Speech Communication preprint volume available

At the 97th Meeting of the Society, authors of papers in Speech Communication were requested to prepare four-page preprints of their papers and submit them in advance of the meeting. The 154 preprints that were received were assembled into a volume, printed, and sold at the meeting. Copies of this preprint book are available for $15 (no purchase orders) from Betty Goodfriend, Acoustical Society of America, 335 E. 45th Street, New York, NY 10017.

Annual Reports of' Technical Committees* Architectural Acoustics

During the 1978-1979 year there were two notable and memor- able events for the Acoustical Society and the Technical Committee on Architectural Acoustics: these were the joint meeting with the Acoustical Society of Japan in Honolulu and the 5 0th anniversary meeting in Cambridge, Massachusettes.

During the Honolulu meeting the Technical Committee on Arch- itectural Acoustics sponsored or cosponsored six sessions which in- cluded one panel discussion "Environmental design of spaces for the sensorially handicapped", two special sessions on "Design of multi- purpose halls", one session on "Structure borne sound in buildings" jointly sponsored by the ASJ and the Technical Committee on No•se and Shock and Vibration. There were a total 17 invited pa- pers and 35 contributed papers. Best paper citations were awarded to Minoru Negata for his paper on "Electroacoustic systems in multipurpose auditoria in Japan" and to M. R. Shroeder, D. Gotlob, and U. Eysholdt for theix paper on "Binaural dissimilarity: Its im- portance and realization in room-acoustical design."

The concerns and problems raised during the panel discussion on spaces for the sensorially handicapped indicated that the subject needed further consideration in greater depth. Hence, a special ses- sion, jointly sponsored by the Technical Committee on Physiological and Psychological Acoustics, on "Consideration of the sensorially handicapped in the design of Spaces" will be organized for the Salt Lake City meeting.

Attendance at the Cambridge meeting, except for Kresge Audi- torium, strained the seating capacity of the meeting rooms. Each of our technical subcommittees sponsored a special session during which 32 papers were presented. While the general theme for those sessions was retrospect and prospect, much new and useful informa- tion was presented. The performing arts halls subcommittee con- centrated on the acoustic environmental requirements of the musi- cian in one session. The views of a composer, a critic, a conductor, and an architect as well as an acoustician were presented.

The building acoustics session ranged from the assessment of a tranquil environment to a review of industrial and factory noise con- trol. In between, the role and development of the acoustical labora- tory and the development of HVAC noise prediction and control was well covered.

The subcommittee on education in architectural acoustics exam-

ined architectural acoustics education from many standpoints in- cluding that of an architect during its special session. The results of a survey on the status of architectural acoustics education in North America conducted in conjunction with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture was presented. Unfortunately, the results indicate there is much room for improvement.

The session on electroacoustics included presentations on the growth and development of large speaker dusters for large and larger arenas. Also covered were sound system problems in sur- round halls and the conversion of a sports arena into a symphony hall by ambiophony.

During the first two meetings of the society two new equations for calculting reverberation time were presented. It seems fitting

that at this meeting an equation was presented by W. J. Joyce in paper T8 which Manfred Shroeder states is the exact equation for reverberation time. What will the next 50 years bring?

LUDWIG W. SEPMEYER

Chairman, 19 78-19 79

Physical A caustics

In the past •ear the physical acoustics community in the Acous- tical Society of America has been busier than at any time in recent memory. In part this was due to the location of our fall meeting (Honolulu) and the occasion of our spring meeting (50th Anniver- sary) in Cambridge, Mass. But in many respects this growth of acti- vity may have its foundation in the growing importance of subjects such as acoustical imaging (medical and industrial), and propagation and scattering in the ocean and atmosphere.

During the two meetings a total of 19 sessions were held with 187 papers (some jointly sponsored). The technical committee meetings were well attended with approximately 50 individuals attending each. This makes for lively discussion and excellent co- operation and planning.

Starting with the next meeting (Salt Lake City), the new Chaix- man of the Technical Committee on Physical Acoustics will be Dr. Walter Mayer of Georgetown University.

ROBERT E. APFEL

Chairman, 19 78-19 79

Psychological and Physiological .4 caustics

Arthur N. Popper and Richard R. Fay organized a two-day work- shop on "Comparative Studies of Hearing in Vertebrates" at the Honolulu meeting. They also represented P & P at the program organizing meeting.

There were two special sessions at the 50th anniversary meeting in Cambridge, a Symposium on Cochlear Mechanics chaixed by J. J. Zwislocki and a Symposium on Pqripheral Auditory Mechanisms of Speech Processing chaixed by N. Y-S. Kiang. The proceedings of both symposiums are to be published in JASA.

William T. Peake and Nathaniel I. Durlach organized the tech- nical program for the meeting. Because of the large number of papers, all contributed papers were presented in poster sessions.

The P & P Technical Committee voted to sponsor a special ses- sion at the Salt Lake City meeting on "Recent Developments in Re- search on Hearing Impairments," to be organized by Lois L. Elliott. Eric Javel and Walt Jesteadt are scheduled to represent P & P on the program organizing committee for Salt Lake City.

JOSEPH L. HALL

Chairman, 19 78-19 79

Speech Communication

In recognition of the joint meeting with the Acoustical Society of Japan and of the speech research efforts in both countries, the Committee cosponsored (with the ASJ Speech Communication Committee) four special sessions of invited papers at the 96th Meet- ing in Honolulu; two were organized by ASJ and two by ASA: Models of the Speech Production Process, organized by Shizuo Hiki; Speech Communication Meets the IC Revolution, organized by Jon Allen; Temporal Organization and Prosody, organized by Hixoya Fujisaki; and Speech Waveform Coding, organized by Ron Croch- iere.

At the 97th Meeting in Cambridge, in keeping with the celebra- tion of the Society's 50th anniversary, a special session entitled,

924 J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 66(3), Sept. 1979•001-4966/79/090924•32500.80;¸ 1979 Acoust. Soc. Am.; Acoust. News--USA 924

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"Fifty Years of Research in Speech Communications" was organ- ized by Jon Allen. The contributions of the session organizers and invited speakers to our meetings is gratefully acknowledged.

We experimented with published preprints of Speech Communi- cation papers at the Cambridge meeting. Authors were sent oversize layout sheets, on which they prepared four-page camera-ready pre- prints and which they mailed back by 1 May. The preprints were assembled into a volume containing 154 papers, which was printed and sold at the meeting itself. A total of 310 preprint books was sold at the meeting, recovering about 90% of our costs. Copies are now available from the ASA office fof $15; these mail-order sales are certain to recover the remainder of our costs. Reaction to this

experiment was generally favorable but not unanimous, and further study is required before we consider repeating it.

A subject of continuing concern to our committee is the format of our technical sessions and how to accomodate the increasing number of contributed papers. In recent years we have tried discus- sion-only sessions, poster sessions, and pr6cis poster sessions. We have been forced to hold an evening session at the past two meet- ings, in order to fit in all the papers. With many ten-minute papers crammed into current sessions, it is essential that session chairmen enforce time limits on presenters of oral papers, in order to leave time for discussion and to ensure that the authors of the final papers of the session can make their presentations to a full audience.

In June 1979, Dennis Klatt stepped down after four years of ser- vice as Associate Editor of JASA for Speech Communication papers. We thank him for so capably carrying on those duties. The JASA work is being taken up by Mac Pickett (in the area of Production and Perception) and by George Doddington (who has been handling the area of Engineering Applications since November 1978).

JARED J. WOLF

Chairman, 19 78-19 79

*Reports of Technical Committee chairpersons are requested at the end of each administrative year. Those above have been received so far.

Regional Chapter News

Northwest Chapter. The following officers have been elected for 1979-1980: Chairman: Dr. James L. Shapley; Vice-Chairman: CDR. David E. Bonnett; Secretary and Treasurer: Robert W. Crouch; Executive Council: Charles L. Badley, Dr. Rubins A. Sigel- mann, Harry Levinson, and W. Robert Nicholas.

The Spring meetings of this Chapter featured the following talks:

ß "The Impact of Propulsion Machinery Vibration on Commercial Fishing Catches" was discussed at the March meeting by David Motant and Daniel Nemirow of Electra Marine Company of Seattle.

ß The April meeting heard a talk on "Medical Ultrasound: Dop- pler Imaging, Air Bubble Detection in Blood, and Ultrasound Scat- tering in Tissue," by Dr. John M. Reid, Director of Bioengineering at the Institute of Applied Physiology and Medicine in Seattle. A tour/demonstration at the Institute followed the lecture.

ß The May meeting featured a panel discussion by eight authori- ties on noise control: "Is it technically and Economically Feasible to further Reduce Aircraft/Airport Noise Impact on Residential Communities near Major International Airports?"

ß The June meeting heard a repeat of a paper by Roy L. Richards, Acoustical Consultant, Towne, Richards and Chaudiere, Inc., which had been presented at the Society meeting in Hawaii last November (Paper TT7). The title of the Chapter presentation was "Ambio- phony Updated."

Wisconsin Chapter. This Chapter reports the following officers elected for 1979-1980: Chairman: Michael Cocking; Vice Chair- man: James Bush, Jr.; Secretary and Treasurer: Philip Dindinger; Delegates-at-Large: Jack Leffelman and J. I. Case; and Regional Chapter Representative: Larry Erikson. Robert Jones is the liaison

ß with the Coordinating Committee on Environmental Acoustics. The June meeting of this Chapter included a tour of the WITI-

TV, Channel 6, Studios in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Previous meetings this past year have included the talks "Community Noise-How Are Products Affected," by Ron Buege of the City of West Allis on 20 February and "An Analytical Model for Exhaust System Design," by Larry Eriksson of Nelson Industries, Inc. on 14 November 1978.

Cumulative Indexes

Volumes 1-10, 1929-1938: JASA amd Contemporary Literature, 1937-1939. Classified by subject and indexed by author. Pp. 131. Price $5 to members, $10 to nonmembers.

Volumes 11-20, 1939-1948: JASA, Contemporary Literature, and Patents. Classified by subject and indexed by author and inventor. Pp. 395. Price $5 to members, $ 30 to nonmembers.

Volumes 21-30, 1949-1958: JASA, Contemporary Literature, and Patents. Classified by subject and indexed by author and inventor. Pp. 952. Price $20 to members, $75 to nonmembers.

Volumes 31-35, 1959-1963: JASA, Contemporary Literature, and Patents. Classified by subject and indexed by author and inventor. Pp. 1140. Price $20 to members, $90 to nonmembers.

Volumes 36-44, 1964-1968: JASA and Patents, Classified by sub- ject and indexed by author and inventor. Pp. 485. Price $10 to members, $40 to nonmembers.

Volumes 36-44, 1964-1968: Contemporary Literature. Classified by subject and indexed by author. Pp. 1060. Price $20 to members, $125 to nonmembers.

Volumes 45-54, 1969-1973: JASA and Patents. Classified by sub- ject and indexed by author and inventor. Pp. 540. Price $20 (paperbound), $25 (clothbound) to members, $60 (clothbound) to nonmembers.

Order from American Institute of Physics, 335 East 45 Street, New York, New York 10017.

Technical Committees of the Society and Their Chairmen

Architectural Acoustics Ludwig W. Sepmeyer 1862 Comstock Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90025

Engineering Acoustics Stanley 1. Ehrlich Raytheon Co., Submarine Signal Div., Portsmouth, RI 02871

Musical Acoustics William R. Savage Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242

Noise Robert D. Bruce

Bolt Beranek and Newman, inc., Cambridge, MA 02138

Physical Acoustics Walter G. Mayer Georgetown Univ., Washington, DC 20057

Psychological and Physiological Acoustics Charles S. Watson Boys Town Inst. for Communication Disorders, Omaha, NE 48131

Shock and Vibration Francis S. Kirschner

The Soundcoat Co., 175 Pearl St., Brooklyn, NY 11201

Speech Communication Jared J. Wolf Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc., Cambridge MA 02138

Underwater Acoustics R.C. Spindel Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst., Woods Hole, MA 02543

925 J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 66(3), Sept. 1979•001-4966/79/090925-01500.00;¸ 1979 Acoust. Soc. Am.; Acoust. News--USA 925

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