NASA scientists free to talk

In the wake of complaints that a Bush administration political appointee was trying to censor a NASA scientist’s views on global warming, the space agency’s administrator Michael Griffin issued a new communications policy in March based on “a commitment to a culture of scientific and technical openness.” In a statement to employees, Griffin said the policy “guarantees that NASA scientists may communicate their conclusions to the media, but requires that they draw a distinction between professional conclusions and personal views.”

Censorship became an issue earlier this year when James Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, complained that George Deutsch, a political appointee in NASA’s public affairs office, tried to prevent him from speaking about the dangers of global warming. Deutsch, who came to NASA after working in the Bush reelection campaign, resigned in February following allegations that he lied about his college degree.

Hansen said the new policy was “definitely better,” but that scientists in other federal agencies face similar censorship problems. US Representative Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), chairman of the House Committee on Science, said the policy should “become a model for the entire federal government.” JLD

Graduate enrollments up. Enrollments in US graduate physics and astronomy programs were up by 31% in fall 2003 compared with five years earlier, with US citizens making up the bulk of the increase, according to a recent report by the American Institute of Physics.

In the fall of 2003, there were 3168 new graduate students in physics departments and 218 in astronomy departments. Some 46% of those in physics and 24% in astronomy came from outside the US. Women made up 21% of the new graduate students in physics and 41% in astronomy. Among foreign students the most popular subfield was condensed matter physics; for US students it was astronomy and astrophysics.

Of the new foreign students entering in 2003, the largest portion (33%) came from China, up from 26% in 1999. The proportion from Europe declined over that period, from 15% to 10% (western Europe) and 21% to 11% (eastern Europe). Some 9% said they experienced delays entering their graduate programs due to visa problems.

Only 2% of entering students in PhD-granting departments and 8% in master’s-granting departments had to rely on family savings, loans, or outside employment to fund their studies. Teaching-assistant stipends averaged $14 500 and fellowships $18 000 in the 2003–04 academic year.

These and other data are available in the Graduate Student Report: First-Year Physics and Astronomy Students, 2004, which is available online at http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/gradtrends.html . Single copies may be obtained free of charge from AIP, Statistical Research Center, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740; e-mail stats@aip.org .