NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE (Vol. 12, #21; 4 May 2006)
2. HOUSE COMMITTEES PREPARE TO DECIDE FUNDING LEVELS FOR NEH, NARA/NHPRC
3. FACULTY SALARIES ONCE AGAIN FAIL TO KEEP UP WITH INFLATION
4. GERMANY AGREES TO OPEN HOLOCAUST FILES
5. BITS AND BYTES: No postings this week
6. ARTICLES OF INTEREST: "UK Museums, Treasure Hunters Agree On Code of Conduct" (Washington Post)
1. CAPITOL HILL JOINS CRITICISM OF SMITHSONIAN FILM DEAL; BOARD OF
REGENTS TO REVIEW CONTRACT
In the first public Congressional rebuke of the Smithsonian Institution’s
(SI) activities in several years, two influential members of the House appropriations committee that oversees the institution have asked for a public airing of the business deal recently signed between the Smithsonian and Showtime Network. That agreement seeks to create a new commercial cable television venue known as "Smithsonian on Demand."
The letter, signed by both Charles Taylor (R-NC), Subcommittee Chair, and Norman Dicks (D-WA), the Ranking Minority Member of the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, raises concerns about the semi-exclusive aspects of the Showtime contract that critics assert limits access to Smithsonian resources by filmmakers and producers. The letter states: "We believe that such an exclusive arrangement may be incompatible with the trust placed in the Smithsonian as an educational institution and as an instrumentality of the United States." The letter also urges the Smithsonian Board of Regents to "immediately review this contract...and to consider changes...not to bar other legitimate commercial filmmakers who we believe have the right to reasonable access to the collections and staff."
Bowing to ever increasing public and Congressional pressure, on 28 April the Smithsonian announced that the 17- member Board of Regents – which already approved the contract during a previous meeting – has agreed to
re- review the Showtime contract during its upcoming May meeting.
SI Secretary Lawrence Small, in his first public statement on the controversy, defended the agreement characterizing it as "entirely consistent with the institution's mission." He also stated that, "the venture provides an unprecedented opportunity for the Smithsonian to expand exponentially its ability to reach the public with information about our collections and activities, at no cost to us."
The Showtime deal has drawn heavy criticism from filmmakers, historians, and archivists who charge the agreement unreasonably bars access to Smithsonian resources to commercial and documentary filmmakers and that it also violates professional ethical standards that require "open access" to archival and museum collections in the public domain.
A related note...When the Smithsonian/Showtime contract was first announced some weeks back, several organizations filed Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) requests with the SI, requesting a copy of the Showtime agreement. A response has now been provided by SI officials to the organizational filings.
The SI asserts "it is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act" and that the SI will "provide information to the public in keeping with the mandate to ‘increase and diffuse knowledge.’” While the SI is not subject to FOIA, in the past, when it has served the SI's interests, it has complied with provisions of FOIA. In this instance, the refusal to comply with FOIA was expected as for several weeks the SI has asserted that the agreement is "proprietary" in nature and has declined to make its terms public.
2. HOUSE COMMITTEES PREPARE TO DECIDE FUNDING LEVELS FOR NEH, NARA/NHPRC
The House's Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations subcommittee that oversees the budget of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), as well as the House Transportation, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development, The Judiciary, District of Columbia Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the budget of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), are beginning to make recommendations for the funding of their respective agencies.
While details are still sketchy, on 4 May the Interior subcommittee recommended “level funding” for the NEH.. This means the House will embrace the president’s recommended budget of $140.9 million for the NEH (including $15.23 million for the "We the People" program) and not the $156 million that was the figure recommended by the humanities advocacy community.
With respect to NARA, archives advocates are awaiting word on the House recommendation for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). The president's zero-funding proposal has been challenged by the history and archival communities. Congressional efforts to include funding for the NHPRC have been spearheaded by Congressmen David Price (D-NC) and James Leach (R-IA), who, earlier this week together advanced a "Dear Colleague" letter requesting "full funding" for the NHPRC.
The "Dear Colleague" request was signed by thirty members of Congress and includes both Republicans and Democrats. It calls for the subcommittee to "provide $10 million for grants and $2 million for staffing and administrative support for this small but essential federal program." The letter also suggests that a portion of the 2007 funding be used "to broaden that program and assist all states in developing state disaster plans for both vital and historical records...part of a vision of a larger, formula-based program which could assist all states in the future."
Funding decisions on the NARA budget are expected by the end of the month.
3. FACULTY SALARIES ONCE AGAIN FAIL TO KEEP UP WITH INFLATION According to an annual salary report issued by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) for the second year in a row faculty pay has failed to keep pace with the nation's inflation rate. Average academic salaries for professors are up 3.1 percent while inflation rose at an estimate rate of 3.5 percent in 2005. Over the last 20 years, average faculty salaries have increased just over .25 percent once adjusted for inflation.
Data gathered from some 1,400 institutions of higher learning including public, private, and community colleges reveal that the overall average salary for professors stands at $70,333; full professors at private institutions make the most, an average of $131,292. Assistant professors at community colleges earn an average of $47,046; Associate professors earn between $64 - 68,000; assistant professors between $54 - 58,000; instructors, between $40 - 41,000 and lecturers, between $44 - 48,000 depending on one's sex (according to the statistical summaries, women earn the lower figure).
To access the complete report visit the AUP webpage at: http://www.aaup.org/
4. GERMANY AGREES TO OPEN HOLOCAUST FILES Last week, Germany took a major step forward toward opening Nazi era records relating to up to 17.5 million Jews, slave laborers, concentration camp prisoners, and other victims of the Holocaust. Germany pledged to work with the Unites States and other nations to ensure access to some 30 to 50 million documents that are stored in an archives in the German town of Bad Arolsen.
Until now, Germany has refused to open the records, citing privacy concerns. Much of the credit in this recent development falls to the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. which for nearly two decades has been seeking to pry open the records.
As the situation currently stands, some 11 nations jointly oversee the records which for some 60 years have been used nearly exclusively by the International Committee of the Red Cross to help trace missing or dead persons. Reportedly, the Red Cross still gets about 150,000 requests a year. Except for fulfilling those requests, the records have been off limits to historians and the public. Plans now call for eventual digitization of records.
Decisions on how best to proceed to open the records will be made during a meeting scheduled for 17 May in Luxembourg. At that time the 1955 treaty regarding the records is expected to be amended.
5. BITS AND BYTES
No postings this week.
6. ARTICLES OF INTEREST
One posting this week: In "UK Museums, Treasure Hunters Agree On Code of Conduct" (Washington Post; 2 May 1006), a Reuters report describes the new code of conduct being advanced by British museums, archeologists, and metal dectorists in an effort to protect and keep archeological sites from being plundered. For the article, go to:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
.