Issues in Science and Technology articles from January 2005

Issues in Science and Technology archives from January 2005

Save our seas.(FORUM)
January 1, 2005... As Carl Safina and Sarah Chasis point out in their article, "Saving the Oceans" (Issues, Fall 2004), public awareness about the condition of our oceans is growing, in part because of the release of reports by two blue ribbon oceans commissions....

Biotech relations.(FORUM)
January 1, 2005... In "Building a Transatlantic Biotech Partnership" (Issues, Fall 2004), Nigel Purvis suggests that it is time for the United States and Europe to look toward their mutual interests in biotechnology, thus avoiding further harm from the current...

Science advising.(FORUM)(SCIENCE POLICY)
January 1, 2005... Lewis M. Branscomb's penetrating and comprehensive article "Science, Politics, and U.S. Democracy" (Issues, Fall 2004) ends with the sentence "Policymaking by ideology requires reality to be set aside; it can be maintained only by moving toward...

Fisheries management.(FORUM)
January 1, 2005... "Sink or Swim Time for U.S. Fishery Policy" (Issues, Fall 2004) is a helpful contribution to the continuing debate over U.S. fishery policy. However, James N. Sanchirico and Susan S. Hanna might give readers the impression that policy makers...

Public anonymity.(FORUM)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2005... "Protecting Public Anonymity," by M. Granger Morgan and Elaine Newton (Issues, Fall 2004), deals with one problem by exacerbating another. If someone breaks into my home, I don't expect the authorities to punish me for carelessness but to...

Developing-country health.(FORUM)
January 1, 2005... Michael Csaszar and Bhavya Lal ("Improving Health in Developing Countries," Issues, Fall 2004) have done a service by drawing attention to the need for more research on global health problems. The key issue is how to institutionalize...

Democratizing science.(FORUM)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2005... David H. Guston ("Forget Politicizing Science. Let's Democratize Science!" (Issues, Fall 2004) rightly argues that public discussion should move beyond bickering over the politicization of science and consider how science can be made more...

Science education.(FORUM)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2005... Evidence of the need to improve science education in elementary school, especially in the lower grades, is not far to seek. The recently released results of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Survey (TIMSS) 2003 show that...

Staying competitive.(FORUM)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2005... In "Meeting the New Challenge to U.S. Economic Competitiveness" (Issues. Fall 2004), William B. Bonvillian offers a concise statement of many of the challenges now facing the U.S. economy and especially its technology-intensive sectors. He...

Women in science.(FORUM)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2005... I was dismayed to see your magazine publish an article that advocates discrimination. This is Anne E. Preston's "Plugging the Leaks in the Scientific Workforce" (Issues, Summer 2004), where she says that universities should make "stronger...

Future of the Navy.(FORUM)(Small Combat Ships and the Future of the Navy)
January 1, 2005... Robert O. Work's "Small Combat Ships and the Future of the Navy" (Issues. Fall 2004) makes a much-needed contribution to the debate over the transformation of the U.S. armed forces to meet the threats of the future. As Work notes, the case...

Federal R & D spending to rise by 4.8 percent; defense dominates.(FROM THE HILL)
January 1, 2005... The federal R & D budget for fiscal year (FY) 2005 will rise to $132.2 billion, a $6 billion or 4.8 percent increase over the previous year. Eighty percent of the increase, however, will be devoted to defense R & D programs, primarily for...

Federal S & T appointees must be impartial and independent, report says.(FROM THE HILL)
January 1, 2005... A report by the National Academies' Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy (COSEPUP) released in November 2004 urges policymakers to ensure that the presidential appointment process for senior science and technology (S & T) posts...

Total R & D by agency final congressional action on R & D in the FY 2005 budget.(FROM THE HILL)
January 1, 2005... Total R & D by Agency Final Congressional Action on R & D in the FY 2005 Budget (budget authority in millions of dollars) House-Senate Conference FY 2004 FY...

House, Senate examine ways of creating stable vaccine supply.(FROM THE HILL)
January 1, 2005... In the wake of an October 5, 2004, decision by British officials to shut down a Chiron plant in England that produces half of the U.S. flu vaccine supply, committees in both the House and Senate met to examine how future vaccine shortages could...

McCain continues push for climate change legislation.(FROM THE HILL)
January 1, 2005... Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) used his last hearing as chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to continue to push for legislation dealing with the causes of climate change. McCain called the hearing to review the...

Postdoctoral training and intelligent design: if we want to attract the best students to science and nurture their talent most effectively, we need to rethink the current system.(EDITOR'S JOURNAL)(Editorial)
January 1, 2005... "Kids, I'm here today to tell you why you should become scientists. In high school, while your friends are taking classes such as the meaning of the swim suit in contemporary TV drama, you can be taking biology, chemistry, physics, and...

Unleashing the potential of wireless broadband: over-the-air TV broadcasting is an obstacle to the faster growth of technologies and services that could produce great economic and social benefits.(PERSPECTIVES)
January 1, 2005... Broadcast TV, once vilified by former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Newton Minnow as a "vast wasteland," can now also be characterized as a vast roadblock--specifically, a roadblock to the rapid expansion of digital wireless...

Economics, computer science, and policy: cross-fertilization of ideas and techniques between economics and computer science is yielding fresh insights that can help inform policy decisions.
January 1, 2005... Perhaps as little as a decade ago, it might have seemed far-fetched for scientists to apply similar methodologies to problems as diverse as vaccination against infectious disease, the eradication of email spam, screening baggage for explosives,...

Managing the triple helix in the life sciences: universities, government, and industry should adopt a consistent and transparent oversight system to protect against the risks of conflict of interest.
January 1, 2005... Over the past four decades, the increased financial, intellectual, personal, and legal interaction of academe, industry, and government has dramatically changed the structure of the life science enterprise, but the management systems to protect...

Preventing a nuclear 9/11: presidential leadership is the key to accelerating progress on securing nuclear weapons and materials.
January 1, 2005... In their presidential contest, President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry agreed that the most deadly danger facing the United States is the possibility that terrorists could obtain a nuclear bomb. Fortunately, if effective action is taken...

A new system for moving drugs to market: today's system for developing and approving drugs is fundamentally flawed. Fixing it will require new technological tools and new regulatory approaches.
January 1, 2005... The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most successful components of the U.S. economy. In recent years, however, critics have increasingly blamed the industry for setting prices too high, for earning too much profit, and for developing more...

No country left behind: international comparisons of student achievement tell U.S. educators where they must focus their efforts to create the schools the country needs.
January 1, 2005... "Economic Time Bomb: U.S. Teens Are Among Worst at Math," blared the December 7, 2004, Wall Street Journal headline over a story about the disheartening results of the latest international assessment of student achievement. The New York Times...

Agricultural biotechnology: overregulated and underappreciated; The pursuit of an integrated action plan, including regulatory reform, will help the United States and the world reap enormous benefits that now are thwarted.
January 1, 2005... The application of recombinant DNA technology, or gene splicing, to agriculture and food production, once highly touted as having huge public health and commercial potential, has been paradoxically disappointing. Although the gains in...

Underage drinking.(REAL NUMBERS)
January 1, 2005... Alcohol use by young people is dangerous, not only because of the risks associated with acute impairment, but also because of the threat to their long-term development and well-being. Traffic crashes are perhaps the most visible of these...

The Constitution versus security.(BOOKS)(Terrorism, Freedom and Security: Winning Without War)(Book Review)
January 1, 2005... Terrorism, Freedom and Security: Winning Without War, by Philip B. Heymann. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 228 pp. Among those analyzing the tensions between our constitutional values and modern terrorism, Philip B. Heymann is in a class by...

Global challenge.(BOOKS)(The New Consumers: The Influence of Affluence on the Environment)(Book Review)
January 1, 2005... The New Consumers: The Influence of Affluence on the Environment, by Norman Meyers and Jennifer Kent. Washington D.C.: Island Press/Shearwater Books, 2004, 199 pp. The past quarter century has witnessed a momentous global transformation...

Internet for all.(BOOKS)(Digital Nation: Toward an Inclusive Information Society)(Book Review)
January 1, 2005... Digital Nation: Toward an Inclusive Information Society, by Anthony G. Wilhelm. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2004, 184 pp. The Internet seems to be everywhere. The daily news chronicles its advance on the economy; social, civic, and...

Montgomery C. Meigs.(ARCHIVES)(Brief Article)(Biography)
January 1, 2005... Montgomery C. Meigs, a career soldier in the Army Corps of Engineers, distinguished himself as an engineer and military planner and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1865. As Quartermaster General during the Civil War, he was...