Shaky Grounds

Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) and some California scientists think that a federal grant for earthquake studies went to New York rather than California on very shaky grounds. After looking over their evidence, we agree.

The multimillion-dollar grant would underwrite a center for engineering research into ways to build structures that are less vulnerable to earthquakes. The leading contenders were California, which since the turn of the century has had 4,421 earthquakes measuring more than 4.0 on the Richter scale, and New York, which has had 15. New York won.

The National Science Foundation, which already has mailed a check to the State University of New York’s Buffalo campus for nearly $1 million, says that it is reviewing the grant on the basis of some of the complaints. Wilson thinks that the award needs an independent review, and the General Accounting Office--Congress’ own detective force--has one in process.

Among the things that did not seem right to Wilson and earthquake specialists in California is that a five-member selection committee visited the New York campus and recommended putting the research center there even before it toured California. In fact, the committee scheduled a California visit only after the academic community here raised a fuss.

It also seems curious that only one of the five members of the selection committee had an academic background in earthquake engineering.

Perhaps most curious of all is that language supporting the Buffalo bid for the center was clearly lifted from a report written by Californians two years before Buffalo submitted it.

Not all of California’s earthquake engineering committee is happy with an investigation. The feeling among some academics is that government-sponsored science is best kept as free from politics and tugs of war among regional clusters of campuses as possible. They argue that while the foundation decision to put an earthquake research center in New York was dumb, it was not corrupt.

That is a respectable viewpoint in the abstract. But in this case we think that the decision was so dumb that it bears looking into. Besides, it will be useful to know how it comes to pass that plagiarism is considered taboo among authors of everything except requests for federal funds.