n e w s of t h e w e e k roads can continue to use Union Pacific Railroad (UP) tracks in the Houston area. STB will maintain their oversight of service in the area through biweekly— instead of weekly—reports from UP and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad— the area's major carriers. But STB will reduce the information that must be disclosed publicly. The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) is "shocked" and "disappointed" by STB's action. "This decision is a clear indication that the STB has disregarded the needs of the shipper community which has borne the brunt of the service meltdown," SPI says in a statement released after the decision. SPI says "transit times are at least 150% worse than before the UP and Southern Pacific merger." Many shippers blame the merger for the service crisis that began in Houston last summer and quickly spread throughout the rail system in the central and western U.S. (C&EN, Dec. 22, 1997, page 17). A joint STB filing by SPI, the Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA), and the National Industrial Transportation League had requested that the order be extended until this fall when the board is scheduled to consider long-term changes to conditions set in its August 1996 merger approval. The board has agreed to take a close look at the "consensus plan"—another filing by SPI, CMA, and others—that proposes long-term changes to the merger deal (C&EN, July 13, page 14). In its ruling on the emergency order,
the board says that it could not justify a continuance, noting that rail service "in the Houston area is fluid and has been for several weeks." It cites continued progress in reducing congestion as evidenced by data that UP submits to STB on a weekly basis. Also, the board says it is concerned about potential financial damage to UP from such public data disclosures—which UP says contain confidential information—and the trackage rights that have been granted to other carriers. "We must be mindful of the risk of continued government intervention [that] could impede the company's ability to raise the capital needed to continue to make the kinds of infrastructure investments that the West needs, and that UP has pledged to make," says the board. UP's pain from the service problems is obvious. The railroad's parent company, Union Pacific Corp., reported its third consecutive quarterly loss last month, noting the impact of rail service problems and a provision for customer claims. In recent weeks, UP settled service-related lawsuits with DuPont and Dow Chemical for undisclosed amounts and continues to face customers' claims for losses caused by service problems. UP's chairman and chief executive officer, Richard K. Davidson, admits that UP's work is not yet done. "We aren't kidding ourselves about what's ahead. Our job of restoring UP service to its traditionally high levels is far from finished." Paige Morse
its more notable findings is that U.S. 12th graders score not only below the international average, but also among the lowest of the 21 nations that participated in the assessment of general knowledge of science. U.S. students lag similarly in The National Science Board (NSB), the mathematics knowledge. Combined with prior TIMSS studies of 24-member presidentially appointed oversight body of the National Science fourth and eighth graders, analysis of the Foundation, is urging all stakeholders in results suggests that U.S. students disenkindergarten through 12th-grade educa- gage from learning critical mathematics tion to develop a nationwide consensus and science content as they progress on core knowledge and competency in through the school system. The results of mathematics and science. The board's the fourth-grade studies put U.S. students statement, titled "Failing Our Children," near the top. They slip somewhat by released July 31, comes in response to eighth grade and bottom out at the end the abysmal performance of U.S. high of high school. school seniors on the Third International NSB's chairman, Eamon M. Kelly, an Mathematics & Science Study (TIMSS). economist and president of Tulane UniThe results of TIMSS for 12th graders, versity, New Orleans, believes that popuwhich were released earlier this year lation mobility in the U.S. is at least par(C&EN, March 2, page 11), have raised tially to blame, saying it has resulted in much concern and controversy. Among shallow education for some students. To
Science board urges action on K-12 science curricula
10 AUGUST 10, 1998 C&EN
Kelly: crisis in science education
combat this, the board also calls for "indepth study of a few topics within a subject each year," a process it says "yields far better results than the broad, repetitive, superficial coverage of many topics that characterizes current U.S. curricula." "No nation can afford to tolerate what prevails in American schooling," says Mary K. Gaillard, a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and chairman of the NSB TIMSS Task Force. "It will not suffice to be satisfied with a small, elite cadre of highly educated engineers and scientists while the balance of our citizens remains scientifically illiterate," she says. "It is ironic that a crisis in math and science education should erupt in the midst of this golden age in science and technology," notes Kelly. NSB also believes other issues need to be addressed. One is the building of a system of rewards and incentives that would include providing appropriate salaries for well-trained teachers who are knowledgeable about content and pedagogically skillful. Another is establishing college admissions criteria that reinforce high standards in K-12 education and bolster the participation of all students in mathematics and science education. Aided by a series of regional field hearings already in progress (the first was held in Chicago late last month, the next is set for Oct. 7 in San Juan, P.R.), NSB is soliciting the views and analyses of stakeholders about possible strategies for raising student achievement. The NSB statement and other board documents are available at http:// www.nsf.gov/nsb under "documents." Linda Raber
