1 15 1 https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/speccoll/files/original/dd4660bd93dd8719bc9ccf39f7287fef.pdf 446ae0e63f8c12420e0ee569b4e02833 PDF Text Text Item ID Number °1812 AllthOT Eisner, Seth Corporate Author RBDOrt/APtldB Tltte Typescript: Report of Contact - contacted by Larry Hobson, February 27, 1984 Journal/Book Title Year Month/Day Color Number of forages DBSCrlptOn NOtOS Alvin L Youn 9filed tnis item under "Vietnam Veterans Twin Study." Discusses Hobson's Option and Decision Paper regarding continuation of the study. Wednesday, July 11, 2001 Page 1813 of 1870 ��REPORT OF CONTACT Contacted by: Larry Hobson Date of Contact: February 27, 1984 Hobson has been asked to prepare an Option and Decision Paper for review by the CMD. He was calling to read his current draft to me for my comments. The various options that Hobson will present are: 1. Discontinue the VETS, including withdrawing from Twinfind Pro - money will be saved Con - the VA will be subject to adverse criticism 2. Direct that a non-VA contractor perform the entire study Pro - claims of possible VA bias in the data collection and analysis will be eliminated Con - bias does not appear to be a major issue (note the Ranch Hand study's relative freedom from the bias criticism), the cost of the project under contract will markedly increase, there will be a demoralizing effect on the project's principal investigators, and the VA will appear to lack confidence in the quality of its own research 3. Continue the NAS Twinfind and questionnaire survey but abandon the St. Louis intensive health assessment portion Pro - money will be saved and the twin register concept and its future scientific value will be retained Con - the NAS questionnaire is so limited in scope that its value to the VA will be m i n i m a l , and the VA will be subject to the criticism of refusing to support quality research because of what might be revealed 4. Support only the NAS Twinfind but expand the detail in the mailed questionnaire, perhaps including a telephone survey Pro - the cost of the project will be reduced and the expanded questionnaire will increase the usefulness of the data Con - the data will be of questionable reliability, its usefulness will be quite limited, and the cost savings will be reduced because of the increased cost of the expanded questionnaire survey 5. Retain the VETS in its c u r r e n t f o r m a t , w i t h or w i t h o u t modification. The following are possible modifications: a. P e r f o r m the psychological assessment under contract Pro - the c r i t i c i s m of b i a s in the d a t a c o l l e c t i o n w i l l be reduced �Con - the cost will be increased b. E l i m i n a t e some of the proposed e x p e n s i v e m e d i c a l tests but r e t a i n the p e r f o r m a n c e of the psychological assessment by the VA Pro - the cost of the project will be reduced Con - t h e V A m a y s t i l l b e c r i t i c i z e d f o r p e r f o r m i n g an incomplete research p r o j e c t purposely c. C o n t i n u e the present VETS plan in an u n m o d i f i e d form Pro - an excellent s t u d y , a p p r o v e d by the CSP, will thereby result and be subject to the least c r i t i c i s m from the s c i e n t i f i c c o m m u n i t y and the general public Con - the s t u d y w i l l be s u b j e c t to the c r i t i c i s m of b i a s and high cost Hobson said that his own position is option 5b. He will r e c o m m e n d e l i m i n a t i n g tests such as the e n d o c r i n e and i m m u n o l o g i c studies, and t h e c y t o g e n e t i c a n a l y s e s . H e p e r s o n a l l y i s i n f a v o r o f r e t a i n i n g the sleep study. I m e n t i o n e d to him that this would r e d u c e t h e o v e r a l l cost o f t h e p r o j e c t b y o n l y s e v e r a l h u n d r e d thousand dollars. He agreed and pointed out that he purposely p r o j e c t e d n o cost s a v i n g f i g u r e s i n t h e O p t i o n a n d D e c i s i o n Paper. He hoped that a n t a g o n i s t s w i t h i n the VA w i l l be s a t i s f i e d w i t h a n a p p a r e n t cost r e d u c t i o n v i c t o r y w h i l e t h e s t u d y w i l l a c t u a l l y r e m a i n essentially intact. He agreed that he had little idea of how well this strategy might work. "I d o n ' t know the best way to play this," he said. Hobson said there is supposed to be a m e e t i n g with Custis later this week to discuss the VETS. SOME PERSONAL COMMENTS In response to one of my questions, Hobson noted that Greene i s t h e m a i n a n t a g o n i s t t o t h e VETS. " G r e e n e h a s b e e n t a l k i n g quite loudly." Hobson noted, however, that Boren had not yet taken any public stand. Greene is a r g u i n g that the study does not have s u f f i c i e n t statistical power. H o w e v e r , our sample size a n a l y s i s ( w h i c h no one has c r i t i c i z e d ) d e m o n s t r a t e s that this is not v a l i d . Greene is also a r g u i n g that the t w i n concept is not appropriate to the questions being addressed. But our review groups, who include some of the most p r e s t i g i o u s m e m b e r s of the s c i e n t i f i c c o m m u n i t y , do not agree. It seems to me that Greene's o b j e c t i o n s may be based, in p a r t , on a " h i d d e n a g e n d a " . Hobson noted t h a t in a r e c e n t m e e t i n g , G r e e n e b e c a m e v e r y angry a n d a c c u s e d t h e A g e n t O r a n g e P r o j e c t s O f f i c e (AOPO) of not i n f o r m i n g him about every aspect of the progress of the p r o j e c t . Perhaps this r e p r e s e n t s one aspect of t h e t r u e p r o b l e m . T h a t i s , G r e e n e f e e l s t h a t t h e AOPO i s e x e r c i s i n g t o o m u c h p o w e r i n G r e e n e ' s d o m a i n . P e r h a p s t h e real conflict is a "turf battle". � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange Description An account of the resource <p style="margin-top: -1em; line-height: 1.2em;">The Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange comprises 120 linear feet and spans the late 1800s to 2005; however, the bulk of the coverage is from the 1960s to the 1980s and there are many undated items. The collection was donated to Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library in 1985 by Dr. Alvin L. Young (1942- ). Dr. Young developed the collection as he conducted extensive research on the military defoliant Agent Orange. The collection is in good condition and includes letters, memoranda, books, reports, press releases, journal and newspaper clippings, field logs and notebooks, newsletters, maps, booklets and pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and audiotapes of an interview with Dr. Young.</p> <p>For more about this collection, <a href="/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/alvin-l--young-collection-on-a">view the Agent Orange Exhibit.</a></p> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Box The box containing the original item. 067 Folder The folder containing the original item. 1812 Series The series number of the original item. Series III Subseries III Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Eisen, Seth Title A name given to the resource Typescript: Report of Contact - contacted by Larry Hobson, February 27, 1984 Subject The topic of the resource Vietnam Experience Twin Study AOPO study criticism VA policy ao_seriesIII