Friday, 26 March 93 Washington, DC

1. SENATOR MOYNIHAN (D-NY) SAVES B-FACTORY FROM THE PORK BARREL!
When high-energy physicists first began whooping it up for a B factory, it was given lower odds than cold fusion. Nobody argues CP violation isn't important, but new accelerators are a tough sell when a supercollider is being built. DOE and NSF politely reviewed B factory proposals from Cornell and SLAC and said "no," and if they changed their minds, there would have to be a review to choose between proposals. So it was a shock when an earmark for a B factory at SLAC showed up in George Bush's "baseline budget" (WN 8 Jan 93) . This week, Sen. Moynihan (D-NY) persuaded OMB to remove the earmark, thus preserving the virtue of physics.

2. SHUTTLE STAYS ON GROUND--BUT SHUTTLE COST IS ALREADY IN ORBIT!
Even as NASA was aborting a scheduled launch of Columbia due to a faulty valve, a far more serious flaw in NASA's bookkeeping was getting attention in the New York Times. In calculating the cost of Space Station Freedom, NASA uses a figure of $44M each for the associated shuttle launches. That would pay for the extra fuel and in-flight meals--which is like equating the cost of launching an aircraft carrier with the bottle of Dom Perignon they break on the bow. The Times article cited a recent University of Colorado study which determined the cost of an "average" shuttle launch from the cost of the shuttle program divided by the launch rate. At the present rate, the cost per mission comes out to be $1.1B; it goes up to about $1.7B if development costs are added in, but that has to be spread over the life of the program. Using honest numbers for the cost of the shuttle would more than offset the reduction from shrinking the station. The Colorado study was authored by Roger Pielke and Radford Byerly. Byerly is now Chief of Staff of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.

3. MATERIALS PHYSICISTS OPPOSED TO REALIGNMENT OF NSF DIVISIONS!
As WHAT'S NEW reported two weeks ago, there is an ongoing examination of organizational boundaries within the Mathematics and Physical Sciences Directorate of NSF. At the APS March Meeting in Seattle, the executive boards of the Divisions of Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Research of the APS adopted a joint statement opposing any move of Condensed Matter Physics and Solid State Chemistry out of the Materials Research Division. Such a move, they argued, would only inhibit interdisciplinary research. The co-chairs of a recent National Academy study of Materials Science and Engineering for the 1990's expressed the same concern in a letter to Walter Massey. The directors of three of the NSF Divisions (Materials, Physics and Chemistry) responded that any changes will be designed to enhance interdisciplinary research.

4. AGENCIES MUST ELIMINATE ONE-THIRD OF THEIR ADVISORY COMMITTEES
to comply with a 10 Feb Executive Order. In the Math and Physical Sciences Directorate of NSF, only the committee that advises the Assistant Director will remain by the end of the fiscal year.



Bob Park can be reached via email at whatsnew@bobpark.org
THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
Opinions are the author's and are not necessarily shared by the University, but they should be.