The source of low lab morale?

[Susan Gawarecki <loc@icx.net>]

The Oak Ridger's new editer Dale MacConnaughay hits the nail on the head
(in my personal opinion, not that of my employer)--the following is from
today's edition at www.oakridger.com.

--Susan Gawarecki

The source of low lab morale? 
Friday, July 21, 2000

To hear the magazine Nature tell it, a meddling and politically
hyperactive Congress has made life miserable at the national labs, and
notably the heavily scrutinized Los Alamos.

"Whipping will probably continue for as long as it suits the political
agendas of those, in Congress above all, doing the whipping, and at
least until the presidential election in November," Nature says in an
editorial in its July 2000 editions.

"Security issues and congressional constraints have led to travel
restrictions, scientifically unproven and insulting polygraph tests,
obstacles to the hiring of foreign nationals, and cuts in
spending at the discretion of lab directors," the magazine adds. The
magazine concludes, "The U.S. Congress has turned the Los Alamos
National Laboratory into a political pawn. The damage done will take a
long time to rectify. Despite their mistakes, the national defense
laboratories need far greater support from their country's leaders."

And the magazine says Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, whom it concedes
is "a partisan figure," is the "real target of the latest bout of
hysteria over lab security."

* * * *

Okay, now set Nature down and pick up a copy of the August issue of
George, the magazine founded by the late John F. Kennedy, Jr. Here, we
get an expanded profile of that "partisan figure" Bill Richardson. More
significantly, we gain some insight into why morale may be waning at the
labs.

The magazine details how former cover girl, model and celebrity activist
Christie Brinkley played a central role in getting Secretary Richardson
to close down the department's nuclear reactor at Long Island's
Brookhaven National Laboratory.

As the magazine George relates it, "Richardson didn't savor the idea of
going up against a group supported by New York's media elite and
spearheaded by a bunch of local celebrities. . .If he ordered
(Brookhaven's High Flux Beam Reactor) shut down, one of the country's
most productive scientific tools would be lost. But if he allowed it to
remain running, the political fallout would pose significant problems
for both himself and the administration."

Three weeks after his Washington office eyeball-to-eyeball encounter
with the still glamorous supermodel, Gore campaigner, and outspoken foe
of nuclear facilities, Secretary Richardson blinked. He announced he was
closing the beam reactor.

An incredulous Steve Shapiro, associate chairman of Brookhaven's physics
department, had this reaction for George magazine: "Is this how science
policy is made by the Energy Secretary meeting with a supermodel? We're
dealing with rational decisions here? Models have more to say about the
fate of Brookhaven than a Nobel Prize-winning scientist.  This is
scary."

Indeed, it is.

Congress may not be entirely blameless when it comes to problems of
reduced spending and morale at the national labs. But at least
congressmen are responsible to an electorate. That cannot be said of
Christie Brinkley and the celebrity culture which annoints her with
credibility. Come to think of it, that kind of direct accountability
largely escapes an appointed energy secretary.

With this revealing George magazine article firmly in mind, many readers
may share my own wonder about the level of science involved in last
week's announcement by Secretary Richardson suspending Oak Ridge's Y-12
metals recycling program, a decision expected to cost 250 or more jobs
locally.

Dale MacConnaughay is the editor of The Oak Ridger. You may send him
e-mail to dmcconn@oakridger.com or call 423-220-5505. 
-- 
==================================================
Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director
Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee, Inc.
136 S Illinois Ave, Ste 208, Oak Ridge, TN 37830
Phone (865) 483-1333; Fax (865) 482-6572; E-mail loc@icx.net 
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