Chemical worm This week versity, De Kalb, 111. The conference was cosponsored by NSF and the ACS Division of Chemical Education and codirected by Dr. Lykos, Dr. F. M. Miller, and Dr. W. Roy Mason, the latter two of NIU's chemistry department. More than 200 chemists, computer scientists, and educators exchanged views on how best to use computers—not just as "number crunchers" but as tools that can improve the quality of data, free the experimenter from routine tasks of equipment manipulation, and, paradoxically, often give more "personal attention" to a student than can a busy human instructor. In a session on computer control of experiments, Dr. Paul W. Gilles of the University of Kansas commented on his group's use of a minicomputer for high-temperature mass spectroscopy experiments: "We look upon a computer as just another piece of apparatus. But with it, we can do experiments we can't do without it; we can perform our experiments more efficiently; and we can utilize the data in a much more effective way than we could in the past." Speaking on the computer's role in undergraduate curriculum development, Dr. Joseph R. Denk of the North Carolina Educational Computing Service took note of the "strange spectrum" of activity in the field: some large universities "loaded with computer power" don't have a single undergraduate chemistry course that involves the computer; yet, some small colleges with a single teletype terminal have chemistry curriculums for which the computer is essential. Dr. Denk contends that the problem is not a lag in technology or systems but a lag in educational philosophy, and that the publishor-perish system is a primary cause. Computer curriculum development will not flourish, he believes, so long as the work "is not adequately rewarded in the academic market." SCIENCE R&D:
Spur growth, aid trade A revamping of the nation's antitrust laws and new federal incentives for technological development may be necessary to remedy the nation's slackening trade balance, Commerce Secretary Maurice Stans said last week. The nation's trade surplus may disappear alto8 C&EN AUG. 2, 1971
gether this year for the first time since 1893, he warned, adding that the conditions which have led to this situation are "clearly serious and growing worse." Secretary Stans was lead-off witness at three days of hearings last week on "Science, Technology, and the Economy" before the House Subcommittee on Science, Research and Development. Rep. John W. Davis (D.-Ga.), subcommittee chairman, says the subcommittee hopes to determine what resources the nation should invest in R&D both in the public and private sectors and the best ways for making these investments. The subcommittee plans a detailed study of the relationships among science, technology, and the economy. It will hold additional hearings later this year. Some of the factors underlying the decline in U.S. technological strength, according to Secretary Stans, are an accelerated worldwide transfer of technology, growth of foreign government incentives, and the increasing cost and risks of major technology breakthroughs. Of all the factors that influence the U.S. international trade position, such as tariffs, quotas, and nontariff barriers, the major element which the nation can influence decisively for the long run, he said, is the level of technological development. To enhance and spur the nation's technological development, the Secretary offered the subcommittee "program options," which he said ought to be looked at carefully. One program option would centralize federal activities for enhancing, assessing, and forecasting industrial technology. Another option calls for modernization of U.S. antitrust laws to permit pooling of funds and risks associated with major technological advances. Direct and indirect financial incentives aimed at stimulating the development and use of new technology might also be created, Secretary Stans told the subcommittee. For example, direct federal assistance might be provided through loan guarantees, cost sharing, grants, and procurement incentives. Indirect financial assistance could include tax incentives for R&D and capital expenditures, or possibly matching tax incentives such as depreciation allowances, investment credits, credits for incremental R&D, and favorable treatment by U.S. competitors for inventors.
I UNEMPLOYMENT:
ICI to lay off workers The U.K.'s Imperial Chemical Industries plans to reduce the number of employees in its fibers division by 1450, or 8% of the division's total work force. Problems of rapidly rising costs, slack demand, and pressure on nylon prices were leading to heavy losses, leaving the company with little choice, according to ICI Fibres deputy chairman Kenneth Gardener. The layoffs represent about 1% of the company's 142,000 U.K. employees. Unemployment in the U.K. chemical industry is, in general, low, according to Department of Employment and Productivity figures. About 11,000 (2.4%) are registered as unemployed out of a total industry work force of some 450,000. The U.K.'s overall unemployment rate is about 3.3%. ICI Fibres, which supplies more than 50% of U.K. nylon fibers demand and about 70% of polyester demand (and whose 1970 sales were more than $300 million), is confident of a recovery from the current slump in the fibers and textile industry this fall, which is nevertheless when the first of the 1450 employees are scheduled to be terminated. Expected growth in the nylon business, for which ICI recruited strongly about 18 months ago, hasn't materialized, and the company apparently now has too many employees in its nylon fibers operations. ICI's present problems stem in part from inroads polyester is making into markets previously held by nylon. U.K. annual demand for nylon fibers is about the same as last year's 285 million pounds, Mr. Gardener estimates. Meanwhile, demand for polyester is growing rapidly, last year topping 160 million pounds. U.K. and other West European producers may even switch the current nylon overcapacity to polyester in an effort to keep up with market trends, Mr. Gardener says. Another part of the problem is that slack demand and the economic squeeze have left little room for the price increases ICI needs to make its nylon business profitable. The company last February hiked nylon prices by 7.5%, but some of the increases didn't stick, Mr. Gardener says. Costs are meanwhile growing 10% a year.
