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Combating Terrorism: Some Responses from the
Behavioral Sciences
In January following a request from Presidential Science
Advisor, John Marburger, APA's Science Directorate initiated a call for
examples of research vignettes that might inform (directly or indirectly)
strategies to deal with the aftermath of the nations terrorist attacks.
Over the past three months many in the field have rallied and APA's Senior
Scientist, Susan Brandon, has taken charge of archiving and disseminating
that information. We hope that others of you will be sufficiently
moved by the range of issues addressed to see the relevance of your own
research in this context and to consider providing an example of your own.
Dr. Marburger and his staff at OSTP have expressed appreciation for these
examples and they are clearly shaping his public presentation of the
issue. For example, at the annual American Association for the Advancement
of Science Colloquium on Science and Technology Policy last week, Dr.
Marburger's keynote
address was dominated by references for the need to understand the
social and behavioral sciences.
Each of these vignettes is organized to answer a question
by stating the problem, providing examples of relevant research and then
providing implications/applications for counter-terrorism. See the full
article at: http://www.apa.org/ppo/issues/svignetteterror2.html
APA Calls on Members to Engage in Advocacy Through
Media Outreach
In response to a Science Directorate initiative asking APA
members to become more actively involved in submitting opinions to local
and national newspapers (see: http://www.apa.org/science/editorial.html),
Geoff Mumford submitted a letter to The Washington Post highlighting the
importance of behavioral research funded by the Department of Defense. The
letter was published on April 15 and is available online at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48816-2002Apr14.html
Please e-mail your published letters and opinion pieces to
either
Kurt
Salzinger or
Geoff
Mumford so the Science Directorate and Public Policy Office can archive
examples of media advocacy from our membership.
Reception for House Science Committee
On March 12, Geoff Mumford and Heather Kelly joined
advocacy colleagues from the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF)
in hosting a reception for Members of Congress and professional staff from
the House Science Committee. Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY)
continues to be a strong and influential advocate on Capitol Hill for
increasing the National Science Foundation (NSF) budget. He and his staff
have been very receptive to the science community's concerns and
recommendations regarding NSF programs as well as the federal investment
in science more broadly. As a result of conversations with committee
staff, Geoff has organized a briefing
to be held April 24th in support of the Decade of Behavior
initiative focusing on the role of social and behavioral sciences in
emergency preparedness/emergency response.
For information on upcoming House Science Committee
hearings and legislative priorities, visit their Web site at http://www.house.gov/science/welcome.htm
(those of you with the appropriate audio/visual capacity can even watch
committee hearings on your computers via live Web casts from the Rayburn
House Office Building hearing room).
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APA's Congressional Testimony this Month
As we do each spring, Science PPO submitted official
testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee responsible for
funding three federal agencies with behavioral research portfolios: the
National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) (see http://www.apa.org/ppo/issues/sfy03vahud.test.html
link on our Web site to read the testimony). A shorter version will be
submitted to the parallel Appropriations Subcommittee in the House this
month, and we have asked Dr. Nora Newcombe (Division 7 President and NSF
grantee) to present our testimony orally before the Subcommittee during
its outside witness hearing on April 16th. Dr. Newcombe has been
instrumental in working with NSF staff to design the new foundation-wide
Science of Learning Centers, and our testimony highlights the importance
of providing initial funding of $20 million for these centers in Fiscal
Year 2003.
Joint Division 19/Division 21 Symposium on the Potomac
Dianne Maranto, APA Science Directorate's Director of
Psychology in the Workplace, and PPO's Heather Kelly headed down to Ft.
Belvoir, Virginia in March for a joint symposium sponsored by Divisions 19
(Military Psychology) and 21 (Applied Experimental and Engineering
Psychology), in conjunction with the Potomac Chapter of the Human Factors
& Ergonomics Society. An impressive group of scientists presented
research on human factors issues and cognitive and physical performance
under stress, much of it funded through the military research labs. PPO
works hard each year to advocate for the behavioral research portfolios in
these labs. Highlights of the meeting also included a U.S. Army Night
Vision Lab demonstration at nightfall, and an "up close and
personal" look at a soldier wearing the latest version of the Army's
Land Warrior high-tech infantry suit, courtesy of Ft. Belvoir's PEO/PM
Soldier Systems group. See http://www.apa.org/ppo/issues/sdiv1921symp.psa.html
on our Web site for more information on the symposium.
House Members Move Closer to Passing a Bill for OERI
Reauthorization
In recent weeks, legislation to reauthorize the Office of
Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) was the subject of both a
hearing and a markup on the Hill and is expected to pass the House soon.
Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE), Chairman of the House Education and Workforce
Subcommittee on Education Reform held a hearing on his bill, the Education
Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (H.R.3801) and the full committee has also
reviewed the legislation, which may pass the House soon.
Russ Whitehurst, Assistant Secretary of Education Research
and Improvement, testified before the subcommittee that he supported the
principle of the bill, though he did have some concerns. His testimony and
other public testimony, is available at the Subcommittee Web site at: http://edworkforce.house.gov/hearings/107th/edr/oeri22802/wl22802.htm.
HR 3801 seeks to restructure and rename OERI, strengthen
the scientific rigor of the research it funds, increase its authorized
appropriations levels, improve the information dissemination function of
the office, and improve the independence of the office from the Department
of Education. Members of the full committee also met in March to review
the bill, legislatively known as the markup, and some members questioned
legislative language that calls for more competition for funding for the
research centers and labs. Committee staff is still in the process of
revising and finalizing the bill, which the House is expected to pass this
month. The APA's Science and Education Directorate submitted the
following comments to Rep. Castle while the committee was making
recommended changes to the bill.
In the other chamber, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Chairman
of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has scheduled a
hearing on OERI reauthorization on April 30th. Russ Whitehurst will likely
testify again, though there is currently no Senate bill on the issue.
Senate Committee Staff are rumored to be crafting their own bill, which
has yet to be introduced. APA's Science and Education PPO staff will
continue to follow this issue.
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OERI Board Meets in March
Regardless of the status of its reauthorization, OERI
continues to make progress on its initiatives. In March, Karen Studwell
attended the National Educational Research Policy and Priorities Board's
first quarterly meeting of 2002. Dr. Whitehurst addressed the Board and
explained the effect that the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 would
have on the structure and functioning of OERI. One area he highlighted was
OERI's desire to increase its ability to hire scientific experts under the
Excepted Service Authority, which is a separate and more flexible method
of hiring qualified individuals for temporary assignments within federal
agencies. OERI is currently looking for quality scientists who would be
interested in working at OERI under this authority.
OERI staff updated the Board on its current research focus
areas, including research into cognition and cognitive science,
evaluations of preschool curriculum, research into reading comprehension,
and the recent request for proposals for the What Works Clearinghouse.
More information about all of these funding opportunities can be found at:
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/fy2002competitions.html
Any questions?
If you have any questions regarding SPIN or specific
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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