This Chronicle of Higher Ed. Story (note: not a free story) on National Academy of Sciences says as the United States finds itself at war with terror, the academy has broken with its independent tradition and allowed the federal government to assume unusual oversight power. Academy officials say they are struggling to balance security concerns against the need to advise the nation about serious threats. They say a report on agricultural bioterrorism that found the nation markedly ill-prepared for countering an attack against livestock and crops is being withheld from the public indefinitely.
\”It\’s a very slippery slope, once one turns the coin over and decides that scientific openness is a threat,\” adds Ms. Widnall, who served as secretary of the Air Force under President Bill Clinton. \”Then there really is no limit to what can be regulated and restricted. And it\’s a failure to understand the conditions under which science advances and the benefits that flow to our society, both in terms of actual results and in terms of the people who are educated.\”
Thanks to Jen Young.
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