GLASS@PLUTO.ARC.NASA.GOV (Jay Glass) (12/20/89)
Want to get NASA to move quicker and produce more results? Try reforming the federal procurement system. Case in point: in order to get an otherwise-free upgrade of Microsoft Word 3.x to 4.0, I needed to write a full purchase order for the $5.50 handling fee. Worse yet, it was returned to me two weeks later because I didn't attach a "purchase request review checklist" and an "acquisition-data processing management review summary." The paperwork is the same as that required for a $65K purchase of real-time control s/w for my lab, and comparable to that for a $250K university research grant. Aargh! I'm sure that other NASA employees could describe similar horror stories. Jay Glass glass@pluto.arc.nasa.gov -------