Issues in Science and Technology articles from March 1999

Issues in Science and Technology archives from March 1999

Strengthening U.S. competitiveness.(response to Debra van Opstal, Issues, Winter 1998-99)
March 22, 1999... I very much enjoyed reading Debra van Opstal's "The New Competitive Landscape" (Issues, Winter 1998-99). I and several of my colleagues are actively grappling with the problems of technological competitiveness, because we believe them to be so...

Boosting the service sector.(response to Stephen A. Hertzenberg, John A. Alic and Howard Wial, 'Issues', Winter 1998-99)
March 22, 1999... Stephen A. Hertzenberg, John A. Alic, and Howard Wial's "Toward a Learning Economy" (Issues, Winter 1998-99) gives long-over-due attention to the 75 percent of our economy made up by the service sector. They document that virtually all of the...

Engineering advocacy.(response to William A. Wulf in 'Issues', Winter 1998-99)
March 22, 1999... The statistics validating the erosion of engineering degree enrollments, particularly among our minority communities, are indeed staggering (William A. Wulf, "The Image of Engineering," Issues, Winter 1998-99). Consider these equally alarming...

Setting standards.(response to Robert L. Mallett in 'Issues', Winter 1998-99)
March 22, 1999... Deputy Secretary of Commerce Robert L. Mallett's "Why Standards Matter" (Issues, Winter 1998-99) fails to tell your readers the whole story. Mallett is correct in saying that the United States leads the world in innovation. He is also right to...

Questioning collaborative R&D.(response to David Mowery in 'Issues', Fall 1998)
March 22, 1999... David Mowery's "Collaborative R&D: How Effective Is It?" (Issues, Fall 1998) provides a needed overview and assessment of the various forms of collaborative R&D programs that involve industry, universities, and the federal government. His...

Sandia as science park?(response to Kenneth M. Brown, 'Issues', Winter 1998-99)
March 22, 1999... Kenneth M. Brown raises a number of issues in "Sandia's Science Park: A New Concept in Technology Transfer" (Issues, Winter 1998-99). The fundamental issues is the obvious one: Will Sandia's science park be successful? Although Brown carefully...

A permanent research credit.(response to Kenneth C. Wang, 'Issues' Winter 1998-99)
March 22, 1999... Intel appreciates this opportunity to comment on "Fixing the Research Credit" by Kenneth C. Whang (Issues, Winter 1998-99). We recently provided comments to Senator Jeff Bingaman relative to his proposed research tax credit legislation and...

Stopping family violence.(response to Rosemary Chalk and Patricia A. King, 'Issues', Winter 1998-99)
March 22, 1999... "Facing Up to Family Violence" by Rosemary Chalk and Patricia A. King (Issues, Winter 1998-99), which is drawn from the larger report Violence in Families: Assessing Prevention and Treatment Programs, discusses what we know about three major...

Nuclear defense.(response to Jack Mendelsohn, 'Issues', Winter 1998-99)
March 22, 1999... The review by Jack Mendelsohn of Atomic Audit: the Costs and Consequences of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Since 1940 (Issues, Winter 1998-99) provides a good summary of the facts about the cost of nuclear weapons but draws the unjustified conclusion...

The age of hubris and complacency.(Editorial)
March 22, 1999... When times are good, it's easy to believe that they will stay that way. It's early March. The Dow is getting ready to add a digit. The U.S. military is flexing its muscles in Iraq and Kosovo. The chattering class is contentedly chewing on...

President's budget would cut FY 2000 R&D spending by $1 billion.
March 22, 1999... Although the Clinton administration is projecting big surpluses in the federal budget in the coming years, President Clinton's proposed fiscal year (FY) 2000 budget includes only modest increases in spending. Federal R&D, which did so well last...

Legality of federal funding for human stem cell research debated.
March 22, 1999... A new debate has broken out on whether federal funding of human stem cell research would violate a congressional ban on federal funding for human embryo research. The debate has been spurred by the announcement by privately funded scientists at...

Bill loosening encryption software controls gains support.
March 22, 1999... Republicans and Democrats in the House are uniting behind a bill that would virtually eliminate restrictions on encryption software. However, the Clinton administration is strongly opposed to the measure. The Security and Freedom Through...

As invasive species threat intensifies, U.S. steps up fight.
March 22, 1999... Since our article "Biological Invasions: A Growing Threat" appeared (Issues, Summer 1997), the assault by biological invaders on our nation's ecosystems has intensified. Perhaps the single greatest new threat is the Asian long-horned beetle,...

From marijuana to medicine.
March 22, 1999... Marijuana does have medical value, but its therapeutic components must be incorporated into conventional therapy to be truly safe and useful. Voters in several states across the nation were recently asked to decide whether marijuana can be...

Plutonium, nuclear power, and nuclear weapons.
March 22, 1999... A new fuel cycle architecture for nuclear power would expand its potential to contribute to the future global energy economy and reduce its potential nuclear weapon proliferation risks. Although nuclear power generates a significant portion...

Bioweapons from Russia: stemming the flow.
March 22, 1999... The U.S. must broaden its efforts to deal with the serious proliferation threat posed by the legacy of the Soviet biological weapons program. For nearly two decades, the former Soviet Union and then Russia maintained an offensive...

The stealth battleship.
March 22, 1999... Converted Trident submarines with Tomahawk cruise missiles would greatly bolster the U.S. Navy's long-range striking power. During the Cold War, when presidents were informed of a budding crisis, it is said that they often first asked...

America's industrial resurgence: how strong, how durable?
March 22, 1999... The U.S. economy responded successfully to the challenges of the 1980s, but this is no time for complacency. Reports in the late 1980s painted a gloomy picture of U.S. industrial competitiveness. The report of the MIT Commission on...

Traffic congestion: a solvable problem.(includes related article on tunneling technologies)
March 22, 1999... More creative use of existing highways and rights-of-way can help us build our way out of gridlock. All over the world, people are choosing to travel by automobile because this flexible mode of travel best meets their needs. But...

Saving marine biodiversity.
March 22, 1999... A comprehensive national strategy is crucial for reversing the rapidly accelerating decline in marine life. For centuries, humanity has seen the sea as an infinite source of food, a boundless sink for pollutants, and a tireless sustainer of...

The price of biodiversity.
March 22, 1999... Poor nations lack the economic incentive to preserve biological resources; rich nations will have to pick up the bill. Dismayed that their pleas to save the world's biological diversity seem to be falling on deaf ears, conservation...

The state role in biodiversity conservation.
March 22, 1999... The states are far better positioned than the federal government to protect and restore the nation's plants, animals, and ecosystems. The United States today is in the midst of a biodiversity crisis. For a variety of reasons, including...

The stockpile stewardship charade.
March 22, 1999... The U.S. program to maintain the reliability of the nuclear arsenal is masking an effort to design new nuclear weapons. By signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1968, the United States promised to pursue good-faith...

The Promise and Peril of Environmental Justice.(Review)
March 22, 1999... By Christopher H. Foreman, Jr. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 1998, 191 pp. Christopher H. Foreman, Jr., a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, argues that the promises offered by the environmental justice movement...

Secrecy: The American Experience.(Review)
March 22, 1999... By Daniel Patrick Moynihan. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1998, 262 pp. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan was the chairman of a recent Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy that provided a searching critique of...

Technology Policy in the European Union.(Review)
March 22, 1999... by John Peterson and Margaret Sharp. New York: St. Martins Press, 1998, 260 pp. Technology Policy in the European Union describes and evaluates European public policies that promote technological innovation and specifically "collaborative...