NSF's Plan To Eliminate Its Ethics in Science Program Opposed

Abstract

In a proposed federal budget of $938 billion and a requested budget for the National Science Foundation of .$1.6 billion, $1 million is pretty small change. Thus, little attention was paid a month ago, even in publications written for scientists, to NSF's proposal in the fiscal 1986 budget to terminate its Ethics & Values in Science & Technology program (EVIST) by eliminating its entire $1 million budget. That is changing now, however. An increasing stream of protests from scientists and scientific societies is flowing to Washington, D.C., urging retention of the program. Moreover, effort is being organized in Congress to restore funding for the program. It's a small investment, but it's very, very important as a symbol and for the work it's producing, says Michael S. Baram, professor of health law at Boston University's school of public health. Studies of ethical and value questions raised by science and technology are an investment any major ...