From: ichihara@rikvax.riken.go.jp (Takashi Ichihara)
Subject: WHAT'S NEW, Friday, 28 August 1992
Reply-To: ichihara@rikvax.riken.go.jp
Organization: RIKEN (The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research) 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama, 351-01 Japan
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1992 03:21:18 GMT

Date: Fri, 28 Aug 92 13:23:43 PDT
To: ichihara@rikvax.riken.go.jp
From: "Janice Smith" <VP.APS@STANFORD.BITNET>
Subject: What's New for 08-28-92

WHAT'S NEW, Friday, 28 August 1992                 Washington, DC

1. NSF IS POISED TO TAKE A DRASTIC TURN TOWARD INDUSTRY SUPPORT!
It had every appearance of a coup.  Within the month of August,
the Senate Appropriations Committee, the Director of the National
Science Foundation and the National Science Board, in strikingly
similar language, have called for a redefinition of NSF's mission
to compensate for industry's failure to invest in research.  NIH
also disclosed plans to focus on competitiveness in grant awards.
But NSF officials and staff from the Senate committee insist that
there was no coordination; it's all just a coincidence.  Never-
theless, some of the "new directions for NSF," called for by
Walter Massey, were taken verbatim from the Senate Report.  The
most immediate concern is the Senate VA/HUD/IA appropriation (WN
7 Aug 92), which will be taken up by the full Senate as soon as
it reconvenes after Labor Day.  There is very little prospect of
changing the Senate report language, but since the House version
contains no equivalent language, it may be possible to persuade
the House/Senate Conference Committee that such a profound change
in the mission of NSF should not be imposed without extensive
discussion.  The Conference Committee has not yet been named.

2. SPECIAL COMMISSION ON THE FUTURE OF THE NSF IS ON A FAST TRACK
(WN 21 Aug 92).  The Commission is given just 75 days from its
first meeting to produce a final report.  The plan is to have the
CEO of a major technology company and the president of a research
university serve as co-chairs of the 15-member panel.  Clearly,
the intent is to have some sort of recommendation in place when
the transition to the next administration begins.  A "discussion
paper" by Walter Massey left no doubt about what recommendation
the NSF director would like to see:  "NSF would adopt an expanded
portfolio of programs that would be integrated with ongoing
activities and closely aligned with industry and other government
activities."  An "expanded portfolio" is seen by some as the only
way to avoid slow starvation, but NSF has expanded its portfolio
before, and the only effect was to spread the butter more thinly.
In 1985, NSF was explicitly authorized to support "fundamental
engineering research" and the Organic Act establishing NSF was
changed to read "science and engineering" everywhere it then said
"science," except in the title--but the budget remained frozen.

3. "A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME," THE MOVIE, OPENS TODAY IN CHICAGO
and the San Francisco Bay area.  It is already showing around LA.
To encourage educators to bring their classes, group ticket sales
are being offered (call Joy Scott, (818) 782-1323).  But you may
want to see the movie first.  Like the book, the movie will be
understood best by new-agers.  At the film's West Coast premiere,
Shirley MacLaine, who was Isaac Newton in an earlier life, hosted
a reception for Stephen Hawking. "He says he's not a mystic," the
actress babbled, "but he needs more than astrophysics to believe
in."  The best strategy may be to wait for the video to come out,
then buy it and put it on the coffee table next to the book.



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