SSTI Digest

240 events already posted on SSTI's web calendar

Although only a few events remain for 2003, SSTI's web calendar of science and technology (S&T) items has brief descriptions and contact links for 240 regional or national conferences, meetings and workshops planned for 2004.

The first and foremost one to put on your schedule will be SSTI's 8th annual conference, which will be held Oct. 13-15, 2004, in Philadelphia.

The Modernization Forum reported on Thursday that Congressional appropriators have agreed to gut the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), the main federal program serving America’s small manufacturers. The move came Wednesday night, despite the pleas of more than 300 members of Congress who supported $110 million in letters to the CJS Subcommittee. The U.S. has lost 2.5 million manufacturing jobs since the beginning of 2001.

Despite more than a year of economic recovery, the economies of well-performing states are still stressed by higher unemployment, lower wage jobs, slower pay growth and declining employer-provided health coverage, reports the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED). In its seventeenth annual Development Report Card for the States, the nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank observes many American families also are still struggling financially.

CFED uses 68 measures to provide a relative, state-by-state assessment of economic development in three main areas — performance, business vitality and development capacity. Massachusetts, Minnesota and Virginia were the top performers in 2003, all earning straight A's. Five other states – Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Utah – joined them on an honor roll with all A's and B's. Eleven states got an F in at least one of the three categories.

The University of Arizona Office of Economic Development (UA OED) has released its annual report card on economic growth and development in the Arizona-Sonora region. Funded by the Arizona-Mexico Commission and the Arizona Department of Commerce, Regional Economic Indicators: Arizona-Sonora 2003 monitors economic changes in the Arizona-Sonora region via 33 indicators across four broad areas:

New figures on the proportion of foreign-born workers in science and technology occupations suggest the federal government must "act now" to meet future needs in science, engineering and technology fields, a new National Science Board (NSB) report argues. A sampling from 2000 census figures indicates a larger than previously known percentage of degree-holding, foreign-born professionals working in the U.S. in science and engineering (S&E) occupations, states NSB, the governing board for the National Science Foundation (NSF). Meanwhile, the number of H1-B visas issued to foreign-born workers in science and technology has declined.

Unless federal agencies do more to safeguard against financial conflicts of interest in universities, the government may not be able to properly regulate the flow of federally funded research, suggests a new report published by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO). Conflicts of interest, as an issue, is of growing significance for the academic community.

Of eight federal agencies surveyed, only the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have policies in place for identifying and managing fiscal conflicts for the research they fund, GAO states. The other six agencies – the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Education and Energy; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration – are said not to have financial conflict of interest standards for university research grants. These agencies and 200 of the nation's leading research universities were reviewed by GAO via a Web-based survey.

DOE Releases 20-Year Strategic Plan

Last week, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Spencer Abraham outlined the Office of Science's 20-year science facility plan, a roadmap or "wish list" for future scientific facilities to support the department’s basic science and research missions. The plan prioritizes new, major scientific facilities and upgrades to current facilities.

The 28 big-ticket facilities cover the range of science supported by the DOE’s Office of Science, including fusion energy, materials science, biological and environmental science, high energy physics, nuclear physics and advanced scientific computation.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently released a table presenting the top 100 cities for NIH awards in FY 2002. Boston and New York City are the only two cities to receive more than $1 billion in NIH funding. Boston’s lead shrank from $140 million in FY 2001 to $14 million in 2002.

There are additional changes in ranking among other top cities, but longer-term data is needed to determine how much real movement there is in the distribution of NIH funding. For FY 2002, Philadelphia ranks third at $730 million. Baltimore, San Diego, Seattle, Los Angeles, Houston, Cambridge (Mass.) and San Francisco round out the top 10. Forty-six cities garnered more than $100 million of NIH awards in FY 2002, compared to only 38 in both 2001 and 2000.

The American Association of University Professors has appointed Roger Bowen to succeed Mary Burgan as the association's next general secretary.

Virginia's Institute for Defense and Homeland Security recently named Henry Connors Jr. as its business development director.

The National League of Cities has hired Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis as director of policy and federal relations.

George Herrera, president and chief executive officer of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, recently announced his resignation, effective Jan. 20, 2004.

The American Association of University Professors has appointed Roger Bowen to succeed Mary Burgan as the association's next general secretary.

Virginia's Institute for Defense and Homeland Security recently named Henry Connors Jr. as its business development director.

The National League of Cities has hired Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis as director of policy and federal relations.