The President-Elect's Message

Last year we had a superb special Accelerator Section session. Thank you, Sayed, for preparing such a stimulating session. Now is the time to plan the Spokane meeting. Please encourage students to submit abstracts as well. Remember that we have the special H. Wade Patterson Award for the outstanding student paper. Help us get the message out.

To assist in planning the special section, kindly submit proposed abstract titles to me. This will help us organize a logical flow for the talks and/or posters. For those of you planning to submit (abstracts are due January 28, 2005), I've included the call for abstracts from the Health Physics Society (HPS) secretariat (see below). Kindly remember to send me your proposed title so that we may begin planning our session.

The Columbia Chapter of the Health Physics Society will host the 2005 HPS annual meeting and 50th anniversary celebration at the Spokane, Washington, Convention Center, July 10-14, 2005. The headquarters hotel is the Doubletree, located just steps from the convention center and Spokane’s delightful Riverfront Park. The downtown shopping and entertainment district, overflow hotels, and the HPS Summer School at Gonzaga University are all within easy walking distance. Spokane is a perfect point of departure for visiting many of the northwest’s scenic and natural treasures—Lake Coeur d’Alene, Glacier National Park, Washington’s North Cascades, and Grand Coulee Dam, just to name a few. The forests, rivers, lakes, and mountains that surround Spokane offer a wide variety of outdoor recreation opportunities. However, with half a dozen fine wineries right in Spokane and the renowned wine-growing regions of the Columbia, Walla Walla, Yakima, and Okanogan valleys all located within a few hours’ drive, some members may find touring and tasting more appealing. Spokane boasts a mild, dry summer season with average daily maximum temperatures in the low 80s, low humidity, and little chance of rain. The Spokane River makes its way through the heart of the downtown area and provides a refreshing retreat to the Riverfront Park visitor on warm days. Come prepared to enjoy the lovely setting and to participate in this milestone event—the golden anniversary of the founding of the society. The Local Arrangements Chair is Theresa Aldridge.

2005 Summer School

Topic: Operational Health Physics: Planning and Implementation
Date and Place: July 5-8, 2005, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington
Academic Dean: David Waite
Administrative Dean: Nancy Kirner

Call for Papers: The 50th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society

Date: July 10-14, 2005
Place: Spokane, Washington

The HPS invites members of the society, other scientists, and students to participate in the 50th annual meeting of the HPS to be held in Spokane, Washington, July 10-14, 2005. The abstract due date is 28 January 2005. Please submit your abstract online using the HPS website, then click on the "conferences" link to find the abstract submission form.

Note: Abstracts submitted via e-mail will not be accepted. Abstracts will be printed directly from your electronic submission. Minor editing (punctuation and grammar) may be performed on your abstract; you will not see a revised version before publication. If it is not possible to submit your abstract electronically, please contact the secretariat at 703-790-1745 (or fax 703-790-2672) for further instructions.

Technical Sessions: A limited number of sessions will consist entirely of 12-minute oral presentations. Those choosing the "poster or oral" option under the presentation format section on the abstract form will have the highest probability of acceptance. If there are compelling reasons that a presentation must be in either the oral or poster format exclusively, please explain the reason. Please indicate if you wish to withdraw your abstract in the event that your preference cannot be accommodated.

Notes

• A submitted abstract is a commitment to present; cancellations should be avoided.
• If extenuating circumstances prevent the presenting author from making the presentation, it is the author's responsibility to find an alternate presenter.

Presentation Requirements

• Computer projection is the preferred presentation format for all sessions. Overhead transparency projection is available as an alternate format.
• Guidelines for preparing visuals will be posted on the HPS website in the annual meeting section.
• All computer presentation files must be uploaded to the secretariat website (www.burkinc.net/files/HPS) before June 24, 2005. These files will be reviewed for format, compatibility with meeting site software/hardware, and appropriateness by the Program Committee. Changes may be required due to font substitutions, differences between the version of software used to create the presentation and that used to display the presentation, or font size/color. Individual visuals may be rejected if presentation guidelines are not followed.
• All presenters (using computer projections or overheads) must check in at the speaker ready room prior to their session at the annual meeting to determine if there are any problems with the presentation. Please note that the Program Committee will also review overhead transparencies prior to presentation for format and appropriateness.

  Note: Presenters who wish to make changes to their previously submitted computer presentation will be accommodated as availability allows. Any revisions must be in the form of a complete presentation provided on 3.5-inch floppy disk, CD-R, or flash drive media.

Standing Technical Sessions: Contributed abstracts are requested for sessions on the following topics.

1. Accelerator
2. Biokinetics/Bioeffects
3. Decommissioning
4. Emergency Planning/Response
5. Environmental
6. External Dosimetry
7. Instrumentation
8. Internal Dosimetry and Bioassay
9. Medical Health Physics
10. Non-Ionizing
11. Operational Health Physics
12. Radon
13. Reactor Health Physics
14. Regulatory/Legal Issues
15. Risk Analysis
16. Waste Management
17. AAHP Special Session
18. Other Special Session* (specify)

    * Special Session: Sessions sponsored and organized by a section of the society (for example, Decommissioning, Environmental, Medical Sections, etc.) or by a group such as the American Academy of Health Physics (AAHP) are considered special sessions. Submit suggestions for special sessions to Program Committee Chair Elizabeth Brackett (860-872-2137), no later than December 10, 2004.

    Note: The HPS Program Committee does not manage AAHP special courses, professional enrichment program (PEP) courses, or continuing education lectures (CELs). Contact the secretariat for information on suggesting topics for these activities.

Author Eligibility: Any society member may submit an abstract. Nonmembers desiring to present a paper or poster must be sponsored by a member. A member may sponsor only one nonmember. This includes special session invitees (that is, a special session organizer can sponsor only one paper in the session). Sponsors must endorse the abstract by including their names and HPS identification numbers on the electronic form.

Current Events/Works-in-Progress: The current events and/or works-in-progress session(s) are intended for material and developments in the field of health physics so new that time does not permit the normal abstract review process. All current events/works-in-progress presentations are poster presentations. All current events/works-in-progress abstracts must be accompanied by a justification for inclusion in this special category. The deadline for submission of abstracts for the session(s) is 3 June 2005. Information for submission of current events/works-in-progress abstracts will be included in the preliminary program.

Abstract Acceptance: Notification of acceptance will be sent to the presenting author during spring 2005. Please note that the session you select is for Program Committee guidance only. Due to scheduling or topical interest, the Program Committee may find it necessary to reassign the technical session.

Instructions for Submitting an Abstract

• Specific Requirements: All abstracts will be printed directly from the online submission form. The online submission form is located on the HPS website (http://www.hps.org, then click on the "Conferences" link to find the abstract submission form). Contact the secretariat if you are unable to submit your abstract using the online submission form.
  1. Title: Submit the title in upper and lower case, capitalizing each word. Acronyms should not be used.
  2. Author(s): Use initials for the author’s first (and middle) name(s). Indicate the presenting author. Contact the secretariat for instructions if there are more than six authors.
  3. Affiliation(s): Enter the affiliation(s) in upper and lower case; for example, University of California, Berkeley. Do not include department name or full address.
  4. Abstract: The abstract must be one concise paragraph. Do not include author names or affiliations. Credits should be placed at the end of the text of the abstract. Use an asterisk as an indicator of the credit. (Note: The minimum abstract length is 150 words and the maximum size of the abstract is restricted to 2,000 characters.)
  5. Presenting Author Address: Include the complete mailing address. It is essential that the e-mail address is accurate because information or questions regarding abstracts and presentations will be sent via e-mail.
• Additional Information
  1. Abstracts that suggest commercialism, either through writing style or trade names, may be rejected.
  2. Abstracts should not contain tables, figures, structural formulas, or bibliographic references. Note: Limit use of equations to only those that are new and required to convey the central concepts of the abstract. You must use International System (SI) units. Contact the secretariat if the abstract requires equations, math or Greek symbols, or subscripts or superscripts (other than for isotopic identification).
  3. Acronyms in the abstracts themselves should be accompanied by the spelled-out words in parentheses.
  4. The substance of the abstract must not have been presented or published previously.
  5. Promissory statements such as "will be discussed," "will be studied," or "will be analyzed" cannot be accepted. Use present tense; for example, "is discussed," "is presented," "is analyzed." A well-written abstract includes results and conclusions, not promises.
  6. The Program Committee's decision to accept or reject an abstract will be based upon inclusion of the following items.
     1. Purpose and title of the work: Is the purpose clearly stated and are the issues current? Is the title descriptive of the abstract?
     2. Experimental procedures (if applicable), analytical methods (if applicable), and discussion/review: Are the procedures well described? Is (Are) the discussion/review and/or analytical methods clearly presented?
     3. Application or relevance to the field of health physics: Is the work relevant or directly applicable?
     4. Conclusions: Are the conclusions based on an appropriate quality and quantity of data?
     5. Appropriateness of material for presentation: Material which may be considered unprofessional or vulgar will be rejected. Material will not be rejected simply because it may be controversial.

Wishing everyone a happy and restful holiday season. Hope to see you in New Orleans in February and especially at our special session in Spokane.