Articles by Julia King

Researchers at many U.S. universities are participating in curricula that now stress hard science Top colleges and universities throughout the United States are responding to an unprecedented demand for environmental education programs with new undergraduate degree programs, graduate-level research opportunities, and environmental colloquia. What distinguishes most of these new programs from academia's previous environmental offer

Researchers at many U.S. universities are participating in curricula that now stress hard science Top colleges and universities throughout the United States are responding to an unprecedented demand for environmental education programs with new undergraduate degree programs, graduate-level research opportunities, and environmental colloquia. What distinguishes most of these new programs from academia's previous environmental offer

Within Biosphere 2 Date: January 24, 1994, p.3 Editor's Note: On Sept. 26, 1993, four men and four women emerged from two years inside a giant Arizona greenhouse described by the New York Times as "the world's largest and strangest test-tube experiment, a planet-in-a-bottle called Biosphere 2." Among those emerging was 69-year-old University of California, Los Angeles, researcher and professor of pathology Roy L. Walford, who for

Some members fear that wealthy organizations like ACS and AAS may be losing sight of their charters as they pursue revenue As an information specialist with Spring House, Pa.-based chemical manufacturer Rohm and Haas Co., chemist Joann Witiak is a regular user of the American Chemical Society's Chemical Abstract Service. She is also a member of the society. So is Steve Weininger, a professor of chemistry at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. Witiak generally pays about $68 per

"What we will hear today is a story of taxpayer dollars going to bloated overhead rather than to scientific research. It is a story of excess and arrogance, compounded by lax governmental oversight." Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) thus opened a March 13 congressional hearing investigating alleged misuses of indirect costs reimbursements by Stanford University. In the two months since that hearing, payment of indirect costs has become a matter of public debate, not to mention public ridicule.

Since administrators naturally wish to protect their institutions from embarrassment, it is not surprising that they have often been reluctant to respond to allegations of fraud in research. We are now paying the price for this reticence, as congressional investigations have exposed a substantial number of fraud cases--more than most scientists would have expected. Nevertheless, the recognition of even one or two dozen cases of fraud among the 24,000 grants supported by the National Institutes

What is scientific literacy, and why are youngsters in the United States lacking in it? What constitutes an adequate science education? Why have we so few inspiring science educators? These are just a few of the questions raised in the following two essays, one written by a science student, the other by a pair of physics professors. For different reasons, all three authors come to the same conclusion: Scientist must look within their own community and at themselves as individuals for answers

The first time John Kemeny heard of the Louis Robinson Award was last summer, when the mathematician, computer scientist, and former Dartmouth College president was notified that he had won it. Now, in the second of four years in which the Robinson is slated to be given, award administrators are hoping that Kemeny's name will come to be automatically associated with the honor, which recognizes lifetime achievement in applying computer technology to education. "It is the body of previous winner

The controversy over administering so-called litmus tests to candidates for science policy posts came to a head in the summer of 1989, during the Bush administration's efforts to fill the still-vacant director's post at the National Institutes of Health. After being asked by a White House personnel officer about his personal views on abortion, William Danforth, Washington University chancellor and potential nominee for the director's post, withdrew from consideration. He also made public his

Forty-six-year-old Forrest M. Mims III of Seguin, Texas, is a veteran science writer. Over the past 20 years, his articles and letters about science and technology have appeared in more than 60 newspapers, magazines, and journals, including the American Journal of Physics, Physics Today, Science Digest, Scientific American, National Geographic World, Fortune, and the Wall Street Journal. Mims, an amateur scientist with a degree in government, is also an evangelical Christian who believes in th

Chemist George Rathmann is a scientist entrepreneur with not one, but two successful startups to his credit. Ten years ago, in early 1981, Rathmann and his colleagues were successful in raising $19 million to launch Amgen Inc. of Thousand Oaks, Calif., which in 1989--the year in which its flagship product, erythropoietin (a red blood cell stimulator), was approved by the Food and Drug Administration--recorded sales of $192 million. Last July, Rathmann resigned as chairman of Amgen (he remains

In the year or so since medical geneticist Francis Collins of the University of Michigan Medical Center, molecular biologist Lap-Chee Tsui of Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, and their colleagues identified the cystic fibrosis (CF) gene, medical researchers, bioethicists, genetic counselors, and others have debated the pros and cons of testing for the recessive genetic disease. One of the chief arguments advanced by those against such screening is that currently available tests can identi

The backbone of the United States' scientific enterprise - investigator-initiated research -- is being twisted by political forces that support high-profile but sometimes scientifically unjustifiable programs. To overcome those forces, say the nation's top researchers and science policymakers, scientists must put aside their interdisciplinary rivalries and work together to secure more support as well as more money for individual research initiatives. "The most important priority is for us to c

The scientists talked about their concerns, goals, and priorities for the coming year, among other topics. In a nutshell, all are worried about funding shortfalls. They also say 1991 will bring the U.S. face-to-face with critical choices about science education and the country's overall research efforts. As the federal government pumps millions of research dollars into a handful of megaprograms, hundreds of smaller, more important research initiatives are falling by the wayside, they say. Shou

For journalists who are convinced that scientists are by nature tight-lipped, humorless, and obscurely esoteric, the prospect of interviewing an eminent molecular biologist or condensed-matter physicist is about as appealing as a trip to the orthodontist. On the other hand, deadline-driven reporters and editors aren't exactly appreciated in the science community for their patience in hearing out all of the crucial details about a researcher's experiments. Sometimes, it seems to scientists that