ALLEN V. ASTIN 



make unusual financial sacrifices so that they may retain the 

 privilege of public service. They ask them to submit to an 

 outmoded scheme of position classification and procedure 

 wherein positions are classified with virtually no means for 

 recognizing the creative capabilities of specific individuals. Nor 

 does the administrator of scientific activities have it easier. He is 

 hampered by procedural rigidity. He cannot exercise any signifi- 

 cant quality judgment in relation to research personnel. Under 

 present civil service regulations the government is generally un- 

 able to offer any more, in terms of starting salary, to the top man 

 of a graduating class than to the bottom man. There are too few 

 opportunities to use premiums for quality. And I remind you 

 that "quality" is the essence of good research. 



Next we come to the area of equipment and facilities. 

 Here we are dealing with a major fiscal problem. We have to 

 achieve a greater understanding among administrators and 

 legislators of the continuous changes of modern scientific in- 

 vestigations. The obsolescence of equipment must become a 

 regular part of our planning. I am frequently faced with the 

 problem of explaining the continuous need for new equipment, 

 and I find great difficulty in communicating this need because 

 almost no other area of human activity has ever been faced with 

 such a regular dynamic condition. 



A number of other problems I shall merely list in order 

 to bring them to your attention, but I shall not discuss them. 

 There is the problem of inadequate salaries for the top people 

 in government labs. There is the need for providing a better 

 mechanism which will allow scientists to escape from the trap 

 of becoming administrators. There is the need for allowing basic 

 research to remain free of organizational strictures. For example, 

 regular working hours are not always compatible with research 

 investigation. There is need for the special orientation of non- 

 scientific personnel attached to laboratories where a substantial 



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