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Lecturers, librarians urge regents not to Bid: Recent UC-wide survey shows bidding for labs Not Desired
by Melissa B. Taddei, October 28, 2004

U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced in 2003 the Department of Energy's intention to allow competition for the management of the Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Lawrence Berkeley national laboratories when the UC's management contracts expire in 2005.

The UC Board of Regents is responsible for deciding whether the UC will bid for continued management. A system-wide survey was conducted among University of California lecturers and librarians, regarding the two controversial labs - Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories - to aid the regents in their decision.

A total of 2,279 lecturers and librarians who work for the university participated in the survey, according to a university press release.

The majority of those surveyed oppose the UC's continued involvement with the labs. According to the press release, 58 percent of the lecturers and librarians asked that the regents not bid for a new contract with either the Los Alamos or Lawrence Livermore laboratories when their respective contracts expired, and 34 percent were in favor of renewing contracts with the DOE.

The regents will also discuss bidding for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at their next meeting but since there is no classified research conducted at that site, the bidding is not considered controversial.

The decision to open the labs to competition was reached following a 2003 report from Deputy Energy Secretary Kyle McSlarrow and Acting National Nuclear Security Administrator Linton Brooks that recommended the UC take responsibility for "systemic management failures" at Los Alamos in 2002. At that time Abraham said the competition was not "repudiation of an incumbent contractor."

The results of the survey came as a shock, since a nearly identical survey conducted in May reported 67 percent were in favor and only 21 percent were opposed to bidding for the labs. Urs Cipolat, a UC Berkeley lecturer who conducted the survey, said the cause of the differing results "could be that our [new] survey clearly showed the strong connections between the labs and the nation's nuclear weapons program."

The survey showed strongly polarized opinions about the compatibility of the UC's mission and the labs' focus. Of those surveyed, 61 percent disapprove of the recent undertaking of manufacturing nuclear weapons components at the Los Alamos lab.

Those in favor of bidding for the labs cited the competency of UC staff. One respondent wrote, "I much prefer that the management of this work be in the hands of qualified and rational science workers...I have more trust in the UC to do that properly than I have in any other U.S. institution."

Many also cited the benefits of the non-classified research conducted at the labs. Most remained unsure, however, whether funding for mutual UC-laboratory funding ought to be increased.

Opposition to bidding stemmed from allegedly incompatible messages. Many of those surveyed cited moral, environmental and health concerns over the UC's involvement in nuclear bombs. One contributor said, "The University of California should be educating people, not killing them."

According to the press release, if the UC does bid for the labs, those surveyed ask that they should be open to free and public inquiry, protect whistle-blowers and give the UC Academic Senate a role in overseeing the labs.

A survey, similar in format, conducted among all UC undergraduates will be submitted to the regents at their next meeting, Nov. 17 and 18 at UCLA. According to UC spokesperson Chris Harrington, the analysis of that survey has not yet been completed.

Participation in the survey was anonymous and voluntary. Nearly two-thirds of respondents were from the humanities and social sciences and 54 percent were female. The full survey results will be published on the Internet in the near future.

Originally published in the California Aggie (UC Davis).

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