News: AAAS News & Notes
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INTERNATIONAL
Japan Promotes New Vision of R&D in Talk at AAAS
Japan is charting its course as a 21st-century powerhouse in science and technology by channeling academic research into practical results as varied as nuclear fusion, high-speed communications systems, and regenerative therapy using embryonic stem cells, according to Japan's Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy.
Speaking on 6 September at AAAS, Koji Omi said that Japan's government's current 5-year, $223-billion Plan for Science and Technology will focus governmental R&D resources on four priority areas--life sciences, information technology, environmental sciences, and nanotechnology and materials sciences.
 Koji Omi, right, speaks with Carnegie Commission consultant David Beckler. |
Omi conceded that more than money is needed for Japan to remain a research frontrunner. To that end, he said, the reform-minded government of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi aims to restructure Japan's research and development systems.
Omi urged the United States to collaborate with Japan and other countries on international science and technology initiatives such as the Kyoto Protocol. The treaty is expected to go into effect in 2002, but the Bush Administration has declined to participate in the protocol. Omi urged the United States to reconsider that position.
Omi also requested international cooperation on a related initiative--the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, an effort to develop plasma fusion technology that would provide energy without emission of greenhouse gases. Although it was a key participant when the ITER project was launched in 1988, the United States withdrew in 1999, in part because the costs were anticipated to be as high as $8 billion. "I wish to appeal to all of you to urge the U.S. government to again participate in the ITER project," Omi told the audience.
Omi and his staff
have had a close relationship with AAAS for years. He has worked with the AAAS
Pacific Rim Initiative and was instrumental in the success of a 1999 AAAS visit
to Japan with members of Congress. Omi is currently working with AAAS to reciprocate
that visit with Japanese policymakers in 2002.
Omi's presentation
was organized by AAAS, the Embassy of Japan, and the Washington Science Policy
Alliance (WSPA), and was the inaugural talk of WSPA's seasonal lecture series.
--Peg Dillon
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GOVERNANCE Ballots for the 2001 election of the AAAS president-elect, members of the Board of Directors and Committee on Nominations, and section officers were mailed to all active AAAS members (as of the 10 August issue of Science). Ballots must be returned by 13 November. Ballots postmarked after that date will not be counted. Anyone who has not received a ballot by mid-October may contact Linda McDaniel at Lmcdanie@aaas.org or by fax at 202-371-9526. AAAS members may nominate candidates (including themselves) for president-elect and for the Board of Directors for election in the fall of 2002. Terms will begin in February 2003. For a list of this year's candidates, see AAAS News & Notes in the 29 June issue of Science; for a list of current Board members, see the masthead page of any recent Science issue. Please send nominee's curriculum vitae no later than 30 October to Gretchen Seiler, AAAS Executive Office, 1200 New York Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC, 20005. Nominations will be considered by the AAAS Committee on Nominations at its December meeting. |
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REMINDER The next meeting of the AAAS Council will take place during the AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston, MA, and will begin at 9:00 a.m. on 17 February 2002 in the Grand Ballroom of the Sheraton Boston. Individuals or organizations wishing to present proposals or resolutions for possible consideration by the Council should submit them in written form to AAAS Executive Officer Richard Nicholson by 1 November 2001. This deadline will allow time for resolutions to be considered by the Committee on Council Affairs at its December meeting. Items should be consistent with AAAS's objectives and be appropriate for consideration by the Council. Resolutions should be in the traditional format, beginning with "Whereas" statements and ending with "Therefore be it resolved." Late proposals or resolutions delivered to the AAAS Executive Officer in advance of the 16 February Open Hearing of the Committee on Council Affairs will be considered, provided that they deal with urgent matters and are accompanied by a written explanation for why they were not submitted by the November deadline. The Committee on Council Affairs will hold its open hearing at 2:30 p.m. on 16 February 2002 in the Grand Ballroom Room A & B of the Boston Marriott Copley Place. Summaries of the Council meeting agenda will be available during the annual meeting at both the AAAS Information Desk and in the AAAS Headquarters Office. A copy of the full agenda will also be available for inspection in the Headquarters Office. |
