Company officials cite an unfilled pipeline as an obstacle to recruitment; some observers see need for more aggressive recruiting. Sidebar: Helpful Resources For Minority Scientists TOO FEW: BIO president Carl Feldbaum cites the pipeline issue rather than discrimination as the main reason for small minority representation. Scientists who are members of racial and ethnic minorities are underrepresented in the biotechnology industry, according to a variety of industry observers. Minority resear

American Indian Science and Engineering Society 5661 Airport Blvd., Boulder, Colo. 80301-2339 (303) 939-0023 - Fax: (303) 939-8150 aiseshq@spot.colorado.edu http://www.colorado.edu/AISES Executive director: Norbert S. Hill, Jr. 3,000 members Hispanic Engineers and Scientists 104 Naval Architecture Building, University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, Calif. 94720 (510) 643-8416 - Fax: (510) 644-1158 hes@uclink.berkeley.edu President: Hugo Ortiz 80 members National Network of Minority Women in

Sidebar: "The Financing of Medical Schools" - For Further Information A DEMOTION? The plaintiffs’ attorney, Jeffrey Kramer, notes that the reduction in their contract term was not accompanied by a reduction in their duties. Twenty-three tenured members of the basic science faculty at the University of Southern California (USC) School of Medicine have sued the Los Angeles-based university for $54 million, alleging that USC has breached their contracts and is violating established princip

For Further Information and copies of "The Financing of Medical Schools" contact: Association of American Medical Colleges Division of Institutional Planning Development 2450 N St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037 Phone: (202) 828-0475 Fax: (202) 828-1125 E-mail: lmilas@aamc.org

Sidebar: Genetics of Alzheimer's Disease -- Further Information At its annual meeting in November 1995, the Society for Neuroscience hosted a lively debate on whether ß-amyloid deposition is the cause of Alzheimer's disease. The debate was light in tone, but that masked real and often rancorous divisions in the field (R. Finn, The Scientist, Oct. 16, 1995, page 14.). Since then, significant advances in this rapidly developing discipline have generated considerable excitement among Alzheim

A MATTER OF PERCEPTION: While T.A. union officials at UC-Berkeley say that 30 percent of T.A.-classes in the natural sciences were shut down, an associate dean calls the union's figures, "wildly exaggerated." Teaching assistants (T.A.'s) boycotted their classes and set up picket lines at three campuses of the University of California (UC) for a week in November in an unsuccessful bid to pressure the administration to engage in collective bargaining with their unions. While estimates of the st

Most scientists have either witnessed or worked in an unhappy lab where demoralized students and employees dread coming to work in the morning, spend the day grousing and gossiping, and hurry home by 5:00 p.m. Creating a pleasant, productive environment is a challenge that eludes some of the brightest scientists. Authorities in laboratory management note that fostering a happy lab depends on choosing the right people, knitting together a cohesive group, and exercising an appropriate level of su

SIDEBAR: Selected Suppliers of Math, Stat, And Graphing Software No scientific task is more universal than the job of analyzing data. Programs for this purpose were among the first applications written for mainframe computers, and the programs made the jump to microcomputers soon after the beginning of the personal-computer revolution in the early 1980s. Despite recent mergers among statistical software companies, scientists still have an embarrassment of riches when it comes time to choose so

SIDEBAR: For Further Information .. Academic Job Security FLEXIBILITY WANTED: University of Minnesota regent Patricia Spence cites budgetary uncertainty. Colleges and universities all over the United States are making changes-both major and minor-to the tenure system. Some have abolished it, opting for multiyear contracts with faculty, while others have adopted new codes that make it easier to fire tenured faculty members. Like other academic employees, scientists are feeling the constraints

"Contemporary Problems in Science Jobs" by Arthur E. Sowers can be found at http://www.access.digex.net/~arthures/homepage.htm. The American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) is publishing a series of monographs called "New Pathways: Faculty Careers and Employment for the 21st Century," several of which are particularly relevant to the issue of tenure. To obtain any of these monographs, telephone AAHE Publications at (202) 293-6440, Ext. 11, or write to AAHE at One Dupont Circle, Suite

SIDEBAR: For More Information Supporters of the controversial funding category are fighting efforts to keep its budget from growing and trying to increase applications in an attempt to mollify critics. Funded by a growing "tax" on federal R&D funds that will total almost $1.2 billion in fiscal year 1997, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants are becoming increasingly controversial. Intended to help companies with fewer than 500 employees commercialize new technologies, the progr

Gregory Milman, chief of the pathogenesis and basic research branch in the Division of AIDS at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has written a lengthy document containing down-to-earth advice on applying for SBIR grants. It is available on the Web at http://www.niaid.nih.gov/newsletter/maya/sbir/cover.htm. For more information about the SBIR conferences sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the Small Business Administration, conta