Reassessing Disasters

Natural Hazards Response Requires New Approach, Study Says
The cost of natural hazards in the United States has averaged as much as $1 billion per week since 1989 and is expected to keep rising, according to a new study released on May 19 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. In some cases, steps taken to reduce the impact of natural hazards may actually make the situation worse when more extreme disasters occur, said Dennis Mileti, who led the study team of 132 experts. The five-year, $750,000 study -- titled Disasters by Design: A Reassessment of Natural Hazards in the United States -- was funded primarily by the National Science Foundation's [NSF] Engineering Directorate. The Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA], the U.S. Geological Survey [USGS], the U.S. Forest Service and the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] also contributed funding. The study team was asked to evaluate what is known about natural hazards and come up with ways to reduce their social and economic costs. "The really big catastrophes are getting larger and will continue to get larger, partly because of things we've done in the past to reduce risk," Mileti said.    More...

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NSF Grant Brings "Virtual Worlds" to Life
Supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) are developing "virtual worlds" that one day could allow planners nationwide to design better cities by "visiting" a computer-generated metropolis or where firefighters could consult "digital buildings" to decide how to battle a blaze. Using a $1.3-million NSF grant, an interdisciplinary team of researchers led by Richard R. Muntz, the chairman of UCLA's computer science department, have drawn from research in field as diverse as architecture, computer science and psychology to develop three-dimensional computer models for the "Virtual World Data Server." The team has created complex simulations that may eventually lead to new ways to study problems in fields from urban planning to physics and surgery.    More...

S&E; Degrees to Women, Minorities on the Rise, Math Achievement "Gender Gap" Is Gone
The number and proportion of women and minorities enrolled and earning undergraduate and graduate science and engineering [S&E;] degrees continues to increase, while the number of white men doing so is decreasing, according to a National Science Foundation [NSF] report recently released to Congress. Between 1982 and 1994, the percentages of black, Hispanic and American Indian students taking many basic and advanced mathematics courses doubled. And the 1996 National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP] mathematics assessment results showed that the "gender gap" in mathematics achievement has, for the most part, disappeared, says Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 1998, a report by NSF's Division of Science Resources Studies [SRS]. Despite these gains, women, minorities, and persons with disabilities remain underrepresented in science and engineering fields, said the ninth in a series of Congressionally mandated reports on the status of women and minorities in science and engineering.    More...