By voting this week to block further federal funding for a $8.24 billion atom smasher called the super collider, the U.S. House of Representatives has sent a pointed message.

The message is that some lawmakers are determined to cut federal spending without the balanced budget amendment rejected by the House last week.How long this determination will last is anybody's guess. The Senate still could vote to fund the super collider, a move that would involve ironing out Senate-House differences in a conference committee. But for the time being at least, this week's House vote sends a stunning wake-up call to promoters of other costly projects - particularly the $30 billion space station being planned by NASA.

Utah has an especially keen interest in the future of the super collider because this state was once in the running to get this project, the most expensive scientific experiment ever planned, but lost out to Texas.

This page actively championed the super collider and still does so. But a balanced budget is of much more immediate concern. Consequently, we wonder if some kind of trade-off isn't possible. Until economic recovery and federal belt-tightening reduce the red ink, couldn't the super collider just be put on hold without killing the project?

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Meanwhile, has Washington really done all it can to get other nations to help finance the super collider? Can't this research be done cooperatively rather than competitively? Though the nation that spearheads the effort stands to gain the most, many potential benefits from the super collider would eventually be enjoyed by many nations.

The super collider is designed to be the world's largest scientific instrument - a powerful, state-of-the-art particle accelerator enabling physicists to explore the fundamental properties of matter and energy.

Besides producing new jobs, this project would also provide invaluable training for the next generation of scientists and engineers. Hence, scientific leadership is at stake in the fate of the super collider.

But the main point is that technological advances - and the improved standard of living they usually produce - often have their roots in the very basic research to be done by the super collider. Washington had better make sure it is not being penny-wise but pound-foolish on this project.

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