Nukes, Near-Space & Academics....

From http://gazette.com in Colorado:

October 01, 2005
UCCS weighs ethics of Los Alamos alliance
By BRIAN NEWSOME THE GAZETTE

The University of Colorado system’s partnership with the military on space and energy research is fueling a debate about academia’s role in the business of war. In July, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs signed an agreement with the Army and Air Force to explore near space, a slice of the Earth’s atmosphere too high for most jets and too low for most satellites.

Now, the CU Board of Regents is considering a partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where the atomic bomb was invented 60 years ago.

In both cases, researchers and university officials say the partnerships hold tremendous promise for academic advancement and, with it, additional money to do their work. Others, including faculty members and peace activists, worry that high-tech weaponry or military tools will be branded with a UCCS or CU logo, and they say the university should abstain from such relationships.

“This, fundamentally, is about the principles of academic freedom,” said UCCS Vice Chancellor Rogers Redding at a campus forum Friday of faculty, students, peace activists and others. For UCCS researchers, near space, the 12- to 62-mile gap between sky and space, is an unexplored frontier where research could lead to major advancements. The air there is too thin for most jet-propelled aircraft, yet gravity is too strong for most satellites. With the exception of a few weather balloons, near space is empty.

The UCCS Space and Near Space Research Lab and College of Engineering believes near-space aircraft or devices could have revolutionary applications, such as providing broadband Internet to remote locations or improved cellular coverage. The military is interested in the communications and surveillance potential.

Peace activist Loring Wirbel said UCCS risks “getting in bed with a Frankenstein monster.”

The Los Alamos National Laboratory holds similar promise for scientific advancement, many officials believe, and critics are equally fearful of its implications. Los Alamos is central to the nation’s nuclear weapons program. The University of Texas and Lockheed Martin have put in a bid to manage the laboratory. CU is part of a roughly 20-campus coalition to do research there under the proposal.

University officials say academic work on near space and at Los Alamos will be on nonlethal applications. Opponents warn there could still be unintended consequences of the research. Speakers in support of near-space research on Friday said that’s an inherent risk of breakthroughs in science and that to stifle it is to stifle academic freedom.

Some airplanes are used to save lives, others to bomb people, one person noted.

Peace activist Esther Kisamore said money from the federal government is, in reality, limiting the freedom to do research. Studies in humanitarian causes are being neglected for lucrative, government-backed interests, she said.

Faculty member Roger Sambrook said if weapons research is limited, then other subjects could also be targets. “We do need to kind of shield this institution from politics,” he said.
Several people said communication with the public about the arrangements has been lacking.

History professor Christopher Hill said he received three notices about a traffic roundabout on campus, but he learned of the nearspace agreement only when it was signed. UCCS Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak pledged that additional forums on the subject will be scheduled.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0198 or bnewsome@gazette.com

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