Bush's 2008 budget receives mixed reviews from universities

On Monday President Bush released his proposed $2.9 trillion budget for fiscal year 2008. For research universities, the outcome was mixed.

High points of the budget include significant increases in the Pell Grant program and for research budgets at the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy's Office of Science - both of which sponsor much university-based research.

Low points of the budget include elimination of the federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant program and Perkins Loan Program, and a 2 percent cut in the grant to the National Institute of Health.

On the one hand, House Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordan, D-Tenn., said, "Today's young people planning for careers, as well as researchers at our labs and universities, deserve a better budget, one that shows a strong federal commitment to the priorities that will ensure our nation's competitive position in the world of science and technology."

On the other hand, Senator Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., lauded the provisions that would strengthen the maintenance of national parks, provide more funding for scientific research at places like Oak Ridge National Laboratory, keep the Chickamauga Lock construction on track and increase the frequency of Pell Grants.

"All of this will help create new jobs in Tennessee," he said.

This proposed budget merely serves as a starting point for future negotiations and amendments over the next months as lobbyists begin to pull for their interests.

Vanderbilt University will be at the forefront of these advocacy efforts with numerous members of the faculty and administration already scheduled for visits with key policymakers in Washington.

Anna Nicole Smith dies in Florida at 39

Anna Nicole Smith, the pneumatic blonde whose life played out as an extraordinary tabloid tale - Playboy centerfold, jeans model, bride of an octogenarian oil tycoon, reality-show subject, tragic mother - died Thursday after collapsing at a hotel. She was 39.

She was stricken while staying at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and was rushed to a hospital. Edwina Johnson, chief investigator for the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office, said the cause of death was under investigation and an autopsy would be performed on Friday.