[meteorite-list] Postponement … Repeal sequester's cuts on NASA spending in public outreach

From: Gary Fujihara <fujmon_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2013 07:00:43 -1000
Message-ID: <34C13DB3-9FA9-45F5-B5A3-C78C320EFE29_at_mac.com>

Indeed Carl, the sequestration is already affecting not just NASA employees but NASA grant holders. A colleague who is organizing a conference on 'Catastrophic Disruptions in the Solar System' (http://www.cd8.hawaii-conference.com) in Hawaii is seeing a fallout in attendees because of restrictions on travel by both NASA employees and grant holders.

Whats even more unpalatable for me is the sequester's cuts on NASA's spending in public outreach and STEM programs, my field. So although off-topic, because I teach K12 and undergraduates astronomy and physics through meteoritics, I would like to encourage all of you to please sign an e-petition to repeal the sequester's cuts on NASA spending in public outreach and STEM programs:

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/repeal-sequesters-cuts-nasas-spending-public-outreach-and-its-stem-programs/kY7Tw85q

Because without funding for public outreach and science education today, how are we to inspire and nurture tomorrow's scientists, engineers and technicians?

gary

On Mar 26, 2013, at 6:28 AM, Carl Agee <agee at unm.edu> wrote:

> As the "Sequestration" starts to propagate...
>
> Carl Agee
>
>
> --
> Carl B. Agee
> Director and Curator, Institute of Meteoritics
> Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences
> MSC03 2050
> University of New Mexico
> Albuquerque NM 87131-1126
>
> Tel: (505) 750-7172
> Fax: (505) 277-3577
> Email: agee at unm.edu
> http://meteorite.unm.edu/people/carl_agee/
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Pulliam, Joyce N (6050) <joyce.n.pulliam at jpl.nasa.gov>
> Date: Tue, Mar 26, 2013 at 9:40 AM
> Subject: Postponement of the 8th International Mars Conference to 2014
> To:
>
>
> Postponement of the 8th International Mars Conference to 2014
>
> ________________________________
>
> The impacts of sequestration on the Federal budget have led to new travel
> policies that severely constrain the participation of NASA center employees,
> including JPL, and other government employees (e.g., the U. S. Geological
> Survey) in scientific conferences, including the planned 8th International
> Mars Conference set for July 15-19 on the Caltech campus. The current
> fiscal environment is sufficiently restrictive that we, the organizers of
> the conference, have decided to delay the meeting for one year, holding it
> instead in June/July of 2014. We sought advice from the MEPAG Executive
> Committee, which unanimously concurred with our decision.
>
>
>
> We were preparing for a general mailing last Monday when NASA Headquarters
> asked us to hold off and consider whether the conference could be hosted
> electronically. This was a reasonable request, given recent success for
> several meetings held via electronic media. However, after consideration,
> we felt that this would not work for the 8th International Conference on
> Mars. This series of Mars conferences have at opportune times provided
> comprehensive looks at our state of knowledge regarding Mars. They are, by
> design (e.g., broad participation, no parallel sessions, and yes a captive
> audience in an academic setting) meant to foster cross-disciplinary
> discussion, integration and innovation.
>
>
>
> Although it was our strong preference to hold the conference this year, the
> meeting in 2014 will include even more results from Mars, including
> Curiosity?s further exploration of Gale Crater, as the rover will then be
> well into the second year of its primary science mission. We have no doubt
> that Mars will remain in the news in the coming year, given the ongoing
> orbital and surface exploration of the planet, and there could be several
> focused workshops or conferences in that time; each needs to decide if an
> electronic forum is appropriate. In the meantime, we will work with NASA
> over the coming year to obtain its approval for extensive participation by
> its researchers, which is vital to the overall success of a conference that
> is of the scale of its predecessors. We look forward to a full conference
> in June/July 2014 and hope to see you there.
>
>
>
> Dan McCleese / Dave Beaty / Rich Zurek
>
> 8th International Mars Conference conveners
> ______________________________________________
>
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Gary Fujihara
Big Kahuna Meteorites Inc.
PO Box 4175, Hilo, HI 96720
(808) 640-9161
http://bigkahuna-meteorites.com/
http://www.ebay.com/sch/fujmon/m.html
Received on Tue 26 Mar 2013 01:00:43 PM PDT