acs celebrates national chemistry week
TRANSCRIPT
be mainstreamed . . . on campus. We have seen that without government intervention at the national and local levels, participation rates will not improve. Market forces alone will neither draw certain students to science nor retain them in the pipeline through completion of advanced degrees. But programs targeted to the learning needs of various students— that redefine the problem as the learning environment and not the learner—can be institutionalized and replicated/'
Education specialists pointed out at
the press conference that this nurturing concept has potential value for all students, not just those in under-represented groups. The question "If this works for minorities and women, does it work for everyone?'7 often comes up, notes Carol Fuller, assistant director of the National Association of Independent Colleges & Universities. "And I don't think the theme can be said too much—that when you've found what works for some of these groups, what you've found is good education practice."
Stu Borman
ACS celebrates National Chemistry Week This week all over the U.S., hundreds of chemistry-related groups are participating in projects for National Chemistry Week, a huge public relations effort organized by the American Chemical Society.
The program pitches a message to the public that chemistry plays an essential role in almost every aspect of modern life, and that informed choices about chemistry and chemicals must involve balancing benefits and risks. ACS sponsored a similar public relations effort in 1987 (the
first National Chemistry Day), and in 1989 expanded it to a week-long event, the first National Chemistry Week (NCW).
As with the two previous national events, most of this year's NCW projects have been organized through ACS's 185 local sections. However, a number of chemical companies have arranged corporatewide projects. And some individual ACS members who live in areas far from local sect ion centers have put together projects in their towns and regions.
Based on preliminary reports of sect i o n s ' p l a n s , t h i s week's activities are as colorful and crea t ive as p r e v i o u s years' events. Sections are presenting their message in shopping malls, primary and secondary schools, colleges, libraries, museums, and chemical company facilities. Their media range from videotapes and exhibits to gee-whiz chemical demonstrations and informal talks.
The NCW office at ACS headquarters has provided a number of materials for sections to use in their projects. Among them, the office has distributed to sections 1.4 million copies of an
Newspaper for seven to 12 year olds
eight-page tabloid-size "newspaper" designed for children aged seven to 12. Titled "Chemistry All Around Us," it provides puzzles, games, stories, projects, trivia, and other fun things that aim to help children become more familiar with chemistry and chemicals.
The children's activities newspaper is scheduled to be inserted in several newspapers this week, including those in Hillsdale, Mich.; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Elkhart, Ind. However, it is primarily intended to be distributed to schools and at sections' exhibits in malls, museums, and libraries. For instance, every child in grades one through eight in Cleveland's public schools will receive a copy.
Also scheduled to appear in many newspapers this week is a chemistry and NCW-related edition of "The Mini Page," a regularly occurring pullout feature distributed by Universal Press Syndicate to 451 newspapers in the U.S., with a total circulation of about 40 million people. Titled "Itty-bitty Atoms," and written by Betty Glass Debnam, the feature contains humorous illustrations, many interesting facts about chemistry, and puzzles and word games. Debnam received ACS's James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public earlier this year.
Ernest Carpenter
France launches $278 million biotech effort France is launching a major biotechnology project with government and industry backing.
Called Bioavenir—literally "biofu-ture"—the project links state organizations and Rhone-Poulenc in a five-year, $278 million effort to turn "pure" research findings in biotechnology to practical and novel use. Rhone-Poulenc, owned mainly by the French government, is putting up more than $172 million, with the state supplying the balance.
The initiative for the project came from Rhone-Poulenc, an international chemical and pharmaceuticals concern headquartered in Paris, in association with four major French
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