IP: U.S. NOBELISTS SPEAK OUT ON DECLINING SUPPORT FOR SCIENCE.

[Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

1. U.S. NOBELISTS SPEAK OUT ON DECLINING SUPPORT FOR SCIENCE.  Of
the ten nobelists announced last week, six are from the U.S.  Of
the six, five were supported in their prize winning work by the
NSF.  Yesterday, at a press conference in Washington, the five
returned the favor.  Lee, Osheroff and Richardson, who shared the
physics prize, joined chemistry winners Smalley and Curl in a
passionate appeal for stable, long-term support of basic science.
The five argued that science, particularly basic science, is in a
state of decay in the US. Industry, it was pointed out, no longer
supports basic science, and federal support as a percentage of
the GDP is declining.  Bob Richardson referred to science as the
"invisible" issue in the fall political campaign and lamented 
the "abysmal" state of science education in the United States.