Notebook

Seven new members joined the National Science Board (NSB) last month, the first appointees to the 24-member body by President Bill Clinton. The NSB oversees the National Science Foundation, headed by Neal Lane, who is also an ex officio member of the board. Members serve six-year terms, and eight members rotate off the board every two years--thus, the incoming group leaves one vacancy overall. Four of the new members are from universities, two from industry, and one from government. Three of the seven are women, and one received the Nobel Prize--in economics--in 1987. The seven are Sanford D. Greenberg, chairman and chief executive officer of TEI Industries Inc., Washington, D.C.; Eve L. Menger, director of technical services and administration, Corning Inc., Corning, N.Y.; Claudia I. Mitchell-Kernan, vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean of the graduate division, University of California, Los Angeles; Diana Natalicio, president of the University of Texas, El Paso; Nobelist Robert M. Solow, Institute Professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Warren M. Washington, director of the climate and global dynamics division of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colo.; and John A. White, Jr., dean of the college of engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. (The Scientist, Vol:9, #13, pg.30, June 26, 1995) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) In a settlement of a long-standing lawsuit that seemingly leaves the issue that sparked the suit as unresolved as ever, oil giant Texaco Inc. agreed last month to pay a group of 83 publishers a seven-figure amount for photocopying journal articles, but admits no guilt in the case. The exact amount of the settlement was kept secret. The payment ends a copyright infringement suit brought in 1985 on behalf of a class of publishers of scientific and technical journals that are registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), according to a Texaco statement. The suit, consolidated as American Geophysical Union et al. v. Texaco Inc., was brought by an initial group of six American and European publishers as a test of the "fair use" exception under the Copyright Act of 1976. The law exempts copying for criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research from copyright infringement. To bring the case in U.S. District Court in New York, the publisher group arbitrarily chose to examine the files of Texaco chemical engineer Donald Chickering II, and found copies of eight articles from the Journal of Catalysis. Texaco claimed that its scientists had the right to copy articles for research purposes without having to pay copyright permission fees to CCC because such activities are covered under the "fair use" exception. CCC is a nonprofit central clearinghouse established in 1977 to handle copyright fees for its roughly 9,000 publisher members. The District Court ruled against Texaco in 1992; the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the lower court last October. Texaco appealed to the Supreme Court, but agreed to drop the appeal if the publishers' group accepted the settlement and dropped its suit. In addition to the $1 million-plus settlement and retroactive licensing fee, Texaco agreed to buy a five-year corporate license from CCC. (The Scientist, Vol:9, #13, pg.30, June 26, 1995) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) Omni, the "consumer science fact and fiction magazine" published by New York-based General Media International, owned by Penthouse mogul Bob Guccione, ceased subscription availability with its May issue. Some fear it might be heading for a permanent vacation, according to publishing industry gossip. Subscribers were notified that their subscriptions would be honored by rival mag Discover, owned by New York-based Walt Disney Magazine Publishing Group Inc. Meanwhile, Omni--started in 1978 by Guccione and his wife, Longevity magazine founder Kathy Keeton--announced that it would switch its features to its America Online service, with Internet availability slated for the future. According to Markham/Novell Communications Ltd., a New York public relations firm hired by Omni, the magazine will be on newsstands as a quarterly starting in September. However, science writers are saying that December is a more likely release date, and rumor has it that the company is thinking about semiannual rather than quarterly publication. While Markham/Novell denies that layoffs are planned, writers fear that staff reductions are imminent. (The Scientist, Vol:9, #13, pg.30, June 26, 1995) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) ON THIS STORY, PLEASE WRITE TO US AT EITHER ONE OF THE The Evanston, Ill.-based Dermatology Foundation has received more than $1 million from individual dermatologists to support research. The amount represents about half of the $2,080,000 the foundation awarded to 82 dermatology researchers in fiscal year 1994. Both sums represent all-time records for the organization. The funding is second only to that awarded by the federal government in support of skin research, officials say. The organization underwrites research "to ensure the future of dermatology and advances in patient care." For information, contact the Dermatology Foundation, 1560 Sherman Ave., Suite 870, Evanston, Ill. 60201; (708) 328-2256. Fax: (708) 328-0509. (The Scientist, Vol:9, #13, pg.30, June 26, 1995) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Special Grant Program in the Chemical Sciences offers support to academic institutions for innovative projects in chemistry teaching and research. Some areas being considered for support are the development of curricular and instructional materials; programs for high school students and teachers; specialized and interdisciplinary projects; public understanding of the role of chemistry in society; and career renewal. After approval of an initial letter of inquiry, the foundation will invite a formal proposal from the institution. The deadline for the letter of inquiry is July 15; the formal proposal is due September 15. For information, contact the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, 555 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022-3301; (212) 753-1760. Email : rlichter@panix.com. (The Scientist, Vol:9, #13, pg.30, June 26, 1995) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) Healthy men generally experience an age-related decline in hearing much sooner in life than women do, according to a long- term National Institutes of Health study. The study, conducted by researchers at the National Institute on Aging's Gerontology Research Center in Baltimore, followed nearly 1,100 subjects as part of the institute's Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. The study found that although both sexes experience some hearing loss with age, it generally begins earlier in men, usually in their 20s. Earlier studies had suggested that rapid hearing loss in men was the result of noise factors in the workplace or military service or in the course of leisure-time activities, such as hunting or woodworking. The latest results indicate that hearing sensitivity lessens even in the absence of noise-induced factors. The study tracked 682 men and 416 women ranging in age from 20 to 90. Men were followed for up to 23 years and women for up to 13 years. (The Scientist, Vol:9, #13, pg.30, June 26, 1995) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) NIH recently reported other results of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging in its May edition of the newsletter NIH News & Features (page 12) that speak to some long-held perceptions about age. Among the findings: Age is a unique, individual process. People age at widely divergent rates, and some show improvements over time for certain physiological functions. Decline in older men and women occurs most often during incidents or periods of stress. The study also found that, if healthy, the heart of an older person pumps blood just about as well as that of a younger person, and that in previous studies major declines in cardiac function that were attributed to age were more probably due to undetected disease. Personality remains fairly stable throughout life in healthy people. "Chances are that an introverted, hypochondriacal, or grouchy 70-year-old was also an introverted, hypochondriacal, or grouchy 30-year-old," the newsletter reported. (The Scientist, Vol:9, #13, pg.30, June 26, 1995) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) The Center for Inquiry--an Amherst, N.Y.-based joint venture of two humanist organizations, the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) and the Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism (CODESH)--has announced that it raised more than $4.4 million in its capital campaign that concluded May 31. The campaign, called "The Price of Reason," began in 1992 and has already funded executive offices, a 50,000-volume library, and an academic research center. CSICOP, which publishes the Skeptical Inquirer magazine, and CODESH, which publishes Free Inquiry (S. Benowitz, The Scientist, April 17, 1995, page 1), proceeded with construction of the building as the campaign was going on. The 20,000-square- foot Center for Inquiry complex--located opposite the Amherst campus of the State University of New York, Buffalo--was dedicated in ceremonies that took place June 9-10. The groups have also established endowment funds to finance future operations. (The Scientist, Vol:9, #13, pg.30, June 26, 1995) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) The New York-based Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, which presents the prestigious Albert Lasker Medical Research Awards, has announced the appointment of Neen Hunt as executive director of the foundation and executive director of the Mary Woodard Lasker Charitable Trust. Hunt, who has a doctorate in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, was previously executive vice president and chief operating officer at the United Nations Association-USA. Her objectives, according to the foundation, will be to chart the organization's future following the death last year of Mary Lasker, who established the foundation along with her late husband, Albert, a half-century ago. Carrying on the awards program and educating the public about medical research will continue to be high on the foundation's agenda, according to Lasker officials; the organization is also looking into the initiation of collaborative programs relevant to these goals with other institutions. Jordan U. Gutterman, chairman of clinical immunology and biological therapy at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, continues in his post as director of the Lasker awards program. The foundation is preparing to announce the winners of this year's awards, to be given this fall. (The Scientist, Vol:9, #13, pg.30, June 26, 1995) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.)

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