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As available academic researchjobs decline, many are questioning the wisdom of traditional maxims like 'the cream rises to the top' Rapid and accelerating changes in the structure of United States science have left many scientists bitterly disenchanted and feeling that they have been left high and dry, trapped in dead-end careers, the victims of misleading or downright bad career advice. DOUBTER: Kevin Aylesworth says that graduate advisors have a vested interest in keeping students in resear

Growing number of alliances with pharmaceutical partners seeking access to gene technologies points to new success path for biotechs. NEW TOOLS: Drug companies need the novel technologies that are "bread and butter" to the biotech industry, says Pfizer's Peter S. Ringrose. With growing fervor, the world's largest pharmaceutical companies have been aggressively buying up a range of biotechnology company assets in the past few years, even as the stock market's interest in the younger industry h

DISCRIMINATING: Cecelia and Cabriel Manrique's research reveals bias against Asian Americans in academia. Chang-Lin Tien, chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley; Henry T. Yang, chancellor of UC-Santa Barbara; David Chang, president of Polytechnic University; Alice Huang, dean for science at New York University; James Wei, dean of engineering at Princeton University. These names are mentioned prominently when discussion turns to distinguished scientists and engineers of Asian ance

Edward Fred Knipling, the former director and currently science adviser to the entomology research division in the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), has received the 1995 Japan Prize for his contributions to "science and technology for agriculture, forestry and fishery which conserves the environment." He was presented with the award at a special ceremony held April 27 in Tokyo. ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY: Edward F. Knipling developed the sterile in

The inclusion of eight investigators from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) on the list of 60 newly elected members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) may mark a new record for the academy. Although precise data are not available, NAS officials speculate that this is the largest number of new academy members associated with the same organization. The Chevy Chase, Md.-based institute's strong showing comes as no surprise to NAS home secretary Peter Raven, who cites HHMI research

In legal wrangling that is unlikely to knock the O.J. Simpson trial off the front page, a Philadelphia-based punk rock band named Thorazine has drawn the ire of SmithKline Beecham, the drug company also headquartered in the City of Brotherly Love, according to a local weekly, the City Paper (M. Detweiler, May 5, 1995, page 9). Apparently, the company feels that the band's name could dilute the distinction of Thorazine, SmithKline's brand of chlorpromazine, a tranquilizer used to suppress the mo

IMAGE group's DNA libraries are made freely available to other researchers, as long as they, too, pass on information to the public. In less than two years, a research initiative begun by four geneticists has grown from an ad hoc collaboration to an international cooperative effort to freely share complementary DNA (cDNA) clone libraries. To date, in excess of 100,000 clones from the Integrated Molecular Analysis of Genome Expression (IMAGE) Consortium have been sent to more than 40 facilities

The United Nations Convention on Climate Change, held in Berlin March 28-April 7, was marked by a presence hitherto unseen at such events_representatives from the insurance industry. The company officials, who attended in order to learn more about climatic issues, herald a rapidly expanding dialogue between these traditionally mutually exclusive communities, according to both insurance and science observers. SCENE OF CHANGE: BBSR provides scientists and insurers a platform to discuss issues of

Editor's Note: This is the first of a two-part series on Asian Americans in academic science. It addresses issues concerning Asian American students. The second part, to appear in the May 29 issue, will examine the representation of Asian Americans on academic faculties and in university administration. A growing number of government and private programs throughout the United States are aimed at increasing the ranks of underrepresented minorities in university science classrooms. But one mino

Theory (The Scientist, Vol:9, #10, pg 3, May 15, 1995) In Norman, Okla., this month, about two dozen speakers will gather to challenge dominant paradigms of modern theoretical physics and to discuss alternatives. At the annual meeting of the Southwestern and Rocky Mountain Division (SWARM) of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on May 22-24, these self-styled dissidents are planning to renew their attack on the special theory of relativity and big-bang cosmology. This

Irene Ann Chen, 17, a senior at La Jolla High School in San Diego, captured first place in the 1995 Westinghouse Science Talent Search. She received a $40,000 college scholarship at the award ceremony in Washington, D.C., in March. TOP OF HER CLASS: Irene Chen of La Jolla High School plans to use her $40,000 Westinghouse scholarship award to study molecular biology. Chen, who is first in her graduating class, says she was "definitely" surprised that she garnered the top honor, noting that her

In Norman, Okla., this month, about two dozen speakers will gather to challenge dominant paradigms of modern theoretical physics and to discuss alternatives. At the annual meeting of the Southwestern and Rocky Mountain Division (SWARM) of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on May 22-24, these self-styled dissidents are planning to renew their attack on the special theory of relativity and big-bang cosmology. This is not the first time the group has met in a AAAS foru