Jeremy Stone: sever NI H from HEW
& Budget and of the Department of Health, Education & Welfare. Such interferences, coupled with highlevel personality disagreements, have interrupted the trend of NIH's research. He suggests that M H be severed from HEW and made a separate agency or linked with another agency, such as the National Science Foundation. Also last week, in an action unrelated to FAS's, Dr. Charles C. Edwards submitted his resignation as HEW's assistant secretary for health. Edwards, also a former Food & Drug Administration commissioner, is said to have accepted a job as senior vice president of Becton, Dickinson & Co. (Rutherford, X.J.), a maker of medical and surgical supplies. Edwards was responsible for firing Robert Stone.
Federal aid needed for synthetic fuels To ensure getting a commercialscale synthetic fuels program off the ground in the U.S., industry will need support from the government against financial disaster, witnesses from Ashland Oil and Oil Shale Corp. (TOSCO) told the House Science, Research & Development Subcommittee last week. The hearings were on H.R. 17400, the Synthetic Liquid Fuel Research & Development Act of 1974, which would promote R&D and provide federal contracts for construction and operation of commercial-size plants. Similar legislation may be enacted in the next Congress. William H. Gammon, administrative vice president of Ashland Oil and Charles H. Brown, senior vice president of TOSCO, said in prepared statements that an uncertain price for oil, inflation, high capital requirement costs as well as the high cost of capital have hindered commercial-scale development
of coal gasification and production of oil from coal and shale. Brown's testimony particularly underscored the fiscal problems faced in the development of oil shale. He noted that the Colony Group—consisting of TOSCO, Atlantic-Richfield, Ashland Oil, and Shell Oil—suspended a construction start in September on a commercial oil shale complex. And he noted how the cost for a 50,000 bbl-per-day plant producing hydrotreated shale oil had escalated from 1967 to September 1974. To wit: Capital costs for such a plant went from $144 million in 1967 to $255 million in 1972 to $653 million in 1974. Direct operating costs went from $1.20 per bbl in 1967 to $1.82 in 1972 to $4.77 in 1974. And the price per barrel required for a 12% return on investment went from $2.36 in 1967 to $12.50 in September 1974.
Job outlook for new grads could be worse Despite the currently troubled state of the economy, college seniors can be "guardedly optimistic" about finding jobs when they graduate next spring. So says Dr. Frank S. Endicott, director of placement (emeritus) at Northwestern University and compiler of the Endicott report, a yearly survey of trends in employment of graduates by business and industry. This year Endicott surveyed 160 well-known concerns, mostly medium- or large-sized, in a wide variety of fields. Although 41% of the companies say they will hire fewer graduates next year, another 50% say they will hire more. Altogether, the 160 firms plan to hire about 13,200 graduates with bachelor's or master's degrees, almost the same as this year. Thus, Endicott comments, the job market next spring will be the toughest in three years —but not nearly so tight as in 1970 or 1971. For all fields, projected 1975 demand for bachelors is up 1% from 1974; for masters, down 4%. Demand for bachelor-level engineers is up 3% but for masters-level engineers down 11%. That decrease may reflect cutbacks in R&D by some firms, Endicott says, or it may show that companies would rather give on-the-job training to bachelor-level engineers than pay higher starting salaries to advanced-degree holders. Endicott notes that starting salaries for 1975 graduates will be up about 5% across the board. Among
the bachelors, the survey reveals, engineers will be offered the highest starting salaries: an average of $1062 per month, up about 7% from this year. According to the survey, 22 companies will hire 111 bachelor-level chemists—a 27% increase over the 87 hired by 24 companies in 1974. Starting salaries will average $992 per month, up 6.7% from this year's $930.
EPA tests refute LaForce engine claim The Environmental Protection Agency apparently has shot down a supposedly revolutionary auto engine that last month triggered some excitement and a considerable sense of urgency in the Senate Commerce Committee. Testifying before the committee last week, EPA's Eric O. Stork said that the engine, known as the LaForce engine, is neither a new nor an important development. On Nov. 26, Robert and Edward LaForce (Richmond, Vt.) told the committee that by modifying the engine of a standard AMC Hornet, they had obtained a 70% increase in gasoline mileage. They also said the modified engine can meet federal emission standards without "complicated and costly" antipollution devices. According to the LaForce brothers (C&EX, Dec. 2, page 16), their engine employs a centrifuge to separate the heavy and light ends of gasoline. The light ends are volatilized and the heavy ends recycled back to the combustion chamber where they are burned completely. At least one Detroit car manufacturer—General Motors—is interested in this engine. The Senate Commerce Committee called a further hearing almost immediately following the LaForce revelation for Dec. 10. At that time, Stork testified that EPA could not make recommendations until its evaluation tests had been completed. At a later hearing, however, deputy assistant administrator Stork said EPA tests show that although the LaForce engine gets a 30% better gasoline mileage than the unmodified Hornet, it does so at a 15 to 32% loss in horsepower output. Further, he testified, the LaForce engine, when compared with conventional engines, emits three times as much hydrocarbons and more than three times as much carbon monoxide. EPA's final report was released last week. Dec. 23, 1974C&EN
5
