Friday, 4 September 1987 Washington, DC
1.
SCIENTIFIC EXCHANGES WOULD REQUIRE THE APPROVAL OF THE
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
under the terms of a bill (H.R. 2990)
introduced by Rep. Solomon (R-NY), whose district includes
Rensselear Polytechnic Institute. The bill (H.R. 2990) covers
agreements entered into by "any educational institution"
involving the exchange or transfer of scientific or technological
information with "certain foreign countries." These countries
include not only the Warsaw Pact nations but "any country which
the President may designate by executive order." If it became
law, it would constitute by far the most massive intrusion of the
federal government into the conduct of university research.
Solomon introduced his bill in the wake of revelations that
Japanese and Norwegian manufacturers had violated export control
agreements in the sale of computer controlled milling machines to
the Soviet Union. We predicted at that
time (WN 3 Jul 87) that
the emotions aroused by the incident would spawn new attempts to
impose restraints on scientific freedom. Solomon's previous
legislative initiatives include such heavy duty stuff as a
resolution designating Fort Cralio, NY as the home of "Yankee
Doodle."
2
. 24 STATES ENTERED THE SUPERCOLLIDER SWEEPSTAKES
before the
proposal deadline at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. California staged a
Hollywood cliff-hanger by deciding to submit its proposal only
minutes before the deadline, despite the refusal of the state
legislature to authorize the project. The California Collider
Commission had sought to put pressure on the legislature by
declaring it would not submit a proposal without authorization.
The legislature, however, was split over the question of set-asides
for companies headed by minorities or women, and refused
to be stampeded. It was the Collider Commission that blinked,
deciding at the last minute to go ahead without support from the
legislature. This was no doubt disappointing to the other 23
states, since California has to be considered one of the front
runners. A panel of the National Academies of Science and
Engineering, headed by Ed Frieman, director of the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, will evaluate the proposals on the
basis of geology, regional resources, environment, setting, local
conditions and utilities (WN 26 Jun 87).
They are to recommend
an unranked list of best sites to DOE's Energy System Acquisition
Advisory Board by December. It won't be an easy deadline to
meet. The Texas proposal weighed more than a ton, and Ohio
submitted 60 boxes of documents.
3. PROPOSALS FOR THE NEW NSF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CENTERS
must be in by 15 Jan 87. Between 5 and 10 centers ranging from
$0.5M to $5M annually for five years are expected to be approved
in the spring, along with a number of $35,000 planning grants for
proposals the following year. NSF Director Erich Bloch expects
that a number of the proposals will focus on superconductivity.
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