minutes of September 8, 2007 meeting

["Tomasz Taylor" <taylor neu edu>]

Physics Theorynet meeting, 8 September 2007,
Room 218 DA, Northeastern University, Boston

minutes/action items:
----------------------

Attending

Participating Teachers:
 Rick Dower, Roxbury Latin School
 Scott Goelzer, Coe-Brown Northwood Academy (NH)
 Michael Hirsh, Needham H.S.
 Jesus Hernandez, Lawrence H.S.
 Nick Nicastro, Wachusett Regional High School, Holden
 Mike Wadness, Medford H.S.

Participating Theorists:
 Per Berglund, University of New Hampshire
 Jose Juan Blanco-Pillado, Tufts
 Albion Lawrence, Brandeis
 Brent Nelson, Northeastern
 Ken Olum, Tufts
 Tomasz Taylor, Northeastern

Regrets:
 Farhad Riahi, Commonwealth School of Boston
 Fred Cooper, NSF (now in Santa Fe, N.M.)

1. Introductions: We welcome new physicist, Jose Juan Blanco-Pillado from
Tufts University. Jose, who joined Tufts in 2006, works on general
relativity and cosmology. He has already visited Mike Wadness' classes at
Medford H.S., explaining to students what we know and what we don't know
about the universe (see the minutes of April meeting).

2. Update on high-school visits since last meeting in April 2007:

-Coe-Brown Northwood Academy (Scott Goelzer). Our New Hampshire branch is
thriving: Per Berglund visited on the last day of school, introducing 3
classes to Quantum Mechanics.
-Needham H.S. (Michael Hirsh) Albion visited Michael's classes (accelerated
sophomores and seniors), with an introduction to elementary particles and
strings.

3. Discussion
-- Mike Wadness updated us on his thesis -- the proposal is already 
accepted
and the whole project is coming to life, with very precise ideas what to do
in order to determine the effectiveness of outreach activities.
-- Ken Olum was very kind to reveal the punchline of his public lecture:
time travel is NOT possible.
-- Jesus Hernandez proudly described the renovation of Lawrence H.S.: 6
brand new buildings, each hosting 500 students.
-- Tom announced that the Spring 2009 New England APS/AAPT meeting will be
held at Northeastern. It will be focussed on "Particle Physics in XXIst
Century", just in time for LHC to discover the Higgs particle,
supersymmetry, extra dimensions, or just something unexpected.

4. Flyer -- PLEASE MAKE SURE TO TAKE SOME PHOTOGRAPHS FOR THE FLYER. IT
WOULD BE GREAT TO ALSO COLLECT SOME QUOTES FROM STUDENTS.

5. Pairings for 2007/8 remain as set up at April meeting:

Ami Katz -- Farhad Riahi
Jose Blanco -- Mike Wadness
Ken Olum -- Jesus Hernandez
Tom Taylor -- Nick Nicastro
Albion Lawrence -- Michael Hirsh
Brent Nelson -- Rick Dower
Per Berglund -- Scott Goelzer

6. The next meeting is (tentatively) scheduled for January 12, 2008.