NEWS OF THE WEEK phasized the "urgent need for better bridges between university and government research and the industrial sector.,/ She stressed that cooperative activities "must not be lost to ideological attacks on so-called corporate welfare and arguments about the government's role in industrial innovation." Good added, "Programs that have been developed over the past five or six years, such as the Advanced Technology Program in the Department of Commerce and the CRADA [cooperative research and development agreement] programs in the Department of Energy, must be strengthened and continued." Overall, she concluded, "a 5 to 10% portion of the federal R&D budget should be reserved for these partnership programs." However, in the prevailing atmosphere of budget austerity, maintaining even the current federal investment in R&D is problematic. Good pointed out
that the budget resolution recently approved by the House and Senate calls for a decrease of at least one-third in total federal R&D expenditures by 2002. And the resolution essentially prohibits all R&D partnership activities where the federal government funds any portion of an industrial firm's civilian technology development. "The problem is," explained Boehlert, "we're going through a dramatic restructuring of government. ... The first priority of this new majority is to get our fiscal house in order." Boehlert also pointed out that there are "approximately 200 members of Congress who have been here two years or less, who don't have a clue about what are the appropriate concerns of our nation's science policy." He urged research-intensive corporations to establish educational dialogues with their local representatives. Linda Raber
China and Iran sweep chemistry olympiad Competing neck and neck, China and Iran scored big wins at the 27th International Chemistry Olympiad, held July 12-21 in Beijing. For China, the results were true to its form in previous olympiads. But Iran's feat—in just its third year of competition—was stunning. There is no official ranking of countries at the olympiad, which drew 163 students from 41 countries. However, China and Iran tied for the top spot on the basis of medals won, with each four-member team taking four gold
medals. China's team members placed second, fourth, sixth, and eighth; the Iranians took first, third, fifth, and 20th. Romania came in third with two golds and two silvers. Russia and the Czech Republic tied for fourth with two golds and two bronzes each. The U.S. team garnered two silvers and two bronzes—one of 18 delegations that garnered four medals. Jason C. Wong of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology in Alexandria, Va., placed 43rd and won a silver medal. Prashant Mishra of Detroit Country
(Left to right) mentor Devino, U.S. team members Mishra, Sawka, Waingold, and Wong, and mentor Adams participated in chemistry olympiad in Beijing. 6
JULY 31,1995 C&EN
Day School, Beverly Hills, Mich., ranked 56th and also got a silver medal. Bronze medals went to Elliot L. Waingold (79th) of Central York High School, York, Pa., and G. Michael Sawka Jr. (106th) of Gunn High School, Palo Alto, Calif. China has been a dominant competitor since it first participated in 1987. This is the sixth year in a row it has finished first in the olympiad, which includes a five-hour lab exam and a five-hour theoretical exam. Compared with China, Iran is a rookie. It didn't make it to the top 10 countries in its first two years of participation. Its strong finish this year—with team member Roozbeh Kiani as the meet's top scorer—was a surprise. Wong of the U.S. team notes that "They may just have four really, really smart people this year. But last year they had one gold and no other medals at all." For the first time since 1990, the U.S. did not finish among the top five countries. Last year in Norway, the U.S. team placed third, after China and the U.K. "We were reasonably pleased" with the U.S. team's performance, says Thomas W. Adams of Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics & Humanities, in Muncie, one of two team mentors. "Any time that you can take four students and get four medals, you have to be pleased," he says. The other mentor was Nancy L. Devino of the National Research Council in Washington, D.C. Mishra (age 17), Waingold (17), and Wong (18) have just graduated from high school. Mishra will attend Harvard University to study biochemistry or mathematics. Waingold plans to study computer science and electrical engineering, and Wong will seek a degree in chemical engineering—both at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sawka (16) will be a senior in high school. He says he will definitely try out again for next year's olympiad, which will be held in Moscow. U.S. team members were selected from 20 finalists who took part in a training camp at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. The finalists were drawn from about 10,000 high school students from all over the country. The team was sponsored by the American Chemical Society, principally through the ACS Othmer Olympiad Endowment. Additional support was provided by the Air Force Academy, IBM Research, and Texas Instruments. Maureen Rouhi
