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January 2008
January 31, 2008
Letter: Restricting network use is a disservice to our troops
A reader says DOD has the tools to protect sensitive data without sacrificing the sanity of deployed troops by taking away their access to the outside world.
Letter: Maybe DOD should ban Internet Explorer instead
A reader wonders how much of DOD’s security problem could be solved by using the Firefox browser rather than potentially blocking access to other agencies’ sites.
Letter: Bans don’t work
A reader argues that rather than creating an environment that discourages legitimate work, DOD should educate employees on the importance of adhering to a security policy and punish those who violate it.
Letter: How do you define non-official?
A reader says DOD’s proposed policy to ban personal use of networks would have to include a very clear -- and very detailed -- explanation of non-official traffic.
Letter: Network restrictions would stifle innovation
A reader argues that government employees need access to online information to do their jobs.
Letter: User education better than net restrictions
At a time when most corporations are realizing that the line between work and life is increasingly blurry, DOD seems to be considering a step back in time, writes one reader. Read the letter and post a comment.
Letter: Not all Web traffic is a threat
A reader points out that many service members use Web-based e-mail to stay in touch with loved ones.
Letter: FEMA front lines no place for novice acquisition workers
Getting someone straight out of college and putting them on the front line is not an answer to the shortage of acquisition workers, one reader writes.
Letter: NSPS needs tweaking regarding pay raises
If the average salary increase for a person having a 3 [rating] is 5.4 percent then why are some agencies giving their employees a lot less.
Letter: Government employee dissatisfied with NSPS process, ready to leave
The NSPS folks will tell you it goes to a pay pool that will ensure the process is fair. But this did not happen, the pay pool automatically gave me a poor rating from his evaluation.
Letter: Canceling earmarks in committee reports not effective
In addition to stopping the earmark authorizations list in committee reports require also that the accompanying appropriations be rescinded also.
Letter: Good performance rating may not even yield cost-of-living raise
Reader finds that "NSPS is a numbers game."
January 29, 2008
Letter: Restricting network use could have unintended consequences
A reader says the current practice of having contractors log onto corporate Web sites to record daily timesheet data is the cheapest, easiest way to satisfy contractual obligations -- but it could be banned under DOD’s proposed restrictions
January 28, 2008
Letter: End the acquisition Cold War
In one reader's view, government’s business naiveté has led to Soviet-style inefficiency in contracting, and it will take some enlightened leadership to end it.
Letter: NSPS benefits some but hurts others
One reader says that when supervisors refuse to let employees take on additional responsibilities, those employees are unfairly penalized under NSPS
Letter: The trouble with NSPS lies with the raters
A reader’s experience with NSPS highlights the problems of inexperienced reviewers and the incentive to save money
Letter: NSPS fails to compensate employees fairly
A reader says DOD needs to admit its failure and return to the GS system
January 24, 2008
Letter: More information, statistics needed about civilian performance awards
A reader writes: I'm a little curious as to the source of this article on the NSPS performance awards.
Letter: Economics, budget issues important in government affairs
Regarding the comment piece, Wagner: The cost analysis muddle, a reader writes: I have learned that most people in government, including IGs, Congressmen and ESPECIALLY their staffs, have no clue about operations costs and the way the productive world actually operates.
January 23, 2008
Letter: Appreciation for baby boomer experience welcome
Baby boomers' wealth of experience, past success in a chosen career and a desire to continue service can improve government.
January 22, 2008
Letter: New HR system won’t solve USPS workforce woes
A reader says the Postal Service does not do enough to support its hardworking, loyal employees.
Letter: USPS has chosen a losing strategy
A reader says Postal Service executives are ignoring problems with existing systems while pushing ahead on new initiatives.
Letter: Making addresses available endangers public servants
A reader argues that the trend toward ‘open addresses’ puts intell officers and others at risk.
Letter: Don’t put security eggs in one basket
A reader says the new one-size-fits-all ID badge is not a good idea from a security standpoint.
January 18, 2008
Letter: Consider the younger civil servants
In response to the article, New initiative looks to attract baby boomers to fed jobs, a reader writes: That would be fine as long as they did not forget that there are numerous young(er) current federal employees that are looking to move up.Rick What do you think? Paste a comment in the box below (registration required), or send your comment to letters@fcw.com (subject line: Blog comment) and we'll post it.…
Letter: Need for health data protection critical
Since 1998, while on the staff of the World Health Organization, a U.N. technical cooperation agency from which I retired in 2003, I urged the need for awareness and action by health authorities and organizations to the serious data protection issues related to person-identifiable databases.
Letter: Federal government discriminates against promoting older workers
From my experience, the federal government discriminates against the promotion of older workers at this time. Now, they are suggesting hiring them in directly at even older ages?
January 17, 2008
Letter: Has DOD defined what is considered inherently governmental?
In response to the story, DOD sets limits for lead systems integrators, on reader asks: Has [the Defense Department] defined what is considered inherently governmental? I have heard many things that are but have never seen it in writing what is.Anonymous…
Letter: What are the benefits of software as a service?
One reader writes that the number of services being offered as essential is not acceptable and may not be necessary. Yet, at the reader's agency the high purchase costs are obvious.
January 15, 2008
Letter: Are HSPD-12 objections about privacy or secrecy?
A reader argues that incident commanders need to know that their employees are trustworthy, especially during crises.
Letter: What’s the problem with HSPD-12 checks?
A reader who has worked for defense agencies for more than 17 years wonders what all the fuss is about.
January 14, 2008
Letter: Read ID holds real promise
A reader weighs in on Real ID’s ability to make the country safer and suggests ways states can find the money to comply with it.
Letter: Who really benefits from NSPS?
A reader says a good idea has become a nightmare.
Letter: Temps left holding the bag on TWIC cards
A reader says the firms that hire temporary employees for port jobs aren’t going to cover the cost of TWIC cards.
January 11, 2008
Letter: Thompson offers empty campaign promise
A reader says that if elected, Fred Thompson would find it impossible to keep his pledge to freeze government hiring.
January 10, 2008
Letter: Coast Guard's approach to Deepwater was flawed
A reader uses a story to illustrate a lesson in working with contractors.
Letter: Feds should have nothing to hide
A reader says employees of the Jet Propulsion Lab should submit to background checks -- or get out of government.
January 9, 2008
Letter: Pay for performance doesn't live up to the ideal
A reader says many NSPS employees receive smaller raises than their General Schedule counterparts.
Letter: Kelman's 'secrets' aren't so secret
A reader says Steve Kelman's revelations about worker productivity are obvious to anyone who's spent time in federal agencies.
January 8, 2008
Letter: Nobody bothered to explore alternatives to NSPS
A reader says DOD had a successful pay-for-performance system before it came up with NSPS.
Letter: NSPS 'bonus' is a sham
A reader takes issue with the source of NSPS bonuses and criticizes the system's effect on federal employees' retirement.
Letter: Smithsonian records readily searchable
All of the databases in the Smithsonian Institution Research Information System are sitemapped according to the international standard and have been crawled by many, many robots.
January 7, 2008
Letter: Why use old data?
A reader questions why a researcher developed a report, cited in a column by Steve Kelman, based on data collected in a 2000 survey.
January 3, 2008
Letter: The danger of standard configuration
If agencies become overly focused on adhering to vendor-specific solutions, they run the risk of missing out on innovations that could better address their users' needs.
January 2, 2008
Letter: Core competency reconsidered
Information technology management must be treated as an essential function at the Defense Department and other agencies.
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