From the President’s Office – 8/9/2012
I usually don’t complain about the weather, but this summer in Washington has not been fun! Even with all the heat, things are still happening in this town. While both the House and Senate have been on August recess (until September), the President this week signed the Sequester Transparency Act into law. The significance of this bill is that it requires the administration to provide a report detailing how it will implement the $109 billion sequester called for in the Budget Control Act of 2011 – within 30 days. In this report, the President will need to demonstrate the types of reductions at the “program, project and activity level” that would take place if the across-the-board spending cuts go into effect on January 2. We’ll keep our eye out for this report and update you on the language when it’s available. It is clearly an important issue for the science community because if the sequestration occurs, we will be looking at an approximately 8 percent cut in science support from the federal agencies.
On the National Ocean Sciences Bowl front, the winning teams from the 15th Annual Nationals competition finished up their week-long, awards trips last month. The winning team, Marshfield High School, went to Hawaii; the second place team, Raleigh Charter High School, traveled to Ocean Springs, Mississippi; and the fourth place team, Lexington High School, who was awarded the trip after the third place team chose a different prize of Netbooks, explored coastal North Carolina. Each trip included a mix of educational, experimental and at sea experiences. From what we have heard, everyone had a great time. For a detailed description of their travels, continue reading below.
Summer is in the wind down phase, so I hope you enjoy it this weekend.
Bob
