Record Banner
Vol.24, No. 05 October 2, 1998

Rupp to Congress: Universities' Science Research is Driving Nation's Strength

ON CAPITOL HILL, RUPP PRAISES FEDERAL SUPPORT OF UNIVERISITY-BASED RESEARCH

By Bob Nelson

At a recent breakfast meeting on Capitol Hill, President George Rupp told Congress and the press that government-funded university-based science research is critical to the country's current economic strength and global competitiveness.

Beneath murals of NASA satellites and spacewalking astronauts in the House Science Committee's hearing room in the Rayburn House Office Building, Rupp on Sept. 24 urged Congress to pass President Clinton's budgeted funding for university research. He later facilitated a question-and-answer session with the event's nearly 100 attendees, which included reporters, legislators and other university presidents.

"The federal government has maintained a strong commitment to scientific discovery and innovation that has been crucial to maintaining and increasing America's economic strength, global competitiveness, national security and overall standard of living," Rupp said. "It is critically important that we continue and expand upon the partnership forged between Congress and the university community in support of basic research."

In his fiscal 1999 budget, President Clinton proposes near-double-digit increases for parts of the two major academic research funders, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. This is a significant step toward re-establishing scientific research as a national priority-though one linked to proceeds not collected from a national tobacco industry settlement. Congress has not yet acted on the proposal.

The breakfast, hosted by the House Science Committee and the Science Coalition, attracted a number of members of Congress, including Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.), chairman of the House Science Committee; Rep. George Brown (D-Calif.), former chairman and now ranking minority member of the committee; and Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-Mich.), who issued a report later that day setting forth a number of policy goals for science funding in the 21st century.

Former Rep. Robert Walker (R-Penn.), the previous chairman of House Science, dropped by, as did Rep's Rick Lazio (R-N.Y.) and Lois Capps (D-Calif.). COMBATING POST-COLD WAR FUNDING FREEZE Rupp introduced the Science Coalition's "Great Advances in Science," the third edition of an annual report showing how federal science funding produces tangible, often highly successful, products and discoveries.

The coalition, which counts more than 60 top research colleges and universities as members, as well as more than 300 scientific societies, health organizations, business groups and prominent individuals, is dedicated to sustaining the federal government's historic commitment to U.S. leadership in basic scientific research.

Columbia was one of a dozen institutions that founded the organization in 1994, when it became clear that the end of the Cold War would result in less federal funding for university-based science.

Two research projects from Columbia are listed in the report:

¥ Work at Columbia's College of Physicians & Surgeons by Wayne Hendrickson, professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, and Peter Kwong, post-doctoral research scientist, that shows with molecular detail how the gp120 protein on the coat of the HIV virus infects white blood cells with AIDS;

¥ The central role played by David Helfand, professor of astronomy, in the discovery of the largest gamma-ray burst ever observed, an enormous explosion that took place 12 billion years ago and is sure to shed new light on the origins of the universe.

Both discoveries were featured on the front page of The New York Times. Rupp cited a recent report by the Committee for Economic Development that found the rate of return on investment in science research-about 20 to 30 percent-was nearly double that of stock investments.

Economists generally agree, he added, that at least half the growth in the U.S. economy since the late 1940s was produced by scientific and technological innovation, largely stemming from university-based research.

After comments by other university presidents and the release of the "Great Advances" report, Rupp directed a question and comment session.