Page 11 - Fall 2005

PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE
William A. Yost
Acoustical Society of America Melville, NY 11747
This inaugural issue of Acoustics
Today marks a new milestone for the
Acoustical Society of America (ASA), a
society that is in excellent shape as the
premier international scientific society in
acoustics. We are served by a skilled staff;
our members are excellent acousticians
and many volunteer to make the Society
function effectively and efficiently; our
scientific meetings are a congenial place
to present and discuss the latest research
in acoustics; The Journal of the Acoustical
Society of America (JASA) continues as the
world’s leading acoustics journal; and the
ASA is financially sound. The ASA’s current healthy state is due to the dedication of our staff, the hard work of our members, and the effective leadership of our elected offi- cers. Perhaps one of the more important responsibilities of the President is to not mess things up. While the ASA is doing very well, there exist a few challenges and opportuni- ties, and I hope we can address many of them over the next few years.
The ASA is perhaps one of the world’s most interdisci- plinary scientific societies covering a broad range of topics in acoustics. There are constant challenges to maintain the excellence of our technical areas. Working with Vice President Donna Neff, I would like to provide more flexi- bility to our Technical Committees in their ability to stimu- late interest in their technical areas, to help grow these areas, and to explore developing new technical areas within the ASA. At the same time, we are all acousticians and the ASA should foster ways in which our members are made aware of the breadth of science covered by the Society. One aim of Acoustics Today is to better acquaint our membership with the science of the many technical areas of acoustics found within the ASA. Over the next year we will explore additional ways in which the ASA can interact with other scientific organizations in order for the ASA to maximize its ability to disseminate knowledge about acoustics and to stimulate growth of the ASA and our field.
The Vision 2010 Committee formed and chaired by past president Richard Stern will present its final report this year. This Committee has solicited a wide range of input on what the ASA should be like in 2010. Their report will out- line many suggestions for strengthening the ASA. This report will be made available to the membership and we will begin implementing the ideas contained in the report as soon as we can.
The ASA, JASA, and Acoustics Research Letters Online (ARLO) have been at the forefront of electronic publishing.
Under the leadership of our Editor-in- Chief, Allan Pierce, we are continuing to develop the Web as the primary source for JASA and a reformulated ARLO. The recent move toward public and free access to scientific literature represents the latest advancement in electronic pub- lishing, and thus provides both challenges and opportunities for the ASA. I chair a committee appointed by our recent presi- dent, Bill Kuperman, to suggest strategies that the ASA might implement to strengthen our journals while at the same time securing our financial health. This
report will be completed by the end of the spring meeting in Providence.
The field of acoustics is vibrant and far reaching, and the ASA is a key player in the dissemination of scientific information about acoustics. The ASA should continue to bring the field of acoustics to the attention of all segments of society and to inform these audiences about the latest developments in the science of acoustics and how they can positively affect their lives.
As the world’s premier scientific society in acoustics, the ASA should play a proactive role in ensuring that pub- lic policies dealing with acoustics are based on the best sci- entific evidence. The ASA should reach out to educate soci- ety, especially our youth, about the science of acoustics. The ASA plays a significant role in bringing our science to soci- ety via our high-quality standards operation, our committee on education, and the activities of other committees and their members. The recent development of the Classroom Acoustics standard and the effort of the ASA and its mem- bership in demanding its use in schools provides an excel- lent model for how the ASA can positively affect society based on sound science (pun intended). In this day of the public’s declining understanding of science and respect for science and scientists, and with fewer and fewer of our pub- lic policies being made on the basis of good science, the ASA has a responsibility to help educate the public and our students about acoustics and for positively affecting public policy when it deals with areas of acoustics. Over the next year one of my major aims is to address the issues of public policy and educational outreach with a series of new initia- tives.
I hope you enjoy this issue of Acoustics Today, and I thank you for making the ASA the great scientific society that it is. I more than welcome any suggestions that you might have as to how we can better serve you as a member of the ASA as well as the science of acoustics.
President’s Perspective 9