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Two Years And Out For NIST Chief
by Heather Greenfield
High-profile White House adviser Karl Rove isn't the only top staffer leaving the Bush administration in a few weeks. William Jeffrey, director of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology since the summer of 2005, has announced that he will leave at the end of August, too.
A NIST spokesman said Jeffrey had said when he accepted the presidential appointment that he would leave about this time.
A victory during his tenure was the research funding boost for NIST authorized in the competitiveness legislation that President Bush signed last week. Other highlights include creation of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, creation of the Joint Quantum Institute with the University of Maryland, expansion of the NIST Center for Neutron Research, and creation of a system to maintain the nation's measurement infrastructure.
Jeffrey has been involved in federal science and technology programs and policy since 1988. Before his NIST appointment, he served as senior director for homeland and national security and the assistant director for space and aeronautics at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Before that, he was the deputy director for the Advanced Technology Office and chief scientist for the Tactical Technology Office.
Jeffrey will become the director of the science and technology division at the Institute for Defense Analyses. The institute supports OSTP and the National Science Foundation by analyzing science and technology development trends.
An interim successor to Jeffrey has not yet been named. The permanent successor would have to go through Senate confirmation before taking the post.
Leading Blogger Fined In Securities Case
A U.S. district judge late last month issued a ruling that fined online strategist and MyDD blog founder Jerome Armstrong nearly $30,000 for securities violations.
Armstrong agreed to the judgment without admitting or denying the allegations in the Securities and Exchange Commission complaint against Sierra Brokerage Services. The SEC complaint filed April 14, 2003, alleges that Armstrong touted the stock of BluePoint Linux Software by posting favorable buy recommendations on the Raging Bull Web site starting in March 2000.
Armstrong allegedly posted 80 unsubstantiated recommendations during the first three weeks that BluePoint stock was publicly traded. The SEC contends that BluePoint promoters were secretly transferring stock in three other companies to Armstrong at prices below market value and that he made $20,000 when he sold that stock.
The complaint says Armstrong did not disclose he was being paid when he made the stock recommendations.
ACUTA Members Elect Officers
Walt Magnussen, the telecommunications director at Texas A&M University, is the new president of the Association for Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education.
Magnussen took office at the close of the 36th annual ACUTA Conference. At the conference, representatives of hundreds of U.S. and Canadian higher education institutions met to discuss communications strategies.
Other newly elected ACUTA officers are: Corinne Hoch of Columbia University, who will serve as vice president; Riny Ledgerwood of San Diego State University, who was elected to a second term as secretary/treasurer; Randal Hayes of the University of Northern Iowa, who was re-elected as a director-at-large; and Sandy Roberts of Wellesley College, who was newly elected as a director-at-large.
"As the communications networks on college and university campuses become both more critical and more complex, ACUTA must maintain its role of supporting its members in achieving their institutions' strategic missions," Magnussen said. "With our focus on technology and on networking and information-sharing by members, we can remain a vital resource for members. That is my one of my goals as president."
'The Coming Internet Exaflood'
The Internet Innovation Alliance has a new, not-so-technical member. The American Homeowners Grassroots Alliance said it joined the tech association "to prepare for the coming Internet exaflood."
By 2010, 20 typical households will generate as much traffic as the entire Internet moved in 1995, according to Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers. IIA, a coalition of nonprofit groups and businesses committed to high-speed Web access available to all Americans, is dedicated to developing practical solutions so the Internet's infrastructure can handle the flood of content.
Video is a main bandwidth consumer. Downloading a half-hour video consumes more bandwidth than receiving 200 e-mails a day for an entire year.
"Broadband services are becoming increasingly important to the 75 million American homeowners," said Bruce Hahn, president of the American Homeowners Grassroots Alliance. "The exponential increase in bandwidth demand will become a significant challenge if we do not prepare for it."
Laura Spining, IIA's executive director, added: "The exponential explosion in digital content, particularly video applications, must be matched with smarter networks that will more efficiently get it to our homes, businesses and schools. The future will require constant investment and persistent innovation."
TechPresident Is A Finalist For Media Award
The blog TechPresident, Reuters' Second Life Virtual News Bureau and the Council on Foreign Relations' interactive Crisis Guides are among the 10 creative ways of generating news and information that that made the cut as finalists in this year's Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism.
"The depth and breadth of the work we examined were amazing," said Advisory Board member Jody Brannon, a senior editor at MSN.com.
TechPresident's Micah Sifry announced the award in a posting titled "How Cool Is That?" Judges described the site as "current, clean, efficient and effective. TechPresident.com uses Web technology to report on how Web technology is being used by the candidates in the 2008 presidential election."
A national panel of judges chose winners for a $10,000 grand prize, $2,000 first place award and four other $1,000 awards, including a wild card and a citizen media award. Because of the diversity of good ideas, the Advisory Board cited four efforts for honorable mention.
The top winner will be announced Sept. 17 at a symposium and luncheon, "Creativity Unleashed," at the National Press Club.
In other media news, Washington, D.C.-area radio veteran Cameron Gray reportedly has landed a gig at XM Satellite Radio's new presidential election channel, POTUS08. Gray most recently worked at Red Zebra Broadcasting and, before that, at CBS Radio's WJFK-FM.
Quote Of The Week
"I don't anticipate taking any formal role in any campaign, and if I did, I would shortly thereafter die. Check the whereabouts of my wife if I'm found dead."
-- Karl Rove, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One shortly after announcing he will leave his job as political adviser to President Bush at the end of the month.
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