Friday, 28 Oct 94 Washington, DC

1. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ANNOUNCES $170M IN "FOCUSED" AWARDS.
A year ago, the DOC asked a select group of industrial and academic scientists what research would have the greatest economic impact, would receive strong industrial support and would require federal funding. The Administration liked what it heard--or vice versa. The money is going exclusively to healthcare and info technology.

2. "WE SUPPORT RESEARCH; NOW WHICH NATIONAL LAB WOULD YOU CLOSE?"
Twenty percent of the activities of the national labs is related to basic research, and the DOE's Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (BESAC) wants to make sure that the 20% does not go unnoticed. With the Galvin Committee's outline for the future of the national labs due Feb. 1, a representative of BESAC asked, and was given the opportunity, to brief the committee on the virtues of basic research. Evidently, the committee had a more immediate concern: gloomy budget forecasts. They questioned the surprised BESAC rep on the '90 euphemisms for "firing," such as "consolidating resources" and "streamlining management." After dodging a question on which weapons lab to close, he was asked, "How do you think things would function if Germantown (the DOE headquarters for project management) were closed down?" Gulp!

3. THE FUTURE OF BESAC RESEARCH. In order to provide "friends at
the Office of Management and Budget with some ammunition to fight for money," BESAC formed a panel to research and write a report on the return on taxpayers' investment in basic energy research. But, at the recent BESAC meeting, an update of the panel's effort met with doubt--reflecting a growing uncertainty over what the government expects and what the times require. "Explaining the past won't make any difference," one BESAC member observed, "the Administration and Congress are looking for change." When another member insisted that advertising the successful investments of the past was crucial for future public support, he was countered by a member who dismissed the need for promotion, claiming "the public is already willing to fund science, but at a lower level." Of course, a pop science book or a physics movie couldn't hurt.

4. POPULAR BOOK ON SCIENCE POPS-UP. Harper Collins Publishers
has just released "The Most Amazing Science Pop-Up Book." The discussions of basic science are alongside pop-ups like a record player and a microscope. Written for kids 9 and up, you can pass it to Capitol Hill staffers when they ask, "Why fund science?"

5. HOLLYWOOD MOVIE ABOUT FEYNMAN'S LIFE--SURELY, THEY'RE JOKING?
Theoretical physics isn't a traditional box office draw, so actor and director Matthew Broderick is relying on the steamier side of the physicist's life. Broderick's "Infinity" merges the Feynman intellect with "Pretty Woman" to create a sort of "Brief History of Time" with an active libido. The film opens early next 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.