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White House Loses Security Adviser
by Heather Greenfield
Another top aide is leaving the White House. Fran Townsend, the leading terrorism adviser, is resigning after 4-1/2 years.
Her job includes giving public updates on the extent of threats to U.S. security. She also helped explain why President Bush used the term "Islamic fascists" after members of Congress complained that the term was offensive to Muslims.
"Fran always has provided wise counsel on how best to protect the American people from the threat of terrorism," Bush said in a statement. "She has been a steady leader in the effort to prevent and disrupt attacks and to better respond to natural disasters."
Bush also noted that Townsend "played an integral role in the formation of the key strategies and policies my administration has used to combat terror and protect Americans."
Townsend came to the White House from the U.S. Coast Guard, where she had served as the assistant commandant for intelligence. Before that, she spent 13 years at the Justice Department in various senior positions, last serving as counsel to the attorney general for intelligence policy.
As head of the office of intelligence policy and review, she provided legal advice and recommendations to Justice and the attorney general on national security matters, directives and procedures relating to the intelligence community and intelligence-gathering activities. She had a key role in advising on matters related to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which governs anti-terrorism spying.
When the top spot at the Homeland Security Department opened, there was speculation that Townsend was on the short list for the job.
Government's E-Commerce Expert To Retire
The woman who has led the government's implementation of e-commerce is retiring after 32 years of federal service. Mary Mitchell, an administrator at the General Service Administration's e-commerce office announced she is leaving Jan. 3.
Mitchell said she stayed in this job nearly eight years because she wanted to get the financial management line of business at GSA started for her successor.
Before joining GSA Mitchell was the program manager in the information technology and applications office of the Advanced Technology Program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
In that role, she managed an IT program and worked with industry to define promising technology investments in things like e-commerce, supply-chain integration, engineering design, and advance learning technology. She also represented NIST on the cross-agency e-commerce task force.
Mitchell has received numerous awards, including the Commerce Department's Silver Medal in 1994. She plans to move to South Carolina with her husband, who retired two years ago.
Rep. Gordon Receives Education Award
House Science Committee Chairman Bart Gordon received the Verizon Foundation's first-ever Innovation in Education Award at a reception at the Kennedy Center last week.
The award was part of the celebration of American Education Week. Verizon thanked Gordon for his support for education initiatives like the mathematics and science education programs his committee passed this year.
Gordon watched a demonstration of Verizon's Thinkfinity.org before the ceremony. The Web site brings together 55,000 lesson plans and other activities from partners like National Geographic and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and is grouped according to age level for easy searching.
Gordon said his parents were both teachers and would have appreciated the lesson-plan ideas, and he said he even found a few games to play with his 6-year-old daughter.
"Half the world's workers earn less than $2 per day," Gordon said. "We cannot and should not try to compete with the world on wages; the way we can compete is with a highly-skilled, more productive workforce."
Kathryn Brown, senior vice president of public policy development and corporate responsibility for Verizon Communications, also announced $1.2 million in grants to educational organizations in 17 states. The grants are to help raise awareness of the free educational resources available on Thinkfinity and to train teachers to use the online program.
"We believe when parents, teachers and partners work together, kids win," Brown said.
"This is about making a difference in the lives of children and communities," added Patrick Gaston, president of the Verizon Foundation.
Reg Weaver, president of the National Education Association, called technology and its application to education one of the most exciting areas of development that give him confidence all children can succeed. "Education is not only key to our economic success but the success of our democracy," Weaver said.
Scientists Win Early-Career Presidential Awards
Two National Institute of Standards and Technology researchers, Kathryn Beers and Joshua Bienfang, have been awarded the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers. White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Marburger presented the awards this month.
The PECASE awards are the highest honors bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their careers.
Not everyone will understand Bienfang's expertise, but then that is sort of the idea. Bienfang is using fundamental theories of physics, combined with the latest telecommunications technology, to develop a form of secret-message transmission known as quantum cryptography.
Using laser technology and high-speed electronics, he has found a way to shoot particles of light through the air billions of times per second to set several new world records in quantum-cryptography transmission speeds. The technology may be useful someday for highly secure wireless communications.
Beers creates and studies flexible organic molecules known as polymers, found ubiquitously in the natural world. Examples include the form of biomolecules such as DNA, as well as products from hand lotion to electronic displays.
Beers has developed elegant new methods for making nanomaterials that were never before possible. She has published more than 40 peer-reviewed papers and also held leadership positions, including assistant director of OSTP.
The annual award, administered by the National Science Foundation, includes a $10,000 grant and a presidential commemorative certificate. The two scientists will be able to use additional funding from NIST for up to five years to advance their research.
Quote Of The Week
"We can't let the information superhighway become the information super-nightmare for our kids."
-- Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., speaking to reporters about passage of her bill to support a curriculum that promotes online safety for children.
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