Subject: What's New @ IEEE-USA Eye on Washington (8/24/01) Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2001 20:36:21 -0400 From: c.brantley@ieee.org To: ieeeusa-eyeonwashington@ieee.org ======================================
American Bar Association to Review UCITA Legislation Would Aid Small Businesses File for Foreign Patents Arden Bement Nominated As NIST Director Study Shows Federal R&D "Ear-Marks" Are on the Rise Federal Labs See Decline in Cooperative Research Agreements NASA Launches Independent Review of Space Station INS To Increase Oversight of Foreign Students Study Finds Engineering PH.D's Turning Away from Academic Careers IEEE-USA Cosponsors Congressional Reception Featuring Nanotechnology Recent IEEE-USA Policy Communications Funding Opportunities Recent Reports/Articles of Note Congress returns to Washington on Sept. 3 ======================================

AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION TO REVIEW UCITA

At its annual meeting on Aug. 2, the American Bar Association's Board of Governors voted to form a task force to review the Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act (UCITA), model state legislation opposed by IEEE-USA that would make a wide variety of computer click-wrap and shrink-wrap license practices fully enforceable in states that adopt the act. The ABA action averted a vote on a resolution proposed by the ABA Tort and Insurance Practice Section that would have put ABA formally in the ranks of UCITA opponents. Instead, the ABA Task Force will meet this fall to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of UCITA and explore the willingness of UCITA proponents to make significant changes to address ABA's concerns. In exchange for ABA's action, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, the drafters of UCITA, agreed not to push for UCITA passage in other states until the ABA Task Force completes its work, although other UCITA proponents are free to continue their lobbying efforts. So far this year, UCITA legislation has been considered in at least a dozen states, but has failed to pass in any state, with most state legislatures recessed for the balance of the year. Modified UCITA legislation is currently in force in Maryland and Virginia. See ABA-TIPS resolution and background material on UCITA at: http://www.abanet.org/tips/ucita/

LEGISLATION WOULD AID SMALL BUSINESSES FILE FOR FOREIGN PATENTS On Aug. 2, Senator John Kerry introduced the SBIR and STTR Foreign Patent Protection Act of 2001 (S.1323), legislation which would establish a five year pilot program at the federal Small Business Administration to provide one-time $25,000 grants to help up to 1000 eligible small businesses file overseas patent applications on technology developed through either the Small Business Innovative Research or Small Business Technology Transfer Programs. According to Sen. Kerry, "These small businesses need help because protecting the intellectual property of the technology they export requires them to file for foreign patents, and the costs associated with filing such patents are often prohibitively expensive." Kerry sited studies noting the cost of obtaining patent protection in Europe ($20,000), Japan ($27,200) and Canada ($7,200). The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship for consideration.

ARDEN BEMENT NOMINATED AS NIST DIRECTOR On Aug. 16, President Bush announced his intention to nominate Dr. Arden Bement, Jr. as Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at the Department of Commerce. Bement currently heads Purdue University's School of Nuclear Engineering, where he has taught as a professor of nuclear engineering since 1993. He also serves as director of the Midwest Superconductivity Consortium. Before joining the faculty at Purdue, Bement was Vice President for Technical Resources (1980-88) and Vice President for Science and Technology (1988-93) for TRW, Inc. Bement was also Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (1979-1980) and Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Materials Science Office (1976-1979), and was appointed by the previous President Bush to serve on the National Science Foundation's National Science Board. Bement is graduate of the Colorado School of Mines and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

STUDY SHOWS FEDERAL R&D "EAR-MARKS" ARE ON THE RISE According to an analysis released on Aug. 10 by the Chronicle of Higher Education, the FY 2001 Federal budget includes a record $1.67 billion in non-merit reviewed "earmarks" for research at 528 universities and institutions. The total represents a $624 million increase over last year's earmarks, and a five time increase over the 1996 total of $296 million. The significant increase in what many characterize as "pork barrel" spending has prompted expressions of concern within the research community, which were echoed in an Aug. 16 editorial by the Washington Post warning that "this kind of spending eats away at the legitimacy of the research enterprise and ultimately at the resources available to it." Congressional defenders of the practice, however, argue that the majority of earmarks are for legitimate research that helps to expand the national research infrastructure as well as supporting important national needs, whereas competitively awarded research grants are allocated disproportionately to a small group of elite institutions. See related press release at: http://chronicle.com/free/v47/i48/48a02001.htm See searchable database at: http://chronicle.com/stats/pork/

FEDERAL LABS SEE DECLINE IN COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AGREEMENTS According to the General Accounting Office, Department of Energy laboratories are turning increasingly to technology licenses as the primary form of partnership with industry, replacing Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) as the preferred partnership mechanism. The number of CRADAs has declined by more than 60 percent since 1995, as funding for CRADA efforts has dried up. According to DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the major DOE laboratories, CRADAs enable laboratories to recruit and retain experienced staff and improve U.S. businesses position in the global economy, but they also compete for limited funding and generally take longer to execute because of the complexity of the CRADA agreements. See Technology Transfer: DOE Has Fewer Partnerships, and They Rely More on Private Funding, General Accounting Office (GAO-01-568), July 6, 2001: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d01568.pdf

NASA LAUNCHES INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF SPACE STATION On July 31, NASA Administrator Dan Goldin announced the formation of a 19-member International Management and Cost Evaluation Task Force, which is charged to review "the budget and management challenges" facing the International Space Station. The panel will be chaired by former Martin Marietta president Thomas Young and includes famous open heart surgeon Michael DeBakey, Nobel Laureates Richard Roberts and Robert Richardson and other prominent members. The panel was prompted in part by increasing Congressional pressure on NASA to address an estimated $4 billion in projected cost overruns for the space station program, which have forced NASA to outline plans that would redirect funding from the habitation and propulsion modules, a crew return vehicle, and the space station research racks. The Task Force held its first meeting on Aug. 20-21, and is expected to present its findings to the NASA Advisory Council by Nov. 1. See NASA Press Release at: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2001/01-152.txt

INS TO PROPOSE INCREASED OVERSIGHT OF FOREIGN STUDENTS The Wall Street Journal (Aug. 16) reports that the Immigration and Naturalization Service is finalizing new regulations for release this Fall that would impose a $95 fee on students entering the U.S. to study at U.S. institutions. Fees would be used to support a federal Student and Exchange Visitor Database that would interact with university information systems to keep tabs on the visa status of foreign students and help the INS track down those students whose visas have expired. This controversial proposal faces opposition from many in the higher education community who argue that the $95 fee would discourage students from pursuing opportunities to study in the U.S. and require universities to implement costly overhauls of their information systems. In related news, the INS is inviting public comment on proposed increases in the fee structure for immigration and naturalization services, including petitions for H-1B and other non-immigrant work visas. For details, see: http://www.ins.gov

STUDY FINDS ENGINEERING PH.D's TURNING AWAY FROM ACADEMIC CAREERS According to a recent NSF survey of 1997 doctoral recipients, although almost two-thirds (64%) of recent science and engineering Ph.D's entered graduate school with plans to making teaching their career, but only 47% pursued positions in the academic sector. Life science doctorate holders were the most likely to accept academic positions, while engineers were least likely to do so. See NSF Issue Brief on Academic Employment of Recent Science and Engineering Doctorate Holders: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/issuebrf/nsf01332/start.htm

IEEE-USA COSPONSORS CONGRESSIONAL RECEPTION FEATURING NANOTECHNOLOGY IEEE-USA is joining with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in sponsoring a congressional reception on Sept. 12 highlighting federal nanotechnology research. The reception, which is hosted by Rep. Nick Smith (R-MI), is being held in conjunction with "Small Wonders: Exploring the Vast Potential of Nanoscience", a one-day program sponsored by the National Science Foundation on Sept. 13 in Washington, DC to highlight NSF-funded research in nanoscale science and engineering. Exhibits from industry and academe will illustrate how nanotechnology impacts human lives, society as a whole, and the overall the science and engineering enterprise. See preliminary program at: http://www.nsf.gov/search97cgi/vtopic

RECENT IEEE-USA POLICY COMMUNICATIONS On Aug. 23, IEEE-USA wrote to House and Senate conferees on FY2002 Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary appropriations to urge funding of the $4 million "Excellence in Engineering" program proposed at the Federal Communications Commission See: http://www.ieeeusa.org/forum/POLICY/01aug23b.html On Aug. 23, IEEE-USA wrote to the Presidents of the National Academies of Science and Engineering urging that the Academies undertake a "thorough scientific and technological review of the proposed National Missile Defense (NMD) initiative." See: http://www.ieeeusa.org/forum/POLICY/01aug23a.html

On Aug. 23, IEEE-USA wrote to the Association of American Publishers disassociating IEEE-USA from AAP's July 19th statement concerning the Digital Millennium Copyright Act against Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov. See: http://www.ieeeusa.org/forum/POLICY/01aug23c.html

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES Information Technology Research (NSF) -- $130 million in FY 2002 funds to support research on opportunities at the interfaces between information technology (IT) and other disciplines, with a focus on software and hardware systems, augmenting individuals and transforming society, and advancement of the frontiers of science via IT. Grants will be made available to academic institutions and non-profit research institutions for small ($500K), medium ($1M per year/5 years) and large ($3M per year/5 years) projects. Deadlines: Nov. 9 for mandatory, preliminary proposals for large projects, Nov. 13 for medium project proposals, and Feb. 6, 2002 for small projects. See: http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf01149 Societal Dimensions of Science, Engineering and Technology (NSF) -- $27.5 million in FY 2002 funds for 30 grants for research related to the interactions of engineering, science, technology and society. Proposals sought in two areas: the first related to research on ethics, values, and the conduct of science and engineering; the second on social and strategic choices, including the legal, economic, and political contexts, that influence knowledge production and innovation and their effects. Proposal deadlines: Feb. 1, Aug 1 of each year. See: http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf01152

RECENT REPORTS/ARTICLES OF NOTE A Science and Technology Policy for the New Administration, by Steven W. Popper, Rand Review (Rand Institute, Spring 2001) See: http://www.rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/rr.03.01/polisci.html Defense Spectrum Management: More Analysis Needed to Support Spectrum Use Decisions for the 1755-1850 MHz Band. General Accounting Office (GAO-01-795, Aug. 20, 2001). See: http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?gao-01-795 ======================================

EDITOR: Chris Brantley IEEE-USA 1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 1202 Washington, DC 20036-5104 Phone: 202-785-0017, x8347 Fax: 202-785-0835 E-mail: c.brantley@ieee.org

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