Path: santra!tut!draken!kth!mcvax!uunet!portal!cup.portal.com!James_J_Kowalczyk
From: James_J_Kowalczyk@cup.portal.com
Newsgroups: alt.fusion
Subject: Latest Quotes of Pons in SLC Press
Message-ID: <18902@cup.portal.com>
Date: 28 May 89 22:40:58 GMT
References: <18075@cup.portal.com>
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 203






The following is an article from the Deseret News, 
Sunday, May 28, 1989.  The Article is entitled
"U.S. fusion panel cancels plans to view U. research" and
was written by JoAnn Jacobsen-Wells, Deseret News science
writer.  The article is Copyright 1989, Deseret News.  
The Deseret News is published daily by the Deseret News 
Publishing Company, Salt Lake City, Utah.  
I am these reproducing these portions of the article 
without permission.

   [start of article]

     A panel organized by the U.S. Department of Energy to
evaluate -- and possibly fund -- fusion experiments throughout 
the United States has canceled a visit to the University of Utah
where the fusion fury was ignited nine weeks ago.

     The visit, scheduled Wednesday, was canceled after fusion
researcher B. Stanley Pons told the panel co-chairman, John
Huizenga, a University of Rochester professor of nuclear chemistry,
to change the makeup of the "negatively biased" committee or stay
out of his U. laboratories.

     "I have refused to entertain this committee for several reasons,"
Pons told the Deseret News.  "I see this visit as a waste of valuable
time, since many of these panel members have already clearly stated
their positions.  I feel there is little one can say to a hostile
person that will change his mind."

     Pons said he and co-researcher Martin Fleischmann think the panel
on cold fusion was "organized in a manner that can only lead to a 
negative and non-objective report on the state of cold and solid-state
fusion" in the United States.

     "It is disappointing that the committee is composed of so many 
members who have previously stated their very negative position in the 
press regarding this research," he said.  "The most notable of these 
are Richard Garwin (IBM fellow), Steve Koonin (University of California 
at Santa Barbara) and Mark Wrighton (head of the chemistry department 
at MIT)."

     Pons, a U. chemistry professor, said he and Fleischmann, of 
Britain's Southampton University, have "only allowed reputable, 
sincere scientific collaborators into these labs and will continue 
to do so."

     Pons said the committee may "label this decision as 'uncooperative.'
But we see that the vote has already been cast and counted.  We do not 
believe in voting on the validity and interpretation of scientific data 
and will not purposely subject ourselves to such a vote."

     Because of worldwide interest in cold fusion, triggered by the 
announcement of the Pons-Fleischmann research March 23, the DOE has 
intensified its fusion research.

     Last week in Santa Fe, N.M., more than 500 scientists gathered 
at a DOE-sponsored workshop to discuss cold fusion and its potential 
as a new energy source.

     In Santa Fe the 20-member cold fusion panel solidified plans to 
visit the U.  The trip was nixed after Pons expressed his concerns 
to Huizenga regarding the panel's makeup.

     "He was very understanding and sensitive to these points; he 
admitted that my perceptions regarding the composition of the panel 
were correct:  some very open-minded individuals, such as Allen Bard, 
University of Texas, and William Happer, Princeton, some very 
negatively biased individuals and no positively biased individuals," 
Pons said.

     Pons said he porposed a visit could be arranged if the committee 
would agree to either of the following conditions:  dismiss the 
negatively biased people from the panel or add an equal number of 
positively biased scientists.

     He recommended adding John Bockris, John Appleby or Subramanian 
Srinivasan of Texas A&M University; Robert A. Huggins, Stanford 
University; Uziel Landau, Case Western Reserve University; or 
scientists from some of the international labs that have confirmed 
the Pons-Fleischmann experiment.  Or, Pons or Fleischmann himself.

     Huizenga's response?

     Pons was notified Friday the committee's visit to the U. had 
been canceled.

     In a telephone interview with the Deseret News on Friday, 
Huizenga would give no specific reason for the cancellation other 
than to say that "with Memorial Day in the midst, we weren't able 
to make all the proper connections."

     Huizenga said the committee plans to continue to investigate 
the subject of cold fusion and that "it is not out of the question 
to come to Utah between now and July."

     That's when the panel has to provide an interim report to Energy 
Secretary James Watkins.  A final report is due by mid-November.

     One committee member said he is sympathetic to Pons' concerns.
 
     "He is certainly taking a lot of flak and I can certainly 
understand that he would feel this way," said Happer, professor of
physics at Princeton.  "Personally I know the people on the board 
and they wanted to go there (the U.) to learn.  I don't think the 
other committee members have made up their minds, but there is 
a lot of scepticism."

     Nonetheless, Happer said most committee members "would be 
delighted if this (U. claims) were true, but many other labs are 
having difficulty reproducing the work.

     "It is still possible he is right and people don't realize
what it takes to make the experiment work," Happer said.

     Pons said Saturday that he's even more convinced fusion is
taking place in his U. lab.

     "The newest results are very strong and indeed confirm and 
surpass our earlier results," he said.  "These data and their 
analysis will be published later this summer in scientific literature.  
In addition, we are developing collaborations with reputable 
scientists who will help us with the rapid development of the 
fundamental aspects and practical applications of this work."

     Pons is displeased that the committee canceled its visit 
rather than negotiate with Fleischmann and him.

     "It appears that the people who would benefit most by this work 
being discredited have again taken the initiative to cause us 
great difficulty," he said.  "I am pleased to tell you that they 
might cause us difficulty, but they will not stop the science."

     Happer believes Pons is right on that account.

     A recommendation -- pro or con -- by the government committee, 
Happer said, won't faze private industry.

     "If it's right, they (Pons and Fleischmann) don't need much 
(government) money," he said.  "If industry really thinks it's right, 
they could care less what the U.S. government thinks."

     Happer added, "It's much too important to industry to worry 
about what a stupid government committee says.  Most companies don't 
take Washington as seriously as Washington takes itself."

     Happer and other committee members admitted the obvious: 
It will be difficult to evaluate and report on the U. experiments 
without seeing them.

     Happer said the committee plans to visit Stanford and Texas A&M, 
which have duplicated parts of the Utah experiment.

     We'd like it (the U. experiment) to be true, but we want to know 
what the truth is," Happer said.

...[end of aritcle]


The following is a related article in the May 28, 1989, Deseret News.
It is entitled "U. backs decision."  No credit is given to a specific 
author, but I assume it is also Copyright 1989, Deseret News.  
I am reproducing this article without permission.  

   [start of article]

     While the University of Utah would welcome a visit by the 
Department of Energy's panel on cold fusion, a U. official said 
Saturday that he respects the decision made by B. Stanley Pons 
and Martin Fleischmann not to allow the committee in their lab.  

     "When we were asked if the committee could come, we said, 
'Of course,'" said James J. Brophy, U. vice president for research.  

     Brophy said the committee was anxious to visit the U. campus 
before Fleischmann returned to England, where he's professor of 
electrochemistry at the University of Southampton.

     Brophy was notified Thursday of the committee's decision to
cancel the trip.  Friday, however, he said there was a note on his 
desk saying that the committee chairman had again called.  

     "I assume that he is trying to arrange for another visit later 
in the month.  Other faculty members have indicated their willingness 
to meet with the committee," Brophy said.  "I respect Dr. Pons' 
and Dr. Fleischmann's individual positions."

...[end of article]


I am posting this mainly because of the quotes by Pons, 
for the benefit of net readers not in the Salt Lake City 
area who might not be seeing quotes by him in the press 
on a regular basis.  Any typos are likely mine.

Jim Kowalczyk

   Kowalczyk@chemistry.utah.edu
   James_J_Kowalczyk@cup.portal.com