Not Exactly a Hollywood Ending, 2007 Edition (i.e. RHIC funded in 2007)

Sometimes we get incredible surprises, like the Renaissance Technology intervention at the end of 2005, but this time we get, well, surprises...like the 2007 budget as it was promised to us last year. No small thing, given the huge transitions in the Congress. Anyway, In the email box this morning (Thanks, Susan!):

"Energy Dept. Assures Delegation It Will Fully Fund Brookhaven's RHIC Program, Significantly Fund NSLS-II
...
Editor's Note: The following is a joint statement released from the offices of Senator Charles Schumer, Senator Hillary Clinton and Congressman Tim Bishop.
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Following this week’s announcement that the Department of Energy’s Office of Science will receive a $200 million increase for the FY 2007 from its FY 2006 funding level, yesterday, DOE Office of Science Director Raymond Orbach assured Senators Schumer and Clinton and Congressman Bishop that the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) program will be fully funded for FY 2007 and the National Synchotron Light Source II (NSLS II) program will be significantly funded for FY 2007. Orbach’s assurance is a huge victory for Brookhaven National Labs which was girding itself for devastating budget cuts.

On Tuesday, Senator Schumer sent a letter to the Office of Science urging it to use its increased budget to fully fund RHIC and NSLS II. Yesterday, Schumer followed-up with a phone call to Director Orbach and secured assurances that RHIC would be fully funded and NSLS II would be significantly funded for FY 2007.

“I’m thrilled that Director Orbach responded so quickly to our request, and that he understands the huge impact Brookhaven’s programs have on our nation’s scientific research and Long Island’s high-tech job market,” said Senator Schumer. “Continued funding for these two cutting-edge programs will help ensure that American science remains a global leader.”

Here's more of the press release hosted by the BNL press office. This is really great news -- and now we can go back to our regular programming. Lots of entropy to bound out there.