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From: piner@pur-phy.UUCP (Richard Piner)
Newsgroups: net.physics
Subject: APS "What's New"
Message-ID: <1839@pur-phy.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 10-Aug-85 01:16:02 EDT
Article-I.D.: pur-phy.1839
Posted: Sat Aug 10 01:16:02 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 17-Aug-85 06:30:52 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: Purdue Univ. Physics Dept., IN
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Posted: Fri  Aug  9, 1985   3:21 PM EDT              Msg: SGIF-2048-8200
From:   RPARK
To:     WHATSNEW
CC:     RPark
Subj:   What's new

         WHAT'S NEW, Friday, August 9, 1985          Washington, D.C.
         
         
         1.  UNIVERSITIES RESEARCH ASSOCIATION, INC., which manages 
         Fermilab and R&D and conceptual design for the SSC, has 
         announced the resignation of Guy Stever as president.  URI is 
         a consortium of 56 US and Canadian universities engaged in 
         high energy physics.  Stever, a former director of the 
         National Science Foundation, will be replaced by another 
         former director, Ed Knapp.
         
         2.  CONGRESS IS IN RECESS until September 4 in their annual 
         exodus to avoid Washington's notorious August weather.  
         Washington doesn't quite come to a stop in their absence, but 
         it certainly slows down.  There are, however, plenty of 
         unresolved issues for Congress to take up when it returns.
         
         3.  A PERMANENT EXCLUSION OF EMPLOYER-PROVIDED EDUCATIONAL 
         ASSISTANCE from gross income would be provided by bills now 
         before the Senate (S. 558) and House (H.R. 1356).  Such an 
         exemption is currently provided by Section 127 of the 
         Internal Revenue Code which will soon expire without 
         Congressional action.  A permanent exclusion is included in 
         the President's proposed tax reform plan in keeping with the 
         recommendation of the President's Commission on Industrial 
         Competitiveness "that our tax code not further bias employers 
         against funding employee training."  Such an exclusion is 
         regarded by many as essential in the rapidly changing 
         environment of high technology industry.
         
         4.  THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE HOLDING SECURITY CLEARANCES is to be 
         reduced by 10% as a result of the recent spy scandals.  This 
         will affect about 130,000 defense contractor employees and is 
         expected to result in a sizable number of layoffs.  It is 
         also expected to result in an expanded use of the polygraph 
         in the screening of applicants for jobs on classified 
         projects.  Those favoring expanded use of the polygraph 
         appeared to be supported by reports that the CIA employee 
         charged recently with disclosing the names of CIA informants 
         in Ghana was investigated after she failed a routine 
         polygraph examination.  In fact, Representative Don Edwards 
         (D-CA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Civil and 
         Constitutional Rights, notes that the CIA station chief in 
         Ghana ordered the employee to terminiate her relationship 
         with a Ghanaian more than a year before the test was 
         administered.  It has been argued that the successes claimed 
         for the polygraph usually occur when the examiner has 
         independent knowledge of evasion.
         
         Robert L. Park
         American Physical Society                THAT'S ALL 8/9/85