APS News

April 2005 (Volume 14, Number 4)

Washington Dispatch

A bi-monthly update from the APS Office of Public Affairs


ISSUE: RESEARCH FUNDING

President Bush's budget request for FY 2006 contains cuts to key research budgets. The DOE Office of Science budget would decline 3.8%; the NSF budget would increase 1.5% (after accounting for the transfer of a Coast Guard program), below the rate of inflation; basic research at the Defense Department would decline 12.8%; and NASA 's basic research would decline 7.1%. The NIST Labs would climb 12.4%, although the increase could vaporize once closeout costs for the Advanced Technology Program are accounted for. Please refer to the AAAS R&D Website (www.aaas.org/spp/rd) and AIP budget page (www.aip.org/gov/budginfo.html) for more details.



ISSUE: VISAS

The U.S. State Department has announced that the duration of security clearances ("Visas Mantis" clearances) required for certain foreign science students and scholars applying for visas has been extended from one year to up to four years. Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), meanwhile, have reintroduced a bill (S. 455) designed to further streamline the visa process for foreign science students and scholars entering the U.S.



ISSUE: ENERGY AND NATIONAL SECURITY

The APS Panel on Public Affairs (POPA) will be issuing a Discussion Paper on nuclear power and proliferation resistance titled: "Securing Benefits, Limiting Risk". The report reviews three current federal programs: Technical Safeguards, Gen IV, and the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative. Several recommendations are made that would enhance the proliferation resistance of nuclear power. Roger Hagengruber chaired the study. Other authors include: John Ahearne, Robert J. Budnitz, Steve Fetter, Ernest Moniz, Burt Richter, Tom Shea, Francis Slakey, Jim Tape, and Frank von Hippel. When issued, the report will be available for download from the APS Washington Office website: http://www.aps.org/policy/index.cfm

Log on to the APS Web Site: (http://www.aps.org/policy/index.cfm) for more information.


©1995 - 2024, AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY
APS encourages the redistribution of the materials included in this newspaper provided that attribution to the source is noted and the materials are not truncated or changed.

Editor: Alan Chodos
Associate Editor: Jennifer Ouellette

April 2005 (Volume 14, Number 4)

APS News Home

Issue Table of Contents

APS News Archives

Contact APS News Editor


Articles in this Issue
Physicists Head to Florida Coast for 2005 APS April Meeting
AIP Report: Women, Men Progress at Same Rate
US Could Soon Be Playing Second Fiddle in Areas of Science and Technology
DHS Is Rare Bright Spot in FY2006 R&D Budget
World Year of Physics International Gala
New Users Flock to Einstein@Home
Meeting Briefs
Letters
Ask the Ethicist
The Back Page
Members in the Media
This Month in Physics History
Zero Gravity: The Lighter Side of Science
Physics and Technology Forefronts
Washington Dispatch