Word: handler
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...documents private. But Boffey and three young associates, working under the aegis of Ralph Nader's consumerist Center for Study of Responsive Law, overcame the academy's secrecy by conducting more than 500 interviews, many of them with academicians themselves, including an initially reluctant Academy President Philip Handler. In such controversial areas as the sonic booms and atmospheric damage caused by supersonic transports, the dangers of cyclamates and the effects of defoliants in Viet Nam, the study shows in case after case that the academy "allowed itself to be used as a shield by those intent on preserving...
Academy President Handler calls Boffey's charges "old hat." He insists that the academy has already done extensive housecleaning: examining potential study-committee members for conflicts of interest, recruiting younger and less conservative scientists for studies (median age of academy members in 1970 was 62), setting up a $100,000 fund to support worthy studies without outside financing. Adds Handler: "This is a remarkable institution that has served the country well." If it does better in the future, Boffey perhaps should claim some credit. In his final interview, Boffey remarked to Handler that he might be able...
...spring of 1970 the new movie Marooned was shown at a benefit in Washington. Among those in the audience was Philip Handler, president of the National Academy of Sciences. Handler was so impressed by the film that on a later trip to Moscow he glowingly described it to his counterparts in the Soviet Academy of Sciences. Recalls Handler: "That an American film should portray a Soviet cosmonaut as the hero who saves American lives came to the Russians as a distinct shock...
Risky Walk. Using the film as his opening, Handler went on to make a strong plea for cooperation in space. He explained how much easier rescues would be if the two space powers developed a common docking mechanism. In Marooned, the cosmonaut had to leave his ship and take a risky "space walk" before he could deliver oxygen to the Americans. The point was not lost on the Russians, who then were having trouble with their Soyuz spacecraft. They promised Handler they would recommend the idea to their political leaders...
Less than two months later, the Russians told Handler that they were willing not only to expand scientific contacts but to begin discussing the design of a common docking mechanism. Shortly thereafter, the two countries initiated formal negotiations for a joint mission. Comments Caidin: "It's damn nice to know that a writer can sometimes influence the course of history...