| |
A cautionary tale of export
controls Export control laws are serious
business, says Ron Russell, director of MSU’s Office of Export
controls and Trade Sanctions. At least one U.S. professor in Tennessee would
agree with him. That faculty member said he didn’t know that a Chinese
student working on his research project could be a problem or that a lecture
tour in China might raise suspicions. “We knew
there was such a thing as an export control act, but we weren't sure what
the details are," he told the local newspaper, which reported allegations of
infractions last summer.
According to the article,
the professor was stopped at customs on his return from China last May. His
luggage was searched, and the contents of his wallet and all of the
technical documents he was carrying were copied. Federal search warrants
were issued for his university office and his laptop computer.
It’s a cautionary tale,
Russell says. “We don’t know what has happened in this case, but it’s clear
that saying he didn’t know details of the law wasn’t a very good defense for
this professor.”
At MSU, Russell and
Cordell Overby, assistant vice president for regulatory affairs, use
numerous methods to convey information about export regulations. Last fall
Overby distributed a memo that focused on
travel
with and transport of research-related materials. Other information,
including a tutorial, is available on the OVPRGS Web site. A search on
“export controls” at the MSU home page yields a number of information
sources, including articles in previous issues of Research News.
Russell and Overby are available to meet with faculty groups; call 432-4500
to schedule a presentation. |
Animal care programs
accredited After nearly two years of
planning, organizing, and finally writing, JR Haywood and his team of
animal care experts sent three applications totaling nearly 900 pages to the
Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care
International (AAALAC) last spring. One application was for renewal of
accreditation received in 2003 with the College of Engineering added to the
Colleges of Human Medicine, Natural Science, Osteopathic Medicine, and
Social Science. The other two requested accreditation for programs in the
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) and the College of
Veterinary Medicine (CVM).
Haywood, who is chair of the Department of
Pharmacology and Toxicology and an assistant vice president in the Office of
the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, has been on the AAALAC
Council for more than eight years. Knowing AAALAC’s high expectations, he
brought in external experts to help evaluate the structure and organization
of every aspect of MSU’s animal care program and made a number of changes to
be responsive to AAALAC requirements.
The result: the five colleges requesting
reaccreditation got it and CVM was fully accredited. CANR received
provisional accreditation with two areas to address before being fully
accredited. They include implementation of plans to improve veterinary care
for farm animals and installation of ground fault interrupters in the
Hammond Bay aquatics facility. Efforts to meet both requirements are well
under way.
“This is an excellent outcome,” says VP Gray.
“JR and his team did a wonderful job of bringing our animal care programs
into compliance.”
AAALAC accreditation confirms that MSU follows and
exceeds all regulations for animal care programs. |