Issues in Science and Technology articles from June 2000

Issues in Science and Technology archives from June 2000

FORUM.
June 22, 2000... Ecosystem assessment In "Ecosystem Data to Guide Hard Choices" (Issues, Spring 2000) Walter V. Reid makes a compelling case that improved information is needed to enable decisionmakers to cope with the increasingly com plex ecological...

FROM THE HILL.(safety of genetically engineered plants)
June 22, 2000... Report calls genetically altered plants safe; White House to boost oversight A National Research Council (NRC) report released on April 5 concludes that genetically engineered plants appear to be safe but that government oversight could be...

Republican senators clash at hearing on stem cell research.(Arlen Specter, Sam Brownback)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2000... At an April 26 hearing on the controversial issue of human embryonic stem cell research, two key Republican senators clashed openly, with Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) favoring federal funding of stem cell research that uses human embryos and...

NASA reexamines faster, better, cheaper strategy.(National Aeronautics and Space Administration )
June 22, 2000... After years of streamlining and downsizing as part of its "faster, better, cheaper" management strategy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has declared that its cuts have gone too far. Two reports examining NASA's Mars...

Ehlers introduces three bills aimed at bolstering science education.(Representative Vernon J. Ehlers)(Brief Article)
June 22, 2000... Rep. Vernon J. Ehlers (R-Mich.), vice chairman of the House Science Committee, has introduced a trio of bills aimed at bolstering science education. The bills would establish several new programs de signed to improve science, math, engineering,...

The Boom in Industry Research.
June 22, 2000... U.S. companies are rapidly increasing their investment in research, including long-term research. Meetings on science and technology (S&T) policy or innovation in Washington, D.C., or elsewhere around the country usually find at least one...

Retiring the Social Contract for Science.
June 22, 2000... Updating the way we talk and think about the place of science in society will lead to more effective policy. A widely held tenet among policy scholars maintains that the way people talk about a policy influences how they and others conceive...

Beyond the Social Contract Myth.
June 22, 2000... Science should move beyond a contractual relationship with society and join in the quest for the common good. In January of 1803, six months before Napoleon offered him the Louisiana Territory, President Thomas Jefferson asked Congress for...

Improving Communication About New Food Technologies.
June 22, 2000... Public confusion threatens to derail the marketing of new foods that can prevent or fight disease. The debate about genetically engineered crops provides an early warning signal that the U.S. public is apprehensive about the benefits and...

Science and the Law.
June 22, 2000... The interaction is increasing, and the two disciplines must learn to work together for the good of society. A dozen years ago, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, under the leadership of David Hamburg, established a commission to explore...

Science in the Courtroom.
June 22, 2000... Judges have begun to work more closely with scientists to ensure that their rulings are founded on scientifically sound knowledge. In this age of science, science should expect to find a warm welcome, perhaps a permanent home, in our...

Expert Testimony: The Supreme Court's Rules.
June 22, 2000... Three decisions in the 1990s have clarified the judge's role as the gatekeeper who controls what testimony a jury will hear At the beginning of the 21st century, it is not surprising that the question of how to handle scientific and...

Reconciling Research and the Patent System.
June 22, 2000... Working together, researchers and the Patent and Trademark Office can facilitate the development and application of knowledge. Is tension growing between the goal of protecting intellectual property and the goal of advancing scientific and...

Science Advocacy and Scientific Due Process.
June 22, 2000... We must strike a balance that satisfies the need for accountability in policy-relevant research without sacrificing the freedom scientists need to do high quality work. One of the FY 1999 federal appropriations bills included a...

Roundtable: Medical Privacy.
June 22, 2000... Medical information conveys power over people, but it can also enhance medical research and improve public health. This roundtable is an abridged version of a discussion that took place in September 1999 as part of a meeting of the...

Legal Alchemy: The Use and Misuse of Science in the Law.(Review)
June 22, 2000... Legal Alchemy: The Use & Misuse of Science in the Law, by David Faigman. New York: W.H. Freeman, 1999, 233 pp. Two hundred years ago, the state of the world was such that leaders such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson could move...

Database Nation: The Death of Privacy in the 21st Century.(Review)
June 22, 2000... Database Nation: The Death of Privacy in the 21st Century, by Simson Garfinkel. Cambridge, Mass.: O'Reilly & Associates, 2000, 312 pp. Telling "good stories" has been and will continue to be meaningful in making the impact of technology on...