[mmaimcal] Meeting today...

[Al Wootten]

First...good news about the Senate budget report; here is the committee 
language on ALMA:

The Committee recommends an appropriation of $1O8,832,000 for major
research equipment.  This amount is $12, 498, 000 less than the fiscal
Year 2001 appropriation and $12,500,000 above the budget request.

    The Committee has provided $15,900,000 for the Large Hadron Collider
$24 400 00 for the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation,
$55,000,000 for Terascale Computing Systems and $12,500,000 for initial
construction of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) radio
telescope.

    The Committee supports initiation of construction of the ALMA radio
telescope and has provided the necessary resources to start
construction.  ALMA has conducted thorough design and development,
established management systems for proper technical and organizational
support and entered into international cooperative agreements.  ALMA is
also listed as one of the highest priority projects in ground based
astronomy.  Nevertheless, due to problems raised by the Inspector
General in a recent audit report on another large scale project, the
Committee directs NSF to withhold the expenditure of the ALMA funds
until it has been able to adequately assure the Committee that NSF has
established management and financial controls so that capital
construction expenditures are derived solely from the major research
equipment appropriation account.  The Committee directs the Foundation
to include details of its management and financial controls at the
earliest opportunity but no later than the fiscal year 2002 operating
plan submission.

Today's agenda is at:
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/24jul01.html