To: csteams@newton.ncsa.uiuc.edu, atteams@newton.ncsa.uiuc.edu,
        eotpaci@newton.ncsa.uiuc.edu, rp@newton.ncsa.uiuc.edu
From: Jim Bottum 
Subject: PACI update 
Cc: ls@newton.ncsa.uiuc.edu, jb@newton.ncsa.uiuc.edu

Many of you have seen the press release issued last week by Cornell
University regarding the status of the Cornell Theory Center in the PACI
competition.  A copy is attached. This has created a great deal of
discussion and inquiry as to where NCSA's proposal stands in the
competition.  The purpose of this message is to update you on NCSA's status
in the competition.  We have talked to the NSF about these developments and
were told that we could share with you the following.  We feel no need to
issue a press release at this time.

NCSA's proposal for the National Computational Science Alliance was ranked
among the highest in this competition. Currently, we are in discussions with
the NSF on how best to construct a balanced national program. Thr Executive
Committee is involved in these discussion which will continue until the
National Science Board issues the final decision in late March (the Board
meeting is March 27-28). As you can readily understand, NSF wants to keep
the negotiations strictly confidential until the announcement, so a full
discussion will have to wait until that time.  We will give you periodic
updates as events continue to develop. This is an exciting process as we
evolve the national teams that will be prototyping the 21st century advanced
computational infrastructure.  

We hope this is helpful to you and will keep you advised as this process
unfolds.

===================Attachment- Cornell Press Release============

FOR RELEASE:  Jan. 16, 1997     Contact:  Henrik N. Dullea
        Office:  (607) 255-9029
        Home:  (607) 277-2488
        E-mail:  hnd1@cornell.edu

Cornell issues statement on federal supercomputing center status

ITHACA, N.Y. - Cornell University Vice President for Research and Advanced
Studies Norman R. Scott issued the following statement today concerning the
status of Cornell's application to the National Science Foundation for
designation as a national center under NSF's new Partnerships for Advanced
Computational Infrastructure Program:

"Over the last 18 months, the staff of the Cornell Theory Center has been
engaged in a new competition for NSF designation as a national center for
infrastructure partnerships in supercomputing.  We have operated the
existing National Center for Supercomputing for the last decade, and our
proposal for the next round in serving the NSF was based on the highly
successful experience that we have had in meeting the needs of the national
high-performance computing community, especially that portion of the
community served by one of the world's most powerful systems, our scalable
parallel computer produced by the IBM Corporation.

"While the NSF has made no decision concerning the outcome of the current
competition, and no decision is expected until the action of the National
Science Board in March, discussions with senior staff of the NSF in
meetings yesterday here in Ithaca cause us to believe at this time that our
proposal has not been given the highest ranking among the four finalists in
the competition.  This is a most disturbing development, and we are doing
everything we can to secure further information from NSF on the status of
our proposal.  Appropriate steps will be taken by the university as the
situation becomes clarified.

"Given the significance of this situation for members of the Cornell
community, particularly those serving in the Theory Center, the center's
director, Dr. Malvin Kalos, briefed the Center's staff on the current
situation this morning.  Dr. Kalos stated in his remarks that in the event
that Cornell is not chosen as one of the sites for the new program, we are
most likely to be given substantial transitional funding by NSF through
Fiscal Year '98 and possibly beyond.  In addition, Dr. Kalos indicated that
the center's leadership is already vigorously exploring alternative sources
of federal support for its operations and that we are keeping the members
of our Congressional delegation fully informed of these developments.  He
assured members of the Theory Center staff that no adverse personnel
actions are intended at this time."

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