“I Love You This Big” American Idol 2011 winner (转载)# Piebridge - 鹊桥
d*f
1 楼
$25,000 for a Christmas party.
$11,000 for premium coffee services.
Millions more for questionable construction costs.
All this was billed to taxpayers by an obscure federally funded science
group, according to a scathing new inspector general report.
The audit, conducted by the National Science Foundation inspector general
and the Defense Contract Audit Agency, detailed spending by the Colorado-
based National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). The nonprofit,
designed to operate a network of ecological observatories across the
continent, is solely funded by the National Science Foundation.
The report found that spending at the group has gotten out of control.
"Given the present lack of controls, there is virtually no accountability
over the contingency funds ... NSF does not have sufficient safeguards over
the significant and unsupported contingency costs included in NEON's award
budget," the report said.
The report, and the spending, was the subject of a House science committee
hearing Wednesday morning.
Among the spending was a slew of items billed to the National Science
Foundation between mid-September 2012 and mid-April 2013, under a so-called
"management fee." They included the lavish Christmas party, the coffee
services, $3,000 for alcohol-fueled Board of Directors dinners, $3,000 for T
-shirts and more. It also included $112,000 for lobbying, according to the
report. According to a whistle-blower document, the Christmas and holiday
party costs included more than $12,000 for expenses at a Westin.
"Why did NSF allow this to happen?" Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith,
R-Texas, said Wednesday at the hearing. "The NSF needs to be held
accountable for how they spend taxpayers' hard-earned dollars."
Though it wasn't in the IG report, Smith also alleged trips to a "high-end
resort in France."
Asked for comment, an NSF spokeswoman said the agency has initiated a review
of "management fee policies and controls."
"Consistent with government-wide regulations that govern audit resolution,
NSF has policies and procedures for resolving and following up on and
recommendations contained in audit reports issued by the Office of the
Inspector General," the spokeswoman said, adding the agency will post its
final decision online.
NEON Board Chairman James Collins also defended the organization. "NEON, Inc
. has always spent all funding in strict compliance with our understanding
both of the guidelines provided to the organization and the law," he said in
a statement.
The audit stemmed from concerns dating back to 2012 over a NEON construction
budget, where more than $150 million in costs were questioned.
This is not the first time the NSF has come under scrutiny for its spending.
In 2011, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., released a report on wasteful spending at
the NSF, identifying more than $1.2 billion in losses from waste, fraud,
duplication and mismanagement.
This included an $80,000 study on why the same teams always dominate March
Madness; $1 million for an analysis of how quickly parents respond to trendy
baby names; $2 million to figure out that people who often post pictures on
the Internet from the same location at the same time are usually friends;
and $581,000 on whether online dating site users are racist.
$11,000 for premium coffee services.
Millions more for questionable construction costs.
All this was billed to taxpayers by an obscure federally funded science
group, according to a scathing new inspector general report.
The audit, conducted by the National Science Foundation inspector general
and the Defense Contract Audit Agency, detailed spending by the Colorado-
based National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). The nonprofit,
designed to operate a network of ecological observatories across the
continent, is solely funded by the National Science Foundation.
The report found that spending at the group has gotten out of control.
"Given the present lack of controls, there is virtually no accountability
over the contingency funds ... NSF does not have sufficient safeguards over
the significant and unsupported contingency costs included in NEON's award
budget," the report said.
The report, and the spending, was the subject of a House science committee
hearing Wednesday morning.
Among the spending was a slew of items billed to the National Science
Foundation between mid-September 2012 and mid-April 2013, under a so-called
"management fee." They included the lavish Christmas party, the coffee
services, $3,000 for alcohol-fueled Board of Directors dinners, $3,000 for T
-shirts and more. It also included $112,000 for lobbying, according to the
report. According to a whistle-blower document, the Christmas and holiday
party costs included more than $12,000 for expenses at a Westin.
"Why did NSF allow this to happen?" Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith,
R-Texas, said Wednesday at the hearing. "The NSF needs to be held
accountable for how they spend taxpayers' hard-earned dollars."
Though it wasn't in the IG report, Smith also alleged trips to a "high-end
resort in France."
Asked for comment, an NSF spokeswoman said the agency has initiated a review
of "management fee policies and controls."
"Consistent with government-wide regulations that govern audit resolution,
NSF has policies and procedures for resolving and following up on and
recommendations contained in audit reports issued by the Office of the
Inspector General," the spokeswoman said, adding the agency will post its
final decision online.
NEON Board Chairman James Collins also defended the organization. "NEON, Inc
. has always spent all funding in strict compliance with our understanding
both of the guidelines provided to the organization and the law," he said in
a statement.
The audit stemmed from concerns dating back to 2012 over a NEON construction
budget, where more than $150 million in costs were questioned.
This is not the first time the NSF has come under scrutiny for its spending.
In 2011, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., released a report on wasteful spending at
the NSF, identifying more than $1.2 billion in losses from waste, fraud,
duplication and mismanagement.
This included an $80,000 study on why the same teams always dominate March
Madness; $1 million for an analysis of how quickly parents respond to trendy
baby names; $2 million to figure out that people who often post pictures on
the Internet from the same location at the same time are usually friends;
and $581,000 on whether online dating site users are racist.
