News of the Week entists. Physicists here felt the views of scientists were being misrepresented by such statements/' Similarly, David C. Wright, who is spearheading the Cornell effort while doing postdoctoral work in physics there, says that according to published statements by SDI official James Ionson, "universities, in effect, become lobbyists for the SDI program, and a lot of people have been quite upset about that." Ionson refused to be interviewed by phone. A main driving force, however, is that scientists opposing Star Wars generally feel that it "will likely stimulate the arms race and erode the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty," Lamb explains. Nobel Laureate and Cornell chemist Roald Hoffmann agrees. He has signed Cornell's statement because he believes that Star Wars "will lead to an augmentation of the arms race." He also thinks "there is the potential of intrusion by the military into basic research." Hoffmann, who is now conducting research for the Navy, thinks that the Pentagon's dangling of "vast amounts of money with strings attached—secrecy and con-
trols on publication—will have a corrupting influence that will filter down to chemistry." "Ultimately there is basic laser chemistry, and ion chemistry and physics involved in some of the proposals," Hoffmann says. And Illinois chemist Peter Wolynes, who is circulating the statement among colleagues in his department, says chemists will be needed "to make certain glasses for the very large mirrors [envisioned in Star Wars], and for various materials used in the electronics of high-speed computers and for optical-signal processing." Scientists at the Institute of Theoretical Physics at Santa Barbara; the University of California, Berkeley; IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center at Yorktown Heights, N.Y.; and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory at Batavia, 111., also have signed the Illinois statement. Wright says Cornell has at least 60 signatures from faculty members and 120 from students in the departments of chemistry, physics, space science, engineering, and computer science. He plans to circulate Cornell's statement to other universities. D
Renewal of U.S.-Soviet space cooperation urged From a practical point of view, valuable gains in space research and applications could accrue to the U.S. from a renewal of cooperative space activities with the Soviet Union. At least that's what Congress' Office of Technology Assessment thinks, although it admits that such a renewal presents a "difficult and controversial challenge." In a technical memorandum released last week, OTA points out there is no doubt the Soviets have been pursuing an aggressive campaign to acquire western technology and know-how, particularly in the area of space systems and technology. In any cooperative venture care would have to be taken to prevent the transfer of militarily sensitive technology and knowledge to the Soviet Union. Still there are areas that present an opportunity for a substantive, broad-based exchange on both sides. These range, according to the memorandum, from joint work in astro8
July 22, 1985 C&EN
physics and global studies, to coordination of separate missions to maximize scientific return, to a dramatic joint mission to Mars or the sun. Sen. Charles McC. Mathias Jr. (R.-Md.), Sen. Spark M. Matsunaga (D.-Hawaii), and Sen. Claiborne Pell (D.-R.L), who requested the OTA memorandum, contend that it reinforces the judgment last year of Congress in its unanimous passage of a joint resolution calling for a renewal of the U.S./U.S.S.R. cooperative space agreement that was allowed to lapse in 1982. They say that the memorandum demonstrates beyond doubt that important scientific benefits accrued to the U.S. while the previous agreement was in force and that those benefits would, if anything, be increased under a new one. Copies of the OTA memorandum, "U.S.-Soviet Cooperation in Space," are available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, (202) 783-3238. The GPO stock number is 052-0053-01-004-6. D
Monsanto to acquire Searle for $2.7 billion Monsanto, which made an unsuccessful bid last winter to acquire the pharmaceutical arm of G. D. Searle & Co., announced last week that it will now acquire the entire company for $2.7 billion. Searle is a major producer of pharmaceuticals and aspartame. At the same time, the company said it will try to sell its oil and gas division, which had 1984 sales of $203 million, to help finance the purchase. Under a definitive agreement between the two companies, Monsanto will make a cash tender offer of $65 per share for all outstanding Searle common stock. In addition, Monsanto has options to buy, for $65 per share, Searle family trust stock and authorized but unissued common stock that would total 32% of outstanding shares. Monsanto has been looking for a drug operation to facilitate the eventual commercialization of such research-stage products as atrial peptides and other substances. The firm sees the acquisition of Searle as a way to accelerate its strategic effort to have its business divided evenly among chemicals, life sciences, and engineered products by 1990. "The acquisition is a positive move," says Robert Reitzes, chemicals analyst at Mabon, N u g e n t . Reitzes, who has been predicting major cost-control measures at Monsanto such as staff cuts and the sale of some commodity chemical assets, thinks Monsanto probably now will try to sell some Searle assets in addition to its own energy unit to reduce its borrowing requirements and stem the dilution of earnings as a result of the purchase. The merger agreement comes four months after Searle, which had been asked to sell all or part of itself by Searle family members, announced it was no longer available (C&EN, April 1, page 8). Besides Monsanto's offer to buy the drug unit, Searle received offers for its highly profitable NutraSweet (aspartame) division. Monsanto says that after Searle rebuffed its bid, it "took a broader look at all of Searle and became interested in the whole company." D
