Interesting Short Conversation about Wen Ho Lee

[Mitchell A. Peabody]

As a graduate student, I work in a research lab at my university. One
of the people who started working in the lab recently was at the Los
Alamos labs during the situation with Wen Ho Lee and actually had
lunch with the guy. His assessment of him was that he was just a
scientist, not particularly bright or smart (but obviously, one of the
better), who fucked up. He said that just about everyone at the lab
and in the community around the lab, even the right wingers, believed
Lee had been treated unfairly and with no real reason. He said that
after Wen Ho Lee had been treated in the manner that he was, Asian-American
scientists bailed and started going to industry instead of doing research.
His general opinion, and mine too, was that the US has really shot itself
in the foot on this one because research doesn't pay well (but has perks),
whereas industry is willing to pay alot of money for good scientists. So,
basically, the AA scientists are doing the calculations and they figure if
they're going to get persecuted, then they dont want to be doing research
for the government.

Thoughts?

--
Mitch Peabody -- mNiz...@AdMrexel.edu (remove N O S P A M for email)

"Everything changes, nothing remains without change."

[eqtr...@020.co.uk]

I think it's perfectly reasonable that many Asian american scientists
that are feeling disillusioned are leaving the government research
sector en masse. Hell, I hope one of them comes out with a serious
breakthrough at a industry research facility so the enormity of the
loss of asian american scientists can be realized.

On 24 Jan 2001 11:24:04 +0500, mi...@drexel.edu (Mitchell A. Peabody)
wrote:

[Brian O'Blivion]

"Mitchell A. Peabody" <mi...@drexel.edu> wrote in message
news:m3puhd1...@n2-192-200.resnet.drexel.edu...

>
> As a graduate student, I work in a research lab at my university. One
> of the people who started working in the lab recently was at the Los
> Alamos labs during the situation with Wen Ho Lee and actually had
> lunch with the guy. His assessment of him was that he was just a
> scientist, not particularly bright or smart (but obviously, one of the
> better), who fucked up. He said that just about everyone at the lab
> and in the community around the lab, even the right wingers, believed
> Lee had been treated unfairly and with no real reason. He said that
> after Wen Ho Lee had been treated in the manner that he was,
Asian-American
> scientists bailed and started going to industry instead of doing research.
> His general opinion, and mine too, was that the US has really shot itself
> in the foot on this one because research doesn't pay well (but has perks),
> whereas industry is willing to pay alot of money for good scientists. So,
> basically, the AA scientists are doing the calculations and they figure if
> they're going to get persecuted, then they dont want to be doing research
> for the government.
>
> Thoughts?

The government was wrong in the way they treated this man, given the lack of
any hard evidence. That much is clear. However, I think there might be a
silver lining to this - now, the government will not be so quick to judge a
minority without hard evidence. The US government was made out to look like
the racist, and the bad guy in this whole affair (a position which isn't
really a stretch for anybody familiar with what the government is capable of
doing). I think they have felt the pressure from that mistake and make
positive changes. I look towards the Bush administration to help straighten
out what the Clinton's team left totally unmanaged.