Tom Elmer's RanTom Thoughts

2001-02-25 00:00 - Science Under the *AHEM* Super Intelligent One

WHAT'S NEW, 23 Feb 01   Robert L. Park   Washington, DC 

1. TIME WARP. A western governor comes to town vowing to cut
taxes, pump up defense, slash basic research and build a missile
defense system.  That was Ronald Reagan's agenda twenty years
ago, and it appears to be George W's today.  Agency heads are
still haggling with OMB, but here's the latest word on science
budgets: DOE down 5%, NASA science down 5%, DOD 6.1-6.3 flat, ATP
eliminated and NIST core programs flat.  The big physical science
winner would be NSF, up all of 0-1%.  A lone exception, NIH would
rise 15%.  WN readers take note: "balanced portfolio" is no
longer in the White House lexicon.  To save money, one policy
maker has suggested closing the NIST Boulder lab and moving the
staff to Gaithersburg.  WN is taking bets on how many would move. 

THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY (Note: Opinions are the author's
and are not necessarily shared by the APS, but they should be.)