VOLUME 7 / NUMBER 2 / SUMMER 2004 TrThe Pew ustCharitable Trusts

Campaign $ Reform Re-Conceiving Human Reproduction Toward an Honest Cyberspace Notes from the President

working hard to wisely steward their Campaign Reform Act, we are sup- institutions and serve their constituents. porting work to ensure that campaign This climate is distressing to The laws are effectively implemented. Pew Charitable Trusts. Our founders felt keenly their responsibility to earn very sector, not only the and keep the public trust, holding political, must earn the the institution—and their successors, public’s confidence. Rapidly who lead the Trusts today—to the Eemerging, technologically highest standards of accountability complex areas, by virtue of being and transparency. We understand novel, raise important ethical, social that a commitment to the public trust and policy questions for us all. Those Responsibility comes from a legacy of honesty, good with responsibility for these innovations governance and best practice that must work to assure us that they are must be constantly re-earned by the acting with integrity and accountabil- quality of our work and the integrity ity—and must thoroughly explain to mericans have always been with which we carry it out. the public the importance and impact A characterized as a pragmatic of their contributions. After all, the people: We get things done. “Yankee n the political realm, the credi- public must understand the topic in ingenuity” (not confined to New Eng- bility and transparency by which order to lend a wise voice to the policy land, of course) starts with the assump- our nation conducts elections is decisions that affect it. tion that we don’t have to live with a Icentral to nurturing the public Reproductive genetics is a timely problem but can find an answer—often trust, since voting is the bedrock of example because, even as it clearly non-obvious, bred of such ingredients our democracy—one of the “first solves many problems, it also raises as hope, common sense, technology, principles” of government, as Thomas new and difficult choices for society contributions from diverse disciplines Paine put it, because the ballot “is the to make. For while we as a nation may and newly discovered stakeholders primary right by which other rights concur on the promise the scientific who are drawn into the effort. are protected.” If people were to lose advances hold for preventing diseases, The organizations that successfully faith in the accountability of our election we are assuredly of many opinions on and consistently rise to the challenge system, if they did not believe that our the ethical implications of the tech- emerge as our leadership institutions. elections are free and fair, they would nology and on the sort of oversight We look to them for vision and results, not vote—and the very system that that would give us confidence that its no matter which sector—for-profit, underpins our participatory democ- application is accountable and deserv- nonprofit, philanthropic or govern- racy would profoundly suffer. ing of the public trust. mental—they may inhabit. To help increase public trust, con- The Genetics and Public Policy But that’s not all we want from fidence and participation in our elec- Center, a Trusts-supported project of these leaders. We also expect them tions, the Trusts launched a major Johns Hopkins University, provides to act with integrity, character and initiative in 1996 to reform the role of well-considered policy options so that honesty as they work to serve the money in campaigns. Our investments the public and policymakers can make public interest. In turn, we and our were intended to encourage support educated choices on the use and future partners must be accountable in our for an incremental approach to cam- direction of the technologies involved dealings and transparent about how paign finance reform, based on solid, in human reproduction. The Center’s we achieve our results. nonpartisan research and data and success is based on its independence Unfortunately, every sector has designed to bring varied, informed and ability to provide objective, credible some organizations that have failed and compelling voices into the debate. information and on its fostering of a to meet these standards. Whether We and other foundations worked deliberative environment for disparate through greed, simple thoughtless- with organizations across the political points of view. ness, lack of oversight or other inter- spectrum to provide information that In all of our efforts, the Trusts nal checks, they disregarded the would increase transparency and aims to serve the public interest, and interest of their stakeholders and the accountability in how campaigns are we work—as an institution and with our public they serve. They stretched or financed—critical ingredients to regain partners—by holding ourselves to the even broke their own established rules the public’s trust. The development highest standards of integrity, account- of conduct for their own gains—and, of model approaches was intended to ability and transparency. We act as in the process, lost both their reputa- help end the longstanding ideological though our reputational capital is tion and their effectiveness and hopes impasse around campaign finance always at stake—for indeed it is. for success. Even more tragic, they reform and attract sufficient public tainted the public’s regard for entire and policymaker support to this key Rebecca W. Rimel sectors and the worthy organizations issue. Now, in the era of the Bipartisan President and CEO Tr ust The Pew Charitable Trusts VOLUME 7 NUMBER 2 SUMMER 2004

Trust Juice Worth the Squeeze

Published three times a year by USA Today called the Trusts a “winner” 2 The Pew Charitable Trusts when the U.S. Supreme Court backed campaign finance reform. Here’s a © 2004 The Pew Charitable Trusts reformer’s point of view. ISSN: 1540-4587

The Board of Custom Policy for “Custom Kids”? The Pew Charitable Trusts 8 Robert H. Campbell The Genetics and Public Policy Center Susan W. Catherwood looks at the policy vacuum regarding Gloria Twine Chisum reproductive genetic technologies and asks: “Is this what we want?” Alan J. Davis Thomas W. Langfitt, M.D. Paul F. Miller Jr. Before You Get Burned Arthur E. Pew III 14 J. Howard Pew II Conducting Internet transactions carries J.N. Pew IV, M.D. some risks, not always fully understood. Mary Catharine Pew, M.D. Consumer WebWatch is helping buyers R. Anderson Pew be aware. Sandy Pew Rebecca W. Rimel Robert G. Williams Ethel Benson Wister Departments The Pew Charitable Trusts serves the public President and CEO interest in three major areas of work: advancing policy solutions on important Rebecca W. Rimel NOTES FROM THE PRESIDENT Inside front issues facing the American people; inform- Principled action and the public trust. cover ing the public on key issues and trends as Director of Public Affairs a highly credible source of independent, Deborah L. Hayes non-partisan research and polling infor- LESSONS LEARNED mation; and supporting the arts, heritage, Pew Fellowships in the Arts. health and well-being of our diverse citizenry Editor 19 and civic life, with particular emphasis on Marshall A. Ledger Philadelphia. Based in Philadelphia, with an office in Editorial Assistants Washington, D.C., the Trusts makes invest- RECENT GRANTS Jessica Riordan ments to provide organizations and citizens with fact-based research and practical Christine M. Wojdyla 22 solutions for challenging issues. An independent nonprofit, the Trusts is One Commerce Square the sole beneficiary of seven individual 2005 Market Street, Ste. 1700 BRIEFINGS charitable funds established between 1948 Philadelphia, PA 19103-7077 Smart Communities, The Trusts in 2004, 24 and 1979 by two sons and two daughters Phone 215.575.9050 extinction made visible, “under God,” of Sun Oil Company founder Joseph N. 2004 USPS Olympic stamp. Pew and his wife, Mary Anderson Pew. On the Internet: www.pewtrusts.org LETTERS 26 Design/Art Direction Lewis & Nobel Design

Cover art: Andy Warhol, “Dollar Sign” © 2004 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / ARS, New York. Background: a ballot from Santa Rosa County, Florida. Summer 2004 / 1 Juice Worth the 2004 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York Artist Rights Society (ARS), New Arts / Foundation for the Visual Andy Warhol 2004 ©

Dollar Sign (green), 1982 (silkscreen on canvas) by Andy Warhol (1930-87) Connaught Brown, London, UK / Bridgeman Art Library

A campaign finance reformer reviews the struggle for change. Former Solicitor General Seth Waxman is unlikely to forget anytime soon where he was on the morning of De- cember 10, 2003—in the U.S. Supreme Court chamber—or that he was somewhat distracted as the nine justices filed into the chamber to hear the first of two oral arguments on that day’s docket. Waxman’s attention was riveted on what he would momentarily present to the Court in a case addressing the scope of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel. At first he did not realize that Chief Justice Rehnquist was announcing a decision in McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, which challenged the constitutionality of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA). And when he did realize it, he refused to listen: After all, he had another case to argue that morning. Three months earlier, as lead attorney for the congressional co-sponsors of BCRA, Waxman had brilliantly defended the new law in an almost unprecedented four-hour oral argument against a

2/ Trust All rights reserved. © 98MlakeSnie.Rpitdwt emsino NVRA PRESS SYNDICATE. 1998 Milwaukee Sentinel. Reprinted with permission of UNIVERSAL

How editorial cartoonists saw campaign finance reform in 1998 . . . By Thomas E. Mann veritable dream team of prominent lawyers (including former Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr and First Amendment champion Floyd Abrams) representing Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and scores of allied plaintiffs. Spirited and probing questioning by the justices left most observers uncertain how the Court would rule. At the initial stage of the litigation, a three-judge Federal District Court panel, after months of delay, had disgorged a complex and confusing 1,600-page decision that found unconstitutional some of the law’s major provisions. Consequently, smart money was on the Supreme Court striking down the section regulating certain types of broadcast “issue ads”—campaign ads financed with funds not subject to federal regulation—as well as restrictions on the “soft-money” funding activities of state and local political parties—that is, what they do with unregulated donations from corporations, unions and wealthy individuals. Others present in the court the December morning of the decision—many of whom were there to hear the second oral argument on an important partisan gerrymandering case—realized immediately the stunning import of the Chief Justice’s words. Largely by a 5-4 majority (with Justice O’Connor decisively joining Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, Souter and Stevens), the Court upheld virtually in their entirety BCRA’s twin pillars regulating soft money and issue advocacy.

Summer 2004 / 3 efenders of the new law, myself included, could not have been more pleased Dby the substance of the decision or by the rationale used by the majority to uphold Congress’s handiwork. The Court explicitly recog- nized the care the bill’s authors took to craft constitutional means to achieve a limited set of policy ends. While many BCRA critics see an ambitious and threatening departure in campaign finance regulation and jurisprudence, supporters are comforted that the Court recognized that Congress took measured and considered steps to restore a regime that was undermined

in recent years by the rise of party soft 2001 Milwaukee Sentinel. Reprinted with permission of UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE. money and the explosion of electioneer- © All rights reserved. ing disguised as issue advocacy. The majority opinion is notable for . . . and in 2001 . . . its reliance on the evidentiary record assembled by Congress and BCRA’s defendants, its refreshingly pragmatic ultimately successful force. Looking The party committees were joined view of money and politics, its reluc- back on this history, I am struck by by outside groups suddenly free to tance to entertain departures from the the pivotal role played by The Pew use their treasury funds to broadcast constitutional analysis underlying its Charitable Trusts and allied founda- electioneering communications under previous campaign finance cases— tions in nurturing the efforts that the guise of issue advocacy. They from Buckley v. Valeo (1976) to Federal made possible the new campaign spent millions of dollars in this fashion, Election Commission v. Beaumont finance law. clearly designed to elect or defeat (2003)—and its deference to Congress. federal candidates. The demand for To members of the campaign finance he 1996 election was a party soft money intensified (jumping reform community, this wonderfully critical juncture in this from $80 million in 1992 to $272 million satisfying victory in McConnell v. FEC period. On the advice of in 1996 and then to $497 million in affirmed critical decisions made years This political consultant 2000). The well-chronicled fundraising earlier: to refocus the reform agenda Dick Morris, President Bill Clinton abuses of that period proceeded apace. on a limited set of pressing problems embraced an “issue advocacy” politi- And the system of campaign finance that emerged in the 1996 election, to cal advertising strategy in late 1995. regulation enshrined in the Federal frame legislative proposals that could Clinton’s brazen move, unchallenged Election Campaign Act and the Buckley attract bipartisan support in Congress by the Federal Election Commission, decision largely collapsed. and pass constitutional muster, to build pushed the law to its limit and left his Shortly after the election, Norman a substantial empirical record docu- reelection campaign unconstrained Ornstein, resident scholar at the menting how contemporary campaign by Presidential campaign spending American Enterprise Institute, con- finance practices departed from the limits and financed in substantial vened a small group of campaign intentions of existing law and to attract part by party soft money. In this new finance experts—including Anthony to the reform coalition a broader, more soft money/issue advocacy world of Corrado, Michael Malbin, Paul Taylor diverse set of groups and interests. campaign finance, the Republican and myself—to assess the wreckage These decisions transformed what National Committee soon came to from the 1996 campaign and take a had been a fractious reform commu- the aid of its Presidential nominee, stab at refocusing the reform agenda. nity pursuing an ineffectual legisla- Bob Dole, and the congressional Previous efforts had tried to reduce tive strategy since the mid-1980s into a party committees threw support to the amount of money in politics, prima- more pragmatic, formidable and candidates for the House and Senate. rily by restricting political action com-

4/ Trust Snowe (R-Maine) and Jim Jeffords (R, I-Vt.) crafted an amendment to more sharply define the electioneering communications that would be subject to regulation.

he legislative odyssey from this relaunched reform agenda in 1997 to Tthe passage of BCRA in 2002 is a fascinating tale involving daunting obstacles, frequent setbacks and the extraordinary tenacity of its prime congressional sponsors.1 The instability of the campaign finance system after the explosion of soft money and sham issue advocacy

2002 The Buffalo News. Reprinted with permission of UNIVERSALThe Buffalo 2002 PRESS SYNDICATE. in 1996 certainly contributed to the © All rights reserved. legislation’s success. So too did key events along the way—John McCain’s . . . and 2002 . . . 2000 Presidential campaign, Senate elections that same year that increased support for reform, the Enron scan- mittees (PACs) and limiting campaign sidized air time for candidates and dal and the 2001 change in party spending. The reformers’ rhetoric— parties. Use tax credits to encourage control of the Senate following Jim too much money flows into politics, small donations. Jeffords’ defection from the Republican private donations are inherently cor- Our recommendations were in- party. rupting, and spending limits are in- cluded in the report “Five Ideas for But also crucial were the shift to a dispensable to a reform agenda—had Practical Campaign Reform.” more focused and achievable agenda, proven counterproductive. Despite some lingering opposition a new-found pragmatism and consen- Now another reform group was within the reform community, the sus in the reform community, com- counseling a different approach with a proposed agenda soon caught on. pelling research on soft money and decidedly different rhetoric. Set aside Thanks to the initiative of its president issue-advocacy broadcasting in the PAC attacks, spending limits and Becky Cain, the League of Women 1998 and 2000 elections and the addi- demands for full public financing of Voters was the first reform group to tion of voices from groups not heard all federal elections. Instead, proceed embrace the new approach, ultimately in previous reform debates. And in incrementally by first repairing the leading to a national advertising cam- each of these latter cases, support tears in the existing regulatory fabric. paign on behalf of “Five Ideas.” Others from the Pew Trusts played a critical Eliminate party soft money, but make were less enthusiastic. One promi- role, sometimes on its own but often in it easier for parties and candidates to nent reformer attacked these alterna- concert with the Joyce Foundation, raise hard money. Create a constitu- tives as a Trojan horse in a Capital the Carnegie Corporation, the Open tionally acceptable alternative to “ex- Hill newpaper column headlined Society Institute and others. press advocacy” as an unambiguous “Beware Geeks Bearing Gifts.” The Trusts launched its efforts on bright-line test for identifying elec- The key congressional sponsors of campaign finance in 1996 as part of a tioneering communications that would earlier campaign finance legislation— larger program under the direction of be subject to disclosure and limits on senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Paul Light to “strengthen democratic sources of funding. Restore the long- Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) and Repre- life” in the United States. To try to standing prohibitions on contributions sentatives Chris Shays (R-Conn.) and overcome the obstacles that had and expenditures from corporate and Martin Meehan (D-Mass.)—redraft- frustrated past efforts, the Trusts union treasuries in federal elections. ed their bills to focus primarily on developed a grantmaking strategy on Strengthen the enforcement of cam- soft money and issue advocacy elec- money in campaigns designed to paign finance law. Provide free or sub- tioneering. Later on, senators Olympia encourage an incremental approach

1 This story is nicely recounted in Anthony Corrado, “The Legislative Odyssey of BCRA” in Michael J. Malbin, ed., Life After Reform (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003).

Summer 2004 / 5 to reform based on nonpartisan son Foundation, the Trusts established research and data and to bring new, the Campaign Finance Institute, which more varied voices into the debate. convened bipartisan teams of practi- Its initial grants bore fruit. The tioners and experts to synthesize re- Trusts supported the meetings that search and make recommendations on produced “Five Ideas” and financed pressing issues of money and politics. the public education and outreach Under the direction of Anthony activities of the League of Women Corrado of Colby College, new Voters to promote the new agenda. voices—including those of leaders of Grants to a number of independent various faith traditions, ethnic and policy centers and universities launched minority organizations and environ- the collection of a body of empirical mental groups—entered the debate as data on the amount, sources, uses a consequence of the Trusts’ initia- and impact of money in campaigns. tives. Resources available to journalists The Aspen Institute and the Committee covering campaign finance issues, for Economic Development helped and media coverage more generally, broaden support for the refocused increased markedly as a result of agenda among current and former these projects. policymakers and within the business All of these efforts were designed community. to create an environment that encour- . . . and 2003. Under the leadership of Public Policy aged an open and informed debate Director Michael X. Delli Carpini, the on campaign finance reform, a debate Trusts in 1999 renewed and refined that the Trusts believed would eventu- the legal documents in the case, coordi- the strategy for supporting efforts to ally produce constructive steps to nated the submission of an impressive reform the federal campaign-finance improve disclosure, strengthen enforce- set of amicus briefs in McConnell v. system. Trusts-supported research on ment, ban or curtail soft money and FEC, and facilitated the publication campaign advertising by Jonathan regulate issue ads intended to influ- of a volume presenting key testimony Krasno at New York University’s ence elections. The passage of BCRA by expert and fact witnesses. Both Brennan Center for Justice and clearly justified that belief and the the amicus briefs and expert testimony Kenneth Goldstein at the University impressive investment that followed. were cited extensively in the opin- of Wisconsin provided crucial data ions of the District Court panel and both to the public, including members ongressional enactment of the Supreme Court.2 of Congress during their deliberations the new law was as much The Trusts made additional grants on BCRA (then known as McCain- the beginning of the jour- to supplement the legal work being Feingold), and to the courts when Cney as the end. Even before done in defense of BCRA by the De- determining the new law’s constitu- President Bush signed BCRA into partment of Justice and the Federal tionality. In fact, the researchers’ law on March 27, 2002, contending Election Commission, on behalf of findings on electioneering communica- forces were rushing to frame the the Government, and by Wilmer tions were so telling that opponents factual and legal issues implicated by Cutler & Pickering, which provided tried—unsuccessfully—to challenge the act for its eventual review—as pro bono legal representation for the the integrity of the research during the mandated by the law itself—by the congressional sponsors by partners litigation. Supreme Court. Seth Waxman, Roger Witten, Randy With support from the Trusts, David Fortunately, the Trusts and its Moss and other lawyers and assistants. Magleby of Brigham Young University partner foundations fully anticipated While the legal battle was fought assembled teams of scholars to monitor the legal battle that would follow. A primarily in the courts, the debate how parties and interest groups used new Campaign Legal Center, directed over the constitutionality and likely soft (nonfederal) money to influence by Trevor Potter, was launched to consequences of the new law took federal elections. Other grants were defend the law in the courts and to place very much in the public domain. made to survey public and elite atti- represent the public interest before Dozens of events featuring BCRA tudes on money and politics. Together administrative bodies implementing supporters and opponents were held with the Joyce Foundation, Carnegie BCRA. The center provided timely in Washington and in many other Corporation and the Smith Richard- public access on its Web site to all of places around the country.

2 Anthony Corrado, Thomas E. Mann and Trevor Potter, eds., Inside the Campaign Finance Battle: Court Testimony on the New Reforms (Brookings, 2003).

6/ Trust defenders has been embraced by five these are first impressions, not con- justices. clusions. Systematic research will But the broader public debate provide more definitive answers as certainly helped set the context for we move through this election cycle BCRA’s implementation and for the and into the next. consideration of additional reforms. The eventual impact of BCRA is, at Having lost the argument in Congress this moment, unknowable. Some of and the courts, BCRA’s critics are the Federal Election Commission’s now heralding a parade of “horribles” initial decisions are already being that will inevitably follow. Monitoring challenged in the courts. Others are the implementation and impact of the in the offing: for instance, how political new law is a crucial new stage in the committees allocate their voter mobi- broader efforts to improve the cam- lization expenses between hard- and paign finance system. soft-money contributions; and when “527s”—political organizations set up he issues raised in the under Section 527 of the Internal public debates on BCRA Revenue Code to secure tax-advan-

2003 Austin American-Statesman. Reprinted with permission of UNIVERSALAustin 2003 PRESS SYNDICATE. are far from trivial. Will taged status—must register with the © All rights reserved. Tpolitical parties be weak- Commission and abide by federal ened and interest groups strengthened? regulation. How these and yet other Might innocent encounters between issues play out could make a major politicians and private citizens and difference in determining whether Newspaper editorials weighed in groups be criminalized? Will speech the objectives of BCRA are achieved. for or against the new law. News be chilled? Have incumbents gained yet Clearly the struggle to strengthen stories tracked the progress of the another advantage over challengers? our electoral system and heighten the litigation and speculated about the Initial answers based on more than legitimacy of American democracy likely outcome in the courts. Party a year of experience under BCRA are has only just begun. Still to be enacted officials, election-law attorneys and reassuring. Parties appear to be adapt- are other essential campaign finance political consultants warned of the ing well to a post-soft-money world. reforms: repairing the Presidential dire consequences if the Court The shakedown schemes and access- public financing system, fostering upheld the law. Some columnists peddling by officeholders and parties electoral competition through subsi- bemoaned the perversity of efforts to have abated. Campaign speech—by dized air time and other modes of restrict the flow of money in politics communication, constructing more and the associated damage to our effective enforcement regimes and free-speech guarantees. Others more Go to www.pewtrusts.org for encouraging small donations. Addi- sympathetic to BCRA responded with related information on this story: tional problems and opportunities their own litany of “myths and realities” will surface as money inevitably finds and provided up-to-date information • “Five Ideas for Practical Cam- new outlets in campaigns. We steel on the ways participants were adapting paign Reform” ourselves for what lies ahead—but to the new rules. • Life Before BCRA: Soft Money at now is the time to savor an important We never will know whether this the State Level in the 2000 and victory. ■T public dimension of the campaign 2002 Election Cycles finance battle shaped in any way the • Viewpoint: Campaign Finance thinking of the courts. Those making a Reform by Norman Ornstein Thomas E. Mann, the W. Averell Harriman Chair principled case for repudiating Buckley and senior fellow in governance studies at The and commencing a judicially imposed Brookings Institution, was a participant-observer march to a deregulated campaign throughout the seven-year saga of campaign finance reform—including work, at the beginning, as finance system have enlisted only candidates, parties and interest a member of the group that produced “Five Ideas two steadfast allies on the Supreme groups—is much in evidence. Small- for Practical Campaign Reform,” which helped Court—justices Scalia and Thomas. donor fundraising on the Internet shape the policy agenda, and, at the end, as an expert witness for the Intervenor-Defendants in For the moment, at least, the consti- may produce a more competitive and McConnell v. FEC. The opinions expressed are tutional logic propounded by BCRA’s less-encumbered politics. Of course, those of the author.

Summer 2004 / 7 What oversight—if any— Looking right should there be for reproductive of this policy genetic technologies? and Pub Larry Williams and Associates/CORBIS Larry Williams and © CustomPolicy for“ into the eye n an Atlantic Monthly article in 1971, Nobel storm is the Genetics Laureate James Watson, M.D., Ph.D., noted Ithe “unexpectedly rapid progress” in science’s ability to routinely fertilize human eggs in test lic Policy Center. tubes. With an eye toward the cloning of humans, he asked, “Is this what we want?” More than two decades later, his question has not only not been answered—it’s been broadened. Today, reproductive genetics—including the powerful new technologies associated with it—constitute one of the most visible parts of a dramatic biomedical revolution. This area of scientific discovery is still on a fast pace of development, and the breakthroughs get reported excitedly in the nation’s news. But they also leave many Americans struggling to keep up, trying to decide how they feel about ad- vances in one of life’s most basic, yet profound, events: having a baby. Indeed, the issues raised challenge fundamental views about life, science, technology, regulation, and ethical decision-making. Reproductive genetic technologies have the power to shape our world for the good by offering dramatic new hope for parents struggling with a family history of genetic disease. But the very same technology that can eliminate horrific genetic diseases in children can also be used to change how they look, act or, perhaps one day, even how they think—a turn that many find profoundly disturbing. As this science hurtles forward, it isn’t clear who, if anyone, is guiding its uses or carefully considering the consequences for individuals and society. Even preeminent scientists—for instance, Eric S. Lander, Ph.D., head of the Broad Institute of the Massachu- setts Institute of Technology and Harvard Univer- sity and a leader in the Human Genome Project— have worried aloud that without broader input into the policy decision-making process, scientists, physi- cians and biomedical companies are alone in the Custom Kids”? By Sarah Madsen Hardy driver’s seat, guiding what research clinics are beginning to advertise that will be pursued and how it will be ap- PGD can be used to select the sex of plied. the baby. And that illustrates the dilemma per- ew reproductive genetic fectly. While many herald PGD as an technologies have their important stride in medical progress history in the earlier re- that will help people have children who Nproduction revolution of are free of disabling or life-threatening in-vitro—literally, “in glass”—fertil- genetic conditions, others are con- ization (IVF) technology in which cerned that the technology will be egg and sperm are joined in a test misused. tube, or Petri dish, and then implanted Especially as the number of genetic in a woman’s womb. Though the world tests multiplies, those who can afford was startled in 1978 when scientists the $12,000 per round it costs to use created the first “test-tube baby,” the PGD with IVF may be tempted to procedure is commonplace today: screen their embryos for relatively Approximately one in 100 babies born in minor genetic flaws or even preferred the United States is conceived through characteristics. If PGD has already IVF, and the rate is rising rapidly. been used to select embryos based The Center and IVF has been used primarily as a on gender, critics argue, then there is treatment for infertility, but the process very little stopping prospective par- makes it possible for clinicians to con- ents and practitioners from selecting duct genetic tests on embryos while embryos based on whatever identifi- n April 2003, it came to light that they are accessible in the Petri dish. able genetic traits they deem desirable. certain laboratories had failed Today’s reproductive genetic tech- Who is minding the store? Current to follow recommended profes- nologies include preimplantation oversight of genetic technologies in Isional guidelines in conducting genetic diagnosis (PGD), a process general in the United States is frag- tests to determine if prospective parents in which embryos created through mented and unclear. For example, were carriers for cystic fibrosis (CF). IVF are tested for particular genetic once scientists have identified the Two years earlier, the American diseases or characteristics. function of a particular gene, it is easy College of Obstetricians and Gyne- On the horizon are the prospects of to develop a test to detect mutations cologists recommended that ob/gyn cloning, in which the genetic content in that gene; but there is no official doctors screen all prospective parents of an egg is replaced with another entity that determines when a test is for the genes known to cause CF, a cell that is then stimulated to begin safe, clinically valid and ready to be relatively common and often fatal developing into an embryo with the offered. disease in children born to parents same DNA as the cell; and germ-line Most genetic tests do not fall within who both carry the CF gene. CF genetic engineering, which one day the categories of tests regulated by carrier screening became the first may allow parents not only to screen the Food and Drug Administration. As genetic test in widespread use, and for but also to change or correct in- a result, tests of questionable validity to date, roughly a million couples herited genetic characteristics before may be introduced and marketed to have taken blood tests to find out if birth. providers and consumers. Similarly, they carry one of the many mutations Nationwide, fertility clinics and the oversight of the laboratories that that can lead to CF. practitioners are already employing perform the genetic tests is patchy. The professional guidelines state PGD. Until recently, it was used almost The Centers for Disease Control and that a positive test for CF was indicated exclusively by couples who wanted Prevention sets minimum standards only when a common mutation called to avoid passing down a few severe for medical testing laboratories but 5T was paired with a second mutation. genetic diseases, but today some fer- has yet to adopt specific standards Although the labs were supposed to tility clinics argue that it should become related to genetic tests. test for 5T only after the other muta- a routine part of IVF because it enables In addition, in our health care sys- tion had been confirmed, some labs doctors to select embryos that poten- tem, the federal government rarely were performing both tests at once tially could improve the chances for a steps in to specify the circumstances and reporting positive tests for the 5T successful pregnancy. Some fertility under which doctors might choose mutation alone.

10 / Trust to use a particular test or procedure. Some believe these are decisions These decisions are largely self- for families to make in consultation governed with guidance by medical with their doctors. Some believe these professional societies. In some in- decisions should be left up to God. PGD is possible because stances, an experimental technology Some believe there is a role for govern- of such sophisticated microscopy techniques as that has been supported by federal ment. Others do not want the govern- FISH, or fluorescence in research dollars will require review ment involved in such personal and situ hybridization. Here, by an ethics panel, and study sponsors private decisions. At their most candid, FISH, applied to one cell of an eight-cell embryo, must inform patients of any risks. many would even say “a little bit of has highlighted specific However, since 1996, there has been all of the above.” chromosomes. Courtesy a ban on the use of federal funds for of Farideh Z. Bischoll, Ph.D., Department of embryo research, and as a result, n 2001, the Trusts decided to Obstetrics and Gynecology, reproductive technologies may not launch an initiative to explore the Baylor College of Medicine. always be subject to this higher level need for and interest in the cre- of oversight. Iation of an oversight mechanism Reproductive genetic testing raises that can guide decisions about the use additional issues beyond the general of reproductive genetic technologies, safety and efficacy concerns, and there and in 2002 made a grant to the Phoebe the Canary is no clear arbiter of those concerns, R. Berman Bioethics Institute at The either. For example, should parents Johns Hopkins University to create and their clinicians be allowed to the Genetics and Public Policy Center screen and select embryos based on (GPPC). Compounding the problem, many any of the characteristics that can be “Many nations have undertaken a of the clinicians who ordered the tests tested for? Over the past two decades, detailed evaluation of the policy needs did not know the intricacies of the labs’ scientists have become genetic code- in this rapidly advancing field, con- testing guidelines or the significance crackers. Today, the genes that play ducted far-reaching public consulta- of a positive lab report for 5T and, as a role in hundreds of diseases and tions and, in some cases, adopted new a result, led some patients to believe— characteristics have been identified, laws and regulations. In the U.S., there incorrectly—that their offspring would including genetic markers for perfect is a policy vacuum. The fact that some- be at high risk for CF. Those patients pitch, color blindness and baldness. one didn’t come in and occupy this who were already pregnant then had Is it okay to screen for some charac- niche before the GPPC was created is to confront difficult and unnecessary teristics and not others? sort of stunning,” says Kathy Hudson, decisions about whether to pursue This question is at the heart of the Ph.D., the Center’s director. additional invasive and risky testing debate over whether there should be a Hudson, who earned her doctorate and, for some, whether to continue line between the use of genetic tests in molecular biology, not only under- with the pregnancy at all. for therapeutic purposes (i.e., to screen stands reproduction science but also The Center was pivotal in bringing out harmful genetic conditions) and is a recognized leader in the public this problem to public attention. Hudson their use for “preference” purposes policy issues raised by human genetics spoke frequently with the media and, (i.e., screening for certain characteris- research. She previously served for within a month, organized a sympo- tics such as gender or hair or eye six years as assistant director of the sium for experts in the field to address color). Even if there were agreement National Human Genome Research the problem. One result is that profes- that there should be a line, who would Institute under Francis S. Collins, M.D., sional organizations involved in CF decide what is actually therapeutic Ph.D., where she shaped and directed testing have begun to update their and what is not? What about parents the successful public and media com- guidelines. Hudson describes CF- who want to “balance” a family of all munications efforts of the Human carrier testing as the “canary in the boys with a little girl? Or dwarf parents Genome Project; and she was a policy coal mine”—a warning as to the com- who want a child of “average” height? analyst at the U.S. Department of plexities of genetic testing and a lesson Or parents who want their next child Health and Human Services before that greater attention should be paid to to be a tissue match for a gravely ill becoming director of the Center. how future tests will be incorporated sibling? Or deaf parents who do not Hudson also appreciates how hard into clinical practice. ■T view deafness as a disability and who it is for the average person to keep up S.M.H. want a child who is deaf like them? with a cutting-edge field. Fifteen years

Summer 2004 / 11 ago, as Hudson was busily sequencing DNA in the lab, she herself wondered about how policymakers in Washington were making decisions about this incredibly, and increasingly, compli- cated area of science. After finding herself looking up genetics policy in the government documents section of the library one too many times, she applied for a Congressional Science Fellowship, which funds scientists to work for a year in a congressional office and bring their expertise to relevant policy issues. She went to Washington and never left. “I caught Potomac fever,” Hudson says with a shrug and a smile. The Center has become an impor- tant resource for the media, stake- holders and policymakers both within The reproduction technology PGD is giving parents power to select the and outside Washington. When a team genetic characteristics of their children. Is this a power parents should of South Korean scientists reported have? Should there be limits to its uses? Are current regulations and oversight sufficient? The Genetics and Public Policy Center convened in February that they had successfully a panel of leaders in Washington, D.C., last January to address such cloned a human embryo for the pur- questions. poses of stem cell research, CNN tapped Hudson to appear on Headline News to explain the significance of this development to its audience, as did NPR on Talk of the Nation. or prohibitions that do not take account traits such as height or intelligence. When in June of 2003 the Center of all the interests at stake. Most respondents—including raised questions about the unknown The Center is creating ways in which majorities of Republicans, Democrats long-term health outcomes of children these interests and concerns, includ- and Independents—said that the gov- conceived through assisted reproduc- ing those of the American public, can ernment should regulate the quality tive technologies, the two medical be articulated. It is conducting a series and safety of reproductive genetic groups most closely connected with of ambitious public-opinion research technologies. Just over half of Ameri- this technology agreed to work with projects that are providing policy- cans view these technologies primarily the Center to find answers. And the makers, the media and others with in terms of health and safety, while information and discussion at a GPPC important insights into how segments another third view them primarily in forum on problems with genetic of the American public view repro- moral or religious terms. Those who testing for cystic fibrosis (see box, ductive genetic technologies and view them in terms of religion and pages 10-11) helped prompt the U.S. what role, if any, they believe the morality are more likely to disapprove Food and Drug Administration to government should play in regulating of them. Men are twice as likely as consider requiring additional oversight them. women to be in favor of cloning and of new genetic testing techniques. Its first survey, released in December more “extreme,” if currently impossible, 2002, revealed significant agreement applications of reproductive genetic s the media and experts on certain issues and distinct divisions technologies, such as engineering a speculate about where on others. For example, 66 percent person’s athletic ability. advances in reproductive of respondents approved the use of The Center also conducted a series genetics—both real and these technologies to avoid having a of focus groups and one-on-one inter- A child with a serious genetic disease, imagined—might lead, many worry views with specific subsets of the that policymakers will be tempted to but 70 percent thought it wrong to American public, including religious react with sweeping new mandates use them to select socially desirable Americans and people who have special

12 / Trust experience with reproductive genetics, ous ways to guide the development Following the forum, GPPC posted such as medical professionals and and use of reproductive genetic tech- its draft policy options to its Web site patients who have decided for and nologies. To inform its work on these for additional comment and feedback against using the technologies in options, the Center has assembled a and also plans to vet them with a cross question. Reproductive Genetics Advisory Com- section of the American public as part This research revealed that those mittee, which is made up of leaders of its public opinion work before finaliz- with reservations about where repro- from science, law, bioethics, theology, ing them for release this fall. Over ductive genetics might lead have many industry, sociology, public policy and the coming months, the Center plans different reasons for their hesitation— medicine. to release a series of policy options for among them, parents’ unrealistic expec- So far, this committee has been other reproductive genetic technologies. tations of a “perfect child”; potential asked to react and respond to the Leon R. Kass, M.D., Ph.D., chair of inequities in access to the technology, Center’s first set of draft policy options the President’s Council on Bioethics, leading to deeper divides between which focused on the use of PGD. has praise for the Center’s unconven- classes and races; the difficulty of “Ordinarily, you would think the mem- tional approach. “By gathering infor- enforcing regulations that might just bers of this committee would sit on mation on public opinion, the Center drive technology underground; and opposite sides of the table and stake is helping to make visible the impor- decreased motivation to cure or treat out their positions,” Hudson says, “but tant new ethical challenges society diseases that can be screened out in the fact is that each contributes his will increasingly face from the fusing of vitro. or her sincere perspective in non- reproductive technologies and genetic Currently the Center is conducting posturing conversation. They enrich knowledge,” he says. a series of small-group and online our work enormously.” Opinion data “don’t substitute for discussions with a representative “The Center’s goal is to lay out the ethical reflection and political debate,” sample of Americans to learn whether options free from bias. That helps us Kass cautions, but he expresses and how people’s thoughts about to hear each other’s voices in good optimism that by clarifying the fault reproductive genetic technologies and faith,” says committee member C. Ben lines in public opinion and then laying possible oversight mechanisms change Mitchell, Ph.D., senior fellow at the out policy alternatives, the Center’s after they have been given the oppor- Center for Bioethics and Human work will help focus public deliberation tunity to learn and think more deeply Dignity. “The disagreements we and move the policy process beyond about the science and hear the issues experience are a microcosm of the “business as usual.” debated. disagreements in the larger culture— Though only two years old, the In addition to its public opinion and the unity there as well. I’m con- Center has “more influence than you research, the Center is working with vinced that by asking the right might think,” according to PGD practi- many groups that have a significant questions, consensus can develop.” tioner Joe Leigh Simpson. “Most foun- interest in the development and use Joe Leigh Simpson, M.D., chair of dations have less influence than they of reproductive technologies. These obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor hope for because they find their own groups include disease-specific organi- Medical School and co-director of initiatives in competition with the NIH zations for which these new technolo- Baylor’s PGD program, agrees: “We for public attention,” he explains. “By gies may promise cures, the disability need a neutral broker, and the Center contrast, the Center seems to have community for whom these technolo- seems to be doing a good job, bring- the field to itself.” ■T gies pose the specter of eugenics, ing in the players over a diverse breadth women’s organizations, those con- of expertise and listening without an cerned about race and genetics issues, agenda.” those with strong pro-life and pro-choice In January, the Center unveiled its positions, health-care providers and preliminary report on PGD policy others. options in an event called “Custom The Genetics and Public Policy Center is located Kids: Genetic Testing of Embryos.” at 1717 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 530, Washington, DC 20036. Its phone number is ne of the Center’s primary The event included a panel discussion 202.663.5971. Its Web site, www.DNApolicy.org, objectives is to develop a with public figures and experts, includ- contains genetics issues, policy concerns, polls series of policy options ing former House Speaker Newt and research, and offers the run of its quarterly newsletter. Othat decision-makers in Gingrich and Bernadine Healy, M.D., both the public and private sectors former director of the National Sarah Madsen Hardy writes on a variety of issues might turn to as they consider vari- Institutes of Health. from her home base in Somerville, Mass.

Summer 2004 / 13 Consumer WebWatch is your friend online. Don’t go virtual without it.

By Steve Twomey

ill McGee isn’t traveling anywhere, but Priceline.com doesn’t know that. It doesn’t even know he’s Bill McGee. On this Bparticular day, the online ticketing site thinks he is a Charley Bell, in quest of a cheap flight from Boston to Tampa a few days hence. Moments later, McGee morphs into Robert Bell, seeking a Priceline deal to Phoenix from Baltimore, followed by Nicholas Bell, who wants a seat from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. Tapping at a computer at an office just outside New York City, McGee creates personas as he goes, enjoying the white-lie names. “The Bell family,” he says, “is very large.” Simultaneously, at keyboards in California and elsewhere in New York, five more people are posing as travelers they are not and seeking tickets they won’t use, picking the same dates and destinations as the ubiquitous Bells and other characters McGee conjures. None of the companies realizes it, but six giants of Web travel booking—Expedia, Hotwire, Orbitz, Priceline, Quikbook, Travelocity—are going head-to-head to see which offers the most attractive deal when given identical parameters. As each fictional request is made and each site replies with possible fares and flights, testers print the screen pages. “So we have a record later,” McGee Farida Zaman/Stock Illustration Source

14 / Trust says, should the companies raise doubts or questions after the findings are published. It is a contest months in the making, not only to ensure com- parisons are apples-to-apples, but also to guarantee that no Web site can, in mid-test, trace the requests to their true source—Consumer WebWatch, a project of Consumers Union. Operating from Consumers Union’s Yonkers, N.Y., headquarters, the non-

profit research organization that is its parent, WebWatch has a modest full-time staff—just four (McGee is a consultant)—but mammoth ambitions. With no more than publicity and persuasion as tools, the project is shedding light on Web practices and prodding sites toward more open- ness about who they are, how they operate and what deals they make with third-parties for preferred place- ment or links. As WebWatch succeeds— and the road is long—consumers may giving priority to carriers that have as stating who owns the site and where feel more comfortable when they head paid them a fee? Are they making the it is. But the project has also commis- to cyberspace to find a hotel room, lower prices clear, or burying them sioned studies to help businesses buy a book, research an illness, plan in the displayed results, deeper than understand how consumers use the for retirement or do any of a thousand most consumers go? Is there, in one Web and how they want to be treated tasks they can now do alone, without way or another (in McGee’s words), there, and it has delved deeply into telephoning or visiting anyone. “disturbing evidence of bias”? hotel-booking, auto insurance and Getting the best fare to Hawaii, for “We’re seeking to pierce the veil of health sites to determine if consumers instance, used to mean calls to multiple sites that say they give objective infor- are getting good deals or data. air carriers. It meant minutes on hold, mation,” says Beau Brendler, Web- WebWatch does not dispute that listening to orchestral versions of The Watch’s director. the Internet is a marvel of democracy, Carpenters. It meant giving the same where anybody who can pay a Web travel details to numerous agents. he airline test is but one server can have a Web site, and Now a buyer needs only a computer, way WebWatch has been anybody with a computer can read it. a modem and a Web address and, in trying to “pierce the veil” Alongside the bricks-and-mortar world, seconds, can compare a plethora of T of the Internet since the there is now one that exists on desktop fares, flights, dates and times rounded project began in 2001 with $4.8 million or laptop, where services are offered, up by one of the online services. in support to Consumers Union from products sold and advice is given, Except . . . how do those services The Pew Charitable Trusts, the John S. making it far easier to scratch some- get that data? Are they searching all and James L. Knight Foundation and thing off a “to do” list or get smart airlines, or only those with which they the Open Society Institute. Much of about a problem or issue. have relationships? Are they display- the early emphasis has been on encour- Many sites bear the familiar names ing dates and flights in the order that aging Web businesses to adopt stan- of real-world companies or organiza- most closely matches the request, or dards of good behavior, some as simple tions, which have merely opened

Summer 2004 / 15 online outlets. Consumers know their a seasoning she had brought home reputations and know where to find from a trip to Boston. She found Web their stores or offices. Oft-times, sites for it. But they were “just these though, it is a mystery who is selling a weird, no-name boutique-y gourmet product or giving advice, what ex- ‘shops’ that didn’t bother to tell me pertise they have or how they make where they were, or who they were, money. It can be difficult, too, to know or anything that would give me a clue if a site sells e-mail addresses or other whether I should type-in my credit card data to third parties, which might number,” says Caruso. send forth spam. And there might not be an address for returning merchan- oreover, the line between dise or a phone number for asking unbiased data and pro- questions. Consumers online lack motional slant can “access to molecules”—humans and Msmudge on the Web. buildings, says Denise Caruso, a Newspapers, magazines and television former technology writer who, as a have developed traditions of demarca- Trusts consultant, did the original tion between news copy and advertis- work that gave birth to Consumer ing. (They seem to push that line more WebWatch. and more, though.) But a Web con- Imagine, Brendler says, that “I’m a sumer can come across a book review 17-year-old boy with a ‘social disease.’ I that suggests clicking here to buy the don’t want to tell my parents about it. book from an online dealer. What the I can’t really go to my doctor without consumer doesn’t know, Brendler says, my parents finding out and, depending is that for every copy sold via the link, on local laws, the doctor might have to the dealer gives the reviewer seven inform my parents anyway. percent of the sale. “Don’t you think “So I read a bunch of sites, try to that might compel me to (a) only re- figure out what I need for my problem, view books that I’m fairly sure people then go to one of these growing are going to want to buy, and (b) only travel and other data, and selected numbers of sites that sell prescription review good books or give good re- 163 of the displayed links. Almost all drugs without a prescription. Maybe views to every book?” of their choices were on the first page I think I’m fully informed by reading Such hidden arrangements and fees of results, and 40 percent of the choices the Web about drug interactions, proper are routine. Researching a disease, a were labeled “sponsored” or “featured dosage and so on. But I’m able to find a Web user might come across a page site,” meaning the sites had paid the site that can sell me what I need. And of sober medical discussion that notes search engine. But, Webwatch said, so maybe I get an antibiotic. But it’s in passing that a certain drug has proven “very few participants” noticed the been manufactured in Mexico or India effective in treating the illness. But label, and “each participant expressed with second-rate ingredients and factory there is no indication the page and surprise” when told what it meant. oversight. And so on and so on. the drug have a tie: Both are creations One woman said, “Oh, I’m such a “The point is the Web is a wonder- of the same pharmaceutical company. sucker!” ful convenience. But it can remove a Looking for a good car rental price, a Jakob Nielsen, a member of Web- number of checks, balances and safe- consumer might obtain a host of choices Watch’s 26-member board and hold- guards.” from a site. “What they’re really giving er of numerous patents for making In the two weeks after the anthrax you,” Brendler says, “is the lowest the Web easier to navigate, says too attacks of 2001, 23 Web sites sprang price among a group of favored many sites are “just not treating people up offering Cipro, the best-known business partners.” reasonably, and it’s very confusing treatment. None required a prescrip- In one study WebWatch reported and frustrating for users to be in this tion, Brendler notes, and there was that 17 volunteers who regularly use world.” It is “an unpleasant environ- “no guarantee the stuff you’re buying Internet search engines were unaware ment where you never feel safe and hasn’t been sitting in a warehouse the sites often display results based you always feel hustled.” In a survey for 10 years.” Not long ago, Caruso, on fees. For the study, the volunteers WebWatch commissioned called “A who lives in San Francisco, ran out of asked 15 search engines for health, Matter of Trust: What Users Want

16 / Trust the cause of problems, there has been Hipplsey, associate director of the “a chilling effect” on the Internet’s FTC’s division of advertising practices. information and commercial potential, “We very much embrace efforts that Brendler says. are being made for best practices,” Maybe not very chilling, though. she adds. “We can’t do everything.” According to Forrester Research, One Web site that is a vision of good online sales rose 48 percent in 2002, to practice is—no surprise—WebWatch’s $76 billion, and then proceeded to own, www.consumerwebwatch.org. It rise 51 percent in 2003, to some $114 clearly states the project’s goals, spon- billion. It cited one analyst who said sorship, privacy policy, physical address, online sales were growing far faster phone number and other components than catalogue sales did in their day. of the WebWatch “pledge,” composed WebWatch’s own Princeton Associates of five broad guidelines. The most survey found, moreover, that “online important of these is “advertising and users’ low ratings of Web site credi- sponsorships,” and urges sites to bility do not stand in the way of people “clearly distinguish advertising from going online.” In fact, 75 percent told news and information” and to disclose the survey they shop on the Web and “paid result-placement advertising, so 73 percent provide personal data on consumers may distinguish between the Web, whatever their expressed objective search results and paid ads.” distrust of the medium. Caruso says the idea is not to end financial relationships, but to give hat is not, of course, the context. Is an airline paying a search only chasm ever to appear engine to have its fares displayed first? between what people say “Fine,” Caruso says, “just tell me you Tand what they do. Tech- took money for it.” nology consultant John Hagel told The The guidelines, however, confront New York Times that online shoppers a devilish problem. WebWatch has no from Web Sites,” Princeton Survey might say that a privacy policy is power to force businesses to adopt Research Associates found that only important, but then not check a Web them. It can only praise those that 29 percent of consumers trust sites site for one. What matters more to do. Once in 10 newspapers and twice that sell products, and only 33 percent them, Hagel says, is what always in only The New York Times and The trust those that provide information matters in business: Does the company Wall Street Journal, the project has about purchases. deliver a good product or service? purchased ads that listed sites that It’s not that most Web sites seek to Capitalism, indeed, works in Dar- have “taken the pledge” and passed deceive or confuse, Nielsen and others winian ways with bad practices, whether muster. Getting the imprimatur is an say. They just don’t realize consumers or not there are projects like Web- incentive, because business sites know might want to know about relation- Watch to highlight them. But even if consumers follow recommendations ships with sponsors or be able to find market forces would whip the Web of Consumers Union, the parent of an address or privacy policy. “A large into shape, Caruso says, “Wouldn’t it WebWatch. Others are probably follow- number of companies are reasonably be nice, for once in the history of the ing most or all of the guidelines without ethical,” Nielsen says, and when asked world, if we didn’t have to wait until a even knowing that WebWatch has to change a bad habit, “they’ll obey.” million people got burned?” developed a formal list. Beyond that, sites face “tremendous The Federal Trade Commission, Its other major efforts have been pressure to get the advertisers into for one, is not waiting. In a June 2002 consumer surveys and investigations the message and make that line as letter to several major search engines, similar to McGee’s. Along with blurry as possible,” so money can be it warned them to make sure they ConsumerReports.org and Consumer made, says Michael Daecher, vice provide adequate disclosures when Reports magazine, WebWatch reported president for content for the research they have paid placements; the letter in October 2002 on auto-insurance site About.com. And the technology cited WebWatch’s research at length. sites. Testers posing as a couple from makes getting ads into editorial copy WebWatch’s consumer surveys have Santa Monica, Calif., were given price as easy as clicking on a link. Whatever been “very useful to us,” says Heather quotes that “were generally higher

Summer 2004 / 17 than those found on the California Insurance Department’s Web site.” Using WebWatch’s five guidelines, the investigators gave “e-ratings” to six insurance sites, finding that only InsWeb.com was “useful.” The others either took time to deliver results, operated in a limited number of states, offered a limited number of quotes or poorly disclosed business relation- ships and other data. McGee also led a team that found pluses to booking a hotel room online. Using Expedia, Hotels.com, Lodging.com, Orbitz and Travelocity, also relies on coverage by newspapers And the organization is considering the testers found that, 85 percent of and television. But Scott Silverman, applying WebWatch’s systematic mix the time, at least one of the five services executive director of Shop.org, a divi- of research, guidelines, ratings and came up with a better room rate than sion of the National Retail Federation, outreach to improve consumer prac- the travel agent system. Travelocity says he does not hear much chatter tices among “off-line” businesses. in particular did well, coming up with about WebWatch among his members. In addition, WebWatch has developed the lowest rate in 29 percent of the Nielsen, a project advisor, suggests into a successful convener. One meet- tests, comfortably higher than any the project be likened to a tugboat ing brought together some 130 indus- competitor. pushing a supertanker: “The Web is tryrepresentatives, federal policy- Of course, that means that in 71 really big. It’s going to take a while.” makers, journalists and advocates to percent of the cases, Travelocity’s About.com is one of the companies discuss Web credibility. And, with the hotel room rate wasn’t the lowest. A that has taken the WebWatch pledge American Accreditation HealthCare consumer who shopped there and and been publicized in newspaper ads. Commission, WebWatch gathered nowhere else would pay more than But the site did not detect a surge in online health leaders to identify ways necessary most of the time. Given “hits” after those ads appeared, says to improve the effectiveness of health the same dates and cities, some of Daecher, the vice president for content. searches on the Internet. the five booking sites found no avail- In fairness, the About site gets so Each day, the WebWatch site gets ability, even as competitors found 11 many visitors—16 million a year—it 1,300 unique visitors, or nearly half a or 12 possibilities. That suggests com- would take a great deal of new traffic million annually, Brendler says. And mercial arrangements: If a Web site’s to produce a spike. But About’s experi- he believes businesses are sitting up hotel partners had nothing available, ence suggests that placing an occa- and taking notice. “Every time we do the search concluded there were no sional ad in newspapers does not pro- one of these reports that is perform- rooms, because it wasn’t looking out- duce waves of response. ance-based—11 so far—we get a bigger side its universe. Moral? Consult An Internet analyst says Web change and bigger response,” he says. In multiple sites. That wasn’t supposed will come only if substantial numbers addition, 154 companies had taken the to be essential, given the Internet’s of consumers shun companies that pledge by January, including Barnes & ability to gather data in one place have bad practices. But consumers Noble, The New York Times, Travel- quickly. “It’s quite clear that the con- are not demanding that sites follow the ocity and Orbitz. As Brendler notes, sumer is not being offered the maxi- WebWatch guidelines, the analyst “Somebody’s taking us seriously.” ■T mum benefits of such technology,” said, so businesses “don’t have any McGee wrote. incentive.” WebWatch’s site, www.consumerwebwatch.org, They may get more. Consumer contains news, cautionary tales and resources ebWatch publicizes pertaining to Web credibility, consumer protection, Reports has incorporated Webwatch’s privacy and other related issues. It also lists much of its work in guidelines in its e-ratings, used to assess organizations and government agencies that accept conjunction with Con- more than 175 Web sites in 19 cate- complaints of Internet fraud. sumers Union, whose gories. (Consumer Reports Online has W Steve Twomey won a Pulitzer Prize at The Philadel- magazine has four million subscribers the greatest number of paid sub- phia Inquirer in 1987 for his a profile of life aboard an and its Web site a million. The project scribers of all Internet media sites.) aircraft carrier. He is now a freelance writer.

18 / Trust Lessons Learned The Art of Arts Fellowships

Fine-Tuning a program that offers one of the nation’s largest awards for individual artists.

By Janet L. Kroll and Nichole S. Rowles

ach June, the Philadelphia ships in 12 disciplines: choreography, art world, and beyond, craft arts, folk and traditional arts, pays attention to the an- fiction and creative nonfiction, media E nouncement of artists arts, music composition, painting, per- recognized by the Pew Fellowships in formance art, poetry, scriptworks, the Arts (PFA is a project of the Univer- sculpture and works on paper—a sity of the Arts)—partly because the reach that is comprehensive and en- award is substantial and prestigious, compasses newer forms of expression. and partly because of the excellence Because fellowships are awarded of the fellows chosen since PFA was in three disciplines each year, each established in 1992. cohort group meets artists in other PFA is one of the Trusts’ seven fields, leading to exchanges of infor- Artistic Initiatives, which were de- mation and sometimes collaborations. signed collectively to improve and Fellows appreciate the application expand the caliber of local cultural process, which is open rather than programming. PFA contributes to nomination-based, and available to this overarching goal by offering artists at any stage of their career. substantial financial and professional support to a wide range of individual Flexibility local artists. Applications for fellow- Fellows determine when to begin ships are accepted across 12 artistic ’94 fellow Carol Schloss’s Lucia Joyce: To their fellowship and whether they want disciplines and are reviewed by panels Dance in the Wake (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, to extend the award over one or two 2003) was nominated for both a Pulitzer Prize of distinguished artists and arts profes- and a National Book Critics Circle Award. years. They are not held to predeter- sionals from outside the region. Those mined deliverables at the end of their chosen receive $50,000 grants to enable at Hayward, an expert in qualitative term, but instead may use the fellow- them to dedicate themselves full-time research methods and evaluation of ship to pursue their artistic develop- to artistic exploration and production. organizational impact and effectiveness. ment wherever it leads. Fellows say During PFA’s 10th anniversary, Yanow conducted in-depth interviews that PFA “treats its award recipients the Trusts’ Culture program and with fellows from every cohort, 85 in as adults” by recognizing the unique Planning and Evaluation department all (a response rate of 63 percent among and unpredictable nature of the creative embarked on an evaluation to examine those she was able to contact). She process. whether PFA was meeting its program- also interviewed 32 local and national matic objectives and, with this knowl- cultural leaders, PFA applicants who Substantial Award edge, to determine what refinements were not chosen as fellows, and past The $50,000 award is one of the might make a stronger program. The members of PFA selection panels. She largest fellowships in the country. PFA Trusts had three goals for the evalu- supplemented information from these has awarded $8.6 million since its ation: to understand the impact of PFA interviews with an analysis of PFA inception. on its fellows, who number 174 as of reports and publications, prior evalu- June 2004; to assess the “value added” ations and other relevant documents. Rigorous Jury Panel Selection and to both the local arts community and Management Philadelphia as a whole; and to hear KEY FINDINGS PFA selects distinguished artists, what changes would improve the pro- curators and arts leaders from outside gram’s impact on the fellows and the Programmatic and Operational the Philadelphia region to serve as Philadelphia arts community. Strengths panelists who choose the fellows, To perform the evaluation, the and their own reputations lend the Trusts selected Dvora Yanow, Ph.D., Inclusiveness program credibility and prestige. professor and chair of public admin- Fellows and cultural leaders alike Because panelists live beyond the local istration at California State University complimented PFA for awarding fellow- area, judging is perceived to be objec-

Summer 2004 / 19 Linsey Bostwick

tive and fair in what could otherwise On Culture in Philadelphia be construed as a very subjective PFA has contributed to the vitality process. Former panelists commented of Philadelphia’s cultural community that they had never before been so by increasing innovation, production From top: well prepared for a panel process. and efforts across disciplines and Arts leaders acknowledged the helping fuel a broader and higher- House of No More (2004) by ’02 fellow Caden Manson’s Big Art Group. clarity of the criteria by which applica- quality array of artistic offerings. As tions are judged. In the words of a described by one national arts leader, From ’02 fellow Thaddeus Phillips’s theater museum executive, “The ideals of “All artists, whether they get money piece The Earth’s Sharp Edge, 2002. wanting to support creativity [are] in their bank account or not, are bene- ’03 fellow Jan Yager, American Ruff (found front and center.” fiting from the extraordinary program- plastic crack vials and caps, beads of cast ming supported and enabled by Pew. sterling silver in tire-tread texture, USA and Canadian dimes, sterling silver wire, 21” Effective Administration [PFA] has a broader impact than just diameter, 2000). PFA staff—Director Melissa Franklin on the individual level.” and Program Associate Christine Through a listserv, a semi-annual ’02 fellow Whit MacLaughlin’s Pig Iron Theatre Company, Shut Eye (2001). Miller—were repeatedly singled out newsletter and www.pewarts.org, its for an outstanding job of directing Web site, PFA makes fellows aware of and implementing the program, creat- the work of their peers in the Philadel- ing a presence for PFA in the Philadel- phia area. Former fellows have noted phia region, representing PFA to a that PFA enabled them to explore wide public and interacting with artists arts beyond their own discipline and and the arts community locally and establish collaborations with other nationally. artists, some of them fellows them- selves. Impact Arts community leaders mentioned that PFA contributes to the trend that On Fellows is keeping local art schools’ gradu- By enabling artists to devote ates in the city; they want to stay and significant time to their creative be part of this vibrant arts scene and, work, the fellowship program has in the meantime, fulfill the two-year positively affected the recipients’ local residency needed to become artistic development. Fellows reported eligible for the PFA.

being able to experiment with new Jack Ramsdale techniques, take on larger or more On PFA and the Trusts complex projects, work with new Local and national arts leaders and media, collaborate with other artists grantmakers regard PFA as a well- and build their portfolios. In some designed, well-administered initiative cases, this enhanced productivity that has contributed to the increase resulted in sales, commissions and in high-quality, diverse arts offerings in gallery representations. Philadelphia. National funders espe- Fellows’ subsequent honors are cially noted the objectivity and rigor noteworthy and speak to the quality of PFA’s selection process and the of artists who have received the award: use of nationally prominent panelists. for instance, orchestra commissions, Early on, evaluation participants performances in the Lincoln Center referred to PFA as “on the cutting Jazz Series, participation in the Whitney edge” and “ahead of its time.” It should Biennials, solo shows in New York therefore come as no surprise that City, the National Treasure Heritage PFA has been perceived as a model Award and fellowships from the John D. for other arts-awards programs. In and Catherine T. MacArthur Founda- Philadelphia, several local funders tion and the John Simon Guggenheim described the Trusts’ support for PFA Memorial Foundation. as a factor in helping legitimize their Jason Frank Rothenberg

20 / Trust Matt Saunders

work; in particular, these grantmakers potential partnerships with local institu- reported that PFA’s success strength- tions to provide the fellows technical ened the case within their own organ- assistance. izations for investing in individual artists. Assess Communications Strategy PFA’s most important constituents RECOMMENDATIONS are local artists and Philadelphia arts leaders and funders, and so materials Strengthen Identity and dissemination tactics should be PFA creates a cohort of artists designed with these stakeholders’ from a geographically bounded region, information needs in mind. For example, enables them to step away from their it is important that local artists be normal work schedule (e.g., teaching) aware when their respective disciplines and brings them together in a common are the categories up for consideration. situation that offers a nascent identity. The aforementioned newsletter, which Yanow recommended that this aspect is distributed to the entire PFA mailing of the fellowship be strengthened, list of 2,800 individuals and organiza- From top: especially since the award reinforces tions, provides ongoing opportunities the artists’ confidence and provides to restate the processes and objectives The Fab 4 Reach the Pearly Gates (2000) them with a sense of community in an of PFA. from ’02 fellow Whit McLaughlin’s New Paradise Laboratories. otherwise isolating profession. In addition, PFA is re-examining In addition, by providing more op- its overall communications strategy ’03 fellow Sarah McEneaney, Mango Dream portunities for fellows to come together, to ensure that clear messages about (egg tempera on wood, 18” x 30,” 2002), col- lection of William and Cheryl Geffon. PFA could encourage them to interact the program and its application process with one another, mentor newly ap- are effectively reaching its target ’94 fellow Eileen Neff, Almost, November 21, pointed fellows and serve as informal audiences. 2000 (ink jet print, 56” x 41,” 2001). program ambassadors. Cultivating the fellows’ identity could be accom- Gather More Information plished through regular gatherings A more robust array of data will and various communications efforts. help PFA more fully understand how To this end, PFA has implemented its own work benefits individual artists a semiannual newsletter that features and the community—and will help articles focusing on past and present the Trusts collect facts on PFA’s fellows and listings of their activities, progress. Currently, new fellows such as productions, exhibitions and complete an “entrance” questionnaire; it publications. could be fleshed out to bring in more data about the artists’ lives and work. Enhance Professional Growth By adding an “exit” questionnaire and To ensure that the fellows get the regular follow-up interviews for each most out of their award, Yanow recom- cohort—say, every five years—a much mended that PFA draw upon former more detailed picture of the immediate fellows and experts in relevant fields and long-term consequences of PFA to participate on panels about such would emerge. issues as planning for the fellowship Working with Planning and Evalua- and tax and financial concerns. Work- tion, the Culture program and PFA shops on grantwriting and career are in the process of designing a track- development would help position ing plan and developing a feasible, cost- fellows after their fellowship. effective means of regularly collecting In response, PFA plans to establish a data through these mechanisms. ■T peer-to-peer mentor program that would connect new fellows with previous Janet Kroll and Nichole Rowles are officers in the ones. PFA also plans to investigate Planning and Evaluation department at the Trusts.

Summer 2004 / 21 Recent Grants

Environment Old-Growth Forests and Wilderness Other Protection Global Warming and Climate Improving Elections Change Americans for Our Heritage and

Emily Berardino Recreation Center for Public Integrity Strategies for the Global Washington, DC, $50,000, 1 yr. Washington, DC, $500,000, 1 yr. Environment, Inc. To support increased media cover- For the States Soft Money Project Arlington, VA, $3,400,000, 1 yr. age and public engagement for re- to track soft money at the state Contact: Eileen Claussen vitalization of Land and Water level during the 2004 election cycle. 703.516.4146 Conservation Fund issues. Contact: Barbara Schecter www.pewclimate.org Contact: Tom St. Hilaire 202.466.1300 202.429.2666 www.publicintegrity.org The Pew Center on Global Cli- www.ahrinfo.org mate Change plays an important Regents of the University of role in shaping current climate Outdoor Recreation Foundation California, Los Angeles debates through its nonpartisan Boulder, CO, $300,000, 1 yr. Los Angeles, CA, $804,000, 2 yrs. research and analysis, engage- For the Business for Wilderness For the Campaign Disclosure Project ment of business leaders and project to support an organized to develop systems for reporting Mom broad public-education efforts. network of businesses to serve as and disclosing campaign contribu- Its goal is to encourage domestic wilderness advocates. tions and expenditures. and international efforts to reduce Contact: Myrna Johnson Contact: Joseph Doherty ADVANCING POLICY emissions of greenhouse gases 303.444.3353 310.206.2675 www.outdoorindustry.org www.campaigndisclosure.org SOLUTIONS that contribute to global warming. Through this grant, the Center Education will develop and publish an INFORMING THE PUBLIC Early Education Religion Rutgers University Foundation New Brunswick, NJ, $3,600,000, 1 yr. Religion and Public Life Contact: W. Steven Barnett, Ph.D.

732.932.4350 x238 Bruckner Andy W. Minnesota Public Radio www.nieer.org St. Paul, MN, $325,000, 1 yr. Contact: Bill Buzenberg The National Institute for Early 651.290.1407 Education Research at Rutgers www.speakingoffaith.org University (NIEER) provides rigorous, relevant and objective Speaking of Faith, a weekly, hour- information to inform state and long audio magazine by Min- national debates on quality pre- nesota Public Radio (MPR), gives school for all 3- and 4-year-olds. a religious perspective on im- Among its activities in the com- portant issues of the day. As ing year, NIEER will analyze the guests talk of their own faith costs of early education derived perspectives, they foster thought- from a six-state investigation, ful and nuanced discussions of explore the economic investment such complex topics as capital benefits of preschool and publish punishment, religious terrorism the results of the first randomized and euthanasia. trial of the impact of high-quality Listeners have responded so A coral reef with black-band disease, which is thought to be related in preschool on middle-class chil- enthusiastically that six of the part to warming temperatures. The disease advances centimeters each dren. It will then communicate nation’s top 10 radio markets day, making surfaces vulnerable to other predatory organisms. The Pew these and other research results now air the program. The Trusts’ Center on Global Climate Change has issued a report on the effect of to the public, media and policy- support will help MPR maintain climate change on coral reefs. makers. weekly production of Speaking NIEER will also publish the of Faith. It will also help the pro- second installment of its annual ducer pursue other means of yearbook on state pre-K policy, “Agenda for Climate Action,” a United States Public Interest distribution, including the Inter- which details the status of pre- framework that will serve as an Research Group Education Fund net as well as CDs and e-newslet- school programs in all 50 states outline for a comprehensive cli- Washington, DC, $1,500,000, 1 yr. ters, to make the program more and the District of Columbia— mate policy in the United States. For the Heritage Forest Campaign widely available for discussions the most comprehensive data The Center will also continue to defend the Roadless Area Con- in classrooms, congregations and compilation of its kind. In ad- its work with companies to set servation Rule through a public community groups. dition, NIEER will develop briefs emissions targets and develop education and media campaign. and research papers that inform manageable solutions to climate- Contact: Gene Karpinski Ethics and Public Policy Center, Inc. policymakers, the media and the change policy issues. 202.546.9707 Washington, DC, $215,000, 1 yr. public on investments in quality In addition, the Center will uspirg.org/uspirgeducationfund.htm For support of The Faith Angle, a prekindergarten for all. convene national and interna- journalism-education program tional policymakers and stake- that seeks to strengthen media holders in a “Beyond Kyoto” dia- logue in order to develop agree- ment on principles and/or model approaches for effective and long- term control of climate change.

22 / Trust politically important, reachable and will vote when asked. The first phase of the project began last year with a non- partisan effort to register 260,000 young people from the age of 18 to 24 in Colorado, Iowa, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon and Wisconsin. This grant will allow implementation of the sec- ond phase, a get-out-the-vote ef- fort to contact hundreds of thou- sands of young people, by phone and in person, and encourage them to go to the polls on Election Day. The project will also seek to convince political professionals that young people are a con- stituency worthy of their attention. To breathe new life into the Park- Krista Tippett, host of Speaking of Faith, produced by Minnesota Public Historical Interests way, various partners have recently Radio, interviewed Basil Braveheart, an educator and a Lakota healer come together to improve it, and on the Pine Ridge Reservation of South Dakota when the program’s Kimberton Waldorf School the Trusts’ latest support is de- topic was “Spirituality and Recovery.” Earlier this year, Speaking of Faith Kimberton, PA, $100,000, 1 yr. voted to beautifying Logan Circle, won the Religion Communicators Council’s annual Wilbur Award in radio. To improve upon the health and one of William Penn’s five major safety of the school’s physical public squares in his original environment. design for the city. The Pennsyl- coverage of religion and public life SUPPORTING CIVIC LIFE Contact: John J. Egan vania Horticultural Society, which issues. 610.933.3635 has improved the quality of life Contact: Michael Cromartie Civic Engagement www.kimberton.org for Philadelphians through horti- 202.216.0855 x209 culture since 1827, will restore www.eppc.org George Washington University South Shore Community Service the grounds of Logan Circle by Washington, DC, $4,450,000, 1 yr. Association planting new paulownia trees The Foundation for American Contact: F. Christopher Arterton, Chester, NS and flower beds, replacing worn Communications Ph.D. 202.994.5843 I. For continued operating support benches, patching and grading Pasadena, CA, $1,000,000, 18 mos. www.newvotersproject.org for Bonny Lea Farm for services to the gravel paths and refurbishing To support the Journalism, Religion adults with special needs, $671,000, the guard house. and Public Life Project, which pro- The New Voters Project has two 3 yrs. vides journalists in major U.S. media related goals: to increase voter II. For capital support for Bonny City Year Greater Philadelphia markets with educational programs participation by young people in Lea Farm, $154,000, 3 yrs. Philadelphia, PA, $50,000, 1 yr. and resources to enhance their six states by five percentage Contact: Alberta Pew Baker, Ph.D. To help City Year Greater coverage of religion and public-life points; and to convince party 902.275.3322 Philadelphia respond to an issues. officials, candidates, political www.ChesterBound.com/bonnylea unexpected decrease in federal Contact: Jeffery A. Cowart consultants and voter-mobilization support for its various community- 703.737.3570 groups that young people are Local Initiatives service initiatives. www.facsnet.org Contact: Sean Holleran The Pennsylvania Horticultural 215.988.2118 Society www.cityyear.org/philadelphia Philadelphia, PA, $750,000, 1 yr. Contact: J. Blaine Bonham, Jr. Delaware Valley Grantmakers 215.988.8800 Philadelphia, PA, $50,000, 2 yrs. www.pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org For general operating support to coordinate, enhance and increase Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin regional philanthropic activity. Parkway was originally envisioned Contact: Dale Mitchell as a pedestrian-friendly extension 215.790.9700 of Fairmount Park into the heart www.dvg.org of the city. Instead, it evolved into a raceway for automobiles seek- Sector-Related ing downtown venues. Generally, pedestrians find it a lonely and Council on Foundations, Inc. hazardous place to navigate—a Washington, DC, $50,000, 1 yr. promise unfulfilled as vibrant civic For general operating support. space. Contact: Anita Marsh 202.467.0463 www.cof.org

A detail of the Wheel of Time, a Tibetan sand painting by the former Buddhist monk Losang Samten, a 2004 Pew fellow in the arts and founder of the Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia.

Summer 2004 / 23 Briefings

A Yogi Berra-ism: He and his wife, Future (Jossey-Bass, 2004) by Suzanne Carmen, are driving to the Baseball W. Morse, the executive director of Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. the Pew Partnership for Civic Change, The miles pass, their destination seems a project of the University of Richmond no closer, and Yogi soothes the wor- (www.pew-partnership.org). Her expe- ried Carmen: “We’re lost, but we’re riences with the Partnership form making good time.” the basis of the book, which empha- This is the opening anecdote to sizes that strategy, and not luck, is Smart Communities: How Citizens more likely to get people—and com- and Local Leaders Can Use Strate- munities—where they want to go. gic Thinking to Build a Brighter Another Morse quotation, this one

One by One, the World Is Becoming a Lonelier Place By Joshua Reichert

The writer directs policy initiatives and the Environment program at the Trusts. This op-ed first appeared in The Los Angeles Times and was subse- quently reprinted in other newspapers.

Last month, with little fanfare, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed two tropical birds, the Mariana mallard and the Guam broadbill, from its list of species that are endangered. The Gone: the Guam broadbill . . . and the Mariana mallard. birds are extinct, having joined a grow- ing list of animals that have disap- on one another in many ways that still Island. This remote, barren island in peared from the face of the Earth. remain a mystery to science. And both the South Pacific, which is best known The announcement that these two succumbed to the same types of human- for its huge, mysterious stone statues, birds, which were native to the islands induced pressures that threaten so was once covered by a subtropical of the western Pacific, had vanished many other animals in this country forest. But its Polynesian inhabitants forever elicited little attention. Their and elsewhere in the world: habitat eventually deforested the island, driving numbers had been declining for loss, over-hunting and the introduc- most of its tree species into extinction decades. And few people, other than tion of non-native species against which along with every species of native the most avid bird enthusiasts, even they have little or no defense. land bird. With no wood available to knew what they were or had ever build boats for fishing, and the soil seen them. So there will be few who Many would ask why we should care so depleted that crops could not be will mark their passing with the same that these two birds are no longer grown, an estimated 90 percent of the nostalgia or sense of loss that might here. The answer is that we now know human inhabitants died of starvation. accompany the disappearance of a enough about how the world is put There are many different reasons better known species like the snow together to recognize that each species why we should rail against extinction. leopard, the Siberian tiger or the black on Earth plays a role in nature. When Biologically, because each species is rhinoceros—all on the brink of the one disappears, it is a harbinger of part of a larger, complex assemblage same abyss. trouble. Just how or when or if the of living things, we should strive to The fact that the extinction of these extinction of one species will affect protect them all, particularly because two creatures was virtually a silent us in any material way is difficult to we don’t understand how each piece one is a tragedy. Both were the product know. However, there are stark exam- fits with the others. There is also a of millions of years of evolution. Both ples of how our disregard for other life moral reason. It is that Earth’s crea- were connected to a larger network forms has imperiled our own survival. tures, great and small, are not simply of species that interrelate and depend Take, for example, the case of Easter here for our benefit but are here with

24 / Trust from Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline: democracy, preserving the past, grow- Each chapter is replete with exam- “Tackling a difficult problem is often ing leaders and inventing a brighter ples of communities that took control of a matter of seeing where the high future. These are the centers of their challenges, forged better decisions leverage lies, a change which—with individual chapters that ultimately and made something good happen. minimum effort—would lead to lasting, have one story to tell: Good results The examples have helped some significant improvement.” are the consequence of good processes, exemplary towns realize their strengths. Morse defines seven high-lever- and, in the end, process and result In Winston-Salem, N.C., the daily age points that are crucial to commu- are connected. Journal acknowledged that the city nity change: investing right the first time, working together, building on By the Numbers: The Trusts in 2003 community strengths, practicing 2002 2003

Assets $3,753,638,080 $4,118,768,408 Number of proposals 3,261 3,270 Number of grants 287 165 us in the world. As such, we have a fundamental responsibility to treat Grant commitments $166,330,000 $143,398,000 them all with respect and a sense of Average grant $579,547 $869,078 stewardship.

We are clearly failing in this task. There are more than 12,000 species By Program 2003 Number of Grants of animals and plants that are known to be threatened, 1,816 of which reside Culture $12,988,000 19 in the United States. And the list gets Education $17,746,000 17 longer every year. Environment $42,097,000 31 From the earliest days of life, many Health and Human Services $21,760,000 179 species have come and gone. To a Public Policy $18,914,000 17 certain extent, extinction is a natural Religion $13,405,000 8 event. Up until modern times, it is Venture Fund $13,488,000 15 believed that one to two species per (Special Projects $3,000,000 2 ) million vanished annually. We are now losing them far faster, at a rate that is estimated to be up to 1,000 times as Geographic Distribution Amount of Total high as in the past. Indeed, many scientists believe that by the middle National $102,487,000 of this century an astonishing 25 to 50 Philadelphia (city and surrounding Pennsylvania counties) $26,878,000 percent of all existing species will be International (U.S.-based organizations working overseas) $14,033,000 on the path to extinction. We have both a practical and an ethical responsibility to ensure that Duration of Grants Number of Grants this does not happen. Every species More than 3 years 3 that disappears represents one less 3 years 37 strand in that remarkably intricate web of life of which we are a part and which Between 2 and 3 years 71 ultimately sustains us. Between 1 and 2 years 51 There were no bells that tolled the Less than 1 year 3 departure of the two Pacific birds. But Grantees Amount of Total they should have tolled for us, as a sad reminder of what we have lost and Previously funded $141,029,000 as a warning for the future. First-time grantee $2,369,000

From “The Pew Charitable Trusts Statistical Report on Grantmaking 2003” by Bruce C. Compton.

Summer 2004 / 25 “has made its share of dumb moves LETTERS over the years” but noted, “Our mis- It is not possible to correct problems The oceans—one more crossing without an accurate diagnosis of the under- takes are fixable.” And in Austin, Texas, Colin Woodard continues to assert that lying causes. By conflating the role of the daily American-Statesman called the models used to predict lobster and ground- models in resource management, scientific city “wonderfully fractious, political, fish abundance are deeply flawed, leading advice and the actions actually taken by vocal, combative,” yet welcomed its to inaccurate predictions of stock status and managers in a complex social, economic place “in a small collection of cities the outcome of management actions [Let- and political setting, Mr. Woodard misses noted for civic collaboration.” ters, winter 2004; see also “Saving the Seas,” the real lessons in both lobster and ground- The book’s intended audiences spring/summer 2003]. He notes that “In fish management. The models currently are “those who have a say—or want a 1978, Vaughn Alexander, head of research used for lobster management cannot, even say” in the work of their communities, at Maine’s Department of Marine Resources, in principle, predict a stock collapse. Instead, people who, like successful commu- warned it was just a matter of time before they are used to determine how to improve nities, won’t wait for luck to come their [the lobster stock] crashes. . . .” The director the yield from those lobsters that do survive way but are receptive to learning how of the Maine Department of Marine Re- to enter the fishery and how to increase others make good decisions and are sources at the time was Dr. Vaughn C. egg production from these individuals—in ready to apply the lessons learned to Anthony, and he did indeed predict dire consequences for the lobster industry if their own situations. Or, as Morse landings and exploitation trends continued. puts it, “people who want directions to However, Dr. Anthony’s warning was their destination: those that are unwill- based on the direct observation that lobster ing to keep going down the same road.” landings in Maine had declined steadily from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s—not A few days before presenting his on predictions from elaborate models and Jeffrey L. Rotman/CORBIS Jeffrey case to the United States Supreme certainly not the types of models used today Court, Michael Newdow listened to in lobster management. Maine landings both sides of the deeply contested declined from an average of 22.5 million debate he had carried to the Court’s pounds during 1955-1960 to 17 million doorstep. He was in the audience of pounds during 1970-75 (approximately a 25 “Under God? A Discussion of the percent decline). Hindsight is always 20/20, Constitutionality of the Pledge of but one wonders what call Mr. Woodard Allegiance,” sponsored by the Pew would have made had he been in Dr. Lobster eggs: a dire future? Anthony’s position. Forum on Religion and Public Mr. Woodard goes on to note that effect, how to make the most of the hand Life at the National Press Club in optimistic forecasts for groundfish stocks we are dealt. Washington, D.C., this spring. following the establishment of the 200-mile If the model predictions are to be judged, As Luis Lugo, the Forum’s director, limit proved to be wrong. By the late 1970s it must be on this basis, not on the incorrect noted in his opening comments, the and early 1980s, groundfish stocks, notably assertion that they do or do not predict a constitutionally significant question haddock, cod and yellowtail flounder, had stock collapse. For the groundfish case, it in Elk Grove Unified School District v. in fact started to recover with the imple- should be obvious that it is the choices that Newdow is whether or not daily recita- mentation of the two-tiered quota manage- managers make, and how they use models tion by school children of the Pledge ment system I described in my response and scientific advice, that will ultimately of Allegiance with the phrase “under to Mr. Woodard’s original article, provid- control the outcome of management actions. God” violates the Establishment Clause ing the basis for the guarded optimism Concluding that models and poor scientific of the First Amendment. expressed by Mr. David Crestin and cited advice were responsible for the decline of The broader issue, however, is what by Mr. Woodard. However, as stocks re- the groundfish stocks during the 1980s and effect the Court’s decision may have covered, fishers rebelled against the con- 1990s is like concluding that a particular straints imposed by quota management in remedy is ineffective when the patient on what some refer to as “ceremonial the early 1980s, ultimately resulting in a didn’t actually take the medicine. deism” in the American public square. change to ineffective qualitative controls MICHAEL J. FOGARTY The presence of the phrase “In God that did not truly constrain fishing pres- Falmouth, Mass. We Trust” on our coins, the prayer sure on the stocks. The result was entirely that starts every congressional session, predictable—and was predicted by fishery Colin Woodard responds: the statement that opens Supreme scientists—and the decline was not re- Mr. Fogarty is absolutely correct when Court sessions—“God save the United versed until court-ordered constraints were he notes that the scientific advice given States and this Honorable Court”— imposed in the mid-1990s. by the National Marine Fisheries Service

26 / Trust was not taken to heart. The primary reason stage several years ago. Its recent publi- leaves society with thousands of “inden- for the collapse of Georges Bank was, cations are some of the most important tured students” owing huge loans and indeed, the failure of managers and industry results from foundation grants since the thousands of less-advantaged students to adhere to the quotas NMFS produced. Carnegie series of the Clark Kerr-led unable to attend due to the high cost, and My discussion of the shortcomings of projects a number of years ago. [See costs increasing far greater than the annual the fisheries models of the day—informed “Grades That Get Attention,” winter 2001.] cost-of-living increases. If they need funds by some of those involved—was intended In particular, the Measuring Up 2000 to carry on a study of this critical policy to shed light on the need to discover and and 2002 reports on the higher education topic, it could be a valuable service which incorporate more nuanced ecological infor- efforts of the 50 states provide very useful you could provide. mation into the scientific management of factual data. And supporting them through A number of years ago, when I was fisheries, which is, of course, essential to 2004 and 2006, to provide for continuity of president of the American College Testing the well-being of fish and fishermen alike. these informative studies, is an important Program and made selected grants as you I entirely agree that what management further contribution. do, I supported Russell Thackrey (for many does with this information is also of essen- In the past you supported a decade of years an executive of the National Associa- tialimportance; I would certainly have attention to the health professions and their tion of State Universities and Land-Grant included such a statement in the opening Colleges) in a related study. I am taking of my article on the Pew Oceans Commis- the liberty of enclosing a copy and some sion, had I imagined it would be taken for data from a Wisconsin study of the effects a comprehensive analysis of the reasons of tuition on college attendance. These are for the collapse of the New England ground- old but have some data that may be of fishery. interest as you consider this policy issue Regarding Maine’s lobster fishery, the Art by David Rankin for our country. findings of Bob Steneck and his colleagues The Pew Trusts make a real difference. suggest that the models may, in fact, be Thanks. failing to accurately measure the hand FRED F. HARCLEROAD we’ve been dealt. Stock assessments obvi- Tucson, Ariz. ously have a great deal of bearing on our understanding of the health of the fishery P. S. You may also be interested to know and, when placed alongside data on fishing that I am responsible for Chapter 9 in the mortality, may well prompt warnings of a Johns Hopkins college textbook Ameri- stock collapse. If we find there were signifi- can Higher Education in the Twenty-First cantly more—or fewer—egg-producing Century, edited by Altbach, Berdahl and animals out there than a given fishery Gumport, now preparing the fifth edition. model had suggested, it suggests that The chapter provides students with infor- there’s some piece of relevant biological need to change basic approaches—and mation about “External Constituencies and or ecological information that has eluded afterward supported a center to carry on Their Impact,” including private foundations, us. An effective national oceans policy this work [“Working on the Workforce,” consortia, institutionally-based associations, should support the pursuit of this knowl- winter/spring 2003]. Higher education regional compacts and voluntary accredit- edge and its incorporation into our fisheries and its need to work at affordability, partici- ing associations. management regime. pation, student preparation, completion In the section on private foundations, I and benefits (with data to use for decision- selected the Pew Trusts and your support The following letter was addressed to Trusts making), plus the basic problem of lack of of the National Center for Public Policy President Rebecca W. Rimel. The writer was data on actual learning outcomes, suggest and Higher Education as a current outstand- the founding president of the California that the Measuring Up project badly needs ing example of foundation activity that is State University at Hayward and has written to be continued—with potentially a long- critical for prospective higher-education extensively on improving higher education term plan for it to be continually operative. administrators to know about and follow. for students’ sake. The professional papers included with the data on the states are quite valuable, I appreciate receiving your publication and the affordability publications provide To update a label, comment on articles or Trust and your “Notes” with each issue. useful insights. I understand that they are receive back copies as available, contact the You do a good job of “providing fact-based considering another look at the key prob- editor at 2005 Market Street, Suite 1700, nonpartisan research.” lem “Who Benefits/Who Pays/Who Should Philadelphia PA 19103; or transmit by fax This letter is to commend, in particular, Pay.” This is badly needed, since the em- to him at 215.575.4890; or through e-mail your decision to move the California Policy phasis since the Carnegie books has been to [email protected]. The text of Trust is Center for Higher Education to the national on a marketing/privatization approach. This always available at www.pewtrusts.org.

Summer 2004 / 27 these are all instances of the public Laycock. He argued that the Pledge a very specific approach, and I think nod, often pro forma, which the U.S. essentially asks every child in the a fairly persuasive one.” In the end, government gives to a worldview that public schools in America for a personal the Court made a procedural ruling some consider profoundly religious. affirmation of faith—a request that, that Newdow does not have standing The phrase “under God” in the in effect, isolates some 7.2 million to bring the case, so the “under God” Pledge belongs in that category, argued children whose parents are part of that remains. Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the 15 percent of the population that say For the entire text of the discussion, American Center for Law and Justice, they do not subscribe to a monothe- go to www.pewforum.org, the Web who had filed a brief on the side of Elk istic conception of God. He pointed site of the Forum, which is a project of Grove Unified School District. These out that this is “really unique in the the Pew Research Center and based at phrases, he said, make the statement culture,” since the government does Georgetown University. that American liberties are “a gift of not make this demand upon adults or Ann Hart God,” not concessions granted by a upon children in any context but public government—a point the founding schools. Furthermore, he said, this The 2004 Olympics in Athens don’t fathers wanted to stress with respect to teaches children who won’t say the begin until August, but they’ve already the king of England. When Congress Pledge because of the religious refer- produced winners. The United States added “under God” to the Pledge 50 ence that “if you are doubtful about Postal Service issued a postage stamp years ago in the context of the Cold War, the existence of God, you are of doubt- commemorating the Games, based on it was underlining the source of our ful loyalty to the nation.” an ancient Greek vase from the collec- rights and liberties against the Commu- To recite the Pledge as a routine tions of the Trusts-supported Univer- nist view that the “state is supreme.” act of patriotism with no theological sity of Pennsylvania Museum of These phrases “tend to solemnize meaning, Laycock continued, amounts Archaeology and Anthropology. an occasion,” Sekulow stated, and do to government-sanctioned violation Richard Sheaff, of Scottsdale, Ariz., not infringe upon the Establishment of the biblical prohibition on taking used the art on a pot known as an Clause because they are not theolog- God’s name in vain. For this reason, Attic black-figure lekythos, dating ical: “There is a constitutional differ- he said, he had written an amicus from about 550 B.C., to design a run- ence between acknowledging the role brief supporting Newdow on behalf ner; and Lonnie Busch, of Franklin, that belief in God has played in our of 32 Christian and Jewish clergy, who N.C., illustrated it. The Postal Service nation’s history and endorsement of are not only concerned “about not has printed 71 million of the stamps. God or any religious institution.” coercing other people to practice their The Museum has an exhibition of Furthermore, students are not re- religion but also care that if we do ancient Greek artifacts pertaining to quired to recite the Pledge, Sekulow practice religion, we take it seriously.” athletics, games and the Olympics. added, noting a parallel with school Laycock closed that brief by giving And its Web site features “The Real prayer, which is permitted if it is five reasons the Pledge might be consid- Story of the Ancient Olympic Games,” student-led or -initiated but must not ered constitutional and thus affirmed authored by David Gilman Romano, involve “the school’s machinery.” The by the Court: the Pledge is not a form of Ph.D., senior research scientist, who phrase “under God,” he concluded, prayer; it does not refer to any particular sifts through the facts and myths that reflects a “historic fact of patriotic religion; the offending portion is only the Games have accrued. For instance, expression,” which, as in the National two words; those two words have that they began in 776 B.C.—or perhaps Anthem, “is a part of who we are.” been recited for half a century without earlier. And that originally contestants Newdow, chiming in during the the Court taking an interest; and, had to be male Greek citizens of Greek Q&A, called Sekulow’s approach finally, no one is required to recite the city-states, although unmarried women “bogus.” Americans don’t know their Pledge. had their own contests. And that the history and care less, he suggested: Sekulow then pointed out that, Greeks would not have distinguished “This case is about people wanting to although Laycock is a fierce opponent between an “amateur” and a “profes- have God and do exactly as you just of retaining the phrase “under God” sional” athlete, since athlete means “one referred to, to have the machinery of in the Pledge, he had cleverly offered who competes for a prize,” and indeed the state used so that they can further the Court the narrowest of potential they gave cash awards that were much their religious views.” rationales on which to uphold the more lucrative than a wreath of olive Formally opposing Sekulow was phrase, if it were so disposed. “It may leaves. University of Texas law professor well be what the Supreme Court does,” For details, go to the Web site and religious liberty expert Douglas Sekulow noted, “because it does give www.museum.upenn.edu/olympics ■T

28 / Trust extra gloves. trainer; ayouthstandsby, holding long stickiseitherajudgeor a boxingmatch. The manw amphora, ca.510-490B.C.,depicts Bottom: by eitherjudgesorspectators. that distance. They areflanked or thediaulos,whichwastwice in thestadion,a600-footsprint, runners areprobablycompeting T op:

©2004 USPS. Used with permission, all rights reserved. On themodelvase, An Attic black-figure An Attic ith the When human reproduction became high-tech, it gave birth to concerns that policymakers and the public must understand and discuss.

The Pew Charitable Trusts NONPROFIT ORG One Commerce Square US POSTAGE PAID 2005 Market Street, Suite 1700 PHILADELPHIA PA Philadelphia, PA 19103-7077 PERMIT NO. 6455