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Recent political and judicial setbacks to affirmative action throughout the United States have minority and women scientists concerned that whatever advantages they have gained in the lab or clinic in the 30 years since such laws and regulations were enacted will be decimated. Impassioned national debate on the issue has been sparked by a number of widely publicized events. Among them are an effort by two professors in California to do away with any vestige of affirmative action in hiring by s

According to the latest figures from the American Council on Education, of the more than 500,000 faculty members in 1991, 68 percent were men and 32 percent were women, compared with 73 percent of men and 27 percent of women in 1981. In 1981, whites made up 91 percent of the faculty; in 1991, they constituted 88 percent of the total. In 1991, of the remaining 12 percent minority, there were twice as many male as female African American, Hispanic, Asian American, and American Indian faculty memb

John Ruffin thinks the National Institutes of Health's 20-year effort to ensure that affirmative action goals are carried out through minority research and training programs must have been a benefit to society. But he can't really say that for sure--because he just doesn't know. No one is keeping track. And in order to find out just how effective NIH is in moving and keeping minorities in research careers, Ruffin is heading a multiyear effort to evaluate the various programs aimed at minorities

Insert Where Science Museum Professionals Meet Statistics bear out a growing recognition of science museums as a major source of science education in the United States. According to estimates from the Washington, D.C.-based Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), the number of people passing through the turnstiles of science museums annually has risen from about 50 million in 1987 to close to 80 million in 1994. And ASTC officials speculate that the number could be as high as 125 mi

As science increasingly becomes more complex, interdisciplinary research at many academic institutions is quickly becoming the rule rather than the exception, many scientists and ad- ministrators say. At the same time, observers warn, there are institutional roadblocks to such collaborations. Most universities remain bound by traditional departmental structures for administrative and curricular purposes, including peer review, tenure, and promotion. Funding agencies, too, have been structural

While it can be argued that the fruits of a successful education can have a long ripening time, it is nevertheless important that our universities and colleges examine potential new operating structures that could improve effectiveness. Such structures should have as performance criteria: (1) to increase the impact of universities and colleges in education, research/scholarship, and outreach (for land-grant institutions); and (2) to raise satisfaction among faculty and staff over the extent to

Research Topic Editor's Note: In its continuing analysis of the citation record of ecology and environmental sciences, the newsletter Science Watch recently took a retrospective look at the rankings of papers in the field. Using a customized database--covering the years 1981 to 1993--of the most cited papers in the discipline, Peter D. Moore, a reader in ecology and chairman of human and environmental sciences in the Division of Life Sciences, King's College, London, looked for hot areas of ecol

Edited by: NEERAJA SANKARAN P.Y.S. Lam, P.K. Jadhav, C.J. Eyermann, C.N. Hodge, Y. Ru, L.T. Bacheler, J.L. Meek, M.J. Otto, M.M. Rayner, Y.N. Wong, C-H. Chang, P.C. Weber, D.A. Jackson, T.R. Sharpe, S. Erickson- Viitanen, "Rational design of potent, bioavailable, nonpeptide cyclic ureas as HIV protease inhibitors," Science, 262:380-4, 1994. (Cited in 46 publications through May 1995) Comments by Patrick Y.S. Lam, DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Co., Wilmington, Del. Patrick Y.S. Lam, a principal

After the April announcement that the seven regional telephone companies would be selling Bellcore, their jointly funded research arm, the question many telecommunications experts are asking is whether the move was made in time to preserve its intellectual capital and, thereby, its future. Growing competition over the past several years among the so- called Baby Bells has diminished their willingness to use the shared research resource, contributing to the decision to sell the Livingston, N.J.

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 th

Association of Science and Technology CentersDepartment F1025 Vermont Ave., N.W., Suite 500Washington, D.C. 20005-3516 Fax: (202) 783-7207 E-mail: 74531.33@compuse rve.com James L. Peterson, president Bonnie VanDorn, executive director 467 total members, including 370 institutions--science and technology centers, nature centers, aquariums, zoos, planetariums, natural history museums, and children's museums-- science professional societies, and exhibit design firms For a complete listing of m

Role Of Research In Society Author: NEERAJA SANKARAN Many of the scientists addressing graduating students at universities across North America this year chose to focus in their speeches on science's role in uplifting, rescuing, and, in some cases, bringing harm to society. The speakers invited to deliver convocation addresses were among a distinguished group of science luminaries upon whom various academic institutions conferred honorary degrees for their contributions both within and outside