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May I offer some soothing words from someone who has been dealing with the press for longer than the rest of you. The press often gets it wrong. Even the most respected journals get it wrong sometimes (Science magazine for example). Reporter more frequently than not have their own agendas. Articles that are controversial or patriotic attract more readers and make the reporter more important to his/her bosses. After I became SLAC Director in 1984 I instituted a policy which I still use. I talk to the press, but never read anything about me or about the lab. I ask my wife to read it and tell me only if I should call our lawyer and sue. Do not take this stuff seriously. Think instead about what we are doing together. Thing about the government folks in the US who are pursuing the ILC as an international project. Of course people here want it here just as people in Japan want it in Japan. As far as the US and Japan are concerned, we have a far more difficult problem dealing with Europe and CERN than we have dealing with each other. Burt Burton Richter brichter @slac.stanford.edu phone 650 926 2601 -----Original Message----- From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of N.Toge Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2006 2:39 PM To: [log in to unmask] Cc: Graf, Norman; lcd-l Subject: Re: ILC in Popular Science Dear Gerry, > I concur with your concern about the unfortunate tone of this > article. I hope that it does not represent anything other than the > opinion of the (somewhat misguided) author. The ILC is about doing > science in an international collaboration. It is not a mechanism for > one region to attain dominance in particle physics. But you would not > know this from the article. I am sorry that it was written with such a > nationalistic tone. Thank you for your prompt response that is very helpful in restoring my confidence in the intention and the spirit of this enterprise around ILC. Being patriotic, either at the level of regions or nations, whether as engineers/scientists or as citizens, is always something for us to mutually value and respect. However, being nationalistic is a separate matter, which we all need to pay attention to and where we all draw a fine yet distinct line. Sincerely, - Nobu Toge (KEK, Accelerator Lab)