Friday, 11 November 1988
1.
FLASH! TEXAS WINS THE SUPERCOLLIDER SWEEPSTAKES.
For the
first time the SSC was called the "Ronald Reagan Center for High
Energy Physics" by Secretary of Energy John Herrington, who made
the announcement yesterday. The choice of the Waxahachie site
was something of an anticlimax, since Texas Senator Phil Gramm
had leaked the story three hours earlier. Opposition to the DOE
choice came quickly from governors and members of Congress from
the losing states. Hearings and a GAO report are sure to follow.
2
. THE POSITION OF PRESIDENT-ELECT BUSH ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
is spelled out in a statement issued just a few days before the
election, which elaborates on a speech to the Ohio Association of
Broadcasters. The emphasis is on commercialization of technology,
with little reference to national security and one line on basic
science. The position paper draws heavily on the barrage of
advice from such groups as the Council on Competitiveness
(WN 16 Sep 88) and the
letter from 23 science and engineering society
presidents (WN 26 Aug 88). Key
elements of the Bush plan include:
Elevation of the Science Advisor to Assistant to the President
for Science and Technology reporting directly to the President.
Creation of a President's Council of Science and Technology
Advisors that would include executives from the private sector.
Doubling the National Science Foundation budget over the next
five years. (That has become a conditioned response by now.)
Making all R&D appropriations for two years and authorizations for five, to provide greater certainty to laboratories.
3. ROY WOODRUFF RECEIVED THE 1988 HUGH HEFNER FIRST AMENDMENT AWARD
in the Individual Conscience category "for his willingness
to jeopardize his career in order to go public with a realistic
assessment of the Strategic Defense Initiative program." Woodruff
felt compelled to step down as Director of Weapons Research at
Livermore to protest Edward Teller's use of exaggerated claims
for the x-ray laser to influence Reagan and other high government
officials involved in arms negotiations (23 Oct 87). Woodruff
has since been accorded typical whistleblower treatment. In a
press conference at Livermore in July, Secretary Herrington
castigated Woodruff for becoming "personally involved." As to
the person who deliberately misled the nation's leaders,
Herrington said, "Dr. Edward Teller is a national asset...I
admire the restraint that he has shown in refusing to respond."
4. THE PHYSICS LIBRARIAN AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND,
Herbert
Foerstel, received the 1988 Hugh Hefner Award in the Education
category, "for his vigilant efforts to maintain the basic rights
of privacy and access to public information of library patrons."
Foerstel refused to comply with FBI requests for circulation
records of users with "East European or Russian sounding names,"
and went public with his complaints. The first report of the
Maryland incident was in What's New two years ago (WN 5 Sep 86).
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