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More national lab budget cuts
Last month (December 20--scroll down) others in the Reed Business Information and I were discussing impending budget cuts at Fermilab. (See also Act now, becomes law this week: U.S. guts Fermilab budget .) The following Sunday I asked my buddy Joe, who retired from Argonne National Labs, if he thought they were going to get hit with cuts too. He said that Argonne's budget had been cut so many times there was probably nothing left. Well a story in this morning's Chicago Tribune sadly proved him wrong. Argonne's budget is going to be cut, portions of it closed, and layoffs are on the way.
Now let's be clear and note that this budget thing is our tax dollars, and we should probably be glad for any reductions in spending. On the other hand, in the greater scheme of things, the amount of money we're discussing in light of the national budget is infinitesimal. Why not throw a few bucks to our favorite programs? Enough get wasted on far less worthy things.
The article does make one very interesting note about how people may react to this:
"It's a complete surprise," [Argonne lab director] Robert Rosner said, "As a country we bemoan that we're losing our competitive advantage because we're not educating enough young scientists and engineers. Then this happens, and it sends a powerful message to anyone considering a career in research -- the wrong message. It's just devastating."
The wrong message indeed.
More national lab budget cuts
January 4, 2008
Last month (December 20--scroll down) others in the Reed Business Information and I were discussing impending budget cuts at Fermilab. (See also Act now, becomes law this week: U.S. guts Fermilab budget .) The following Sunday I asked my buddy Joe, who retired from Argonne National Labs, if he thought they were going to get hit with cuts too. He said that Argonne's budget had been cut so many times there was probably nothing left. Well a story in this morning's Chicago Tribune sadly proved him wrong. Argonne's budget is going to be cut, portions of it closed, and layoffs are on the way.Now let's be clear and note that this budget thing is our tax dollars, and we should probably be glad for any reductions in spending. On the other hand, in the greater scheme of things, the amount of money we're discussing in light of the national budget is infinitesimal. Why not throw a few bucks to our favorite programs? Enough get wasted on far less worthy things.
The article does make one very interesting note about how people may react to this:
"It's a complete surprise," [Argonne lab director] Robert Rosner said, "As a country we bemoan that we're losing our competitive advantage because we're not educating enough young scientists and engineers. Then this happens, and it sends a powerful message to anyone considering a career in research -- the wrong message. It's just devastating."
The wrong message indeed.
Posted by on January 4, 2008 | Comments (0)
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