piner@pur-phy.UUCP (Richard Piner) (03/08/86)
Posted: Fri Mar 7, 1986 4:29 PM EST Msg: FGIG-2201-6177
From: RPARK
To: WHATSNEW
Subj: What's New, 7 March 1986 Washington, D.C.
1. THE 1983 PROTEST BY SCIENTISTS AT STANFORD did not
involve an attempt by DoE weapons laboratories to conduct
classified research at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation
Laboratory, as reported by the press and repeated in What's
New 14 Feb 86. Rather, we are informed, the protest involved
unclassified work that was perceived to have weapons
implications. Soon, however, SSRL may even be compelled to
accept classified work. According to a 23 Jan 86 memorandum
from Under Secretary of Energy Joseph Salgado, stating DoE
policy on utilization of major research facilities:
...If an EXISTING facility has a unique research
capability and there is a compelling national need for
its use for either classified or unclassified studies,
then appropriate contractual provisions shall be adopted
to accommodate such work....
2. DR. H. WILLIAM KOCH HAS ANNOUNCED HIS RETIREMENT as
Executive Director of the American Institiute of Physics,
effective March 1987. In two decades at the helm, Koch
oversaw the addition of three new member societies and a
doubling in the number of pages published. The AIP is today
an industry leader in the use of electronic publishing
techniques and services. A search committee, headed by W. W.
Havens, Jr., Executive Secretary of the APS, is soliciting
nominations for a successor to Dr. Koch.
3. THE REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT FOR SCIENCE is discussed in a
technical memorandum just issued by the Office of Technology
Assessment. The report notes that the burden of proof is
shifting to the researcher who must prove that the research
is safe or anticipate whether the research results may have
some adverse effect on the national interest. ("The
Regulatory Environment for Science," OTA-TM-SET-34, US
Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, $6.00)
4. JAMES C. FLETCHER HAS BEEN NOMINATED TO HEAD NASA after
an eight year absence from the job. He replaces James M.
Beggs who finally resigned as a result of his indictment.
Deputy NASA administrator, William Graham, who has served as
acting director since the Beggs indictment, fell into
disfavor over his handling of the shuttle disaster. Those
concerned about the militarization of NASA (WN 11 Oct 85) may
not be reassured by the return of Fletcher, who headed the
Defense Technology Study Commission. The Commission's 1983
report is generally credited with launching Star Wars.
Although initially classified, those portions of the report
supporting the SDI concept appeared overnight in Aviation
Week, often referred to in Washington as "Aviation Leak."
Robert L. Park (202) 429-1946
American Physical Society THAT'S ALL 3/7/86