NEWS O F f g f U H IMMIGRATION
POLICY
VISA DELAYS SPARK CONCERNS Science adviser claims screening is not aimed at exclusion
T
HE ADMINISTRATIONS SCI-
ence adviser addressed concerns about the timely ability of foreign students and scientists to obtain visas for visits to the U.S. for meetings, research collaborations, or educational reasons at a policy colloquium held earlier this month in Washington, D.C. John H. Marburger III, director of the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy, acknowledged delays but said, "Most of the current delays and backlogs are related to our efforts to screen applicants more rigorously and not as the result of policies to exclude." "While [visa] rejection rates
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for science- or study-related activities remain small, the number of cases submitted for additional review has increased dramatically since 9/11," Marburger said at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual Science & Technology Policy Colloquium. Visas for students and visiting scientists are subject to various review procedures, he said. For example, reviews occur when consular officials believe that a person intends to violate or evade U.S. laws or when the prospective visa holder is suspected of being a terrorist. Last week, the American Chemical Society released a state-
ment on the visa issue urging "swift federal action." The society says it is concerned that "the increasing number of delays and denials of visas to international students, scientists, and engineers will ultimately affect scientific progress and U.S. prosperity" Among its recommendations, ACS said the review system should focus on applicants who pose the highest security risks and should facilitate reentry of scientists with proper credentials who leave for a short period.—Wl LLI AM
BACKLOG Marburger addresses foreign scientists' visa delays.
SCHULZ
Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Marquette University in 1975. After postdoctoral work at the University of Chicago, he began work at the Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry at N I H . In 1980, he was appointed assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Maryland. In 1995, Armstrong moved to Vanderbilt as a professor in the biochemistry department and an investigator at sitioning the journal to rapidly the Center in Molecular Toxicoltake advantage of emerging areas ogy He added duties as a chemin the biochemical sciences." istry professor in 1997 He studThose fields include genomic reies functional genomics, the search, computational chemistry, enzymatic basis of antibiotic reand chemical biology sistance, and the mechanism and Armstrong has been an associstereochemistry of enzyme-catate editor at the Journal ofthe alyzed reactions. American Chemical Society and a Armstrong is a fellow of the member ofthe editorial boards of the Journal of Biological Chemistry American Association for the and ChemicalResearch ^Toxicology. Advancement of Science and chair-elect of the ACS Division of Armstrong, 54, earned a B.S. Biological Chemistry—SOPHIE in chemistry from Western IlliWILKINSON nois University in 1970 and a
NEW BIOCHEMISTRY EDITOR SELECTED Vanderbilt's Richard Armstrong takes the reins of ACS journal in 2004
R
ICHARD N. ARMSTRONG, A
biochemistry and chemistry professor at Vanderbilt University, has been appointed editor of Biochemistry. He will succeed Duke University's Gordon G. Hammes, who has edited the journal for 11 years. Armstrong will officially begin his tenure on Jan. 1,2004. Armstrong applauds Hammes' leadership and says he will "preserve the very positive attributes that attract outstanding authors and interested readers while repoHTTP://WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG
Armstrong
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