At its January 28-29, 2002 Meeting, the National Human Research Protections Advisory Committee (NHRPAC) dealt with four issues—public use data files, third parties, risk and harm, and confidentiality—of critical importance to the social and behavioral sciences. All four were topics that have engaged the attention of NHRPAC's Social and Behavioral Science Working Group (SBS), co-chaired by ASA Executive Officer Felice Levine. (Levine is a member of NHRPAC.)

With unabashed enthusiasm, Levine gave a thumbs-up, calling these decisions "five star." "NHRPAC is a diverse group of persons knowledgeable about and deeply committed to advancing human research protections and research," Levine said, "That this group came together after months of hard effort and reached strong consensus on such important issues affirms the significance of these recommendations and also that the concerns of social science are very much on the 'page.'"

The social and behavioral science community is turning its attention and expertise to terrorism and what we know and need to know. In September and October, many scientific societies including the American Sociological Association (ASA) issued statements and posted website information on experts and resources.

On January 27, 2002, the Council of the American Sociological Association unanimously adopted a resolution expressing its grave concerns with the rapidly increasing restriction on access to information previously available to citizens on environmental and health risks in the United States.