On February 14th, the Union of Concerned Scientists issued acall for the protection of federal scientists. The UCS pressconference took place in space made available by the AmericanAssociation for the Advancement of Science, whose annual meeting istaking place in Boston. Francesca Grifo is the director of the UCS’sscientific integrity program: “As we transition to the nextadministration, regardless of who we vote to place at its helm, we mustensure that the falsifying of data; the fabricating of results; theselective editing; the intimidation, censoring and suppression ofscientists; the corruption of advisory panels; and the tampering withscientific procedures all stop.”
To that end, the UCS wants Congress to pass a scientists’ bill ofrights. Kurt Gottfriend is professor of physics emeritus at CornellUniversity and a cofounder of the UCS: “We therefore call on the nextpresident and Congress to codify the basic freedoms that federalscientists must have if they are to produce the scientific knowledgethat is needed by a government dedicated to the public good.”
—Steve Mirsky, at the AAAS conference in Boston
