June 29, 2008
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Credit where credit is due
Fermilab Bailed Out by Congress
President Bush expected to sign bill intended to prevent layoffs
The nation's premier particle physics laboratory—Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, Ill.—just got a new lease on life.
The U.S. Senate yesterday passed legislation that provides $400 million for science programs, including $62.5 million to the Office of Science in the Department of Energy (DOE), which oversees Fermilab. The measure, passed by the House last week, now goes to President Bush, who has indicated he will sign it.
Fermilab says the infusion will likely prevent layoffs in the works since December, when Congress slashed the lab's 2008 budget from the $372 million requested by the DOE to $320 million, down $20 million from 2007.
To keep alive the lab's hunt for the elusive Higgs boson—the long-awaited source of all mass in the universe—staff were forced to take mandatory work furloughs of one week a month, and lab officials planned to lay off approximately 140 employees. The furloughs ended in May after an anonymous donation of $5 million.
Today was the deadline for staff to decide whether to accept the lab's buyout offer before layoffs begin. Fermilab Director Pier Oddone said in a statement that between those opting for the buyout and the additional funding, "I expect to announce the end of involuntary layoffs at the laboratory."
"It's been such a long road that until all the 't's are crossed and the 'i's are dotted, I don't think anyone's breathed out yet," Judy Jackson, a spokesperson for the laboratory, said. "People are really very, very pleased," she added.
Fermilab said the added funds may allow researchers to begin new work on neutrinos, a type of subatomic particle that will become the lab's main line of research in coming years after its Higgs hunt ends.
_____________________________________________________________________________________After a presidency replete with nose-thumbing at the scientific community, Bush is for once on the right side of things and follows through accordingly. Who would guess that after his policy gaffs involving climate change, stem-cell research, and a tacit endorsement of "intelligent design", he would have a soft spot for particle physics. I intend to show my support by taking a tour of Fermilab sometime when I'm in the area. Spencer has never seen a particle accelerator, and I'm sure Alice will be thrilled.
Comments (1)
As linguist/political analyst George Lakoff said, conservatives are only against science when it conflicts with economic interests (i.e. global warming) or religious beliefs (i.e., opposing stem cell research and promoting intelligent design). Depending on your base, it's hard to say where true belief ends and political expediency begins. (Note: George Lakoff's books "Don't Think of an Elephant" and "Whose Freedom?" are well worth reading--in many ways, he knows conservatives better than they know themselves.) Apparently in W's mind, the Fermi lab doesn't conflict with money or religion, which is good news (for a change).
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