ridecamp@endurance.net: Re: [endurance] research on endurance horses

Re: [endurance] research on endurance horses

Truman Prevatt (prevatt@mail.lds.loral.com)
Thu, 7 Dec 1995 14:22:23 -0400

Hi Lynn,
You managed to hit my "hot button"
>Our
>biggest stumbling block is FUNDING. We have limited in house resources.
>I am the only one who owns and rides horses (I'm also known as a lunatic
>by our clinician colleagues!) and this is supposed to be a human medical
>school. What to do?

As you know most funding for basic research comes from the federal gov't.
I believe that much basic research is required before we fully understand
the stresses on the endurance horse. And any effort ot provide treatment,
or to better protect the horse is nothing but hit and miss without an
understanding of the basic science.

The current willy-nilly course to "cut any dollar bill that moves from the
budget" by congress is putting us on the road to disaster in the basic
science and follow on technology development. The decision to cut the
super collider program is a prime example of this stupidity. We
mathematicians have conflicting predictions derived from mathematical
models based on the current competing physicial theories. Experiments to
test these predictions cannot be performed without the energy generated by
the super collider. These basic questions in physics will go unanswered.
The sad part is that the development of many emerging technologies (e.g.
high temp superconductiors) depend on the answers to these basic questions.
So by shutting off basic research we are shutting down our technology
growth. I am very happy there was a much more enlightened attitude toward
basic research in the 50's. If the current attitude has prevailed the
discovery of the transistor would have probably been set back 10 years or
more - and think about the impact that would have had.

If we can't get funding for of basic physics research then where is the
funding coming from for the type of research you are proposing? It has to
come from the vet schools, or from the medical schools (in the case of
humans). But as you know the FL university are under the squeeze. How
about it vet schools - are you will to invest?

Sorry about the soapbox.

Truman

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The race is not always to the swift, but to those that keep running.

Truman and Mystic "The Horse from HELL" Storm

prevatt@lds.loral.com - Sarasota, Florida
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