Abstract: "The relationship between appointments and federal management performance has been the subject of political science inquiry virtually from the start of the discipline yet we still know little systematically about the influence of appointments on management performance. In this paper I use the Bush Administration’s Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) scores—a numerical measure of management performance—to analyze the relationship between political appointees and federal management performance. I find that politically appointed bureau chiefs get systematically lower management grades than bureau chiefs drawn from the civil service. I find that career managers have more direct bureau experience and longer tenures and these characteristics are significantly related to management performance. Political appointees have higher education levels, more private or not-for-profit management experience, and more varied work experience than careerists but these characteristics are uncorrelated with management performance. I conclude that some combination of structural changes or increased sensitivity to appointee selection based upon certain background characteristics could improve federal bureau management."
David E. Lewis
Princeton University
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Congratulations to Barbara Turner
Barbara Turner is the recipient of the 2005 Service to America Medal for Career Achievement!
The feature article describing her qualifications for the award begins:
Read Barbara's profile: "Making a Difference Around the Globe".
Barbara was for many years a colleague at USAID, and I had many opportunities to see her outstanding work. It is a nice feeling to be able to congratulate her for a recognition amply deserved!
The feature article describing her qualifications for the award begins:
Barbara Turner's four decades with the federal government embody perseverance, achievement and public service that would be hard to match in the private sector, especially in today's world of frequent career changes. She worked her way from the lowest rungs to the highest, and along the way made a big difference in people's lives.
Read Barbara's profile: "Making a Difference Around the Globe".
Barbara was for many years a colleague at USAID, and I had many opportunities to see her outstanding work. It is a nice feeling to be able to congratulate her for a recognition amply deserved!
"Pandemic or Not, Experts Welcome Bush Flu Plan"
Read Jocelyn Kaiser's article in Science magazine. (Subscription required.)
"The Bush Administration's proposed flu plan, calling for $7.1 billion to help prepare the nation for a deadly influenza pandemic, is generally winning plaudits from public health experts--but not necessarily because they think a pandemic is imminent. Even if no such disaster materializes, they say, the plan will finance a much-needed overhaul of the nation's regular flu vaccine infrastructure.
"When he announced the initiative last week, President George W. Bush noted growing concerns that the H5N1 avian influenza now spreading west from Asia could acquire the ability to be transmitted from human to human. In caveats sometimes lost in general press accounts, Bush and other officials emphasized that H5N1 might not morph into a pandemic strain. A plan is needed, they say, to combat the emergence of any superstrain of human influenza, an event that has happened three times since 1900 and that many think is inevitable in the next few years..........
"The Administration's plan quickly drew congressional fire. In several hearings, lawmakers complained that it would provide insufficient money to states, which are expected to help pay for the antiviral drugs. Others have expressed concerned that the Department of Homeland Security will lead the response, rather than HHS, which has the appropriate public health expertise.
"The plan arrives as some experts are questioning whether the likelihood of a devastating pandemic is being exaggerated. Off it, for example, suggests that H5N1, which has sickened 120 people over the past 8 years and killed about half, would have spread from human to human by now if it was going to happen. But he and others are praising the Bush plan anyway because it will help reduce the toll from seasonal influenza. 'We're seduced into this tsunami mentality,' (Paul) Offit says. But if you add up annual deaths from influenza, he says the numbers quickly approach pandemic estimates. Longini agrees: 'I'm glad all this is happening, but not because of pandemic flu.'"
"The Bush Administration's proposed flu plan, calling for $7.1 billion to help prepare the nation for a deadly influenza pandemic, is generally winning plaudits from public health experts--but not necessarily because they think a pandemic is imminent. Even if no such disaster materializes, they say, the plan will finance a much-needed overhaul of the nation's regular flu vaccine infrastructure.
"When he announced the initiative last week, President George W. Bush noted growing concerns that the H5N1 avian influenza now spreading west from Asia could acquire the ability to be transmitted from human to human. In caveats sometimes lost in general press accounts, Bush and other officials emphasized that H5N1 might not morph into a pandemic strain. A plan is needed, they say, to combat the emergence of any superstrain of human influenza, an event that has happened three times since 1900 and that many think is inevitable in the next few years..........
"The Administration's plan quickly drew congressional fire. In several hearings, lawmakers complained that it would provide insufficient money to states, which are expected to help pay for the antiviral drugs. Others have expressed concerned that the Department of Homeland Security will lead the response, rather than HHS, which has the appropriate public health expertise.
"The plan arrives as some experts are questioning whether the likelihood of a devastating pandemic is being exaggerated. Off it, for example, suggests that H5N1, which has sickened 120 people over the past 8 years and killed about half, would have spread from human to human by now if it was going to happen. But he and others are praising the Bush plan anyway because it will help reduce the toll from seasonal influenza. 'We're seduced into this tsunami mentality,' (Paul) Offit says. But if you add up annual deaths from influenza, he says the numbers quickly approach pandemic estimates. Longini agrees: 'I'm glad all this is happening, but not because of pandemic flu.'"
"China to vaccinate 14bn poultry"
Read the full article in BBC NEWS.
"China has vowed to vaccinate all of its estimated 14 billion poultry to contain the spread of bird flu.
"In his announcement, Chief veterinary officer Jia Youling said all the fees would be covered by the government.
"The move comes as new outbreaks of bird flu were confirmed in several regions of China in the past month."
"China has vowed to vaccinate all of its estimated 14 billion poultry to contain the spread of bird flu.
"In his announcement, Chief veterinary officer Jia Youling said all the fees would be covered by the government.
"The move comes as new outbreaks of bird flu were confirmed in several regions of China in the past month."
Daniel S. Greenberg on The Republican War on Science
Read the full review of Chris Mooney's book in the London Review of Books. (Subscription required.)
I consider Greenberg to be the dean of those reporting on the interface between science and politics in Washington. He characterizes The Republican War on Science as "a valuable chronicle of Bush’s persistent efforts to undermine the authority of science in the interests of his anti-regulatory and anti-abortion agendas."
Greenberg himselt offers a scathing list of offenses in his review:
William Steiger, the director of the Office of Global Affairs and a godson of the first President Bush, is of some interest to me, since many years ago I worked in the predecessor of that office. "When a joint report of the World Health Organisation and the Food and Agriculture Organisation linked obesity and excessive sugar consumption, particularly in soft drinks, the sugar lobby reacted boldly," according to Greenberg. They recruited Steiger to their support, Steiger, in turn, used the Data Quality Act to attack the FAO/WHO report, "even though researchers in his own department had participated in its preparation and endorsed it as a reliable basis for policy recommendations." Ultimately, "the World Health Assembly omitted any reference to the disputed document in the global strategy for diet and health that it issued in 2004." Steiger’s office went on with efforts to prevent government scientists from opposing the administration’s pro-business preferences, stating that that office would select U.S. experts advising the WHO, and those experts would be required to support US policies. Steiger also "put restrictions on foreign travel by scientists in his department: ‘foreign’ included the Washington offices of the World Bank, WHO and other UN organisations."
Greenberg is offended by the "political passivity of that community, despite the many assaults on its integrity, and the seething discontent that is now evident among individual scientists. The ‘war’ in the title is a lop-sided conflict, initiated and pursued by the administration. On the science side, it has consisted of petitions by Nobel laureates and other eminences, press releases, occasional editorials in scientific journals and feeble efforts to mobilise anti-Bush votes in 2000 and 2004. Though disturbed and offended by the administration’s manipulation, distortion and suppression of scientific data, science is not at the barricades. Most deplorable is the failure of the scientific establishment to help the public understand the reality and implications of Bush’s assaults on science."
I consider Greenberg to be the dean of those reporting on the interface between science and politics in Washington. He characterizes The Republican War on Science as "a valuable chronicle of Bush’s persistent efforts to undermine the authority of science in the interests of his anti-regulatory and anti-abortion agendas."
Greenberg himselt offers a scathing list of offenses in his review:
* The president has done his best to cast doubt on the theory of evolution with his respectful nods to the crackpot concept of ‘intelligent design’, a pseudo-scientific fabrication more marketable than its crude kin, creationism.
* The president’s base demands unwavering fealty to the anti-abortion movement, and the Bush camp has obliged, even to the extent of fabricating an association between abortion and breast cancer.
* The administration then turned its attention to condoms, which are an affront to the evangelical preference for abstinence. Mooney notes that both the Centers for Disease Control and the State Department’s Agency for International Development "have altered informational materials on condoms to downplay their effectiveness".
* Bush has repeatedly denigrated the work and warnings of the world’s leading climate researchers, scoffing at their conclusion – based on analyses of vast collections of data – that global climate change is caused in large part by the burning of fossil fuels.
* "Sound science" became a battle cry for Gingrich in his commitment to the wholesale dismantling of government regulations, and it has since been carried forward by the Bush administration in a variety of ploys aimed at undermining regulations disliked by industry.
* The Data Quality Act, a federal law that subjects government agencies to multiple challenges, peer review and stiff standards of scientific evidence when they attempt to mitigate health or environmental hazards, was passed in 2001.
* (Bush's) theatrical, hand-wringing decision regarding stem-cell research, which allowed federal funding only for embryonic stem-cell lines that were in existence prior to 9 August 2001. The decision, Bush said, was painfully arrived at after consultation with religious leaders, bio-ethicists, scientists and physicians. That it made little sense was evident from the start.
William Steiger, the director of the Office of Global Affairs and a godson of the first President Bush, is of some interest to me, since many years ago I worked in the predecessor of that office. "When a joint report of the World Health Organisation and the Food and Agriculture Organisation linked obesity and excessive sugar consumption, particularly in soft drinks, the sugar lobby reacted boldly," according to Greenberg. They recruited Steiger to their support, Steiger, in turn, used the Data Quality Act to attack the FAO/WHO report, "even though researchers in his own department had participated in its preparation and endorsed it as a reliable basis for policy recommendations." Ultimately, "the World Health Assembly omitted any reference to the disputed document in the global strategy for diet and health that it issued in 2004." Steiger’s office went on with efforts to prevent government scientists from opposing the administration’s pro-business preferences, stating that that office would select U.S. experts advising the WHO, and those experts would be required to support US policies. Steiger also "put restrictions on foreign travel by scientists in his department: ‘foreign’ included the Washington offices of the World Bank, WHO and other UN organisations."
Greenberg is offended by the "political passivity of that community, despite the many assaults on its integrity, and the seething discontent that is now evident among individual scientists. The ‘war’ in the title is a lop-sided conflict, initiated and pursued by the administration. On the science side, it has consisted of petitions by Nobel laureates and other eminences, press releases, occasional editorials in scientific journals and feeble efforts to mobilise anti-Bush votes in 2000 and 2004. Though disturbed and offended by the administration’s manipulation, distortion and suppression of scientific data, science is not at the barricades. Most deplorable is the failure of the scientific establishment to help the public understand the reality and implications of Bush’s assaults on science."
"Review of 'Plan B' Pill Is Faulted: Report Calls FDA Actions 'Unusual'"
Read the full article by Marc Kaufman in the Washington Post online.
Excerpts from the article"
"Senior Food and Drug Administration officials were told that the application to sell the 'morning-after pill' without prescription was going to be rejected before the staff completed its scientific review and months before the decision was made public, government investigators reported yesterday.
"A report by the independent Government Accountability Office also said senior FDA officials, including then-Commissioner Mark B. McClellan, were actively involved in the politically sensitive decision -- one of four aspects of the agency's actions that the investigators called 'unusual.'
"The GAO report, requested by Congress more than 16 months ago, said the agency did not follow its normal procedures in making the scientific assessment of the Plan B proposal and in having a top official sign off on the eventual decision after lower-ranking scientists refused.
"Critics of the FDA's handling of the issue said the report confirmed their view that the agency had allowed politics to trump science."
Excerpts from the article"
"Senior Food and Drug Administration officials were told that the application to sell the 'morning-after pill' without prescription was going to be rejected before the staff completed its scientific review and months before the decision was made public, government investigators reported yesterday.
"A report by the independent Government Accountability Office also said senior FDA officials, including then-Commissioner Mark B. McClellan, were actively involved in the politically sensitive decision -- one of four aspects of the agency's actions that the investigators called 'unusual.'
"The GAO report, requested by Congress more than 16 months ago, said the agency did not follow its normal procedures in making the scientific assessment of the Plan B proposal and in having a top official sign off on the eventual decision after lower-ranking scientists refused.
"Critics of the FDA's handling of the issue said the report confirmed their view that the agency had allowed politics to trump science."
Monday, November 14, 2005
Israel's technology industry
Read "Punching above its weight: The secret of Israel's success" in The Economist. (Subscription necessary.)
"Israel is third only to America and Canada in the number of companies listed on NASDAQ, and the country attracts twice the number of venture-capital (VC) investments as the whole of Europe, according to Ed Mlavsky, a veteran of the Israeli technology industry and the chairman and founder of Gemini, a big Israeli VC fund that was one of the investors in Saifun. In 2003, 55% of Israel's exports were high technology, compared with the OECD average of 26%. Tech giants such as IBM, Motorola and Cisco have research centres in Israel, which is also where Intel developed its Centrino chip. Not bad for a country with a population of 6.9m."
The bad news for other countries that wish to encourage the development of their technology industries is that few of the factors that account for Israeli success can be replicated elsewhere.
International Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Development
This 2004 conference website has links to a large number of very well selected papers on science and technology for international development. I recommend especially:
Evenson, Robert E. 2003. "Making Science and Technology Work for the Poor - Lecture 1: The Green Revolution in Africa." Delivered at the UNECA conference held 7-10 October 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and sponsored by the United Nations University (UNU), Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (INRA), and UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
Evenson, Robert E. 2003. "Making Science and Technology Work for the Poor - Lecture 2: The 'Price of Admission' to the Growth Club for African Countries." Delivered at the UNECA conference held 7-10 October 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and sponsored by the United Nations University (UNU), Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (INRA), and UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
Evenson, Robert E. 2003. "Making Science and Technology Work for the Poor - Lecture 3: Development Strategies for Africa." Delivered at the UNECA conference held 7-10 October 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and sponsored by the United Nations University (UNU), Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (INRA), and UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
Jacobs, Katharine (2003). "Connecting science, policy, and decision-making: a handbook for researchers and science agencies." Silver Spring, MD, NOAA Office of Global Programs/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Evenson, Robert E. 2003. "Making Science and Technology Work for the Poor - Lecture 1: The Green Revolution in Africa." Delivered at the UNECA conference held 7-10 October 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and sponsored by the United Nations University (UNU), Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (INRA), and UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
Evenson, Robert E. 2003. "Making Science and Technology Work for the Poor - Lecture 2: The 'Price of Admission' to the Growth Club for African Countries." Delivered at the UNECA conference held 7-10 October 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and sponsored by the United Nations University (UNU), Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (INRA), and UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
Evenson, Robert E. 2003. "Making Science and Technology Work for the Poor - Lecture 3: Development Strategies for Africa." Delivered at the UNECA conference held 7-10 October 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and sponsored by the United Nations University (UNU), Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (INRA), and UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
Jacobs, Katharine (2003). "Connecting science, policy, and decision-making: a handbook for researchers and science agencies." Silver Spring, MD, NOAA Office of Global Programs/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
"Foreign Student Enrollment Drops"
Read the full article by Alan Finder in The New York Times. (Registration required.)
"The number of foreign students enrolled in American universities declined slightly in the 2004-5 academic year, according to a survey to be released today, suggesting that a more significant drop that took place in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in 2001 might be abating.
"About 565,000 students from foreign countries were studying in undergraduate and graduate programs at American universities, a decline of 1 percent from the previous academic year, according to an annual survey by the Institute of International Education that was financed by the State Department.
"A survey released by the organization last year showed that foreign student enrollment had declined by 2.4 percent in the 2003-4 academic year, the first decrease in foreign students in three decades.
"A related survey released last week by the Council of Graduate Schools showed that the number of international students entering American graduate schools increased 1 percent this year. The report was based on a survey of a sample of graduate institutions."
"The number of foreign students enrolled in American universities declined slightly in the 2004-5 academic year, according to a survey to be released today, suggesting that a more significant drop that took place in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in 2001 might be abating.
"About 565,000 students from foreign countries were studying in undergraduate and graduate programs at American universities, a decline of 1 percent from the previous academic year, according to an annual survey by the Institute of International Education that was financed by the State Department.
"A survey released by the organization last year showed that foreign student enrollment had declined by 2.4 percent in the 2003-4 academic year, the first decrease in foreign students in three decades.
"A related survey released last week by the Council of Graduate Schools showed that the number of international students entering American graduate schools increased 1 percent this year. The report was based on a survey of a sample of graduate institutions."
Sunday, November 13, 2005
SciDev.Net Malaria Dossier
Click here to transfer to the SciDev.Net Malaria Dossier.
Controlling a disease as entrenched as malaria, which kills up to three million people a year — mostly young children in sub-Saharan Africa — is an enormous challenge. The SciDev.Net a 'dossier', compiled under the guidance of an international panel of advisors, includes specially commissioned in-depth articles about malaria research and policy in developing countries.
Controlling a disease as entrenched as malaria, which kills up to three million people a year — mostly young children in sub-Saharan Africa — is an enormous challenge. The SciDev.Net a 'dossier', compiled under the guidance of an international panel of advisors, includes specially commissioned in-depth articles about malaria research and policy in developing countries.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Program
Click here to go to the MAB Program website.
"UNESCO’s Programme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB) develops the basis, within the natural and the social sciences, for the sustainable use and conservation of biological diversity, and for the improvement of the relationship between people and their environment globally.
"The MAB Programme encourages interdisciplinary research, demonstration and training in natural resource management. MAB contributes thus not only to better understanding of the environment, including global change, but to greater involvement of science and scientists in policy development concerning the wise use of biological diversity.
"Over the next decades, MAB is focusing on new approaches for facilitating sustainable development, through promoting conservation and wise use of biodiversity. By taking advantage of the transdisciplinary and cross-cultural opportunities of UNESCO’s mandate in the fields of education, science, culture and communication, MAB is promoting both scientific research and information gathering, as well as linking with traditional knowledge about resource use. It must serve to help implement Agenda 21 and related Conventions, in particular the Convention on Biological Diversity."
The International Co-ordinating Council of the MAB Program, the ICC, is composed of 34 elected representatives of Member States of UNESCO. The are:
The ICC membership changes every two years, when UNESCO's General Conference meets to replace half its members. I suggest that in 2007, the U.S. government seek a place on the ICC. We have the experts to contribute substantially to its work, and international policy interests that such membership could advance.
"UNESCO’s Programme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB) develops the basis, within the natural and the social sciences, for the sustainable use and conservation of biological diversity, and for the improvement of the relationship between people and their environment globally.
"The MAB Programme encourages interdisciplinary research, demonstration and training in natural resource management. MAB contributes thus not only to better understanding of the environment, including global change, but to greater involvement of science and scientists in policy development concerning the wise use of biological diversity.
"Over the next decades, MAB is focusing on new approaches for facilitating sustainable development, through promoting conservation and wise use of biodiversity. By taking advantage of the transdisciplinary and cross-cultural opportunities of UNESCO’s mandate in the fields of education, science, culture and communication, MAB is promoting both scientific research and information gathering, as well as linking with traditional knowledge about resource use. It must serve to help implement Agenda 21 and related Conventions, in particular the Convention on Biological Diversity."
The International Co-ordinating Council of the MAB Program, the ICC, is composed of 34 elected representatives of Member States of UNESCO. The are:
Austria** Belarus* Chile** Congo** Cuba** Czech Republic* Dem. People's Rep. of Korea* Denmark* Dominica* Ethiopia** Gabon** Germany* Ghana* Israel** Italy* Lebanon** Mexico* Mozambique* Myanmar* Nicaragua* Nigeria* Peru* Philippines** Republic of Korea* Romania** Russian Federation* Saudi Arabia* Sri Lanka* Sudan** Sweden** Syrian Arab Republic** United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland** United Republic of Tanzania* Vietnam**
* Members until 34th session of the General Conference, 2007Many nations, including the United States, have organized MAB National Committees. Such a committee is responsible for the activities making up the national contribution of a country to the MAB program.
** Members until 35th session of the General Conference, 2009
· In co-operation with the UNESCO National Commissions, it serves as a liaison between the different institutions and ministries concerned by the MAB Programme and UNESCO (MAB Secretariat, Division of Ecological Sciences and field offices).The United States' MAB National Committee is chaired by Dr Barbara Weber of the USDA Forest Service.
· It also serves to liaise with the national structures responsible for the other UNESCO programmes in environment and development, i.e. the IGCP, IHP, IOC and MOST, with a view to develop joint activities, as appropriate.
· It ensures the national participation, as a member or as an observer, whenever appropriate, in the sessions of the MAB International Co-ordinating Council.
The ICC membership changes every two years, when UNESCO's General Conference meets to replace half its members. I suggest that in 2007, the U.S. government seek a place on the ICC. We have the experts to contribute substantially to its work, and international policy interests that such membership could advance.
How the Press Covers Science
Here are today's "Science" headlines from several news services via Yahoo! News:
AFP
* Third trans-Kashmir crossing opens for quake relief
* Ancient 'Godzilla' crocodile found in Argentina
* Half of South Asia quake dead were likely children: UNICEF
* Crop yield is good news for drought-hit Sahel states
* Mediterranean states and EU pledge environmental clean up
New York Times
* The Pope on Creation
BBC News
* Super-rocket's next critical test
* Water builds the heat in Europe
AP
* N.J. Biologist Studies Ice-Hardy Worms
* Huge Meteorite Found Underground in Kan.
* New Chewing Gum Could Replace Toothbrush
* Baby Panda at San Diego Zoo Named Su Lin
* Evidence of Huge Ancient Crocodile Found
Reuters
* Health problems up in Zimbabwe
* China unlikely to sign on to Kyoto emissions cuts
* Germany secures delay in EU chemical reform deal
* Proposed condom labels warn against spermicide
Very few of these stories deal with science. Most deal with the physical world, and thus pose a problem for news agencies.
Most of the "news" seems to be about people and their social or political behavior. So stories about earthquakes, crop yields, the environment, and health conditions are termed "science". The New York Times article (which to be fair, they called "international") is religious in tone, not science.
The science news is very heavy on "charismatic" stories, that have very little scientific importance -- ancient crocodiles, and a baby panda.
There are technology stories -- rockets and chewing gum! The story about the EU "Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals" bill does seem to have important implications for the industrial chemistry industries, but it is the exception. The public fascination with rocket technology seems far in excess of its importance, and many technology stories seem to find news space because of their cuteness.
On the other hand, the news that is called "technology" news is almost always about information and communication technologies, and seldom about advances in manufacturing, transportation, agricultural, biomedical or any of the other technologies critical to our lives. I am a great fan of information and communication technologies, but the other technology news is also important. As the failures of the flood control works around New Orleans has demonstrated, so too news about engineering technology can be important! And of course, Iraq and Afghanistan illustrate the importance of news about military technologies.
Where is the coverage of the physical sciences -- of chemistry, physics, botany, zoology, microbiology, and geology. Where is the coverage of the social sciences -- of anthropology, sociology and economics?
I am not against the press covering topics that interest people, and indeed items that are newsworthy such as the South Asian quake or hunger in the Sahel. Perhaps what is needed is a category of news about "physical events" as distinguished from "political", "economic", and "social" events.
I am concerned that important science is not covered in the popular news. The "science" press can find enough important materials to fill its pages. By science press I mean not the scientific journals serving their specialized scientific communities, but those seeking to inform generally about scientific developments, including Scientific American, and large portions of Science and Nature, as well as many other magazines. While many scientists read these publications, they do so for general awareness of what is going on in other fields, and generally not for developments in their own field of specialization. The science press produces materials for a general, intelligent, educated audience, but not for the specialist.
The mass media need better editorial work on science and technology. Opinion leaders and the general public need to be better informed, not only on what is going on in the physical world, but about important advances in technology that affect the economy and their everyday world, and about the changing understanding of the world developed by the sciences.
AFP
* Third trans-Kashmir crossing opens for quake relief
* Ancient 'Godzilla' crocodile found in Argentina
* Half of South Asia quake dead were likely children: UNICEF
* Crop yield is good news for drought-hit Sahel states
* Mediterranean states and EU pledge environmental clean up
New York Times
* The Pope on Creation
BBC News
* Super-rocket's next critical test
* Water builds the heat in Europe
AP
* N.J. Biologist Studies Ice-Hardy Worms
* Huge Meteorite Found Underground in Kan.
* New Chewing Gum Could Replace Toothbrush
* Baby Panda at San Diego Zoo Named Su Lin
* Evidence of Huge Ancient Crocodile Found
Reuters
* Health problems up in Zimbabwe
* China unlikely to sign on to Kyoto emissions cuts
* Germany secures delay in EU chemical reform deal
* Proposed condom labels warn against spermicide
Very few of these stories deal with science. Most deal with the physical world, and thus pose a problem for news agencies.
Most of the "news" seems to be about people and their social or political behavior. So stories about earthquakes, crop yields, the environment, and health conditions are termed "science". The New York Times article (which to be fair, they called "international") is religious in tone, not science.
The science news is very heavy on "charismatic" stories, that have very little scientific importance -- ancient crocodiles, and a baby panda.
There are technology stories -- rockets and chewing gum! The story about the EU "Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals" bill does seem to have important implications for the industrial chemistry industries, but it is the exception. The public fascination with rocket technology seems far in excess of its importance, and many technology stories seem to find news space because of their cuteness.
On the other hand, the news that is called "technology" news is almost always about information and communication technologies, and seldom about advances in manufacturing, transportation, agricultural, biomedical or any of the other technologies critical to our lives. I am a great fan of information and communication technologies, but the other technology news is also important. As the failures of the flood control works around New Orleans has demonstrated, so too news about engineering technology can be important! And of course, Iraq and Afghanistan illustrate the importance of news about military technologies.
Where is the coverage of the physical sciences -- of chemistry, physics, botany, zoology, microbiology, and geology. Where is the coverage of the social sciences -- of anthropology, sociology and economics?
I am not against the press covering topics that interest people, and indeed items that are newsworthy such as the South Asian quake or hunger in the Sahel. Perhaps what is needed is a category of news about "physical events" as distinguished from "political", "economic", and "social" events.
I am concerned that important science is not covered in the popular news. The "science" press can find enough important materials to fill its pages. By science press I mean not the scientific journals serving their specialized scientific communities, but those seeking to inform generally about scientific developments, including Scientific American, and large portions of Science and Nature, as well as many other magazines. While many scientists read these publications, they do so for general awareness of what is going on in other fields, and generally not for developments in their own field of specialization. The science press produces materials for a general, intelligent, educated audience, but not for the specialist.
The mass media need better editorial work on science and technology. Opinion leaders and the general public need to be better informed, not only on what is going on in the physical world, but about important advances in technology that affect the economy and their everyday world, and about the changing understanding of the world developed by the sciences.
Friday, November 11, 2005
"Intelligent Design?"
Read all of Noam Chomsky's posting on ZNet.
"An old-fashioned conservative would believe in the value of Enlightenment ideals — rationality, critical analysis, freedom of speech, freedom of inquiry — and would try to adapt them to a modern society. The Founding Fathers, children of the Enlightenment, championed those ideals and took pains to create a Constitution that espoused religious freedom yet separated church and state. The United States, despite the occasional messianism of its leaders, isn’t a theocracy.
"In our time, the Bush administration’s hostility to scientific inquiry puts the world at risk. Environmental catastrophe, whether you think the world has been developing only since Genesis or for eons, is far too serious to ignore."
"An old-fashioned conservative would believe in the value of Enlightenment ideals — rationality, critical analysis, freedom of speech, freedom of inquiry — and would try to adapt them to a modern society. The Founding Fathers, children of the Enlightenment, championed those ideals and took pains to create a Constitution that espoused religious freedom yet separated church and state. The United States, despite the occasional messianism of its leaders, isn’t a theocracy.
"In our time, the Bush administration’s hostility to scientific inquiry puts the world at risk. Environmental catastrophe, whether you think the world has been developing only since Genesis or for eons, is far too serious to ignore."
"We have a bird flu plan, but will it work?"
Read the full article by Debora Mackenzie in the New Scientist.
"Recent weeks have seen a startling shift in attitudes, with governments taking the threat far more seriously. Last week, the US published a pandemic plan that pledges $7.1 billion, mainly for vaccines and drugs. For the first time the meeting in Geneva includes financial institutions such as the World Bank, which plans a global pandemic fund in 2006.
"Further good news has also emerged from a little-publicised meeting in Geneva last week. Vaccine companies and national authorities agreed to test low-dose vaccines against the H5N1 strain of bird flu. The lower the dose, the more vaccine doses can be produced quickly. Until now, all vaccine trials in humans planned to use 7.5 micrograms or more of viral protein, despite research in Germany in 2004 showing that 2 micrograms could work just as well.
"The results of the trials, now starting in the US, Australia, Japan and Canada, and the optimum dosage, will be known in about six months' time, says Anthony Fauci, head of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. If 2-microgram doses are effective, existing vaccine factories may be capable of producing enough for almost everyone.
"But a number of critical ifs and buts remain. For instance, Europe and the US cannot yet agree on how to license low-dose vaccines that must also include an immune booster called an adjuvant."
"Recent weeks have seen a startling shift in attitudes, with governments taking the threat far more seriously. Last week, the US published a pandemic plan that pledges $7.1 billion, mainly for vaccines and drugs. For the first time the meeting in Geneva includes financial institutions such as the World Bank, which plans a global pandemic fund in 2006.
"Further good news has also emerged from a little-publicised meeting in Geneva last week. Vaccine companies and national authorities agreed to test low-dose vaccines against the H5N1 strain of bird flu. The lower the dose, the more vaccine doses can be produced quickly. Until now, all vaccine trials in humans planned to use 7.5 micrograms or more of viral protein, despite research in Germany in 2004 showing that 2 micrograms could work just as well.
"The results of the trials, now starting in the US, Australia, Japan and Canada, and the optimum dosage, will be known in about six months' time, says Anthony Fauci, head of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. If 2-microgram doses are effective, existing vaccine factories may be capable of producing enough for almost everyone.
"But a number of critical ifs and buts remain. For instance, Europe and the US cannot yet agree on how to license low-dose vaccines that must also include an immune booster called an adjuvant."
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Avian Influenza - Are We Prepared?
Go to the Senate Hearing website.
This Senate Hearing was held yesterday, November 9, 2005. Those testifying included representatives of State, CDC, NIH, and USAID. There was also a presentation on the costs of a pandemic (if one occurs). The prepared statements of those testifying are linked to this page. This represents a readable, comprehensive review of the situation from a U.S. perspective.
This Senate Hearing was held yesterday, November 9, 2005. Those testifying included representatives of State, CDC, NIH, and USAID. There was also a presentation on the costs of a pandemic (if one occurs). The prepared statements of those testifying are linked to this page. This represents a readable, comprehensive review of the situation from a U.S. perspective.
" Here we go again"
Read the piece from The New York Times/International Herald Tribune of November 1, 2005
"Responding to questions at her confirmation hearing last week, Ellen Sauerbrey, the former Maryland state legislator nominated by President George W. Bush to head a key State Department humanitarian bureau, could come up with no convincing reason for why her lack of any relevant experience coordinating emergency aid shouldn't disqualify her from the job."
"Responding to questions at her confirmation hearing last week, Ellen Sauerbrey, the former Maryland state legislator nominated by President George W. Bush to head a key State Department humanitarian bureau, could come up with no convincing reason for why her lack of any relevant experience coordinating emergency aid shouldn't disqualify her from the job."
NGOs Urge Bush to Withdraw Sauerbrey Nomination
Read the Inter Press Service News Agency report from October 17, 2005.
"A coalition of 10 women's health and rights groups Tuesday urged Bush to withdraw the nomination of Amb. Ellen Sauerbrey as Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM), calling it 'yet another in a long string of crony nominations of unqualified individuals for critical positions'.
"The groups' statement followed editorials denouncing Sauerbrey's appointment by two of the country's most important newspapers, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, which called her unqualified and too ideological, as well as criticism by prominent emergency relief groups.
"'This is a job that deals with one of the great moral issues of our time,' Joel R. Charney, vice president for policy at Refugees International, told the Los Angeles Times earlier this month. 'This is not a position where you drop in a political hack.'
"Sauerbrey, who ran unsuccessfully for governor of Maryland twice during the 1990s, has served in relatively low-profile State Department positions since Bush took office in 2001, most recently as U.S. representative to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the U.N.'s Commission on the Status of Women."
"A coalition of 10 women's health and rights groups Tuesday urged Bush to withdraw the nomination of Amb. Ellen Sauerbrey as Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM), calling it 'yet another in a long string of crony nominations of unqualified individuals for critical positions'.
"The groups' statement followed editorials denouncing Sauerbrey's appointment by two of the country's most important newspapers, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, which called her unqualified and too ideological, as well as criticism by prominent emergency relief groups.
"'This is a job that deals with one of the great moral issues of our time,' Joel R. Charney, vice president for policy at Refugees International, told the Los Angeles Times earlier this month. 'This is not a position where you drop in a political hack.'
"Sauerbrey, who ran unsuccessfully for governor of Maryland twice during the 1990s, has served in relatively low-profile State Department positions since Bush took office in 2001, most recently as U.S. representative to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the U.N.'s Commission on the Status of Women."
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded today to Vint Cerf and Robert Kahn
Read about the award on the Google blog.
"The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award given in the United States, and our own Vint Cerf has been recognized with this honor. He and Robert Kahn will be recognized in a White House ceremony next Wednesday.
"Together, Vint and Bob designed the architecture and protocols 30+ years ago that are used today to implement and operate the Internet. The White House statement puts it succinctly: "Dr. Cerf and Dr. Kahn have been at the forefront of a digital revolution that has transformed global commerce, communication, and entertainment."
Robert Kahn is married to Patrice Lyons, a member of the Board of Trustees of Americans for UNESCO.
Congratulations to Drs. Cerf and Kahn!
"The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award given in the United States, and our own Vint Cerf has been recognized with this honor. He and Robert Kahn will be recognized in a White House ceremony next Wednesday.
"Together, Vint and Bob designed the architecture and protocols 30+ years ago that are used today to implement and operate the Internet. The White House statement puts it succinctly: "Dr. Cerf and Dr. Kahn have been at the forefront of a digital revolution that has transformed global commerce, communication, and entertainment."
Robert Kahn is married to Patrice Lyons, a member of the Board of Trustees of Americans for UNESCO.
Congratulations to Drs. Cerf and Kahn!
"Flu Vaccine Could Have Far Reach Under Best Circumstances"
Read David Brown's article in The Washington Post.
"Data presented Tuesday at an international conference on bird flu indicate that drug manufacturers could produce enough influenza vaccine starting sometime in 2008 to protect between a quarter and half the world's population over the course of a year, should a new and dangerous strain of flu virus emerge..........
"For a vaccine to reach a quarter to a half of the world's population -- 1.7 billion to 3.4 billion people -- current plans by manufacturers to expand production would have to go forward uninterrupted. In order to immunize the maximum number of people, doses would also have to be used with immunity-boosting substances that would make the vaccine more effective. The projections assume there will be enough trained technicians and needles on hand to administer the vaccines.
"The projection of reaching up to 3.4 billion people also assumes the use of a technique that would double the vaccine's potency, based on research being conducted."
The impact of vaccines would seem to me to depend heavily on the way the vaccine was used. If a quarter of the world population were immunized, emphasizing health care workers and high risk people in relatively affluent countries, it could probably reduce mortality and disease burden in those countries. If the immunizations were allocated preferentially to creating herd immunity in man in areas in which bird flu was likely to jump to human populations then a pandemic might be averted totally.
"Data presented Tuesday at an international conference on bird flu indicate that drug manufacturers could produce enough influenza vaccine starting sometime in 2008 to protect between a quarter and half the world's population over the course of a year, should a new and dangerous strain of flu virus emerge..........
"For a vaccine to reach a quarter to a half of the world's population -- 1.7 billion to 3.4 billion people -- current plans by manufacturers to expand production would have to go forward uninterrupted. In order to immunize the maximum number of people, doses would also have to be used with immunity-boosting substances that would make the vaccine more effective. The projections assume there will be enough trained technicians and needles on hand to administer the vaccines.
"The projection of reaching up to 3.4 billion people also assumes the use of a technique that would double the vaccine's potency, based on research being conducted."
The impact of vaccines would seem to me to depend heavily on the way the vaccine was used. If a quarter of the world population were immunized, emphasizing health care workers and high risk people in relatively affluent countries, it could probably reduce mortality and disease burden in those countries. If the immunizations were allocated preferentially to creating herd immunity in man in areas in which bird flu was likely to jump to human populations then a pandemic might be averted totally.
"The President's Overseas Reproductive Health Policy: Think Locally, Act Globally"
Read Susan Cohen's essay in the August 2002 online issue of the Guttmacher Report on Public Policy.
"In first announcing and then defending his first-day-in-office decision to reimpose the "global gag rule" that had been instituted by President Reagan in 1984 and revoked by President Clinton in 1993, President Bush and members of his administration took pains to couple their antiabortion statements with protestations of support for international family planning. Eighteen months later, however, the administration's record has begun to speak for itself.
"Barely one year after he reinstated the gag rule, the president froze the funds Congress had just appropriated for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for FY 2002. A few weeks later, in his FY 2003 budget proposal to Congress, he asked that funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development's family planning and reproductive health program be cut from the FY 2002 level and that no funds be allocated to UNFPA ("Congress and Reproductive Health: Major Actions in 2001 and a Look Ahead," TGR, February 2002). Shortly thereafter, the administration began using the opportunities presented by various United Nations (UN)-sponsored global meetings to aggressively export its domestic "abstinence-only" campaign as well as its antiabortion views. Further, the administration began using these meetings more generally to distance itself from the worldwide consensus on reproductive and sexual health issues that the United States itself was instrumental in forging at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo and the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing."
"In first announcing and then defending his first-day-in-office decision to reimpose the "global gag rule" that had been instituted by President Reagan in 1984 and revoked by President Clinton in 1993, President Bush and members of his administration took pains to couple their antiabortion statements with protestations of support for international family planning. Eighteen months later, however, the administration's record has begun to speak for itself.
"Barely one year after he reinstated the gag rule, the president froze the funds Congress had just appropriated for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for FY 2002. A few weeks later, in his FY 2003 budget proposal to Congress, he asked that funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development's family planning and reproductive health program be cut from the FY 2002 level and that no funds be allocated to UNFPA ("Congress and Reproductive Health: Major Actions in 2001 and a Look Ahead," TGR, February 2002). Shortly thereafter, the administration began using the opportunities presented by various United Nations (UN)-sponsored global meetings to aggressively export its domestic "abstinence-only" campaign as well as its antiabortion views. Further, the administration began using these meetings more generally to distance itself from the worldwide consensus on reproductive and sexual health issues that the United States itself was instrumental in forging at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo and the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing."
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