Review Committee Calls For Improvements in Astrophysics

A special review committee of the Center for Astrophysics (CFA) met this month for the second time and recommended new procedures to improve communication between the center's staff and director.

The CFA Board also decided to keep George F. Field, Paine Professor of Practical Astronomy, as sole director of the CFA.

At its first meeting last May--at which Field announced his decision to step down from the directorship in 1983--the Board began to consider appointing separate directors under Field's authority for the two organizations that comprise CFA, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) and the Harvard College Observatory (HCO).

But the discussions "never challenged the primacy" of Field's position, Alastair G. W. Cameron, chairman of the Astronomy Department, said this week. Some professors said they believed running both organizations was too much work for one person to handle.

The CFA Board was formed to evaluate the relationship between the SAO and HCO, which merged in 1973 under a single director to coordinate research and pool resources.

Other professors in HCO have criticized problems in CFA's setup besides the director's workload. Marc Davis, assistant professor of Astronomy, said HCO has "declined substantially" since the merger. He added that stringent rules about research eligibility imposed by the Faculty, to which HCO but not SAO members are subject, have caused many scientists to shift to the SAO payroll, taking grant monies with them.

Field said yesterday he feels the CFA has been successful in its current form, but called the Board's discussions "very helpful." The committee recommended forming two councils, one in each institution, to canvass professors' opinions and increase communication.