[meteorite-list] Cornell Statement Concerning Recommendations of National Science Foundation Senior Review

[Ron Baalke]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Blaine Friedlander
Phone:  (607) 254-8093
Cell: (607) 351-2610
bpf2 at cornell.edu

Cornell statement concerning recommendations of
National Science Foundation Senior Review

ITHACA, N.Y. - In response to the Senior Review report presented to the
National Science Foundation today, Joseph Burns, Cornell vice provost for
physical sciences and engineering, issued the following statement:

"The Senior Review report released today recommends significant budget
reductions at all NSF-owned observatories, including Arecibo Observatory,
which Cornell University manages. Cornell supports the NSF's overall plan 
to find funds to carry out new initiatives, but we are disappointed with 
some of the Senior Review's specific recommendations into the next decade. 
We remain dedicated to the core scientific programs of the Arecibo 
Observatory and, accordingly, we are pleased that the review recognizes 
the facility's significant contributions today and its potential for 
important discoveries well into the next decade. Our staff will be working 
with our astronomy community to identify cost savings as recommended by 
the Senior Review. And by refocusing our facility's priorities over the 
next several months, in consultation with our visiting and users 
committees, we are confident that Arecibo's remarkable research and 
educational programs will be kept strong into 2011 and beyond. During 
these next few years we will be collaborating with our stakeholders - 
astronomers, planetary scientists, atmospheric physicists and educators - 
to assure that Arecibo Observatory remains a leader in astronomical 
research and scientific outreach."

Located in northwestern Puerto Rico, the Arecibo Observatory hosts the
305-meter diameter antenna, the world's largest radio-radar telescope, and
the Angel Ramos Foundation Visitor and Educational Facility. Each year well
over 100,000 visitors go to see the facility, and more than 250 scientists
from 150 universities and colleges use the Arecibo Observatory to sense the
distant reaches of the Universe, to scrutinize threatening asteroids as 
they hurtle past Earth, and to probe the Earth's ionospheric properties. 
See http://www.naic.edu.

For more information, contact the Cornell Press Relations Office at (607)
255-6074 or pressoffice at cornell.edu.