This document has been archived. 

SUBJECT: South Pole Medical Situation - Arrival of Nielsen at McMurdo
DATE:    October 15, 1999

Media contact: Mary Hanson
October 15, 1999
(703) 306-1070/mhanson@nsf.gov
PS 99- 23

Statement by

RITA COLWELL
DIRECTOR, NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

On South Pole Medical Situation - Arrival of Nielsen at McMurdo

Dr. Jerri Nielsen, the physician at the National Science Foundation's
Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station since last November, has safely arrived at
McMurdo Station, where she will prepare for her return to the United States
as soon as possible and practical.  NSF's McMurdo Station is the hub of
U.S. Antarctic air operations on the Ross Sea.

I applaud the 109th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard for its
successful completion of the roughly six-hour round trip flight between
McMurdo and the South Pole, and the smoothly executed pick-up and transport
of Dr. Nielsen, under very difficult operational conditions.  Since the
beginning of this mission, the Air National Guard has displayed the utmost 
professionalism, efficiency, and concern for Dr. Nielsen.

Since Dr. Nielsen's discovery of a breast lump in June, our priorities have
been her health and safety, and her desire for privacy during a very
personal process.  This remains her desire, and it remains our priority.
She has become a public figure through circumstance and not through choice.
I am grateful to all who have respected her desire, and appeal once again 
for restraint and respect as she prepares to return to the U.S. and a difficult 
adjustment under the most trying circumstances.

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