WHAT'S NEW Friday, September 17, 2004

WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 17 Sep 04   Washington, DC

1. MISSILE DEFENSE: YOU ARE TWICE AS SAFE AS YOU WERE LAST MONTH.
A second interceptor missile has been lowered into its silo in
Fort Greely, AK.  Meanwhile, the  flight test scheduled for late
September has been postponed another two months.  It will then be
two years since the last flight test.  It will also be after the
election.  I called on General Persiflage at the Missile Defense
Agency.  "Shouldn't we wait to see if the system will work?" I
asked.  "It's already working," the general shrugged.  "Our goal
is to keep America safe.  We put the first interceptor in its
silo in July, and there hasn't been a missile attack since."  He
had me there.  I still felt a little uneasy, but before I could
ask another question, workmen came in carrying a huge banner. 
"Where do you want us to hang this, General?"  They unfurled the
banner, which read simply "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED."

2. NSF: BEMENT NOMINATION MAY BE A BRILLIANT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY.
Or maybe not.  Earlier this year, when Rita Colwell left NSF
before the end of her 6-year term, it was expected that someone
would be nominated quickly to fill the job.  In the meantime an
acting director was named.  That sort of thing happens all the
time, but the person picked as acting director was Arden Bement,
Jr., who already had a job as director of NIST.  Bement stayed on
as director of NIST, moonlighting as NSF acting director, with a
nominee for NSF Director expected momentarily.  Under the 1998
Federal Vacancies Reform Act, Presidential appointments to acting
positions are limited to 210 days.  That's so "acting" can't be
used to duck confirmation hearings.  Time ran out on Saturday
with no nominee for NSF Director in sight, so Bush nominated
Bement.  Here it gets a little confusing.  In his announcement to
the NIST staff, Bement said he will remain as NIST Director until
he is confirmed by the Senate as NSF Director.  Maybe it's an
experiment to see if they can get by with half as many directors
as agencies.  Meanwhile, NIST Deputy Director Hratch Semerjian
becomes something.  NIST may have both a director and an acting
director.  We're glad we could clear this matter up for readers.

3. OPEN ACCESS: MEDICAL JOURNALS LAY IT OUT FOR DRUG COMPANIES. 
Several leading medical journals will refuse to publish results
of clinical trials that haven't been registered publicly.  This
follows disclosure that drug makers withheld information about
suicidal thoughts in children and adolescents on antidepressants. 

4. COLD FUSION: DOE REVIEW IS HIDDEN BEHIND A CLOAK OF SECRECY. 
Believers see DOE's review as vindication after 15 rough years
(WN 2 Apr 04).  But watchers are puzzled by how little is known
about the process.  Who are the reviewers?  Who are they talking
to?  WN hears that DOE is claiming anonymous peer review.  That
shouldn't please anyone.  The controversy will simply continue. 


THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.  
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
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