• DOD Seeks to Move NIPRNET off the Internet
• NIST Seeks Comments on Wireless Security Issues
• Columnist Defends DMCA, Says Researchers Overstating Negative Effects; Felten, CRA, ACM Respond
• David L. Evans Chosen to Fill Smithsonian Science Post
• NSF Scholarship for Service Program Receives Additional Funding
• AAAS Releases Colloquium Papers on Issues in S&E Research Following September 11
• Decline in Undergraduate CS Enrollments Tied to Tech Bust
• Applications now being accepted for the SC2002 MSI Participation Grant
• NSF and NIGMS Award Joint Grants

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DOD Seeks to Move NIPRNET off the Internet

Increasingly uncomfortable with having the Non-Classified Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNET) reside on the Internet, DOD officials may put the network behind firewalls and create a "demilitarized zone" for services that need public access, said Keith Fuller, the Defense Information Systems Agency's chief engineer for information security, speaking at the Government Symposium on Information Sharing and Homeland Security in Philadelphia last week. NIPRNET was created in 1995 as a network of government-owned IP routers used to exchange sensitive information. NIPRNET has some "significant" security controls but is still largely an open network, according to Fuller because NIPRNET was developed before there were significant threats.

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0826/news-net-08-26-02.asp

NIST Seeks Comments on Wireless Security Issues

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking public comment on draft guidelines for the use of 802.11 Wireless Local Area Networks, Bluetooth Ad Hoc Networks and handheld devices such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Under the Computer Security Act of 1987, NIST develops computer security standards and guidelines for federal agencies to protect sensitive (unclassified) information.

The draft guidelines developed by NIST assert that wireless systems have more vulnerabilities than traditional wired networks and require greater security maintenance and NIST recommends that government agencies not use wireless systems for essential operations until they understand the risks involved; take prudent steps to mitigate those risks. Comments on the draft guideline are being taken via e-mail until Sept. 1, 2002 . Send comments to Tom Karygiannis at sp800-48@nist.gov.

The full text of the draft NIST Special Publication 800-48, Wireless Network Security: 802.11, Bluetooth, and Handheld Devices is available at http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/drafts.html.

Columnist Defends DMCA, Says Researchers Overstating Negative Effects; Felten, CRA, ACM Respond

In an article titled "Debunking DMCA Myths" on the News.com website, noted technology policy beat writer Declan McCullagh took computer science researchers to task for overstating the potential negative effects of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. While agreeing that the law, which protects copyrighted material by prohibiting circumvention of copyright protections, is "egregious," "a brazen power grab by Hollywood , the music industry and software companies," and "probably unconstitutional," McCullagh insists that researchers have little to fear. McCullagh quotes Allan Alder, vice-president of the Association for American Publishers, in dismissing the threat of lawsuit against researchers. "Such a reading of the statute (to include restrictions on research) is a clear stretch given its constitutional implications and the absence of any supporting legislative history.'

Princeton University Professor Edward Felton, CRA Government Affairs Co-Chair Edward Lazowska, and ACM US Public Policy Committee Co-Chair Barbara Simons responded to McCullagh's piece in a letter, also appearing on the News.com website, noting that the DMCA's "chilling effect" on research cannot be described by the probability of a researcher's conviction on charges alone. "One must also consider the magnitude of the exposure if convicted," Felton, Lazowska and Simons responded, "[T]he cost of an adverse judgment could be truly enormous."

"It is disruptive to the progress of research when scientists must first consult with attorneys to determine if previously legitimate research might be in violation of the DMCA," the authors concluded.

The original article: http://news.com.com/2010-12-950229.html
The Felten, Lazowska, Simons response: http://news.com.com/2009-1081-954554.html

David L. Evans Chosen to Fill Smithsonian Science Post

David L. Evans, the assistant administrator for research at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, will become the Smithsonian's under secretary for science beginning in September.

Evans, an oceanographer, will be in charge of the National Museum of Natural History, the National Air and Space Museum , the National Zoo, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge , Mass., the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md., and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.

Evans receiving a degree in mathematics at the of Pennsylvania, and earned a doctorate in oceanography at the of Rhode Island.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38008-2002Aug19.html

NSF Scholarship for Service Program Receives Additional Funding

President Bush has signed into law the fiscal 2002 Supplemental Appropriations Act (Public Law 107-206) adding $19.3 million to the National Science Foundation's budget to expand a program designed to help reduce critical shortages of computer security and information assurance professionals in the public and private sectors through education scholarships. NSF had just completed a second round of grants originally budgeted for 2002 worth more than $11.5 million to expand both scholarship and capacity building efforts within the Scholarship for Service (SFS) program when the supplemental appropriations measure was signed into law.

Under SFS, students receive two-year undergraduate and graduate-level scholarships, and opportunities to serve in a government internship. Following graduation, they complete a specified employment commitment with the federal government before deciding whether to pursue government or private sector careers.

Five institutions received four-year NSF awards worth over $10 million from NSF's original 2002 budget to provide undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer security and information assurance. Nine additional two-year awards worth about $1.5 million were made to universities and colleges, and their partners, to build their "capacities" for degree programs and assist them in qualifying as Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance.

The NSF Press Release from which this is drawn can be found at http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-08/nsf-sfs080802.php. More information about the SFS Program is available at http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/ehr/DUE/programs/sfs/.

AAAS Releases Colloquium Papers on Issues in S&E Research Following September 11

The six chapters are based on talks presented at the AAAS Colloquium on Science and Technology Policy, April 11-12, 2002. These papers have been published earlier than usual in an effort to "stimulate a broader dialogue concerning the responsible conduct and use of science and technology in the the new era of security concerns."

The six chapters are:

• Risky Business: Research Universities in the Post-September 11 Era, M.R.C. Greenwood
• The Changing Relationship Between Science and Government Post-September 11, Lewis M. Branscomb
• Public Health Preparedness, Donald A. Henderson
• One View of Protecting the National Information Infrastructure, Eugene H. Spafford
• Assessing and Communicating the Risks of Terrorism, Baruch Fischoff
• Research Universities and National Security: Can Traditional Values Survive?, Eugene P. Skolnikoff

Science and Technology in a Vulnerable World: Supplement to AAAS Science and Technology Policy Yearbook 2003, is available online at http://www.aaas.org/spp/yearbook/2003/yrbk03.htm

Decline in Undergraduate CS Enrollments Tied to Tech Bust

Washington Post business writer, Ellen McCarthy cites CRA's finding that the number of undergraduates majoring in computer science fell 1 percent in 2001 in her article documenting the decline in undergraduate enrollment in CS and IT programs this fall. After two years of sharp increases, the number of students enrolled in CSE programs leveled off in 2001. Educators in the field say the trend seems to be accelerating, with some colleges seeing much greater drops as the new academic year begins according to the write up. The tech industry's financial problems and decreased economic potential are cited as but two factors among many in student career choices. Other factors, including program difficulty, personal interests and social influences, also come into play, according Judy Hingle, director of professional development at the American College Counseling Association. The perception of computer science as an isolating, "nerdy" profession is one that many in the industry have tried to squelch. That stereotype went underground during the tech bubble but reemerged during the bust.

The complete Washington Post article is available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64806-2002Aug26.html

Applications now being accepted for the SC2002 MSI Participation Grant

In order to increase the participation of minorities in the Supercomputing 2002 conferences support is being provided to help faculty and/or IT professionals from Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) - Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribal Colleges, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to attend the conference.

This project is part of the EOT-PACI (www.eot.org) outreach to MSIs under the NSF sponsored Advanced Networking with Minority Serving Institutions (AN-MSI), www.anmsi.org. The SC MSI Participation Grant is funded in part by IEEE and ACM. The intended impact of this project goes beyond just increasing the numbers of MSI participants in SC conferences to fostering collaborative relationships between faculty at MSIs and research scientists at major research centers and impacting the amount and quality of computational science education at MSIs according to sponsors.

To apply candidates need to complete and submit the SC2002 MSI Grant Application Form by the August 30, 2002 deadline.

More information and applications are available on the SC02 Web site http://www.sc-conference.org/sc2002/attendees

NSF and NIGMS Award Joint Grants

To encourage the use of mathematical tools and approaches to study biology, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) recently joined with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to award 20 grants in mathematical biology. The joint awards will total $6 million for the first year and the agencies anticipate spending more than $24 million on the projects over five years.

Currently, NIGMS supports research and training in the basic biomedical sciences. NSF funds mathematical and other quantitative sciences such as physics, computer science and engineering. NIGMS recently established a Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology to be the focal point for interdisciplinary research and training and offers funding opportunities to mathematicians, computer scientists, physicists and engineers for projects that apply quantitative expertise to biology.

For more information and a list of NIGMS funding initiatives see http://www.nigms.nih.gov/funding/complex_systems.html.