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One big, happy family of firms is the goal; but skeptics foresee internal squabbling An impending merger of the Industrial Biotechnology Association and the Association of Biotechnology Companies will enable the biotech industry to speak with one voice, say those instrumental in forming the unified group. Observers say they expect the combined association to send a clearer message to Congress about what the industry hopes to accomplish, and to provide expanded networking opportunities for it

As the Clinton administration establishes itself in Washington, D.C., action is heating up in the United States capital to raise the awareness of the general public--as well as lawmakers--about the disproportionately high unemployment rates and low salaries of women in scientific careers. Most noteworthy among these efforts, perhaps, is last month's reintroduction of federal legislation that would create a Commission on the Advancement of Women in Science and Engineering. Other efforts include

Items: Among women chemists who are now college presidents, perhaps the most prominent is Linda Wilson, president of Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Mass. Another name to add is Jane Margaret O'Brien, biochemist and president of Hollins College in Roanoke, Va. In July 1991, O'Brien--who received a B.S. in biochemistry from Vassar College in 1975 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Delaware in 1981--became the eighth president of the small, all-women's school. She says the

(The Scientist, Vol:7, #4, February 22, 1993) To the extent that the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST), established by the Bush administration, leaves any substantial legacy for the years ahead, it is likely to be identified as the major public policy questions presented in a 46-page report that was released less than a month before the administration left office. The report, "Renewing the Promise: Research-Intensive Universities and the Nation," takes a hard lo

Slowdowns in corporate R&D are foreseen, which, experts reason, will cut employment potential for researchers in 1993 The 1993 employment outlook for scientists in industry is marginally optimistic, at best, according to various economic indicators and industry experts. With the exception of a few sectors that, as a result of sustained consumer demand, appear relatively recession-proof, such as the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, hiring will be tied to the sluggish recovery of th

NSB report's ambiguity and a lack of consensus on implementation hamper foundation's strategic planning In the face of congressional pressures and a climate of unease among university-based researchers, the National Science Foundation and its oversight body, the National Science Board, are wrestling to develop a plan for implementing policy recommendations set forth in a report by a special NSB commission on the agency's future. Their efforts are being complicated by lack of consensus about h

As his radical ecology experiment meets with criticism, even ridicule, he shows more interest in mainstream science Texas billionaire Edward Bass, best known for his bankrolling of Biosphere 2, now appears to be focusing his largess a bit closer to the scientific mainstream. The Biosphere 2 project, an experiment set up near Tucson, Ariz., attempting to establish a sealed, self-sustaining, three-acre module with eight humans inside, has taken a beating from the press and scientists over its la

Companies discussed in the accompanying article: Bio-Rad Laboratories 2000 Alfred Nobel Dr. Hercules, Calif. 94547 (800) 4 - BIORAD Fax: (800) 879-2289 Products: Call for catalog BIO 101 Inc. 1060 Joshua Way Vista, Calif. 92083 (800) 424-6101 Fax: (619) 598-0116 Products: phage DNA isolation yeast transformation Geneclean DNA purification Mermaid oligomer purification RNaid RNA purification Circleprep plasmid preparation G nome DNA isolation, for genomic DNA BioWhittaker Inc. 8830 Biggs F

Roberto J. Poljak, a professor and head of the structural immunology laboratory at the Pasteur Institute in Paris since 1981, has taken a position as director of the Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology (CARB) in Rockville, Md. Established in 1984, CARB is a research institute founded by the University of Maryland's Biotechnology Institute and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Poljak is known for developing the first three-dimensional models of key antibodies and a

1993 AAAS Meeting: Science And Education For The Future More than 4,000 scientists are expected at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, to be held in Boston February 11-16. Meeting highlights: Three days of symposia entitled "Future Chemistry: From Carbon to Silicon," February 14-16. Nano-engineering will be the focus of lectures by 20 different speakers. A special one-day symposium, "Science Education Reform in America," Saturday, February 13. Amon

Academicians who believe that the way to start the day off right is sitting down with a newspaper and a cup of coffee might want to avoid a new publication by the American Association of University Professors until the afternoon. The College and University Fiscal Crisis Update, which debuted in January, is filled with the latest in bad budget news from campuses around the United States, and is punctuated by comprehensive national lists of funding and job cutback statistics. Highlights (or lowl

Four-year investigation identifies precollege preparation, teaching styles, and peer influence as significant factors An extensive new study finds that the number of undergraduates in science, math, and engineering (SME) majors drops 40 percent between freshman and senior years. The losses vary substantially by field: In the physical sciences the decline is 20 percent, while in the biological sciences--the field with the most dramatic losses--the figure is 50 percent. The study also seeks to