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What's This All About? Science PPO Introduces
E-Newsletter
APA's Science Policy staff wants you to know about the
important policy issues that affect psychological science and
psychological scientists at the national level. The Science Policy staff
advocates for psychological science not just with members of Congress, but
also the Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human Services,
Department of Transportation, Department of Veterans Affairs, National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation, and the
Department of Education. To keep you aware of science policy within these
agencies and on Capitol Hill, we have created APA's Science Policy
Insider News (SPIN), a monthly email newsletter that will take you
inside the Administration and Congress for timely information from your
APA staff.
The President Presents His Fiscal Year 2003 Budget
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2003/budget.html
Strong Advocacy for NSF
As the Administration was drafting its Fiscal Year 2003
budget for the National Science Foundation (NSF), Heather Kelly and a
handful of colleagues from the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF)
were successful in garnering a key meeting with science budget analysts at
the President's Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The group of
science advocates drafted a coalition funding statement for FY 03,which
they used to make a strong case for increasing NSF support in the areas of
basic research, foundation-wide initiatives, education and training, and
major research equipment and instrumentation. Science PPO efforts on
appropriations will continue with a series of visits to members of
Congress and through APA testimony before the House Appropriations
Subcommittee that oversees NSF's budget. Coalition
Funding Statement for FY03
NSF Rolls Out New Math and Science
Partnerships Program
NSF's Education and Human Resources Directorate (EHR)
received $160 million in the FY02 budget to create a new Math and Science
Partnerships (MSP) program, designed to improve K-12 science and
mathematics education through support for partnerships between local
school districts and colleges and universities. Last month Science PPO
asked Dr. Marcia Linn, a learning researcher who participated in our
Science Advocacy Training Workshop, to meet with NSF program staff and
discuss ways to ensure that psychological expertise is incorporated into
the implementation process. Heather Kelly of Science PPO has been active
in the design of the MSP program, lobbying Congress to provide funding to
NSF as well as the Department of Education and encouraging coordination
between the agencies. Summary
of 9th Annual Science Advocacy Training Workshop
We also have been active on the NSF end, bringing in psychologists to
meet with the program committee and helping design how the partnerships
will be implemented both to ensure that appropriate expertise in learning
research is incorporated and that psychology is considered one of the
target sciences. Math
and Science Partnerships (MSP)
NIMH Pursues Agenda Without Hyman
Karen Studwell attended the National Advisory Mental Health Council
meeting held on January 25th. Richard Nakamura, Acting Director of the
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), chaired his first Council
meeting, which also gave Steve Hyman the opportunity to formally say
goodbye to the Council since he left in December. Dr. Nakamura affirmed
that he would not be seeking the Director position, and stated that he is
encouraged by the numerous inquiries he has received about the position.
He also highlighted NIMH's actions taken in response to the attacks of
September 11th, both in the short term and long term. While collaborating
with other federal agencies to ensure appropriate mental health care was
available for victims in both New York City and Washington DC, NIMH also
accepted applications for Rapid Assessment Post Impact of Disaster (RAPID)
grants, which are being reviewed this month. Grant announcements are
expected in February and projects may focus on psychological, biological
and behavioral reactions to trauma, appropriate delivery of mental health
services, and risk factors for post traumatic stress disorder, depression,
and substance abuse, among both adults and children.
Other priority areas for NIMH this year include expanding research to
larger clinical trials, addressing the decrease in clinicians pursuing
clinical research career paths, increasing the translational research in
behavioral science, and developing new clinical psychopathologic endpoints
for diagnosis and treatment of depression. APA's Executive Director for
Science Kurt Salzinger and Associate Director Merry Bullock will meet with
Dr. Nakamura in February to discuss some of these issues and how
psychological science can contribute to these goals for next year.
Countering Terrorism at the
Academies
Geoff Mumford has been working with APA Senior Scientist Susan Brandon
to help the National Academies of Science (NAS) find expertise for their
Committee on Science and Technology for Countering Terrorism. The
Committee will characterize the range of threats to the nation's security
by targets, weapons, and delivery systems, and the possible points of
intervention. Next, research agendas will be developed across the topical
domains of 8 separate panels: 1) Biological, 2) Chemical, 3) Nuclear and
Radiological, 4) Information Technology, 5) Transportation, 6) Electric
Facilities, Cities and Fixed Infrastructure, 7) Behavioral, Social and
Institution issues, and 8) Systems Analysis and Systems Engineering. The
output from the Committee will be routed through OSTP Director John
Marburger to help inform Homeland Defense strategies. You can stay abreast
of NAS activities at our website: http://www.apa.org/ppo/issues/snasterror.html
Just The Facts Ma'am-APA Coordinates
Efforts with the FBI
Geoff Mumford has been working with APA Senior Scientist Susan Brandon
to pull together a meeting "Countering Terrorism: Integration of
Theory and Practice" co-sponsored by APA, the FBI Academy, the
University of Pennsylvania (College of Arts & Sciences), and the
Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict on February 28,
2002 to be held at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. The goal of the
meeting is to foster engagement between behavioral and social scientists
and those who directly deal with the challenges facing this country
following the events of September 11. Twenty to twenty-five
behavioral/social scientists with expertise in areas such as 1) judgement,
decision-making and risk communication; 2) stereotyping, bias production
and ethnic prejudice; 3) human credulity; 4) conflict resolution; 5) hate
crimes; and 6) the Muslim-American community will meet with field agents
and other personnel from Federal and local agencies (FBI, CIA, US Secret
Service, NSA, DoD and representatives of community police). This meeting
follows a series of small-group meetings that APA has organized and
facilitated between the FBI Academy and several psychologists and
political scientists since last October, whose aims were similar. A
subgroup of participants will meet with senior staff of the Senate
Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation the following day to
discuss behavioral and social science issues that Congress will need to
address in formulating counter-terrorism policies.
Securing a Role for Science
Geoff Mumford has been working to cultivate a relationship with the
newly created Transportation Security Administration (TSA) which is the
largest federal agency begun since World War II. The day after John Magaw
was nominated to head the TSA in December, APA delivered briefing
materials to his office at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
that highlighted the important role psychological science has to play in
transportation security including personnel selection, human performance,
human-technology interactions, and system integration. At his confirmation
hearing, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) raised questions about the
fitness-for-duty of Federal Air Marshall recruits. To improve
understanding of this subject, APA sent Magaw additional information,
including a summary of a recent National Research Council meeting on that
subject to Magaw with a cover letter highlighting the prominent roles APA
psychologists are playing at the National Academies and the FAA as well as
at the FBI and the US Secret Service (Magaw used to lead the USSS).
Geoff is currently working with FAA, TSA and Senate Commerce Committee
staff as well as other external security consumer groups like the Air Line
Pilots Association and Air Transport Association to iron out an optimal
arrangement for the Scientific Advisory Panel that will oversee a newly
authorized $50 million security research and development program at TSA.
Scientists Get Involved in
Education Issues
Last week APA's Pat Kobor sent a note to several listserves requesting
comments or expressions of interest from scientists who conduct
school-based research. Recent federal legislation and some state law
changes may make it more difficult to conduct survey research without
prior parental consent. To view this information, visit the Science PPO
web site at:
http://www.apa.org/ppo/ppan/schoolbasedarch.html.
Congress Defines Scientifically Based Education
Research
The recently passed No Child Left Behind Act contains a definition of
"scientifically based research" that has some stakeholders
concerned about the future of education research as Congress moves forward
with the reauthorization of the Office of Educational Research and
Improvement. APA's Science and Education PPO staff requested comments from
the Board of Scientific Affairs and others engaged in education research
to assist in APA's policy development efforts. Please contact Karen
Studwell if you wish to weigh in on this important issue.
Any Questions?
If you have any questions regarding SPIN or other science policy
issues, please feel free to contact any of APA's Science PPO staff.
Geoff
Mumford, Ph.D., Director of Science Policy
Pat
Kobor, Senior Science Policy Analyst
Heather
O'Beirne Kelly, Ph.D., Senior Legislative and Federal Affairs Officer
Karen
Studwell, J.D., Legislative and Federal Affairs Officer
LaTonya Wesley, Legislative Assistant
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