This is the first announcement calling for applications for the 2012 Public Speaker Program.

Three Trustees, Hugues Lacombe, Centre francophone de Montréal, Bruce McCurdy, Edmonton Centre, and I will accept and assess applications from Centres or Speakers for travel in the first half of 2012 -- January 1 to June 30.

Dr. Brian Schmidt, who won this year's Nobel Prize for Physics (with Dr. Saul Perlmutter and Dr. Adam Riess; see December 2011 JRASC, page 228), is using part of his prize money to fund an astronomy education program discontinued by the Australian government.
For more information see the full story here:

As published in the December issue of the Bulletin, the "Deep-Sky Gems" list compiled by David Levy was very recently revised in order to complete its evolution into an RASC observing program with certificate. Now your brand-new Observer's Handbook 2012 is out-of-date, even before the year begins! To correct this and with the author's approval, we revised the DSG Handbook article as we expect it to look in the 2013 edition, and we have made the entire 4 pages available online as a PDF download.