Issues in Science and Technology articles from June 1993

Issues in Science and Technology archives from June 1993

Critical assets. (response to Susan J. Tolchin, Issues, Spr 1993)
June 22, 1993... In "Halting the Erosion of America's Critical Assets" (Issues, Spring 1993), Susan J. Tolchin focuses her considerable analytical skills on one of the pivotal national security issues of our time: that of guaranteeing the continued military...

How to fund R&D. (response to Harold Brown and John Wilson, Issues, Wnt 1992-93)
June 22, 1993... Harold Brown and John Wilson present an innovative approach to government funding of pre-competitive research, which is designed to transform basic research into generic technologies ("A New Mechanism to Fund R&D," Issues, Winter 1992-93)....

University R&D. (response to John A. Armstrong, Issues, Wnt 1992-93)
June 22, 1993... John A. Armstrong's "University Research: New Goals, New Practices" (Issues, Winter 1992-93) makes a valuable contribution at a critical time for U.S. research universities. As he points out, there have recently been numerous suggestions that...

Trim the pork. (response to James Savage, Issues, Spr 1993)
June 22, 1993... James Savage's article "Where's the Pork?" (Issues, Spring 1993) is a timely commentary on the issue of academic pork barrel. His analysis of the various definitions of earmarking clearly and concisely explains the insidiousness of academic...

Noise pollution. (response to Sidney A. Shapiro, Issues, Spr 1993)
June 22, 1993... I read with interest Sidney A. Shapiro's recent article entitled, "Rejoining the Battle Against Noise Pollution" (Issues, Spring 1993). In the article, Shapiro stresses that noise pollution is ubiquitous, annoying, and often physically...

Defending superfund. (response to Bernard J. Reilly, Issues, Spr 1993)
June 22, 1993... As Bernard J. Reilly's article ("Stop Superfund Waste," Issues, Spring 1993) makes clear, Superfund is a program people love to hate. The press has been barraged with commentary on the problems with the program, and it has taken an uncritical...

Arms control. (response to Jack Mendelsohn, Issues, Spr 1993)
June 22, 1993... Jack Mendelsohn's "Next Steps in Nuclear Arms Control" (Issues, Spring 1993) cogently presents the case for keeping up the momentum gained in this area over the past few years, but does so in inverse order. He gives three reasons for doing so...

Health care reform. (response to article in Issues, Fall 1992)
June 22, 1993... I read with interest the roundtable on health care reform (Issues, Fall 1992). I wanted to discuss another facet of the issue that is often not addressed: the long-term effects of health behavior on our health budgets. I think that it is...

Patient records. (response to Don E. Detmer and Elaine B. Steen, Issues, Spr 1993)
June 22, 1993... Richard Hamming, the inventor of error-correcting codes for computers, said, "If you don't work on important problems, it's not likely that you'll do important work." Echoing this idea, Don E. Detmer and Elaine B. Steen remind us in their...

Utilizing utilities. (response to Diane De Vaul and Charles Bartsch, Issues, Spr 1993)
June 22, 1993... "How Utilities Can Revitalize Industry" (Diane De Vaul and Charles Bartsch, Issues, Spring 1993) was thoughtful and thought-provoking, and will contribute to the public policy discussion concerning the role utilities can play to assist their...

Waste management. (response to Deborah D. Anderson and Laurie Burnham, Issues, Fal 1992)
June 22, 1993... In "Toward Sustainable Waste Management" (Issues, Fall 1992), Deborah D. Anderson and Laurie Burnham rightly point out the problems with public policies that seek to lay out a rigid scheme for management choices: They stunt development of...

Protection or protectionism? (health and safety measures)
June 22, 1993... Government regulation is meant to protect our health, our safety, and our environment. But increasingly, regulations are being used as protectionist impediments to international trade--defending the interests of specific industries and classes...

The economic case for sustainable development. (ecological balance)
June 22, 1993... Starting with Our Common Future, the report of the United Nations Commission on Environment and Development, and culminating in the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, the concept of "sustainable...

Getting the lead out. (alternatives for lead-based paints)
June 22, 1993... from brain damage. Lead poisoning is, in the words of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the "most common and societally devastating environmental disease of young children." Millions of American children are exposed to enough lead to...

A prescription for sexually transmitted diseases.
June 22, 1993... Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) pose a growing threat to America's public health. Twelve million new cases occur each year; in addition, an estimated 56 million Americans are infected with incurable viral STDs other than AIDS. At current...

NAFTA's green opportunity. (North American Free Trade Agreement)
June 22, 1993... For most of its history, Mexico has tried to keep its powerful northern neighbor, the United States, at a distance. It built tariff walls to limit trade; it devised investment rules to impede U.S. corporations; and it used a range of political...

Technology policy comes of age. (President Bill Clinton's technological policy)
June 22, 1993... When President Clinton and Vice President Gore issued "Technology for America's Economic Growth: A New Direction to Build Economic Strength" only a month after taking office, it introduced a new period in U.S. science and technology policy. As...

Keep the government out of venture capital. (venture capital industry)
June 22, 1993... With the coming of the Clinton administration, the idea that the federal government should act as a venture capitalist is suddenly in vogue. In the executive branch and on Capitol Hill, direct government financing of innovative technologies...

Whose skills shortage - workers or management?
June 22, 1993... An oft-stated goal of the Clinton administration is the generation of high-skill, high-wage jobs for workers. Reflecting this, the administration has echoed the increasingly common belief in the need for more "high-performance" workplaces,...

Access to health care.
June 22, 1993... Along with quality and cost, access to health care is one of the three major concerns spurring an overhaul of the nation's health care system. Those concerned about access typically cite the number of Americans who lack health insurance, but...

Managing the World Economy: The Consequences of Corporate Alliances.
June 22, 1993... In politics and public life, intellectual fashions often change suddenly, especially after a presidential election. With the victory of Bill Clinton, a new breed of activist arrived in Washington eager to manipulate the levers of government....

Defining National Security: The Nonmilitary Aspects.
June 22, 1993... The Council on Foreign Relations is a long way from its heyday 50 years ago, when Washington enlisted its help in planning a post-World War II global political and economic order. Still, the New York-based issues forum and research institute...

American Economic Policy and National Security.
June 22, 1993... The Council on Foreign Relations is a long way from its heyday 50 years ago, when Washington enlisted its help in planning a post-World War II global political and economic order. Still, the New York-based issues forum and research institute...

Inside NASA: High Technology and Organizational Change in the U.S. Space Program.
June 22, 1993... What happened to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration? In the salad days of Apollo, the 1960s, the space agency was the darling of America, a sparkling success story in a decade gone wrong. By the 1980s it was the gang that...

Scuds or Butter? The Political Economy of Arms Control in the Middle East.
June 22, 1993... After Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 and Saddam Husein's threat to "drown allied troops in rivers of blood," the major arms suppliers in the industrialized world, led by the United States, Great Britain, and France, belatedly...