News of the Week
Agencies handling of agent orange studies hit Recent controversial reports by the Veterans Administration and the Centers for Disease Control that relate agent orange to the mortality of Vietnam veterans have spurred some Congressmen to call for an investigation of the performance of those agencies. They and a variety of veterans organizations believe that agent orange and its contaminant dioxin (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin) are the cause of cancer and a variety of other health problems in Vietnam veterans. They feel that the reports confirm their belief. But they are also charging that the same reports reflect the government's complacency about the welfare of veterans. "We are calling attention to those studies and requesting that the issues raised by the studies are further explored in hearings," said James J. Florio (D.-N.J.), a member of the House Veterans Affairs committee, at a press conference last week. Other House members support this idea. Rep. Lane Evans (D.-Ill.), chairman of the Congressional Vietnam-era Veterans Caucus, said: "I plan to develop legislation that will incorporate the findings of this study and establish service connection compensation for
Florio: explore issues in hearings 8
September 21, 1987 C&EN
Vietnam veterans who were exposed to agent orange and now suffer from cancer and related diseases." Under scrutiny is a Vietnam veterans mortality study done by VA showing a statistically significant increase in deaths from lung cancer and non-Hodgkins lymphoma in Marines who served in Vietnam compared with Marines based elsewhere. The same study found no such increases among Army personnel similarly compared (C&EN, Sept. 14, page 6). Also the target of criticism are CDC's efforts to see if it could determine from military records or by measuring the level of dioxin in their blood, which veterans had been exposed to agent orange. CDC concluded that it could not (C&EN, Sept. 7, page 8).
The Congressmen are particularly angry that VA waited more than six months from the time its report was completed before making it public. There were apparently "attempts to suppress the report until it was leaked to the news media," Florio says. Studies relating agent orange to veterans' health are supposed to be reported to Congress right away. VA administrator Thomas K. Turnage said the agency has to wait until its Environmental Hazards Advisory Committee meets in October before any scientific conclusions should be drawn for the study. "I am more committed than anyone to addressing concerns about agent orange. I urge all concerned to await the assessment of our scientific advisers," Turnage says. D
U.S. students perform poorly on science tests Even the most academically gifted and science-oriented students in the U.S. consistently perform less well in tests than students in Japan, England, and other countries. At the same time, there are indications of steps that might be taken to boost the science achievement of girls in the U.S. and help to close the persistent gender gap in science achievement. These are just two findings to emerge from early analyses of the Second International Science Study (SISS), being conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. Some preliminary findings from the U.S. segment of the study were released last week by the study staff, headed by Willard J. Jacobson, professor of natural sciences at Teachers College, Columbia University. Encompassed in the U.S. part of SISS were 11 different study populations, involving more than 1000 schools and more than 20,000 students. Primary funding for the U.S. effort came from the National Science Foundation. SISS researchers term the results of U.S. advanced-placement students "especially disappointing." U.S. students sampled performed at a level of about 41% (chemistry) to 44% (biology and physics) correct answers
to test items. In the other countries, performance ranged from 48% (biology, Japan) to 73% (chemistry, England). Jacobson says he is "convinced that something needs to be done." One thing that might be done relates to findings concerning the gender gap. Unlike most studies, the 1986 phase 2 study administered, in addition to a written test, a manipulative process lab test to both fifth and ninth grade students. On written testing, girls continued to underperform boys, generally by 5 to 7%. But in the manipulative process test, girls and boys achieved equally. An implication drawn by the researchers from the finding is that teaching science by way of process tasks may be a way to encourage girls to study science. Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, head of the directorate for science and engineering education at NSF, says that although he is pleased with the study itself, he is "not at all pleased with what the reports are saying." SISS, he says, is a helpful reminder about how the U.S. is doing, and about issues of concern, such as curriculum quality and teacher quality. He says that studies like SISS will help NSF plan and focus its efforts in curriculum improvement and teacher training. D
