A little sense perhaps from the STFC regarding Gemini?

[Ian]

British astronomers have been given a temporary reprieve over their access to two of the world's finest telescopes.

In January, administrators announced their intention to withdraw from UK participation in Gemini, as they looked to plug an £80m hole in their finances.

This would have barred UK astronomers from viewing the Northern Hemisphere sky with the largest telescope class.

The UK will now continue its operations payments for 2008 and plans to explore options for continued involvement.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7240840.stm

Am I the only one who reads STFC as STFU? I suppose recently it's been more SNAFU, but there you go...

[Rick]

The cynic in me says they chose high-profile things to cut just to get the voters to squeal a bit. It's probably a ploy aimed at squeezing more money out of us...