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UTMB administrators have a history of trying to stay in the shadows when it comes to public scrutiny, which makes me a little nervous as the Galveston National Laboratory prepares to go hot. In fact, administrators tried to shield any aspect of the Biolab from public scrutiny if they chose to withhold that information from the public. Here is what the Galveston County Daily News had to say as UTMB was trying to push a change to the Texas Public Information Act through the legislature (click on the highlighted text above for the complete article):
Under the proposed law, if the newspaper heard a rumor about a suspected leak of deadly germs, as it did just months ago, the university could refuse to release any documents about the accident or alleged security breach. That’s dangerous to you and your children.
Thankfully, no doubt due to an angry public, this bad bill, SB 2556, never reached the Governor's desk.
I believe the greatest threat to public safety is not the biolab, per se, or even the deadly pathogens that scientists work with there. It is the culture of secrecy at UTMB, whether refusing to provide information about a fired police chief or this. Even though the lab is going "hot," let us hope cooler heads prevail when it comes to sharing information with the public.
National Lab ready to start its mission in earnest
Through the tours, the medical branch, which owns and operates the laboratory funded by state and federal money, has sought to assure residents the facility is safe and secure.Now those tours have ended as the medical branch prepares the facility to go “hot.”
For those who would like to see more about the Galveston National Laboratory, click on the highlighted text to see Dr. Stanley Lemon in a video titled "Inside the BSL-Four Lab" on the "State of Tomorrow" website. Dr. Lemon, who was the principal investigator for the Galveston National Laboratory, is neither inside the laboratory nor part of its tomorrow, as he decided to leave UTMB not too long ago. Sort of fills one with confidence, eh?
There had been so much internal turmoils as well. One of the persons who worked behind the scene in planning the application, and did most of the writings, left a few years ago. Several other important scientists left subsequently. Finally, the director (Stan Lemon) quit (or forced out perhaps?) this year. The second person in line is now pushed to the back. GON what will happen next. It was funded and built as a national gem, but now take a look at the people who are occupying it. Except for a couple of old-timer true experts (Tesh, Weaver), the rest have yet to establish their credibility and professional reputation. Most are just wasting tax payers' money. Has any really effective prevention or treatment come out of this group? I suspect that this is a gem for the university, to keep receiving federal tax money using it a money black hole.
Posted by: anon | 08/07/2010 at 08:53 AM