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Myers said the university needs federal funding to continue research on four emerging animal diseases, the Wichita Eagle reported. The university has been using its own biological isolation labs to research Rift Valley fever, Japanese encephalitis and two variants of swine fever in anticipation of the opening of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, he said.
The more than $1.2 billion facility is under construction near the university’s Manhattan campus and is expected to operate starting in 2022 or 2023. But Myers said Kansas’ commitment to pay for disease research will end in 2019, so the school will soon need federal assistance to continue until the facility opens.
THANX to your predecessor, Jon Wefald, Pres. Myers, KSU has a $5million/yr albatross that we taxpayers now need to fund until KSU "thinks" future research $$$$$$ would come?
Wefald built the Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI), aka Pat Roberts Hall, obligating $5mil/yr until the NBAF cows come home with their research $$$$. This decision was made upon the advice of Cols David R. France, Jerry & Nancy K. Jaax; KSU alums & former commander & his top brass @ the U S Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases. HOME OF THE ANTHRAX MAILER. Their inadequate safety & security protocols enabled the removal of anthrax from their lab by a researcher of 19 years. They anticipated Homeland Security would have a trough of $$$$ for bio-terrorism research. 2003, Saddam Hussein's biological WMD turned out to be a farce. IF true, it would have overflowed the trough.
The BRI would be proof that KSU had the ability to establish a BSL-3 lab that could live up to the "new" standard for bio-terrorism labs as Top Secret - Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities. SECRECY => well yeah, KSU kept it secret that the BRI couldn't be certified by DHS as operational. & therefore couldn't get those research $$$$$.
Senators Roberts & Moran "convinced" the USDA to transfer the Arthropod-Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit USDA-ARS from the U of Wy to the BRI. Evidently their research $$$ < $5mil/yr BRI mortgage rate.
"Why did the ABADRU move to Manhattan, Kansas?
The research laboratory in Laramie had reached the point that major infrastructure investments would have to be made to ensure that the Laramie facility was suitable for conducting the types of research we needed to do. ARS is a very large organization with more than 100 research locations nationwide, so it is more cost-effective–for the federal government, and therefore for the taxpayer – to relocate this research program to one of our other existing laboratories. Manhattan was especially appropriate because Kansas State has just built a new state-of-the-art biocontainment laboratory where our scientists can work collaboratively with KSU researchers."
The BRI takes its $5million/year mortgage off the top of the KSU research budget; ~ 35%. Until its mortgage is retired!
REPORT OF THE RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE TASK FORCE. JUNE 15, 2010
"The BRI imposes a significant drain on the SRO funds allocated to the central administration. This drain has negative repercussions across the entire university by restricting contributions to start up funds for new faculty, matching support for grants, etc. More importantly, the use of SRO funds for this purpose has been remarkably non- transparent and is one of the sources of campus-wide distrust and suspicion of the central administration."
Fix the BRI Expenditure. Fix the expenditure of $3.1 million of SRO per year to BRI, i.e., get this beast paid for. Ideally, this problem would be solved without SRO money, but with money obtained from sources that were envisioned when the BRI was first conceived, e.g., NBAF. Turn the BRI into a positive learning experience, and use it as a means to demonstrate the currently stated commitment to openness and transparency. Explain the decisions made, the risks taken, and the results obtained. Develop a “business plan” for the BRI that indicates the funding targets to resolve the current operating deficit. Develop a time line through which the financial dependence of the BRI is projected to decrease to a constant value. Define circumstances under which closing the facility would be considered, i.e., under what conditions would it be a “failure.” Use this process as another lesson for the need for transparency and inclusiveness in all major decisions."
There you have it, General Myers => under what conditions would the BRI be a “failure.” Own up to the fact that KSU made "bets" on Congress' knee-jerk reaction to the "wolf of bio-terrorism" resulting in so many teats KSU would become a top 25 research university. Heed the lesson for the need for transparency and inclusiveness in all major decisions.
Instead, I read that KSU's aspirations have fallen to 50th:
"Our goals remain the same — excelling as a student-centered land-grant university on our way to becoming nationally recognized as a Top 50 public research university "
"Other construction projects being conducted by university planners include the new engineering building, Wefald Hall and the new building for the College of Business Administration.
According to Swanson, the 2025 goal of becoming a top 25 public research institution will require more buildings that are currently in the works but have not yet been funded. These buildings will be built in current parking lots. To keep as many parking spots as possible, a new parking garage is also being considered across from the Derby complex."
VIDEO: Myers warns Congress U.S. food supply threatened
Have thought about posting this video since I first viewed (15th Dec). As a Kansan & retired DoD civilian, I had a great deal of respect for Gen. Myers when he was appoint as the 15th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His performance @ Rumsfeld press conferences soon diminished my admiration. I asked for a Gen. Myers Bobblehead for Xmas; but guess I was on the naughty list.
The Bobblehead behind Gen. Myers is Ron Trewyn, Ph.D. NBAF Liaison, Office of the President Kansas State University. Trewyn, as vice president for research from 2007 to 2014, crafted the boondoggle that is the Biossecurity Research Institute (boondoggle = pork barrel $ insufficient to pay annual mortgage & operational costs of ~ $5 million). The VP who replaced Trewyn, bailed in < a year. His current job was formerly "filled" by Dr. Marty Vanier, daughter of KSU's largest donors & widow of Bob Crouse, infamous AD & Wefald substitute for KS Bioscience Authority meetings.
Background: I attended the Manhattan City Commission meeting, ~ Sept. 2008, where the city approved the initial plan for infrastructure to support NBAF. I was sitting in the front row, Trewyn & Sue Peterson, KSU director of governmental relations, were directly behind me. One or both of them had recently moved, & were loudly discussing this while the mayor was speaking. I got up, turned around & loudly asked them to stop speaking so I could hear what the mayor had to say about NBAF. I got a round of applause from the audience!
What did the Mayor have to say? My KSU friends tell me the NBAF will be safe.
re: Myer's testimony. You'll need a clicker to keep track of the # of times he mentions al Qaeda. He related the finding of a list of 16 bio-WMD pathogens in Afghanistan (I want to know who will study the 2 crop pathogens, he mentioned).
On the other hand, the pursuit of crude toxins and poisons appears to have been of little interest to the al Qaeda leadership, even though the production of such weapons is easier and thus might seem more attractive for potential use in attacks. Although experimentation and training in crude chemical agents and pathogens was standard fare in al Qaeda's camps in Afghanistan before 9/11, their use in attacks appears to have been left to the initiative of individual cells and planners outside the direct supervision of the al Qaeda core leadership.
THE MOST ALARMING ASPECT OF MYER'S SPEECH? He wants, wants, wants more scientists & administrators to get Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearances; & he wants more TS-SCI Facilities (SCIFs). No, he didn't mention all the NSA TS-SCI contractor employees who've leaked documents. Nor that the only bio-terrorist on U. S. soil was a DoD researcher (Anthrax Mailer).
Myers is in a tough spot. He came to KSU to "do his alma mater a favor," & has found no one else with a TS-SCI wants to be president of a U where 35% of the research budget goes to the boondoggle BRI.
Very interesting. I wasn't thrilled at the prospect of having this facility brought to Kansas in the first place. Planting it in the middle of the country makes no sense to me, especially in a state that is agriculturally based.
There is just so much corruption anymore that it makes my head spin. Politicians are "for sale".
This brought to mind a quote from Pogo: "We have met the enemy, and they are us."
$$$ for research to make dangerous pathogens more virulent and transmissable
WASHINGTON – The government lifted a three-year moratorium Tuesday on funding for research into ways that certain viruses can be made more virulent and transmissable, announcing a new plan for assessing applications to study these and other dangerous pathogens.
The new policy for pathogens capable of creating a pandemic will allow researchers who want to study them to apply for funding through the new process outlined by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The end of the moratorium applies to research on the SARS, MERS and influenza viruses. The October, 2014 pause was put in place after researchers in Wisconsin and the Netherlands sparked a debate by announcing in 2011 that they had made the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus more contagious in mammals. . . .
Shortly before the ban, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged that lab personnel had been exposed to anthrax and that a lethal avian flu virus had been sent to a lab that had asked for a less deadly strain.
Several of the mentioned pathogens are slated for study @ the NBAF, ~ 2023. IMHO, the NBAF will likely be given a "rubber stamp" approval process by NIH/CDC & DHS. Criteria to meet the new research standards may be designed to reject any lab other than the NBAF. "For Safety & Security," will also be a "rubber stamp:"
Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, the main government funder for biological research, estimated that only a “handful” of facilities would qualify to conduct this kind of research, which is generally aimed at understanding how viruses mutate and developing vaccines.
Well, it looks like the KSU NBAF (ANTHRAX ENABLER) COLONELS have greased every skid & palm to get the world's deadliest pathogens to the campus of their alma mater. Now, IF they can just get the $$$$ to keep the BRI's mortgage paid until 2023's unlimited NBAF teats.
There is just so much corruption anymore that it makes my head spin. Politicians are "for sale".
Ever heard of this guy? Oh wow is he going to blow your "anymore" out of the water. Enjoy, it's a fascinating historical read. I could go on to the robber baron era around 1900ish but this should suffice.
[quote=KSinmyrearviewmirror;50433671]
THE MOST ALARMING ASPECT OF MYER'S SPEECH? He wants, wants, wants more scientists & administrators to get Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearances; & he wants more TS-SCI Facilities (SCIFs). No, he didn't mention all the NSA TS-SCI contractor employees who've leaked documents. Nor that the only bio-terrorist on U. S. soil was a DoD researcher (Anthrax Mailer)./QUOTE]
And so it continues:
K-State President Richard Myers has a new chief of staff.
Linda Cook was named K-State’s chief of staff and director of community relations, replacing soon-to-retire Jackie Hartman.
Cook has held senior-level positions at General Motors, Honeywell and the Midwest Research Institute,
There's little doubt that Cook carries forward a Top Secret - Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearance, & was likely only investigated by her employer, MRI. By 2007, Cook was introducing
Midwest Research Institute Launches Center for Biological Safety and Security
MRI's CBS2, strategically located in Frederick, MD, near the hub of the nation's biological defense research, addresses the demand and provides laboratory consulting services to government, private industry and academic clients.
MRI's Col/Dr David R. Franz likely carried his TS-SCI from USAMRRID to KSU & MRI (he also worked of rthe Southern Research Institute, which mistakenly mailed live anthrax spores to a California children's hospital lab
As Director of the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center at Kansas State University, Dr. Franz facilitates development of a broad program in preharvest and postharvest biosecurity and promotes collaborative activities to strengthen the role of public health and national security activities at the university and the College of Veterinary Medicine.
As Chief Biological Scientist of Midwest Research Institute, he develops business activities in the areas of biodefense education and preparation, nonproliferation, cooperative threat reduction and biosafety.
Dr. Franz served in the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command for 23 of 27 years on active duty and retired as Colonel. He served as Commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID)
Dr. Franz and his wife, Patricia, who graduated from K-State in 1970 with a degree in family and child development, reside in Frederick, Maryland. They have two adult children, Matthew and Eric.
Yes, Dr. Franz was advising the DHS site selection official on where to place the NBAF in 2007, while on the payrolls of 2 entities envisioning the "pig in a poke" NBAF @ KSU.
May 8, 2014
MANHATTAN — Following a national search, Kansas State University has named bioengineering expert Karen Burg as its vice president for research.
"Karen Burg is a transformative leader who will guide us toward our goal of becoming a Top 50 public research university by 2025," said Kirk Schulz, president. "Her energy and vision will help support our productive faculty as we expand one of the university's core missions."
Burg succeeds Ron Trewyn, who will transition to the role of liaison between Kansas State University and the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, the federal laboratory for animal health being built adjacent to campus.
August 25, 2015 (6 days before announcing resignation)
Sponsored research overhead funds review from V.P. for Research Karen Burg
By Karen Burg
Dear Faculty and Staff,
The Biosecurity Research Institute, or BRI, clearly takes a large portion of the pie. One piece goes to debt service (the payment of principal and interest over time), and the rest goes to operations. Understanding the difference between these two pieces is important. When Pat Roberts Hall was built, K-State used debt through the state to construct the building, and that money plus interest must be repaid. In fiscal year 2015, we deposited $867,779 of new SRO to the debt service account, which fell short of the roughly $2.3 million payment we made to the state. This strategy makes it difficult to achieve flexibility in how we spend SRO funds. We've been able to make the annual payment toward this debt service from a reserve of funds created by the Office of the Vice President for Research, but that reserve is shrinking rapidly, which means the percentage of funds that go to BRI debt service could grow in the future to as much as 27.26 percent of the total. Full funding of the BRI debt service will need to be addressed within the next two years, because the debt service continues through 2032. This slice of the pie isn't going away anytime soon.
The other portion of BRI expenditure represents a share of the cost of operating the facility, including salaries, equipment, supplies, and so on. At 23.22 percent of the central distribution, this is a substantial budget item, but BRI is crucial to K-State as we work to protect global food systems and meet our 2025 goals. It would be easy to complain about this seemingly large slice of pie; however, the investment affords amazing opportunities.
August 31, 2015
Burg announces resignation, national search to follow
By President Kirk Schulz
Karen Burg has announced her resignation as vice president for research effective Jan. 2, 2016. She is planning to pursue professional opportunities at the University of Georgia and we extend our appreciation for her service at Kansas State University.
March 31, 2016
MANHATTAN — Following a national search, Kansas State University has named Peter K. Dorhout as vice president for research.
Dorhout has served as the interim vice president for research since January. He will continue to lead the university's research, scholarship, creative activities and discovery programs as they align with the goals of K-State 2025 strategic plan.
"Peter Dorhout has been an effective leader and collaborator at Kansas State University," said President Kirk Schulz. "His comprehensive understanding of the challenges researchers encounter along with his strategic vision of increasing research at a land-grant university will continue to move Kansas State University forward to achieve status as a Top 50 public research university by 2025.
As a collaborator at Los Alamos National Laboratory* since 1987, Dorhout has been an active leader in research nationwide.
*No doubt Dorhout holds a TS-SCI to work with Los Alamos.
There's little doubt that national searches fail to turn up candidates willing to accept a position where they're required to have a TS-SCI and keep it secret that ~ 35% of the research budget is going to Pat Roberts Hall. No matter how many times you get TV coverage of BRI scientists in containment suits or humongous mosquitos, that enormous rat hole continues to swallow research $$$$$ KSU doesn't have, and likely won't be able to secure from the US Congress. I've yet so see any clear sign the NBAF will open with sufficient teats to succor the insatiable BRI.
VIDEO: STEPHEN HIGGS, DIRECTOR OF KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY'S BIOSECURITY RESEARCH INSTITUTE, EXPLAINS THE ANATOMY OF A MOSQUITO
A few years back, as the phlebotomist was drawing my blood, I asked the usual => Native Kansan? Where from (I can always think of a smaller town than most Kansans will admit to being from = ever been to Climax, KS?). Where'd you get your training?
He answered KSU, BS Biology (not your usual phlebotomist). He must have seen the quizzical look on my face, as he added I hope to work at the NBAF.
So what's entailed in getting a TS-SCI clearance. Well, first you'll have to fill out a Standard Form 86, QUESTIONNAIRE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY POSITIONS. There are 121 pages, each with the caution: Enter your Social Security Number before going to the next page Here's a link to the form, get started ASAP, as you have to go back 10 years on the employment portion alone. With company's name, address, phone #, supervisor's name, etc. How's your memory?
Some months later, you'll have an interview with THE MEN IN BLACK. Perhaps, Defense Investigative Service, perhaps FBI. CAUTION: they'll know more about you than you do. Example:
As Chief of the Technical Services Branch, Civilian Personnel Office, Ft. Leavenworth, I was responsible for maintaining all Official Personnel Files (OPFs). IF an employee held a Security Clearance, there was a color-coded sheet inside indicating the level of clearance: SECRET, TS-SCI, etc. The SF-86, then 8-pages long, as I remember, was not kept inside; but at the installation's Security Office. By mistake, a job candidate's SF-86 was placed in a "shotgun" envelope, sealed by winding a thread around 2 protrusions & sent to TSB in inter-office mail. This is the only completed SF-86 I've ever read. The application was for a secretary position in the new Russian 2-person office @ The Command & General Staff College.
Imagine the woman meeting with THE MEN IN BLACK, and being asked if she knew the husband she'd married in England was still married to another woman!
This was BEFORE the WWW; so there was no investigation of what a person had posted here on C-D, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, ad nauseam. No wonder the SF-86 has swelled to 121 pages!
I worked for Defense Mapping Agency Aerospace Center; where ~ 1700 cartographers had TS-SCI clearances, as did most of the support staff. The Agency had OPM authorization to direct hire cartographers, and did so without completion of a background investigation. New cartographers were sent to an off-site location for 6 months' "training," as DMAAC was a TS-SCIF (TS-SCI Facility). Usually, a clearance investigation could be completed in 6 months, & if failed, the employee would be fired. A couple of rare cases where investigation could NOT be completed in 6 months; and the employees were sent to DMAAC proper to wait:
THE BLUES BROTHER => this guy dressed like John Belushi to a T: dark suit, white shirt, tie, black shoes, the whole 9 yards. DIS could never complete his investigation. I worked there for 5 years, & AFAIK the clearance never came through. At one point, he was sent to DMAAC's KC office, which did not require a TS-SCI to work. His new supervisor started calling a co-worker: seems Belushi was showing up for work in the same clothes, day after day. Personnel advised the supervisor to speak to him about cleanliness & washing his clothes. The next day, Belushi showed up with a severely wrinkled shirt covered with soap residue (washed in sink?). At some point someone in Personnel opened his OPF & found that he had signed his Oath of Appointment as "John Belushi." This was cause for dismissal.
HE CARRIED A JIM BOWIE KNIFE => this guy had conversations with non-existent individuals. No, he didn't provide their comments. None of his college profs/references mentioned this when interviewed by personnel. I often saw this guy in the cafeteria line. One day, he was having an argument with a non-existent individual. Suddenly, he pulled a non-existent knife from a non-existent sheath on his belt and began stabbing the air directly in front of him in the cafeteria line. This was NOT cause for dismissal. AFAIK, he was still waiting on his clearance when I left in 1985.
SO WHAT WOULD KEEP SOMEONE FROM GETTING A TS-SCI, you ask? Well let's take a look @ current events:
WASHINGTON ― As questions swirl about how a top aide could work at the White House for a year despite his inability to qualify for a security clearance, critics point to what they believe is the root problem: Neither could his boss, President Donald Trump.
All eyes are on former staff secretary Rob Porter, who resigned after reports detailed domestic violence accusations by his ex-wives, and White House chief of staff John Kelly, whose credibility is now under question after his defenses of his key aide shifted. The accusations of the two former wives likely blocked Porter’s security clearance application. . . .
Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah in Thursday’s daily news briefing said Kelly, like the rest of the White House, learned the details of the abuse accusations only from the news reports. “He became fully aware about these allegations yesterday,” Shah said.
Yet that assertion was challenged by a Republican close to the White House who said Kelly received word last fall that Porter had failed his security clearance investigation because of the domestic abuse reports. Porter at that time told Kelly he would leave the White House in December but agreed to stay at Kelly’s urging, the Republican said on condition of anonymity.
He added that Porter is not unique in Trump’s White House in having failed the security clearance background investigation. “How many other people in the building don’t have their clearance? And why are they allowed to stay there?” he asked.
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VIDEO: Myers warns Congress U.S. food supply threatened
