In article <Jul.17.11.29.00.1992.25193 at genbank.bio.net>, kristoff at genbank.bio.net (David Kristofferson) writes:
>roy at alanine.phri.nyu.edu (Roy Smith) writes:
>>>If I really made an
>>obnoxious pest of myself, I could imagine all my usenet neighbors might be
>>persuaded to cut their connections to me, but I'd be very surprised (and
>>shocked, and angry) if some official representitive of the US Government
>>could force me to shut up.
>> Roy, you are absolutely correct; no one is going to force you to "shut
> up" nor did I ask anyone to do so; I suggested instead that such
> discussions be moved to other forums that do not having funding
> strings attached.
>> I am asking this as a friend and as a collaborator with you on the
> bionet.molbio.genbank.updates project. You are right that neither the
> government nor IG nor I own these newsgroups. The only claim that I
> can make is that I have worked hard for several years to establish
> these forums as a service to the scientific community in addition to
> the other services that I have helped provide to all of you via both
> BIONET and the GenBank On-line Service. During the past years I have
> never been able to devote the amount of time that I believe is needed
> to turn BIOSCI into a really first class operation because of all of
> my other obligations on BIONET and GenBank. I now have a grant which
> is currently in the final stages of processing which will support a
> part of my salary and part of Kenton Hoover's salary after the end of
> the Genbank contract. I am looking forward finally to the opportunity
> to work towards this goal. Due to the demise of GenBank here, without
> this grant I could very well find myself unemployed in less than three
> months. Many of the other members of my staff are facing similar
> uncertain fates right now and I have assisted some of them in similar
> granting efforts.
>[...]
> Do any of you honestly think that I don't value free speech???? I
> wouldn't have devoted my time and energies to these forums if that was
> true, but I did so precisely because I strongly believed (and still
> do) that newsgroups gave all parties a chance to be heard without
> intervention by an editorial elite. This runs the obvious risk of the
> newsgroups degenerating into valueless noise, and I have battled that
> criticism often in the past. On the other hand, I have also heard
> many others say that, despite their initial doubts about the prospects
> for success of this venture, the bionet groups have succeeded in being
> remarkably self-regulating.
[...]
> We are all involved in competitive activities, especially in the
> funding process, and I have never shirked from competition, but
> winning by breaking the rules is a hollow victory. Nonetheless, the
> old adage "nice guys finish last" is witness to the fact that many are
> not encumbered by such scruples, and our field is no stranger to this
> kind of activity.
>> So, Roy (and others), you are free to say whatever you want in spite
> of past requests from NIH to me to discourage the use of the
> newsgroups for political lobbying. I also obviously can not stop
> people from posting commercial job postings despite NSF's wishes.
> Please just be aware that by doing so here, instead of in other USENET
> forums specifically designed for such activities, you run the
> potential of having **my hide and that of the people that work with
> me** pay for *your* right to sound off here instead of in more
> appropriate forums. You *are* right; no government official will come
> after *YOU*. But, if you have any regards for the help that we have
> provided to you and the rest of the community in the past, I'd like
> your assistance in not putting my staff and I at risk.
>> Sincerely,
>> Dave Kristofferson
> GenBank Manager
>>kristoff at genbank.bio.net
In the 60's the Nixon administration developed a "hit list" of
scientists, including Nobel lauriates, who would not have their PHS grants
funded/renewed because of their political activites during the election
campaign (in favor of a candidate whom they thought would have a more
enlightened policy toward science). An exec sec risked his job by informing
one of these scientists about the list and the true reason his grant would not
be renewed. The people on this list put themselves, their staffs (including
me) and their institutions at further risk of retaliations by trying to expose
the existence of this hit list and unreasonable infringement of free speech.
I personally think that in the long run, we are all better off for their risky
choices.
None of us can know what our values and motivations really are until
they are put to the test.
Fote
=========================================================================
Foteos Macrides Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology
MACRIDES at WFEB2.BITNET 222 Maple Avenue, Shrewsbury, MA 01545
=========================================================================
