Reactions

A more pragmatic ACS

I believe ACS has lost its moorings. For the almost 40 years that I have read C&EN, each issue has become more annoying. A societal newsmagazine should promote excellence in that field of endeavor, such as chemistry. However, each issue of C&EN features more promotion of political correctness, some questionable science, political propaganda, and an air that industrial chemistry is secondary to academia. Occasionally there are good articles regarding success in the field; however, little space is devoted to solving actual problems, such as outsourcing or firing chemists over 50.

I am a chemist over 50 who has not been able to find suitable work for two years. I have more than 30 years' experience internationally and speak three languages. The only job offer I received was for a major food manufacturer in a major city 1,500 miles away for $13 an hour on a trial basis. I have used the ACS employment section, but to no avail. To me, the problem is that ACS is filling its time and pages with wistful statements about global warming, women's issues, and the United Nations instead of channeling that energy into preserving our trade as chemists and putting 30 years of skill to work. Although it seems to surprise the editors, it does not surprise me that many colleges are dropping their chemistry departments or "mainstreaming" or "dumbing down" the chemistry.

In my forced retirement, I have decided to pursue classical guitar and artwork that I gave up for chemistry 30 years ago. What blows my mind is that I am surrounded by more "liberal" people in these fields, and yet, when you read Artists' Magazine or Fingerstyle Guitar, there are absolutely no articles concerning the fact that there are not enough women guitar players or not enough men painting flowers. There are no overblown stories about how President Bush is not doing his job or how great Kofi Annan is. Nobody wants to know if you are married or partnered; just show me if you can play "Lagrima" or paint in the style of Durer. If not, we try to help each other do better.

These societies meet to push the arts to their limits using new technologies, and not use their clout as a forum to push political ideas. Why can't ACS do that with science?

Arthur Carnrick
Milton, Fla.

Policies fall short

I am concerned that the American Chemical Society's Governing Board for Publishing may be placing both the ACS Publications Division and Chemical Abstracts Service in the position of inadvertently marginalizing the society's efforts to reach out to the molecular biology and applied physics communities. This marginalization is a result of their reluctance to adopt a reasonable open-archive policy for the society's publications.

As a 40-year member of ACS, I find it a little embarrassing to compare the archival access provided by both the American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and the American Physical Society to their journals with what ACS currently provides. Surely, both ACS Publications and CAS could provide access to a fixed portion of their archival content at nominal cost without jeopardizing their current subscription revenue.

Dana L. Roth
Pasadena, Calif.

Fishing out the flu

In the article "Keeping One Step Ahead Of The Flu," the words "that infect pigs and birds" triggered a recollection (C&EN, Feb. 28, page 49). A quick Google search was successful. In southern China, farmers raise hens, ducks, pigs, and fish in an integrated system. They use the droppings and leftover food from the pigs to feed the fowl. The fowl droppings, in turn, help fertilize the fish ponds. The fairly well-documented outcome is a wonderfully efficient mechanism for the rapid cycling of influenza viruses between the fowl and the pigs. The "drift" results in new strains we have to deal with each year.

Perhaps we should pay those farmers to raise either fowl or pigs, but not both, for a couple of years just to see what happens to flu viruses? The funding could come from the World Health Organization, based upon estimated future savings of not having to produce the annual vaccine cocktails.

James R. Madden
Baton Rouge, La.

CLARIFICATION

April 25, page 39: The Center for Authentic Science Practice in Education (CASPiE) is a collaboration among Purdue University and the University of Illinois, Chicago, both research institutions; Ball State University, Northeastern Illinois University, and Chicago State University, all primarily undergraduate institutions; and four community colleges, including the College of DuPage, Moraine Valley Community College, Olive-Harvey College, and Harold Washington College. Five principal investigators share responsibility for the project: Gabriela C. Weaver (Purdue), Fred E. Lytle (Purdue), Donald J. Wink (Illinois at Chicago), Robert J. Morris (Ball State), and Pratibha Varma-Nelson (Northeastern Illinois). <!-- This document created using BeyondPress(TM) 4.0.1 For Macintosh -->