THIRD WHEEL: Ross Perot, the Reform Party candidate, does not include science as one of the high-priority issues that must be addressed by the country's next president. H. Ross Perot, the Texas billionaire and Reform Party candidate who is making a second straight run for the presidency, declines to provide a specific position on science and technology. In a faxed response to a request from The Scientist, the Perot campaign writes: "Our nation faces many challenges as we prepare for the 21st

Editor's Note: This is the first of a two-part election series examining the positions of presidential candidates Bob Dole and Bill Clinton on science and technology as well as research and development. Clinton will be the subject of the second part of the series, to be published in the October 14 issue. The combination of his proposed 15 percent income-tax cut and current federal budget constraints has observers wondering how science funding will fare if former senator Bob Dole is elected pr

'HOW SCIENCE WORKS': William Hammer emphasizes hands-on learning in his course. A recent report from the National Science Foundation warns that most of the thousands of schoolteachers returning to their classrooms this month were ill-prepared during their undergraduate years to teach science to their students. The report, "Shaping the Future: New Expectations for Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology," is generating widespread agreement that much improv

'PEOPLE ARE THE SAME': Myron Mehlman plans to pursue a $30 million defamation suit against Mobil if his case is upheld on its next appeal. A New Jersey appellate court has upheld and doubled a $3.5 million ruling in favor of a Mobil Oil Corp. toxicologist fired after advising a Mobil subsidiary in Japan to stop selling gasoline with hazardous levels of benzene, a carcinogen. While the company appeals the decision to the state Supreme Court, observers are speculating that the case may help whi

STARRY-EYED: Margie Profet used her MacArthur funds to switch fields of study. Margie Profet had been researching reproductive biology for 10 years when the call came, out of the blue, in 1993. On the line was an official with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation of Chicago, informing her that she had been named to join one of the most creative and elite groups of thinkers and doers in the world. Such a scene has been played out 479 times since 1981, when the first MacArthur Fel

During the same week that Americans Kerri Strug, Tom Dolan, and Amy Van Dyken struck gold at the Atlanta Olympics, President Clinton was presenting medals of a different sort to eight of the United States' top scientists in Washington, D.C. The researchers were lauded at a White House ceremony late last month as winners of the celebrated National Medal of Science, the U.S. government's highest honor in science. They represent a wide range of disciplines and include two life scientists. Joinin

Of Building Boom Faced with decreased federal funding and corporate cuts in R&D, science complexes turn to economic development and incubation for help. 'GOOD NEWS': University Park at Southern Illinois University has seen small companies blossom. Research parks, like other facilities that house working scientists, are facing some new economic realities. Growth has slowed since the mid-1990s, government funding of research is down, and corporate tenants are looking to please Wall Street i

Class Of '96 DR. WHO: Harold Varmus poked fun at himself at Harvard. Colleges and universities recognized the scientific achievements of Nobel laureates, distinguished alumni, government officials, and one famous frog in awarding honorary degrees during commencement exercises this spring. Schools large and small, looking to recognize either a specific accomplishment or an entire career of superlative performance, named a wide range of science educators and researchers to receive honorary doc

Damage Science's Image MAD SCIENTIST? Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaozynski was turned in by his brother As the Federal Bureau of Investigation quietly builds its case against Unabomber suspect Theodore J. Kaczynski, observers ponder how the popular media's depiction of the Montana loner and former mathematician will affect the public's perception of science. Opinions range from beliefs that people will easily separate Kaczynski's credentials from his alleged crimes to fears that the case-play

Sets New Record A record-breaking number of women highlights this year's group of 60 scientists and engineers selected for membership in the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). The new members, elected during NAS's 133rd annual meeting in Washington, D.C., late last month, include 11 women. In addition, 15 foreign associates from eight countries were named (see accompanying story). All 75 will receive one of science's most prestigious honors when they are inducted into the academy at next ye

Advocacy, Observers Say conveying benefits of research. LET'S LOBBY: William Wells calls lobbying "perfectly legitimate" and urges scientists "to be at the table". Science lobbyists maintain that a new federal lobbying-reform law will not impede their advocacy efforts in Washington, D.C. What does worry them, however, is that many scientists still do not realize the importance of speaking to policy-makers and the public about the benefits of science and the importance of funding it. The Lobb

Mathematicians With Awards Two life scientists are among the 13 researchers receiving awards from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in Washington, D.C., today as part of NAS's 133rd annual meeting. A 'CALL FOR NOMINATIONS' For the first time in five years, there are no women among the individuals receiving awards from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 1996. Catherine Didion, executive director of the Washington-based Association for Women in Science, stresses that each of this y