2004. It is intended as both a brief overview of CASCA’s past and some first thoughts about its future.
CASCA Historical Overview:
I begin by reminding you of that, at least, that your first and now, just retired, presidents have been exceptional. When CASCA was formed, it was clear that Helen Hogg was the one who would unite Canadian astronomers and start our fledgling society off on a good course and with immediate credibility. We have done well, but I think it is time that we think about where we have been, where we are, and where we want to go
.I have learned over the past two years that CASCA is an extremely well respected organization - for many reasons. People outside CASCA see it as a unified and unifying body which effectively represents a strong scientific community in the political sphere. Now, CASCA is also known for the LRP and scientists in other disciplines would like to emulate the way in which we are able to reach consensus and move forward. We are “making waves” and CASCA is perceived as a strong factor in what we are and have accomplished. My best, only partly sardonic, illustration of this is that, when people discovered that I was CASCA president… they thought I was important!I have also learned that the perception of CASCA by its members is much more diverse. Many have a sense of CASCA that matches what nonmembers see. But many others are less enchanted and feel that CASCA is not particularly relevant or important to them. While I do not agree with the latter group, I believe that they raise real issues which we need to hear and try to address. When I ask what CASCA members value about their society, the answers are dominated by the annual meetings in which we hear about a broad range of science, support student workshops, and provide opportunities for discussion on a wide range of topics. At this year’s meeting the range of special session topics included SKA, ALMA, CITA, possible envelope funding for NSERC GSC17, and the MidTerm Review of the Long Range Plan. So one question I pose to you is: do we respect our own society? If so, why; if not, why not?
Some Rough CASCA Statistics:
In thinking about what to say to you, I decided to investigate CASCA’s past. Mainly I looked through old directories to find out how our numbers have changed since 1971 and in what ways they have changed. Below are several tables based on those directory searches. But, before I proceed, I should tell you that the data are incomplete in many areas and often very rough in others because neither I nor the CASCA Office has a complete set of directories going back to the time we began. We need this kind of record. If you have directories or other files that may be relevant to CASCA’s history, please email CASCA Office to find out if your material is needed to complete the archive. (casca@hera.phy.queensu.ca) The first table shows the change in number of members in the various categories (ordinary, charter, student, honourary, corporate) since CASCA began.In the next table you can see how the numbers of members at universities, at HIA (+CFHT, JCMT etc.), and outside Canada have changed. The numbers have been rounded to the nearest “5” because the directory information was often insufficient to determine more precise values.
