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From: apollo@physics.att.com
Date: Fri, 7 Aug  16:56:34 1992
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	From att!Forsythe.Stanford.EDU!VP.APS Fri Aug  7 16:41:37 1992
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	Date:      Fri,  7 Aug 92 13:36:12 PDT
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	From: "Janice Smith" <VP.APS@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
	Subject: What's New for August 7, 1992
	Status: RO

	WHAT'S NEW, Friday, 7 August 1992                  Washington, DC

	1. SENATE OVERWHELMINGLY APPROVES SSC AS DEFICIT ISSUE SUBSIDES.
	The deficit hasn't shrunk, but it seems to have declined as an
	issue; maybe it's just that Ross Perot is out of the race.  By a
	vote of 62 to 32, the Senate rejected the Bumpers amendment to
	delete the SSC from the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill.  A
	second Bumpers amendment to make support for the SSC contingent
	on international commitments fell by the same margin.  Sen. Boren
	(D-OK) predicted that the SSC "...will revolutionize the computer
	industry, the medical community, and transform our industrial and
	technological base.  Economic opportunities never anticipated
	will arise, scientific advancements never predicted will proceed,
	and educational worlds never explored will emerge."  All this, he
	said, even if the scientific goals are not met! Sen. Gramm (D-TX)
	drawled, "I doubt if there is a Member of the Senate who really
	understands what the SSC is all about." As if to prove his point,
	he claimed that, "Between 20 and 30 percent of the gross national
	product of the United States comes from high-energy physics."  In
	the House, which is expected to reconsider the SSC following the
	August break, prospects are much brighter than they were in June.

	2. SENATE JOINS HOUSE IN CALL FOR SUSPENSION OF NUCLEAR TESTING.
	The House had already voted to cut off money for testing for one
	year.  Monday, the Senate, which had always blocked test limits,
	voted to suspend tests through June 93, in spite of a veto threat
	by President Bush who called for six tests in FY 93.  But scien-
	tists who would have welcomed a total ban a few years ago are now
	ambivalent.  In 1990, the Drell panel concluded that "unintended
	nuclear detonations present a greater risk than previously esti-
	mated."  In March, Drell testified that some safety measures can
	be taken without testing, such as retiring older weapons, but to
	design safer weapons, testing is needed.  Beginning in July 93,
	the Senate measure would allow limited tests for reliability and
	safety for three years, followed by a total ban after Sept. 96.

	3. SENATE VA/HUD/IA APPROPRIATIONS BILL CASTS A CLOUD OVER NSF!
	Never mind the numbers; NSF would be directed to shift its focus
	toward industrial support.  The Appropriations Committee approved
	the bill last Friday (WN 31 Jul 92). Language in the report calls
	on the Foundation to take a "more activist role in transferring
	the results of basic research to the market place."  NSF is told
	to open up applied research programs to industry and tailor its
	education programs to industry's needs.  But to divert scarce
	research funds to industry--at the very time Congress is intent
	on shrinking the NSF research budget--would have a devastating
	effect on academic research, which is already pretty shaky.  The
	bill could be voted on by the full Senate as early as Monday.

	4. CORRECTION: SEN. DOMENICI (R-NM) SUPPORTS LAMPF AS A CIVILIAN
	FACILITY. According to his office, he had no hand in the shift of
	funding to defense accounts, as implied in WHAT'S NEW 24 July 93.

	Robert L. Park  (202) 662-8700      The American Physical Society