My next-door neighbor Stan just bought a computer with his research grant, and while he was away one day the secretary came into his office and affixed a UCLA property sticker on his computer. This was a little odd, because UCLA has stopped keeping track of inexpensive computer equipment. It turns out that his grant was administered by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and they wanted UCLA to keep track of the computer. So, OK, it made sense.
But then a government auditor came by yesterday, to confirm the existence of the computer, and affix a couple more stickers, as shown in this image. Stan of course asked, "What's the bottom one?" The auditor told him that it was to prevent the computer from being used for non-registered human embryonic stem cell research (hESC). Stan thought it was a joke, but apparently the auditor had no sense of humor.
Stan does study the birth places of stars and planets, but he doesn't think the prohibition against working with stem cells will significantly impact his research. However, we're all now wondering whether he'll be able to look at the this link from his computer.
And we're all just really impressed at how our government defends its principles.
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