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WASHINGTON—Although public attitudes toward the chemical industry have grown more negative during the past six years, more than 80 percent of Americans support the work chemists do and feel they have made important contributions to medicine and society. A survey of 1,448 adults, done last year for the American Chemical Society, found that 51 percent rated chemical companies unfavorably, compared with 41 percent in 1980. Frank Bigger, a spokesman for the ACS, said the change is due in part

WASHINGTON—A Defense Department program that distributed $124 million last year in contracts to university researchers appears to have been a one-time windfall for academic scientists. Its survival, which is uncertain given the pressure to trim military spending and reduce the federal deficit, could hurt other researchers funded by the Pentagon. The University Research Initiative (URI) was created as a way to provide universities with money for equipment, training and research in areas fel

NEW YORK—A preliminary report on the impact of increased enrollment of foreign students in Ph.D. engineering programs in the United States concludes "there is currently little reason to be concerned" about their effect on the ability of such programs to educate students and conduct research. But some engineers say they are disturbed by the trend. The report, which appeared in the April 3 issue of Science, noted that more than half of all engineering doctorates awarded by U.S. institutions

WASHINGTON—A U.S. patent board ruling last month significantly boosts the odds for approval of some of the pending applications for patents on genetically engineered animals. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, while rejecting for other reasons an application for a patent on an oyster, ruled that there is no legal reason why such patent protection should be denied. The decision may lead eventually to the marketing of new breeds of faster-growin

WASHINGTON—James Welty is a professor of mechanical engineering at Oregon State University. But for the past 16 months he has been living on the East Coast under a special program that brings academics temporarily into government service. Welty works at the Department of Energy, reviewing grant proposals, setting up engineering meetings, and advising other scientists. He is one of 970 researchers currently on detail to the federal government under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act, whic

WASHINGTON—A weaker dollar is forcing American research libraries to pay much higher prices this year for books and journals published overseas—if they can afford them at all. As a result, U.S. scientists soon may find it increasingly difficult to keep up with the latest developments in their fields. In the past 18 months the dollar has slipped more than 40 percent against the Japanese yen and several major European currencies. The resulting price increases, on top of those owing to

LONDON—A proposal to make the Value Added Tax (VAT) more uniform throughout the European Economic Community could significantly increase the prices worldwide of British scientific books and Journals. The EEC, which is considering a variety of reforms to boost its revenue and simplify its finances, has singled out the United Kingdom and Ireland because important areas of retail spending here—including books, food and children's clothing—are not subject to VAT. The European Com

LONDON—One of Britain's leading retail electronics companies has thrown its weight behind a Thatcher government educational scheme to reverse inner-city decay and increase scientific and technical training in high schools. The plan, which establishes City Technology Colleges (CTC), has generated considerable controversy since its announcement at the Tory party conference last October. The government has admitted that it has not discussed the matter formally with teachers, administrators or

PARIS—Two meetings this summer of African scientists will attempt to tackle the range of technological problems facing the developing nations of the continent. The First Congress of African Scientists (FCAS) will meet June 27-30 in Brazzaville, Congo. Sponsored by the United Nations Development Program, UNESCO and the Organization for African Unity, the meeting has three aims: to develop a continent-wide program to help the region cope with such problems as desertification, malnutrition a

DENVER—Improved management of technology in general, and of R&D in particular, is the key to U.S. progress in the competitive '80s, according to participants in two sessions at the American Chemical Society meeting here last month. And meeting vigorous overseas competition demands effective financial cooperation between government and industry. Of the many actions required to respond to the challenge from abroad, asserted William Norris, chairman emeritus of Control Data Corporation, "non

WASHINGTON—Two and a half years after a presidential veto of the concept, Lawrence Shulman is taking charge as director of the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). "There's a lot to do," said Shulman about the 12th and newest institute on the NIH campus, carved out of an existing institute after Congress voted in 1985 to override the Reagan veto. "And Congress has told us to do it." Shulman, 67, joined the NIH a decade ago from Johns Hopkins Univers

BOSTON—Two hundred and eight days after he began a fast to protest the nuclear arms race, astrophysicist Charles Hyder stood in the rain across the street from the White House to announce his decision to run for president. He admitted his "candidacy" is an attempt to draw attention to his campaign to get the United States and Soviet Union to begin to dismantle their nuclear arsenals. But his willingness to die for his beliefs has posed a dilemma for many scientists active in the disarmame