NSF PR 00-30 (NSB 00-115) - May 15, 2000
This material is available primarily for archival
purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information
may be out of date; please see current contact information
at media
contacts.
Science Board Issues Statement on Need for Open Communication
and Access
The National Science Board (NSB) today issued a statement
saying it is concerned about indications that heightened
security concerns, especially at federal labs over
the past year, are causing a growing difficulty in
recruiting, hiring and retaining foreign-born and
native-born minority scientists and engineers.
The statement, approved by the NSB at the close of
its May 2000 meeting in Arlington, Va., is an effort
"to restore some balance in the public policy dialogue
on this issue," said NSB Chair Eamon Kelly.
"This is a critical issue. The country needs to look
at it carefully," added NSB member Robert C. Richardson,
vice provost for research and a professor of physics
at Cornell University.
The NSB statement said that the benefits of international
exchange to American science and technology are at
risk of being curtailed by "generic restrictions -
defined by nationality or ethnicity - on access of
personnel to U.S. laboratories, supercomputers and
intellectual 'exports' in the form of scientific meetings
and other modes of communication."
"It's already happening," said Chang-Lin Tien, an engineering
professor at the University of California, Berkeley
and an NSB member. Referring to instances of hiring
and visa slowdowns, enormously elaborate security
procedures and a general atmosphere of distrust in
some research corners, Tien offered that science and
engineering risk losing U.S. and foreign-born Asian
Americans if "racial profiling becomes a practice
in hiring and promoting at Federal labs and other
research facilities."
"The recruitment issue also relates to native-born
minorities," Kelly added. "Between 30- and 50-percent
of the Ph.D.s in our natural science and engineering
work force is foreign born, so it is a potentially
serious problem for the entire scientific enterprise."
Board members agreed in the statement that discouraging
talented scientists and engineers from working in
research facilities for reasons of national origin,
ethnicity or citizenship would "curb the flow of ideas,
preclude collaboration with peers and inhibit critical
knowledge transfer that could undermine our long-term
security interests..."
"Merit of ideas, not characteristics of their originators,
has been a core value of modern science," the NSB's
Bob H. Suzuki, said. Suzuki, who is president of California
State Polytechnic University in Pomona, said that
national security issues must be balanced against
this value, or "grave harm will result to the U.S.
role in global affairs, not just science and engineering."
The NSB statement affirmed the importance of protecting
U.S. defense science and safeguarding national security.
But it also underscored the importance of international
scientific exchange and cooperation to the long-term
national interest.
"To sustain the health and preeminence of the U.S.
science and engineering enterprise, the full utilization
of talent and open international exchange - across
sectors, institutional settings and disciplines -
are essential wherever research is conducted," the
statement concluded.
Attachment: NSB Statement
on Open Communication and Access in Science and Engineering.
Attachment - NSB
00-106
NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD
STATEMENT ON OPEN COMMUNICATION AND ACCESS
IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
ADOPTED AT THE 358TH MEETING, MAY 4, 2000
In Federal laboratories over the past year, due to
heightened security concerns, there are indications
of growing difficulty in the recruitment, hiring,
and retention of foreign-born scientists and engineers
and native-born minorities because of perceptions
based on nationality, ethnicity, or other characteristics.
American science and technology have greatly benefited
from international exchange and cooperation and from
the contributions of foreign-born scientists and engineers
who migrated to the U.S. and worked in our universities
and Federal research facilities. In the future, there
is a risk that such benefits could be curtailed by
generic restrictions - defined by nationality or ethnicity
- on access of personnel to U.S. laboratories, supercomputers,
and intellectual "exports" in the form of scientific
meetings and other modes of communication.
U.S. leadership in both defense and civilian arenas
and our national well-being depend on employing the
best talent, research facilities, and equipment and
on maximizing the open exchange of ideas to foster
advances in science and engineering knowledge. Discouraging
scientists and engineers from working in world-class
research facilities for reasons of national origin,
ethnicity, or citizenship would curb the flow of ideas,
preclude collaboration with peers, and inhibit critical
knowledge transfer that could undermine our long-term
security interests in areas such as nuclear nonproliferation
and waste cleanup.
The National Science Board affirms the prime importance
of protecting U.S. defense science and technology
and safeguarding national security while maintaining
openness in scientific communication. Rather than
contribute to more effective security, policies that
restrict such open communication and exchanges squander
human talent and deny American science and engineering
the benefits of openness and excellence. Our long
term national interest underscores the importance
of having policy makers recognize the substantial
benefits our Nation receives from international scientific
exchange and cooperation.
To sustain the health and preeminence of the U.S. science
and engineering enterprise, the full utilization of
talent and open international exchange - across sectors,
institutional settings, and disciplines - are essential
wherever research is conducted.
****
The National Science Board is the governing board
of the National Science Foundation and provides advice
to the President and Congress on matters of science
and engineering policy.
|