 |
      |
 |
 |
||
 |
|
 |
||
 |
|
 |
||
|
For more information on these science news and feature story tips, please contact the public information officer at the end of each item at (703) 292-8070. Contents of this News Tip:
REPORT DOCUMENTS STATUS OF UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS IN S&E ParticipationReport Documents Status Of Underrepresented Groups In S&E; Participation in science and engineering (S&E;) in the United States has not reflected the diversity of the nation's population, for a variety of historical and cultural reasons. Traditionally underrepresented groups - racial/ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities and women -- have made progress, but in different degrees. A biennial NSF report documents the different rates at which these groups are represented in S&E;, and the factors that influence their choice of study and their success. Some of the findings included in Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering - 1994 include: male high school students are more than three times as likely as females to choose a career in S&E; fields; women earned 29 percent of the S&E; doctorates in 1992 (up from 24 percent in 1982); women comprised 46 percent of the labor force in all occupations in 1990, but only 22 percent of the S&E; labor force. The report also found that: blacks, Hispanics and American Indians continued to be seriously underrepresented in graduate S&E; programs, comprising nine percent of the total enrollment in 1992; the numbers of underrepresented minorities receiving S&E; doctorates in 1992 were very small (300 blacks, 414 Hispanics); and underrepresented minorities were 19 percent of the total labor force and eight percent of the S&E; labor force in 1990. "For free single copies of the report, "Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 1994," fax a request to SRS publications, (703) 306-0510, or email to srspubs@nsf.gov. Journalists may contact the Office of Legislative and Public Affairs at (703) 306- 1070." [Mary Hanson] For additional information contact, Mary Golladay, SRS, 306 1774 or via e-mail: mgollada@nsf.gov. ANTARCTIC ICE DRILLERS PASS 3000-METER DEPTH AT VOSTOKIce-core drillers at Russia's Vostok Station, which is situated atop the great ice sheet of East Antarctica, recently passed 3000 meters (11,800 feet) -- a depth at which the ice is about 300,000 years old. Vostok ice cores studied over the past decade by Russian, U.S. and French scientists have yielded unique information about environmental and climatic changes over the last glacial interglacial period. For example, analyses of air bubbles trapped in the ice confirm that levels of carbon dioxide and methane -- gasses critical to greenhouse warming - were higher between, compared to during, glacial times. The depths of the Vostok core, when extracted, will be much older than the deep cores of the Greenland ice sheet completed several years ago. (Less snow falls in this part of Antarctica every year, so each meter of ice holds more years of snowfall.) The National Science Foundation supports U.S. scientists who study the ice cores -- the deepest available for Antarctica -and provides some logistical support for Vostok Station, which was established by the Soviet Union more than 37 years ago. [Lynn Simarski] MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS EXPLORE RECYCLING AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUESHow can university faculty relate to middle school students? This question was answered recently by a National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported summer camp "Managing My Environment." The camp was directed by Jon Keller, Presidential Faculty Fellow and associate professor of metallurgical engineering and Robb Winter, professor of chemical engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. "The camp was designed to give students hands-on training in the laboratory and use of computers on issues such as recycling and air/water pollution. It was a great experience for both students and teachers," said Professor Keller. Next year's camp will be expanded to target minority students, primarily Native Americans. "There's great interest in NativeAmerican culture for the environment," said Deb La Mere, a local earth science high school teacher assisting at the camp. "Next year will bring scientific understanding to an issue that is part of our culture," she added. Keller was selected by the president as one of 30 Presidential Faculty Fellows (PFF) in 1994 for his demonstrated excellence and promise both in research and teaching. "Dr.Keller is a great example of how professors can integrate their research into teaching and community service. His contributions are reaching beyond his own classroom and laboratory," said Sonia Ortega, director of the PFF program at NSF. [Njuguna Kabugi]
|
||||
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |