Richard B. Firestone

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Berkeley, California

24 August 2001

To whom it may concern:

Physics Today's firing of Jeff Schmidt is an abhorrent abridgement of our scientific freedom and free speech that is absolutely necessary for science to flourish in a free society. The American Institute of Physics should reconsider their position in this case and recognize that most of their membership strongly supports freedom of expression in all venues. As an American Physical Society member I am very concerned about these actions.

This is not an isolated instance! The University of California's DOE Laboratories practice similar selective censorship whenever publications are found objectionable, despite UC's stated support for academic freedom in publishing at the labs. One need only look at the Wen Ho Lee case as an example of continued censorship and abuse. The argument that public funds were used in a publication is a ruse used by scientific employers to suppress selected scientific effort that they find objectionable. If the scientists are not allowed to used their tools at work, they are effectively rendered impotent.

I speak from experience because I too was harassed by my employer for publishing a scientific book that is widely used. Despite explicit instructions to publish this book by previous administrators, I was retroactively harassed and forced to seek legal counsel to support my right to publish. I am now precluded by the University of California from publishing updates to my book utilizing any facilities at work.

I wish Jeff the best of luck in fighting what will likely be an impenetrable bureaucracy bent more on winning than doing what is right. If I can provide more assistance, please feel free to contact me.

Regards,

Richard B. Firestone