- (Los Angeles Times) -- More than 4000 scientists - including
48 Nobel Prize winners and 127 members of the US National Academy of Sciences
- have accused the Bush Administration of distorting and suppressing science
to suit its political goals.
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- "Across a broad range of policy areas, the Administration
has undermined the quality and independence of the scientific advisory
system and the morale of the Government's outstanding scientific personnel,"
the scientists said in a letter on Thursday.
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- The Administration has often been accused of misusing
science to further its policy aims.
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- Administration officials rejected the criticism, just
as they did when the same letter was published in February bearing the
names of 62 prominent scientists.
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- John Marburger, director of the Office of Science and
Technology Policy, said the letter and a report published simultaneously
by the Union of Concerned Scientists made "sweeping generalisations
based on a patchwork of disjointed facts and accusations that reach conclusions
that are wrong and misleading".
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- "This Administration values and supports science,
both as a vital necessity for national security and economic strength and
as an indispensable source of guidance for national policy," Dr Marburger
said.
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- The scientists cited examples of esteemed colleagues
denied seats on advisory panels, apparently because of their political
beliefs.
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- Gerald Keusch, who left his post at the National Institutes
of Health as associate director for international research and director
of the Fogarty International Centre, said the office of the Health and
Human Services Secretary, Tommy Thompson, had rejected 19 of his 26 candidates
for the centre's board. Among the 19 was a Nobel laureate who, Dr Keusch
said he was told, was turned down because his name had appeared in newspaper
advertisements criticising the Administration for manipulating science.
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- Dr Keusch's nominees for the board, which advises on
which research should get federal grants, were accepted during the Clinton
administration, but once President George Bush took over his nominations
"were rejected one after another".
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- Among Dr Keusch's nominees who were rejected was Jane
Menken, a population expert at the University of Colorado who served on
advisory boards under President Ronald Reagan and the first President George
Bush.
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- "I was being renominated and I was turned down,"
Dr Menken said. "No official ever gave me any reason." Contrary
to Bush Administration policy, Dr Menken supports the availability of safe,
legal abortions.
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- The Health and Human Services spokesman, Bill Pierce,
said there was no evidence that the Bush Administration
was manipulating government science to bolster its policy aims.
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- Janet Rowley, a member of the President's Advisory Council
on Bioethics, said she had seen examples of the misuse of science.
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- "This Administration distorts scientific knowledge
on stem cell research, which makes it increasingly difficult to have an
honest debate in a field that holds promise for treatment of many serious
diseases," she said.
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- Copyright © 2004. The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/09/1089000357924.html?oneclick=true
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