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Lamont Weekly
Report – June 1, 2007
OFFICE
OF THE DIRECTOR
P.O. Box 1000, 61 Route 9W Palisades, New York 10964
<>REPORT
SUMMARY<>
- Letter from the Director
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<>LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR
I spent Wednesday in DC - meetings at OMB, OSTP and NOAA -
along with
the leadership of Scripps, WHOI and UW - pushing the priority
of
earth, ocean and climate research. Discussions were of variable
tone
- but I came away with the overall impression that, although
we may
expect some growth in resources in the coming years (driven
by the
societal relevancy of our efforts) - we are going to see tougher
and
closer oversight from the agencies, especially of large projects
and
facility operations. Accountability is the watch-word - we
are going
to see more and more of it. The new Examiner for NSF at OMB,
a
position of staggering power and influence, is an astronomer
- I will
not make further comment upon this given the wide distribution
that
this weekly letter apparently receives.
Thursday was spent at meetings of some historical significance.
We
voted out of existence two entities that have played important
roles
in ocean research and education over the past decades - JOI
and CORE.
They no longer exist as independent corporations, but live
on, at
least for a short time, as the names of the two divisions
of a new
non-profit Corporation that is called the Consortium for Ocean
Leadership. I have the misfortune to have been elected as
one of the
founding Trustees of this new entity, and recruitment for
a CEO will
begin during the summer. With a founding membership made up
of
practically every significant ocean organization nation-wide,
the
goal is to build an influential entity that can effectively
represent
the interests of the ocean research and education communities
in a
variety of fora - but certainly here in DC.
But now for more local concerns
We are putting a hot asphalt roof on the new Geochemistry
building. In the vicinity of the building you can get a whiff
of the
petroleum smell as the wind changes. This will be with us
off and on
(more off than on) for all of the month of June. Please contact
Pat
O'Reilly if you have any questions or concerns.
On a loosely related subject, the New York State Department
of
Transportation is beginning a repaving project on Route 9W.
The
contractor is not especially forthcoming, but Ray Long has
found out
that they are preparing the site now (cleaning and adjusting
shoulders & catch basins) and are scheduled to start paving
June 11.
All paving will be done during the daytime hours. Ray will
open and
close the back gate when it is warranted, and communicate
his actions
by email. Keep in mind that we have committed to the neighboring
community that we will operate this gate infrequently and
only when
necessary, so it is not likely that we will operate this gate
as
quickly as some of us would like.
I have to go to Seattle on Monday - back in the office Tuesday,
Have a great weekend,
- Mike
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