[asapmembers] Arecibo Science Advocacy Partnership: December 2013 Member Newsletter

[Joanna Rankin]

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> Dear ASAP Member,
> 	As some of you will have noted, Arecibo celebrated its 50th  
> anniversary this
> year with symposia in several places and a celebration at the  
> Observatory.  Physics
> Today's November issue led with a dramatic cover image (see below)  
> and article on
> the Observatory.  There was also a piece with nice photos in Wired  
> by Frank Drake's
> daughter Nadia.  The two-day Anniversary Symposium in the Visitor  
> Center at Arecibo
> brought together a large and remarkable group of people who have  
> contributed to the
> Observatory and its science over the years.  See the program on the  
> NAIC website for
> the participants and the slides of the talks.
>
> 	Roughly half of the ASAP Board members participated in the  
> Symposium as well
> as a number of members and emeritus Board members.  We were pleased  
> to see that
> the Observatory continues to function well scientifically.  The  
> Planetary Radar group
> is thriving under a new NASA grant to track near-Earth asteroids and  
> expanding.  The
> Astronomy group is at minimum staff but managing some 80% of the  
> projects on a full
> schedule.  And the Atmospheric group is bringing its new ionospheric  
> heating facility
> into operation and moving its Optical Facility to the island of  
> Culebra.
>
> 	The Observatory is now managed by three partner organizations with  
> SRI leading
> USRA (Universities Space Research Association) and UMET (Universidad  
> Metropolitana
> in San Juan).  Working out all of the issues of employees, budgets  
> and management
> practices has been an on-going challenge, but there was certainly  
> some significant
> progress to be seen late this year.  A long struggle reconcile  
> employee benefits among
> the three partners has been accomplished and other routine matters  
> such as purchasing
> were going much more smoothly.
>
> 	Funding remains a pressing problem.  NSF Astronomy funding is  
> ramping down while
> Atmospheric Science funding is increasing somewhat.  NASA funds  
> operate the planetary
> radar program but do little to fund overall operations.  The  
> Observatory is thus facing a
> budget shortfall this year, but hopes to find ways of alleviating  
> it.  This all said the NAIC
> management has managed to avoid laying off anyone so far.  The  
> government shutdown
> was a huge worry, but Arecibo somehow managed to continue operating  
> through it while
> other major observatories shut down and furloughed their staff.
>
> 	Meanwhile the ASAP Board has been meeting throughout the year to  
> assess and
> plan how to support the Observatory in these very changed, and still  
> very challenging
> conditions we now have.  The pressure to recompete the management of  
> NSF-supported
> facilities again grows stronger not weaker, and so we must be  
> ready.  The Board has thus
> taken up three major directions for ASAP in 2014—
>
> 	--A major new project is to coordinate the development of exciting  
> long term scientific
> 	planning for the Observatory in collaboration with both the NAIC  
> staff and its Science
> 	and Management Advisory Committee (SMAC).
>
> 	--ASAP also plans to work closely with—and help to enhance the  
> effectiveness of—the
> 	AO Users Committee (AOUC), which has not met in nearly two years.   
> AO needs user
> 	advice critically now and on a more continuous basis than the AOUC  
> can provide.
>
> 	--Double the ASAP membership to about 300 scientists.  ASAP is the  
> only venue that
> 	joins AO's three different science communities, and it is essential  
> that their full weight
> 	be joined and heard in coming years if AO is to prosper and survive.
>
> 	--ASAP is also considering some form of mentoring program for new  
> AO users.
>
> 	So, if you care about Arecibo, then please help find and recruit  
> new ASAP members.
> Graduate student (or even undergraduates actively involved in AO  
> work) members are
> welcome, and at this point financial support is less important than  
> growing ASAP numbers.
> The Membership Brochure is available for download.
>     Please then help us build the ASAP membership!
>     Please also write the Board with your suggestions and comments.   
> The Board is very eager
> to have your suggestions both on how best to protect AO as well as  
> on the structure and goals
> of the new ASAP!
>     Please send this letter to your friends and associates and tell  
> them about the
> ASAP website: http://areciboscience.org/.
>             With sincere thanks and regards,
>                  The ASAP Board
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