EDUCATION
Amoco funds science and math programs Chicago public school teachers and students will benefit from new precollege science and math programs being funded by the Amoco Foundation. The foundation, which is financially supported by Amoco Corp., will provide $667,000 for special training of 120 Chicago public school teachers in 1985 and 1986. Donald G. Schroeter, executive director of the foundation, notes that Chicago public schools have a growing shortage of qualified math and science teachers. As a result, he says, they're either forced to fill positions with individuals who may be inexperienced, or they just don't offer the courses. To improve that situation, the Amoco Foundation will provide $357,000 for training 80 seventhand eighth-grade teachers and an additional $310,000 for training 40 high school teachers. Both grants are aimed at improving another Amoco-supported effort, the Principal's Scholars Program (PSP), to which the foundation has committed $735,000 since 1981. That program, currently operating in 18 inner-city Chicago high schools, is intended to encourage promising minority students to attend college. It includes a rigorous academic program, along with "motivational aspects" such as contests, career guidance, and field trips. About 2000 students are involved, and about 90% of the participants do go on to college. But, Schroeter says, PSP has been running at only half capacity, because not enough qualified and motivated freshmen have been available. Participants in the program for seventh- and eighth-grade teachers will be drawn from the 152 Chicago elementary schools that feed into the 18 PSP high schools. The program involves 16 semester hours of math or science coursework at National College of Education, Evanston, 111. The teachers will attend at night and during the summer over a two-year period. According to Schroeter, the new grant will continue an effort that began in 1983, when $200,000 was 52
June 3, 1985 C&EN
TECHNOLOGY provided for an initial group of 80 teachers. "Even though the first group of teachers is just completing the program, eighth-grade counselors are finding an increase in the number of students to recommend for participation in PSP this year," Schroeter says. The larger amount in the current grant will make possible "a much larger support and evaluation component," he explains. Amoco, through the foundation, also will furnish $310,000 for a new program to train 40 high school teachers at DePaul University. The training will be offered to teachers at the PSP high schools, to improve their backgrounds or to encourage them to switch to the math or science field. That program will entail 32 semester hours of coursework— all taught by the mathematics and science departments—leading to master's degrees in science education or math education. Participants will attend on weekends over an 18-month period. Math teacher training will begin in September 1985 and science teacher training in January 1986. Schroeter not 0 * that participants in the DePaul program will pay 20% of the tuition, with the remainder to come equally from scholarships and loans. However, the loans will be forgiven if the graduates teach two years in PSP schools after completing the program. The Amoco Foundation also is contributing to the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project, a six-year, $12 million program to develop a completely new, applications-oriented mathematics curriculum for kindergarten through the 12th grade. According to project manager Paul J. Sally of UC's math department, mathematical concepts will be introduced much earlier; the curriculum will be designed for all elementary school students and for the "middle 80%" of high school students. Amoco notes that it has provided $2 million in funding for the 1983-84 and 1984-85 academic years. Additional funding by the National Science Foundation and by others is planned for the final four years. Ward Worthy, Chicago
New chemical product shows wide potential Lopat Enterprises, Asbury Park, N.J., has developed and is now marketing a product, K-20, that preliminary tests have shown to be an effective encapsulator, maybe even a detoxifier, of chlorinated hydrocarbons. That characteristic makes it an effective chemical fixative for use at hazardous waste sites. K-20 has other uses: It is a fire retardant, a water sealant, and an insecticide. K-20 is the end product of the reformulation of three patented chemicals. Lopat president Louis Flax says it is nontoxic, nonvolatile, and noncorrosive. Lopat executive vice president Lincoln R. Davis, who accidentally formulated K-20, calls it "a user-friendly material." It is listed among the 26 innovative cleanup technologies the Office of Technology Assessment cites in its recent study "Superfund Strategy." The Environmental Protection Agency does not license chemical fixatives, and it has not promoted K-20's use. But word of mouth has touted the chemical's virtues: low cost, ease of application, and effectiveness against organic materials and heavy metals. Six major cleanup firms are using it to treat chlordane-, polychlorinated biphenyl-, and dioxin-tainted soils and buildings. When sprayed on brick, block, or mortar, the compound "reacts with the free lime, calcium, and salts in the building material to create a sealant that interfaces between the exterior surface and the organic contaminant," Davis explains. He says the barrier "is indestructible against natural weather conditions." When used on soil, K-20 has to be mixed with a fixative to form a "loosely packed material resembling partially hardened concrete," Davis adds. Chemist Richard Walters of the University of Maryland is testing K-20 further to find out whether it degrades or detoxifies the chlorinated hydrocarbons, and what toxic by-products, if any, are formed. Joel S. Hirschhorn, a toxic waste expert in OTA, says the Japanese have a similar product that they are ready to market in the U.S. Lois Ember, Washington
