This has been big news in PR over the last couple of weeks:

Cornell University’s Arecibo radio telescope and radar observatory could be losing up to half its federal funding — about $4 million — a cut that could mean job losses in both Ithaca and Puerto Rico, where the facility is based. A report issued by the Senior Review, an advisory committee for the National Science Foundation (NSF), on Nov. 3 recommended that funding be cut for Arecibo by 25 percent over the next three years. The Senior Review also advised the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) to look for funding from outside partners to cover a 50 percent slash in funding in 2011.

The budget cuts that Arecibo faces led to changes in the way that the telescope and radar will operate.

“Arecibo will be in more of a survey mode where it will survey the sky rather than taking all of the individual investigations programs that it has. This will allow us to operate with fewer staff,” said Burns.

The Arecibo Observatory employs 150 workers in Puerto Rico and about a dozen here in Ithaca. Many of those workers are in jeopardy of losing their jobs as a result of less funding. According to Burns, 75 percent of the current $12 million budget is allocated for salaries.

“It’s very likely that Cornell employees will be laid off,” said Burns. “We have many people that can retire soon, and our hope is that they take early retirement rather than force us to lay them off,” he continued.