Presidents Message

 

     The Fall meeting of the Mississippi Association of Physicists (MAP), also known as the Mississippi Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers, will be held 8 November at the Red Hills Mine near Ackerman, MS. At the Spring 2008 meeting we toured the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station and the reactor control simulator. The theme of Fall meeting will also be energy. The Mississippi Lignite Mining Company was formed in 1997 to supply lignite coal to the Red Hills Power Plant. The Company is an affiliate of The North American Coal Corporation, the largest lignite producer in the United States. North American Coal and its affiliates operate 6 lignite surface mines producing over 33 million tons annually and also provides dragline services for limestone quarries in South Florida. The Red Hills Power Plant, which supplies electricity to Tennessee Valley Authority under a 30-year contract agreement, is owned and operated by Choctaw Generation, LLP, an affiliate of Tractebel Electricity and Gas International. Construction of Red Hills Mine and facilities began in August 1998. Development of the initial boxcut began in April 1999, and the first lignite was mined in December 1999.

     Our host will be Mr. Mike Thomas; he and his engineers will provide us with an overview of the coal mine facility and power plant. This will be followed by tours of both facilities. Dr. John Meriwether from the Physics Department at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette will present a lecture on the physics of nuclear power. I hope that you can join us for this important and informative meeting.

     On behalf of our organization, I have invited the physics faculty from the two-year colleges to present an overview of the physics academic component at their respective institutions. Also, Sandra Harpole and I will present views on MAP's potential contributions to high school physics education from our AAPT perspectives. From these talks, MAP will continue to develop a vision for physics education in the state.

     The meeting information, including driving directions and hotel information, can be found in this newsletter and on the MAP web page at www.msphysics.org. Be sure to go there to get the latest news about the Fall 2008 meeting. Since there are no local restaurants in near the meeting location, we are planning a catered bar-b-q lunch (<$10) at the Red Hills Mine facility. Please RSVP your attendance to sabatier@olemiss.edu.
 

Thanks,
Jim Sabatier