SSTI Digest

Sigfried Hecker, the director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, announced that he is stepping aside in order to participate more closely in scientific collaboration between US and Russian researchers. Hecker has headed Los Alamos since 1986.

Jay F. Honeycutt, the director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), has announced his plans to retire from NASA in early 1997. He became director in 1995.

Dr. Robert Schrieffer (Physics, Florida State University and University of Florida), Dr. Kenneth J. Arrow (Economics, Stanford University), Dr. Elsa Garmire (Engineering, Dartmouth College) and Dr. Joan Argetsinger Steitz (Life Sciences, Yale University) were chosen by President Clinton to serve on the President's Committee on the National Medal of Science. The National Medal of Science was created by federal law to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science and engineering.

Please take a few minutes to complete this form and return it to SSTI. We would like to have responses faxed back to us by November 8, 1996 Fax: 614-421-9123 Your Name: Approximately how many people in your office regularly read the SSTI Weekly Digest? Which articles do you read? Which 3 do you find most useful? Which types would you like to see more or less of Article Type We Read These Find These 3 Most Useful Include More of These Include Fewer of These Federal awards         Federal solicitations         Federal budgets         Federal program changes  …

A Memorandum of Understanding has been entered into between the U.S. Department of Commerce's Technology Administration (TA) and the National Governors' Association (NGA) to develop the U.S. Innovation Partnership (USIP). USIP will be developed to help combine and coordinate state and federal efforts in science and technology and manufacturing extension programs. USIP is intended to integrate inter-governmental policies and strategies to support the development of competitive businesses through innovation and the diffusion of technological resources. Seventeen governors have committed to participate on the USIP working group, and each governor has also committed the time of a senior policy advisor to serve on the USIP planning committee. Twelve federal agencies will be participating in the working group.   TA will analyze past state-federal activities; develop a high-level steering committee in cooperation with other agencies and the NGA to provide state-federal policy input; and develop information resources that will help better explain federal programs and involvement in science…

While most of the attention has been focused on the presidential election and the fight for control of the Congress, eleven states will also be electing governors on November 5. Four of those races are for open seats where the governor has either decided not to seek reelection or is prohibited from running again. The states with gubernatorial elections are: Delaware -Tom Carper, the Democrat incumbent, is facing Janet Rzewnicki, the Republican State Treasurer. Carper has been elected to various offices nine times and has not lost once in the last 20 years. No poll results were available. Indiana - Frank O'Bannon, the Democrat Lieutenant Governor, is running against Stephen Goldsmith, the Republican mayor of Indianapolis. A poll in early October showed the race a dead heat with O'Bannon receiving 45% of the vote and Goldsmith 44%. The current governor, Democrat Evan Bayh, can not run for a third term. Missouri - The incumbent governor, Democrat Mel Carnahan, is opposed in his bid for a second term by the Republican State Auditor, Margaret Kelly. A poll in early October…

SSTI has entered into a cooperative agreement with the Economic Development Administration to examine how state investments in science and technology can support development in distressed areas. The project includes: an inventory of recent science and technology planning initiatives in all 50 states, an in-depth examination of science and technology planning and implementation, a roundtable to develop recommendations on how to use science and technology resources to benefit distressed areas, regional training for state and local economic development practitioners, a final report on best practices in state s&t planning, and a national workshop to provide direct technical assistance to state policymakers and practitioners. The National Governors' Association and the Best Practices Committee of the Science and Technology Council of the States will participate in the project. The project is one of several being funded by EDA's research and technical assistance program. Additional projects funded by EDA and the prime contractors are: Developing criteria to evaluate…

The Chronicle of Higher Education recently released its annual report on funding for university projects that Congress specifically directed federal agencies to support. According to the Chronicle, nearly $299 million was earmarked in FY96 for higher education activities. The FY96 level of earmarks was a significant decrease from the $600 million identified in FY95. The projects, in which specific universities were named either in appropriations bills or the legislative reports that accompany them, were identified by officials of the agencies or universities involved, or by Congressional aides. The report addresses items for which federal agencies did not request funding or sponsor merit-based competitions (although there were a few projects for which funding was added to projects that had previously been competitively awarded). There are differences in the way funding was awarded for these projects. In some cases, Congress intended the money to go directly to the university named, although funding was to be shared with other institutions. In other cases, universities were to receive money…

Last month, Governor George W. Bush issued an Executive Order that created the Texas Science and Technology Council. The mission of the 21 member board is to "research, develop, and report to the Governor the means available to the State of Texas to become the national leader in science and technology cooperation, development, and research." Among other activities the Council will: 1) review and recommend policies to increase the amount of research conducted by state colleges, state universities and the private sector; 2) propose state policies and actions that promote technology development and transfer in Texas; 3) analyze and propose state policies that encourage availability and accessibility of venture capital and commercial lending; 4) study and make recommendations on any issues that relate to improving the state's competitive position in science, R&D, and advanced technology development.

Bypassing the drawn out struggle over the federal budget that resulted in last year's shut downs of the federal government, the Congress and President reached agreement on the FY97 federal budget earlier this month. While federal cooperative technology programs at the National Science Foundation (NSF) received the full amount the President requested, programs at the Department of Commerce encountered significant challenges. A preliminary analysis by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) of the FY97 appropiations show that total federal R&D for FY97 will increase to $74.0 billion, 4.1 percent more than FY96. Every major R&D funding agency except NASA and the Department of the Interior received increases. Programs of particular interest to the states are shown below:   FY 95 FY96 FY97 Request FY97 House FY97 Senate FY97 Final ATP 341 221 345 110.5…

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has selected 13 new Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers, bringing the total number of centers to 24. NSF support for the new centers is expected to amount to $105 million over the next five year years. The centers are university-based programs that support interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary materials research and education. The new centers are located at the following universities: Arizona State University Brown University University of California- Santa Barbara Carnegie Mellon University Cornell University University of Houston Johns Hopkins University University of Maryland- College Park Northwestern University University of Pennsylvania State University of New York- Stony Brook University of Wisconsin- Madison A partnership of SUNY-Stony Brook; Polytechnic Univeristy; and City University of New York They join centers at the following universities: University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa; University of California- San Diego; University of Chicago; Harvard University; University of Massachusetts- Amherst;…

We are sad to report that Matt Filner, a Policy Analyst with SSTI, has submitted his resignation effective October 18 to pursue his academic studies full-time. In addition to being a valued staff member of SSTI, Matt was a key participant in organizing the Colloquium at Airlie House and a vital contributor to Partnerships: A Compendium of State and Federal Cooperative Technology Programs. His dedication, persistence, and creativity will be sorely missed. We wish him well as he works toward his Ph.D. at Indiana University. Matt's departure leaves us with a position to fill. Please distribute this description to anyone that you think might be interested. The State Science and Technology Institute (SSTI) is seeking a Policy Analyst. This position is with a small, dynamic non-profit organization located in Columbus, Ohio. The Institute serves as a clearinghouse and resource center for government initiatives in all 50 states that encourage industry to use science and technology for economic growth. Responsibilities include: responding to requests for information…