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Science
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> 1999
> February
> February 12, 1999:
Hour One: Mr. Science Goes to Washington
In the classic 1939 movie "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," Jimmy Stewart plays an idealistic youth group leader who goes to Washington to finish out a Senator's term. In real-life 1999, Rush Holt (D-NJ) is a physicist who goes to Washington as a first-term member of the House of Representatives. | Holt, a former assistant director at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, is not as much of a newcomer to politics as Stewart's character Jefferson Smith. He has worked in Washington before, both as a science fellow in the office of Rep. Bob Edgar (D-PA) and as the leader of a group of science and technology analysts at the State Department. He also has genetics on his side -- his mother was Secretary of State for the State of Virginia, and his father was elected to the U.S. Senate at the record-setting age of 29. Still, Washington politics may take some getting used to after a long stint dealing mainly with campus and laboratory politics. | 
| Holt joins a rather small science club in the House, which includes several medical doctors, plus Vernon Ehlers (R-MI), a physicist; Brian Baird (D-WA), a psychologist; Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD),a physiologist; and John Oliver (D-MA), a chemist. On this hour of Science Friday, we'll talk to Rep. Rush Holt about making the transition from science to government, and about what he sees in store on the science policy front.
Plus - Pluto: Planet? Minor Planet? Trans-Neptunian Object? Pal of Goofy and Donald? There's been a lot of talk lately about "demoting" the ninth planet to some other status. We'll try to sort out the debate over just what Pluto's status is - and what it should be.
Guests:
Rush Holt
United States Representative (D-NJ)
Washington, DC
Alan Stern
Author, "Pluto and Charon: Ice Worlds on the Ragged Edge of the Solar System" (John Wiley and Sons)
Planetary Astronomer
Director, Space Studies Department
Southwest Research Institute
Boulder, CO
Books/Articles Discussed:
Related Links:
SciFri Bonus Clip - Ira talks to astronomer Neil Tyson on January 15th about Pluto's planetary status. (RealAudio file)
U.S. House of Representatives
Rush Holt Election Site
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD)
Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI)
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This segment produced by:
Karin Vergoth
Web producer:
Charles Bergquist
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