Presidential Adviser Gibbons Battles Capitol Hill To Save Research Investments From The Budget Ax

Research Investments From The Budget Ax Editor's Note: It has been two years since President Bill Clinton appointed nuclear physicist John H. Gibbons to be director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Since then, Gibbons appears to have largely contented himself with the nuts- and-bolts work of analyzing complex issues and advising the president on policy options. In many ways, Gibbons was replicating in the executive branch the role he played during the previous dozen years as director of the congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA). However, Republican budget proposals early this year have targeted OTA and other programs for abolishment, as well as suggesting sharp, across-the-board cuts at agencies involved in research. Thus, Gibbons has become a more active advocate for government support of science and technology, speaking at more visible venues and appearing more frequently in the press. "Ignorance is not a sound public policy,"...