Word: cottington
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...watershed. Similar legislation--S. 991--moved quickly through the Senate earlier this year, eventually passing by an overwhelming 72-21 margin. In the House, the legislation leaped over its biggest obstacle last month, when it squeaked by the House Government Operations Committee on a 21-20 vote. Parker Cottington, spokesman for Harvard's Office of Government and Community Relations, which has gone on record against the bill, says the vote in the committee "may have been the ballgame. The general mood in Congress seems to be more positive this year," he adds...
...Harvard, primarily because of President Bok's opinions, has officially opposed the formation of the department. While the legislation is not the top priority of the Office of Government and Community Affairs--the University is more concerned with patent legislation and research allocations in the fiscal 1980 budget, as Cottington explains--Harvard has joined a group of about 60 universities criticizing the legislation. "We feel there should be more debate and discussion before a department is created," argues Robin Schmidt, vice president for government and community affairs, who handles the issue in the office. Schmidt's (read: Harvard's) concerns...
...debate--and any Harvard lobbying efforts--is not over what Cottington labels "broad premises" but rather the "nuts and bolts" of the situation. Harvard's position is clear--"It is not equitable to expect Harvard to provide an environment for work without any assistance at all from the federal government," says Cottington. He admits, however, Harvard would still sponsor research regardless of the availability of federal funds...
...present revision, says Cottington, fails not only in equitably sharing costs but will also impose upon universities, "extremely difficult and expensive administrative requirements." Beneath these comments, however, lurks an underlying feeling in the Office of Government Affairs that Harvard's policy influence is shrinking. "What began as a full-fledged partnership," says Cottington, "has been eroded over the years. This issues is crucial not just to Harvard but to basic research in America...
Harvard and the government, says John Lordan of OMB, are not partners nor are they adversaries. "It's an overworked analogy," he insists. But, sematics aside, it is clear that Harvard isn't about to give up. Cottington's promise bears an air of finality: "Whatever effort it takes, we will bend to come to a happier solution...