Notebook

pp.4 Meanwhile, in Istanbul, Turkey, another U.S. team of students was making an impressive showing, finishing seventh in the 34th International Mathematical Olympiad. The six-member team garnered two gold, two silver, and two bronze medals in the 11-day competition held last month. Andrew Dittmer of Vienna, Va., and Leonard Ng of Chapel Hill, N.C., won gold medals. Ng was also a gold-medalist in last year's competition. A total of 72 nations participated in the olympiad, with the U.S. finishing behind China, Germany, Bulgaria, Russia, Taiwan, and Iran. A group of highly skilled United States competitors went head-to- head against the world's best in Perugia, Italy, last month and brought home two gold and two silver medals, finishing in the top three against 37 other national teams. But they didn't have to run faster, jump higher, or throw anything farther to do it. The U.S. team of four high schoolers competed in the 25th International Chemistry Olympiad. Theirs was the highest finish ever for an American team in the competition. Christopher Herzog of Highland Park High School in New Jersey and Daniel Katz of Torrey Pines High School in San Diego won gold medals. Herzog `placed fifth among the 149 students participating, while Katz tied for 14th. The foursome, which included silver-medalists David Hutz of Chapel High School in Pittsburgh and Robert West of Oak Park High in Kansas City, Mo., was chosen to represent the U.S. from an original group of approximately 10,000 competitors nationwide. The U.S. team was joined in the top three by China and Taiwan. Over the years, Penn State University materials scientist Rustum Roy has gained a reputation for his thorny outspokenness on controversial scientific matters. Recently, according to a group of Roman Catholic scientists, he went a bit too far. The July 1993 issue of a newsletter called the Bulletin of the Catholic Association of Scientists and Engineers took Roy to task for a letter he wrote that appeared in the November 1992 issue of Physics Today. The newsletter article castigated Roy for using the term "Immaculate Assumption" to criticize the funding process for high-energy research. The bulletin also took issue with Roy's negative comparison of the Catholic College of Cardinals to the `hierarchy running high-energy physics programs. "Such comments are blatantly anti-Catholic, anti-cleric, bigoted, and small- minded, and impugns the honor of Our Lady," the newsletter said. "The a priori assumption behind such positions is that all logic- minded scientists agree that religious beliefs are superstition based on ignorance, and have no place in scientific matters." Scientists whose insights and discoveries may eventually change the world are the focus of "The Next Generation: An Innovation," a three-part miniseries produced by Public Broadcasting System station WNET in New York. The series, which will air nationally over many PBS stations September 7, 14, and 21 (check local listings), profiles the lives and work of emerging scientists, collaborative teams, and remarkable young people in the U.S. and abroad. Part one, "1% Inspiration," looks at rising investigators, such as geneticist Mary-Claire King, whose diverse studies include researching breast cancer and identifying the bodies of MIAs through DNA analysis of their teeth. The second episode, "A Matter of Teamwork," examines interdisciplinary teams, including a University of Michigan group that has developed a cellular treatment for cancer and includes molecular biologists, immunologists, oncologists, surgeons, psychologists, and medical ethicists. Another team, perfecting the imaging system for NASA's Cassini robot probe of Saturn, scheduled for launch in 1997, is scattered across North America and Europe, but tightly linked through computer networks. The last installment looks to the future--more specifically, youngsters who will become the scientists of the future. The series examines the social and psychological factors molding such young investigators as 14-year-old Tariq Hook of Philadelphia, whose passion is aeronautical engineering. Hook, pictured here, has designed a hydraulic arm that has won prizes at regional science fairs. The United States Department of Energy has announced its 1994 National Awards Program for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to recognize individuals, institutions, and companies who have "implemented energy-related measures that benefit the nation's environment, economy, and security." Applications may be submitted to a state energy office by any individual, or non- federal organization, who has implemented an outstanding energy- efficiency or renewable-resource technology since 1989. A state energy office may nominate one project in each of five categories: building technology, industrial technology, transportation technology, utility technology, and energy technology and education. Deadline for submissions, which must be made to the Pennsylvania Energy Office, is Sept. 30, 1993. For more information, contact the program coordinators--Rosemary Mape of the Pennsylvania Energy Office at (717) 783-9983, or Frank Bishop of the National Association of State Energy Officials at (202) 546-2200. Scientists whose insights and discoveries may eventually change the world are the focus of "The Next Generation: An Innovation," a three-part miniseries produced by Public Broadcasting System station WNET in New York. The series, which will air nationally over many PBS stations September 7, 14, and 21 (check local listings), profiles the lives and work of emerging scientists, collaborative teams, and remarkable young people in the U.S. and abroad. Part one, "1% Inspiration," looks at rising investigators, such as geneticist Mary-Claire King, whose diverse studies include researching breast cancer and identifying the bodies of MIAs through DNA analysis of their teeth. The second episode, "A Matter of Teamwork," examines interdisciplinary teams, including a University of Michigan group that has developed a cellular treatment for cancer and includes molecular biologists, immunologists, oncologists, surgeons, psychologists, and medical ethicists. Another team, perfecting the imaging system for NASA's Cassini robot probe of Saturn, scheduled for launch in 1997, is scattered across North America and Europe, but tightly linked through computer networks. The last installment looks to the future--more specifically, youngsters who will become the scientists of the future. The series examines the social and psychological factors molding such young investigators as 14-year-old Tariq Hook of Philadelphia, whose passion is aeronautical engineering. Hook, pictured here, has designed a hydraulic arm that has won prizes at regional science fairs.

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