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Uppsala April 17, 2011 On March 11, an earthquake struck northeastern Japan. In the days that followed, we received news of tsunamis and more earthquakes involving nuclear plants. This is one of the most terrible natural disasters. On behalf of the Executive Committee, the Governing Board, and the IAPR community as a whole, we here express our deep sympathy to our Japanese colleagues. Our thoughts are with all Japanese people in these difficult times. The MVA 2011 conference is planned for June this year in Nara, which is quite distant from the hit area. The organisers intend to hold the conference as originally planned. Please, see their website www.mva-org.jp/mva2011/ for latest information. In connection with ICPR 2012 in Tsukuba, a number of satellite conferences are planned in various places in Japan. For example, S+SSPR 2012 is planned to be held in Sendai, one of the cities that has suffered the most from the earthquakes and tsunamis. What can be arranged for S+SSPR 2012 and the other conferences remains to be seen. A message from the President of the Japan National Tourism Organization says "Once the situation in Japan stabilises, we will strive to resume all promotional activities as soon as possible." We sincerely hope that everything will work out for the best for our friends and for Japan. We are among the many people around the world that are amazed at how the Japanese people have reacted calmly to this disaster. I also hope that our Japanese colleagues will ask for assistance from the IAPR community in whatever respect we can be of support. Professor Herb Freeman has resigned as member and chair of the IAPR Advisory Committee due to health related problems. We sincerely hope that Professor Freeman will get better soon and will be able to participate in future IAPR activities (as he has done for the last 40 years!). His contribution as Chair of the Advisory Committee is acknowledged and his dedication in running the committee will be an inspiration for everyone. It is our pleasure to inform you that Professor Walter Kropatsch has accepted to Chair the Advisory Committee for the remaining of the current term. The Advisory Committee will continue their work on preparation of guidelines for the best paper awards given by the IAPR as described in my last column. Between ICPRs the ExCo has one physical meeting. Traditionally, this meeting is hosted by the Past President. So this year, we have been invited by Professor Brian Lovell to his lab in Brisbane, Australia. We will meet for two days in early August. On the agenda is to check the status of the Standing and Technical Committees, review the finances, and discuss any other issues that may arise. As input to this meeting, we have requested mid-term reports by mid-June from all committees. This edition of the IAPR Newsletter contains an IAPR Fellow article by Wenyin Liu, one of IAPR’s newest Fellows, a number of conference reports and some book reviews among the other things to read. Please, visit the IAPR webpage www.iapr.org/ on a regular basis. There you will find plenty of information of interest to our field. |
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