Friday, 8 November 1991 Washington, DC
1. DOES AIP REPORT PERPETUATE THE "MYTH" OF A PHYSICIST
SHORTAGE?
The American Institute of Physics has been publishing an annual
Graduate Student Survey for thirty years, charting the ups and
downs in employment prospects of new physicists. Important but
noncontroversial work--until now. Members of the Young Scientists
Network, a sort of support group for physics post-docs having
trouble finding permanent positions, are furious over the first
page in this year's report. The sunny tone of the analysis seems
to have riled them more than doubts about the numbers. The very
first sentence is a cheerful comment on the ability of physicists
to solve all sorts of problems; "Hence," the authors assert in
the next sentence, "a sustaining demand for physicists need not
be questioned." The authors go on to suggest that a steep decline
in the number of new physicists taking permanent positions is a
matter of choice rather than availability. Some not-so-young-
anymore physicists in their third or fourth post-doc disagree.
2. WAS NSF FORECAST OF SCIENTIST SHORTAGE POLITICALLY
MOTIVATED?
When former NSF Director Erich Bloch argued for
a doubling of the budget, he waved a study by the head of the
Division of Research and Analysis that predicted a shortage of
625,000 scientists over the next two decades. But statisticians
have been skeptical of the methodology used. Congress is now
investigating whether the analysis was deliberately slanted to
buttress the boss's case; if so, it would seem to bring the NSF
down to the level of the CIA.
3. SUPERSTAR BENCHED, SAID TO BE SUFFERING WOFFORD'S
SYNDROME.
The Supercollider was the last thing on President
Bush's mind when he cancelled his Far East trip, but his decision
cast gloom over Waxahachie. The strategy had been to wear the
Japanese down with visits from top scientists and Administration
officials and then send Bush in for a slam dunk. It looked like
a good plan; Japan's new Prime Minister would be anxious to start
off on a positive note. In a statement issued on his return from
Japan last month, Allan Bromley, gave an optimistic assessment:
"It is recognized in Japan, as in the United States, that
decisions on projects of this magnitude can only be made at the
highest political levels." No backup strategy has been worked
out yet, according to a source close to Bromley, but the
Administration still stands by its commitment to secure one-third
of the SSC's construction funds from non-federal sources. Hard
core SSC supporters in Congress, led by Sen. Bennett Johnston (D-
LA), argue that SSC technology is too important to share anyway.
4. APS COUNCIL ISSUES STATEMENT ON BASIC RESEARCH IN THE DOE.
Expressing concern at the prospect of severe cuts in DOE
support of non-SSC programs and misgivings over the hasty
procedures used to set new priorities, the Council reaffirmed its
statement of 20 Jan 91, that the SSC should be built in a timely
fashion, but not at the expense of the nation's broadly-based
research program.
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