Researchers Praise Bill Clinton's Record

In his home state and here, they cite the presidential candidate's inclination and aptitude for nurturing science The prospect of Bill Clinton as president--should scientists be concerned? Robert Wright, an environmental scientist who has worked in the Arkansas state university system under Clinton's governorship, says no. "Bill Clinton is a strong friend of the applied sciences," claims Wright, a professor of biology at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. "He is acutely aware of what science is needed to foster economic development, and he supports it." University of Arkansas physical chemist Jim Hinton, who has received state funding, agrees, saying: "He's been a friend to me. Bill Clinton was very helpful in getting matching funds for a spectrometer I use for my research." If Clinton wins the Democratic presidential nomination at the convention in New York City next month, all eyes will be focused on his record in Arkansas--a state he has governed for 11 years. And Clinton's performance in the sciences is likely to be the object of attacks from his probable opponent, George Bush. HOW "THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY" RANKED IN 1989 COMPARED TO THE OTHER 49 STATES OF THE UNION AND WASHINGTON, D.C. * SCIENTISTS WITH PH.D.'S: RANK 41 * DOCTORATES AWARDED IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING: RANK 44 * TOTAL NON-FEDERAL ACADEMIC R&D FUNDING: RANK 41 * TOTAL R&D FUNDING FROM ALL FEDERAL AGENCIES: RANK 45 * TOTAL R&D FUNDING FROM NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: RANK 51 STATE OF THE STATE: Despite recent efforts to fortify its economic base through agricultural and manufacturing development, Arkansas remains a poor state. Although it ranks 33rd among the U.S.'s 50 states in population, it is the third poorest (only West Virginia and Mississippi are behind it) in terms of disposable per-capita income, according to the United States Bureau of the Census. How is it faring in the world of science? Recent statistics on research funding compiled by the National Science Foundation reveal that, by comparison to the other 49 states and the District of Columbia, Arkansas lags behind most of the nation in scientific investigation. In 1989, for example, Arkansas received about $57 million in total federal research and development funding, ranking it 45th among the states, and $806,000 in total R&D funding from NSF, ranking it dead last as a recipient of that agency's support. The state's numbers in new doctorates awarded in science and engineering and the total amount of federal support for academic R&D funding also all ranked near the bottom. Arkansas scientists who support Clinton point out that with little financial help from the federal government, his support was fundamental in creation of the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority (ASTA)--an effort aimed at revitalizing the state's anemic scientific enterprise. Working with the Arkansas legislature is not easy, the Arkansas scientists assert, since the state's constitution allows for a gubernatorial veto to be overridden with a simple legislative majority. --R.K. Not everyone in Arkansas is enthusiastic about Clinton's science record. Sheffield Nelson, the chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party and Clinton's challenger in the 1990 gubernatorial election, says any research accomplishments are due to the hard work of the citizens of Arkansas, not Clinton. "It's not that Clinton has not been paying much attention to science and technology, but his lack of business knowledge or expertise leads him to make bad decisions," asserts Nelson. "When most of his technological ventures finished, it was like pouring money down a rat hole. "I can't think of too many successful ventures he's had." State Science Programs Arkansas, the 18th smallest state in population and the third poorest state, is not known as a leader in the realm of scientific and technological development. The National Science Foundation, using statistics from the period 1986- 89, ranks the state nearly last in total R&D funding and 31st in the number of total scientists (see accompanying chart). "Arkansas is a poor state, and we have precious few resources," says Collis Geren, associate vice chancellor for research at the University of Arkansas. "But to Mr. Clinton's credit, he has tried to spread them as far as he can.... But in research, we are doing as good or better than most other entities in the state." Geren says one of the main thrusts of the Clinton administration in Arkansas has been an improvement of the state's economic base through increased funding and commitment to scientific research, state-of-the-art technology, and public school science education. In 1983, under Clinton's gubernatorial watch, the legislature created the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority (ASTA), a government agency that coordinates monetary and resource allocation for state scientific projects. ASTA offers grants to universities, matching-grant programs for university-industry collaborations, and both start-up support and R&D tax credits to private industry. Though ASTA is not an unusual program--as of 1990, every state had created a similar agency--it received an unusually large amount of support from Clinton, who made science and technology a key to Arkansas' economic growth, says ASTA president John Ahlen. "Science and technology," says Ahlen, who has a Ph.D. in physiology and bioengineering from the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago, "is clearly something he [Clinton] has actively incorporated as a long-term piece of his economic strategy." According to Ahlen, Clinton has taken a great deal of interest in the success of ASTA--so much so that the governor gave it cabinet-level representation. He says that owing to Clinton's efforts, the funding for ASTA increased more than 10 times between 1983 and 1985, and that by January 1986, all the agency's programs were up and running. Ahlen says that allegations in the media and by Republicans accusing Clinton of accepting favors from friends and big business are not true in the area of scientific research. When money is available for a program, Ahlen says, a proposal is written up and submitted to a board at ASTA, which then subjects it to peer review by other scientists, both in and out of the state. "The committee would decide on proposals based on scientific merit, not special interest," he says. The University of Arkansas' Geren explains that before the formation of ASTA, the state had no way to oversee funding for new scientific research. "No researcher can rely on ASTA money forever," he says, "but the agency appropriates seed money for young researchers who want to get started." The typical endowment, according to Ahlen, is between $40,000 and $50,000. Besides his providing of general funding, Clinton's supporters claim his fingerprints can be detected on some specific areas of science, such as superconductors, biotechnology, and the environment. Superconductors In 1988, two researchers at the University of Arkansas developed a thallium-based superconductor that could operate at very low temperatures. At that point, if the work were funded adequately, the state's largest college could receive a big payoff when it sold the licensing rights. One of the researchers, Allen Hermann, a professor of physics, says the Clinton administration pushed to obtain the financial support that would allow them to continue their work. This past April, 3 1/2 years later, the rights to the superconductor were sold by the university to Superconductor Technol- ogies Inc. of Santa Barbara, Calif., for about $1 million over two years. "After the breakthrough [in 1988], we initially got $100,000 from the state to support the work--and Bill was extremely supportive," says Hermann. He says that the governor's office eventually obtained $1 million in state funding for the researchers to set a up a university physics lab and finish the project. "He [Clinton] has done an excellent job in Arkansas, a state where he was really starting from scratch. A lot of things-- good things that have been done--are due to him," Hermann says. Clinton's former challenger Nelson, however, says the governor had no involvement with the superconductor research and he has not funneled more money into science and technology. "He has no practical business background," claims Nelson. "If his advisers said, `This will get you reelected, or this will make you president,' Clinton would do it. If they told him to jump off a 20-story building, he'd do it. "Clinton had no input in the superconductor research. In fact, one of the superconductor researchers left University of Arkansas because the conditions were bad. We've lost major professors in the area of science under Bill Clinton." Hermann did leave Arkansas and move to the University of Colorado in Boulder, but says his reasons were personal: "I've always loved Colorado. I lived there in the early '80s and have a retarded child in a state home that I wanted to be close to." Moreover, Travis Miles, a Republican state senator from the Fort Smith district in West Central Arkansas, disagrees with Nelson's assessment of the Clinton science record. "Nelson, as an unsuccessful candidate for governor, can hardly be expected to say anything good," Miles says. Miles notes that science education has always been a priority for Clinton and in 1983, he prodded the state congress into passing 30 or 40 new and higher standards for high school graduation requirements in subjects like math and physics. Another example of Clinton's commitment to science education, Miles says, was that at Clinton's urging, the legislature, in the last regular session this year, created the state's first math and science high school for gifted students. Four or five cities in the state are now in competition for the school, the state senator says. "Clinton has really led the way with some pretty important changes," Miles says. "On a scale from one to 10, with 10 being the best, he would come real close to 10 in promoting science education and attempting to further research capabilities at both land grant universities and community colleges." Though Clinton has made mistakes, Miles says, citing problems with the allocation of funds by the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission as an example, he acknowledges that the governor has worked to improve the quality of the state's science. "Now don't get me wrong. I'm a George Bush man 100 percent case, the devil deserves credit for Arkansas' science and technology advances." Biotechnology "Bill Clinton understands the potential impact of biotechnology and is willing to locate opportunities to assist the private sector--and not just mouth off," says David Dubbell, president of Pel-Freez Biologicals in Rogers, Ark., the state's largest biotechnology company. Dubbell, who has a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Arkansas, explains that ASTA is geared mostly toward smaller start-up companies. Larger scientific research firms, like his, benefit not from direct funding, but from state-created partnerships between private industry and the state's universities. "Pel-Freez and the University of Arkansas got matching state funds to develop a facility for monoclonal antibodies. We paid for the faculty, and the state paid for the lab space," he says. "The governor recognizes the need to encourage private-public partnerships." Warren Kroeker, a molecular biologist at Pel-Freez, says Clinton is "very supportive" of research and science. "He's got my vote," he says. "I would be very comfortable with him as president based on his performance in my area of scientific research." Last month, the Washington, D.C.-based Industrial Biotechnology Association questioned the presidential candidates about how they view the future of biotechnology. Clinton replied that his administration would support an "increase across the board in the budget for civilian R&D we will expand the civilian R&D budget." The Environment The health of Arkansas' environment is an issue that has already begun to dog Clinton's presidential campaign. Well- publicized criticism holds the governor responsible for major problems such as the excessive dumping of chicken excrement by Tyson Foods Inc. and the existence of Arkansas' 10 toxic waste sites, which appear on the federal government's Superfund hit list. Yet Clinton received a Presidential Medal from Drexel University in Philadelphia on April 22, which was Earth Day. The candidate was honored for enhancing Arkansas' education and the economy, while still holding together the environment, says James Spotila, Betz Professor of Environmental Science at Drexel, who presented the award to Clinton. In the case of the Tyson plant, where excrement dumped by the company has seeped into the water, Spotila says that a lack of adequate federal regulations, along with pragmatic economic concerns, are to blame. "What the governor has tried to do is pull people together using what little federal regulations there are and, using reason and logic, try to keep industry in line while still holding onto jobs," Spotila says. As for the toxic waste sites, Spotila contends that, compared with other states, Arkansas' record in that area is good: "He hasn't done a perfect job, but a pretty good one with no real federal standards and regulations...Compared with places like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, or New York, Arkansas has minimal environmental problems." Spotila adds, "Is Arkansas an absolutely pristine place? Well, in some places it is, but the state is not 100 percent pristine." Spotila says that in the area of environmental science, the amount of research being done and the number of zoologists at the University of Arkansas have increased. "When I visited Arkansas in 1970, it was a poor, depressing state--some turkeys and chickens, but the people were pretty poor," Spotila says. "It was a lot like an underdeveloped country--like Costa Rica." Spotila claims that between then and now, the Arkansas economy and environment have undergone dramatic improvement. "Bill Clinton has done more positive things in Arkansas--a small state--than the president has done with the entire U.S," Spotila says. Campaign Promises On the campaign trail, Clinton has outlined three specific proposals that involve science and technology as a springboard to enhanced U.S. economic development. In a recent Philadelphia speech outlining his economic plans, Clinton discussed the installation of "a door-to-door fiber optics system by the year 2015 to link every home, every lab, every classroom, and every business in America." Clinton says an advanced communications system will be the primary step in spurring economic growth. In the same speech, Clinton also spoke of creating a civilian version of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to "coordinate R&D to help companies develop innovative technologies and bring new products to market." Clinton's speech also proposed the creation of "a fund administered by the National Science Foundation to help defense scientists, engineers, and technicians master critical civilian technology fields, such as biotechnology, synthetic materials, and renewable energy resources." For the most part, however, issues concerning science and technology are not pushed by the Clinton campaign because they do not transfer well into 15-second sound bites, said Patrick Von Bargen, chief of staff for Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.Mex.), who elaborated on remarks made on Clinton's behalf at a forum sponsored in April by the Council on Research and Technology in Washington, D.C. "The media decides what the average viewer can understand, and this technology stuff is hard to explain," Von Bargen says. "The issue of government's role in technology has not gotten the attention it should. This is complex enough stuff that anything violent or sexy completely grabs the headlines."

Researchers Praise Bill Clinton's Record

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