Komputer for Alle 1998 #6/1998 CD 6 (Gul).iso/web/ffa/wwwenv~1.org/arrs/digest/news57~3.htm/text0002.txt

Text File | 1998-04-02 | 61.7 KB | 1,458 lines

Scientists have suggested an association between a variant form of CJD
reported in the United Kingdom and bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE), the so-called "mad cow disease" that has infected about a million
cows in Britain since 1985. Both illnesses belong to the same group of
degenerative neurological diseases.

No cases of the variant CJD or BSE have been found in the United States.
The CDC has said there is no direct evidence that BSE can spread to
humans.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease afflicts only about one person per million and
is most often found in patients 55 to 65 years of age. The CDC said 10
to 15 percent of CJD cases are inherited.

A University of Kentucky researcher suggested earlier this year that
eating squirrel brains could cause CJD. Cases have also been linked to
the use of contaminated corneal transplants, electrode implants and the
receipt of human growth hormone, the CDC said.

--By MIKE COOPER, Reuters
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 21:38:02 -0800
From: Andrew Gach <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Wild boars attack chemical plant
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Wild boars attack chemical plant

Copyright ⌐ 1997 Reuters
RABAT (November 14, 1997 11:53 a.m. EST)

Two wild boars burst into a phosphoric acid plant near Casablanca,
injuring one worker and causing panic among the staff, the Moroccan
daily l'Opinion said Friday.

It said the two animals, probably fugitives from a reserve some 45 miles
south of El Jadida, stormed into the plant Tuesday morning.

Hundreds of workers fled from the huge rampaging beasts, halting work at
the plant for several hours, the newspaper said.

Police officers called in forest rangers, but they arrived after the
boars had left the plant.
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 21:39:28 -0800
From: Andrew Gach <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: AIDS not cured by drug cocktail treatments
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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AIDS virus still lurks despite drug cocktail treatments, studies find

Reuters
WASHINGTON (November 14, 1997 00:47 a.m. EST)

AIDS experts said Thursday that the "cocktail" of drugs now used widely
to keep AIDS at bay in HIV-positive patients will probably never cure
them. But they clung to hope they will eventually be able to find a
cure.

They said tests showed the AIDS virus still lurks in the immune system
cells it infects, even after years of taking the powerful drugs.

"The bad news is we can't yet get rid of the virus entirely. The number
of immune system cells that remain infected with HIV declines only very
slowly," said Dr. Robert Siciliano, an associate professor of medicine
at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who worked on one study.

"But the good news is that as long as people infected with HIV keep
taking the triple-drug cocktail, they have an excellent chance of
surviving the infection for a long time, without developing symptoms of
the disease."

Three reports, two in the journal Science and one in the Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences, show that although multiple drug
therapy can stop the AIDS virus from growing and spreading, it has yet
to kill it off completely.

The Johns Hopkins researchers, teaming up with Dr. David Ho and
colleagues at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York, looked
for HIV in 22 patients who had been on the cocktail therapy for as long
as 30 months.

People on this cocktail therapy have to take handfuls of pills every day
-- many at set times. The side-effects can be very unpleasant and
include nausea, so this group was chosen very carefully to make sure
they took every pill on time.

Nonetheless, the researchers were able to routinely tease HIV out of
"resting" CD4 cells -- helper T-cells that had been infected but were
not currently in the replicative phase.

"The team also showed that when the resting cells were stimulated to
reproduce, the AIDS virus also replicated," said Diana Finzi, a
post-graduate student who led the work.

Siliciano said this did not necessarily mean the infection would rebound
naturally in people who quit the drug regime. "It's not clear that these
cells will rekindle the infection, but they have got the potential to do
so," he said.

There was some positive news.

While on the cocktail regime, all the patients grew more healthy,
uninfected immune system cells. Also, the virus was not able to
replicate -- so it was also not able to mutate into new, drug-resistant
forms.

"That suggests pretty strongly to me that the replication of the virus
has been stopped, so the drugs are doing what they are supposed to do.
There's no question the drugs are keeping things in check," Siliciano
said.

Joseph Wong and Douglas Richman of the University of California-San
Diego and colleagues worked with six patients and found similar results,
as did researchers at the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious
Diseases (NAIAD) who tested 13 volunteers on the cocktail.

"These results underscore the importance of developing more potent
antiretroviral drugs, as well as treatment strategies that specifically
target latently infected cells that serve as hiding places for the
virus," said NIAID director Anthony Fauci.

The NIAID team, however, did find some evidence the virus might be
replicating inside the immune system cells.

The usual regime consists of two of the first-generation of AIDS drugs
such as AZT, ddI or 3TC and known as reverse transcriptase inhibitors,
plus a protease inhibitor such as saquinavir or ritonavir.

Some of the patients studied were taking four different drugs -- either
adding a second protease inhibitor or one of the newest generation of
AIDS drugs known as non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors
(NNRTIs).

When they first announced the dramatic effects of triple-drug therapy,
David Ho of the Diamond Center and colleagues said they planned to take
one of their patients off the drugs, first after 18 months, then after
two years.

"Eventually somebody will have to have the courage to do this,"
Siciliano said.

"The fact that the virus we are finding in these people is
drug-sensitive suggests that even if they do have a rebound (of HIV
infection), the patient could be treated."

--By MAGGIE FOX, Reuters health and science correspondent
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 17:30:47 +0800
From: bunny <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (Aust)Chicken Warfare[and pork too]
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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**Please note in this article Minister John Andersons sites "science" as the
reason for stringent import restrictions on cooked chicken meat.
Yet Minister Anderson ignored warnings of international scientists
against using RHD/VHD as a deadly biological control agent of the wild
European rabbit in Australia.
(Cooked chicken meat could bring in Newcastle Disease to Australia.
This is a disease deadly to birds. Australia is free of Newcastle Disease at
the present time and we have many unique and rare birds that are already
threatened and could be pushed to extinction by Newcastle Disease if it
arrived on our shores.)


Chicken Warfare
by Tracey Aubin ,National Affairs writer
Weekly Times
(Victoria, Australia)

The Federal Government has called on the United States to play fair after
Australia's decision to impose new barriers to cooked chicken meat imports.

Our trade officials fear the US will look at retaliatory trade barriers against
Australian products or protest the decision at the World Trade Organisation.

Federal Primary Industries and Energy Minister John Anderson last week
lifted bans on cooked chicken meat and Danish pork.

But in a surprise move, he also announced more stringent cooking
requirements for chicken imports, with meat having to be cooked for a
minimun of 70 deg.C for 143 minutes or at 80deg.C for 114 minutes-up to five
times longer than current regulations.

Mr Anderson conceded few imported chicken products would be attractive to
consumers after being cooked for so long.

The US immediately slammed the new barriers.

"We are upset for two reasons" said Sheila Austrian, a staffer with the US
mission in Australia.

"Firstly, because we have been waiting for so long and all indications were
that it would be given the big tick. Secondly, because the decision raises
concerns where there are no safety concerns."

Ms Austrian said the US would now weigh up its options. She would not rule
out taking the matter to the World Trade Organisation.

The row comes as Australia is awaiting a US decision over company-based meat
inspection.
A refusal by the US to the so-called Project 2 scheme would jeapordise the
overhaul of Australia's quarantine system.

The Government has acknowledged it would have to reconsider its quarantine
plans if the US vetoed the scheme.

Mr Anderson said he hoped the US would play fair.

"It (the chicken meat decision) should not have any impact on their decision,"
he said.

I will trust they accept that we accept that we have made the decisions on
the basis of science- the best science that we could procure-and that they
will make a decision in relation to project 2 on science.

Australia could also face trade hurdles from Thailand, which has been told
to lift its quality control standards in its export plants before Thai
cooked chicken meat is approved.

In September Thailand threatened to boycott $150 million dollars in
Australian dairy exports if its chicken products were banned.

However a spokesman for Mr Anderson said he expected Thai imports would be
permitted after six months.

Cooked chicken meat from Denmark and the US is welcome immediately, if it
satisfies the new guidelines.

Australian Dairy Industry Council chairman Pat Rowley said he welcomed the
announcement and did not expect further threats from Thailand.

Chicken growers welcomed the tougher import controls, but the pork industry
slammed the go-ahead for pork imports, saying Denmark's successful
application would pave the way for the US to enter the local market.

The Government is establishing a $10 million industry adjustment package for
the pork industry in recognition of the challenge it faces.

But Pork Council of Australia president Peter Brechin said local producers
could possibly be forced out of business.

"The short term pain is that these changed arrangements open up the market
to other competitors, and the one that we fear most are the Americans with
lower production costs" he said.

"It will put us out of business,because we will see ridiculously low retail
prices."

The Victorian Farmers Federation Pig Group also warned that imports needed
to be tagged properly so that consumers knew where their product was sourced.

The Australian Chicken Grower's Council said the new protocols vindicated
its campaign for tougher cooking requirements.

AGCC president Gary Sansom said less stringent conditions could have been a
disaster for Australia.

"Without these new tests and a final outcome that requires considerably longer
cooking times, Australia's disease free reputation could have been
destroyed," he said.

End.


===========================================

Rabbit Information Service,
P.O.Box 30,
Riverton,
Western Australia 6148

Email>  [e-mail]

http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
(Rabbit Information Service website updated frequently)

     /`\   /`\
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       )6 6(
     >{= Y =}<
      /'-^-'\
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      |  .  |
      |     |}
 jgs  \_/^\_/









Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 17:46:01 +0800
From: bunny <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: re (Aust)Chicken Wars
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The Chicken Wars Article I just posted was dated
12th November 1997
===========================================

Rabbit Information Service,
P.O.Box 30,
Riverton,
Western Australia 6148

Email>  [e-mail]

http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
(Rabbit Information Service website updated frequently)

     /`\   /`\
    (/\ \-/ /\)
       )6 6(
     >{= Y =}<
      /'-^-'\
     (_)   (_)
      |  .  |
      |     |}
 jgs  \_/^\_/









Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 10:53:11 -0800
From: Hillary <[e-mail]>
To: "[e-mail]" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Norway's top whaling boat sinks
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

.c The Associated Press

      OSLO, Norway (AP) - A boat owned by Norway's best-known whale
hunter has sunk at its dock - and one of the world's most radical
anti-whalers claims the sinking was due to sabotage.
      The 45-foot Morild sank Tuesday in Bronnoysund, 430 miles north
of Oslo, even though owner Steinar Bastesen, a former leader of the
Norwegian Whale Hunters Association, said it was in excellent
condition.
      ``The boat couldn't have sunk by itself,'' Bastesen said
Wednesday.
      Police had no immediate evidence of sabotage, but were seeking a
small boat and two people seen near the vessel, the NRK radio
network reported.
      Norway enraged activists by resuming its commercial whale hunts
in 1993, despite a global ban imposed by the International Whaling
Commission in 1986.
      Paul Watson, the American leader of militant Sea Shepherd
organization, told the Oslo newspaper Verdens Gang on Wednesday
that anti-whaling activists were responsible for sinking the
Morild.
      Watson was convicted in absentia three years ago of sabotaging
the whaling boat Nybraena.
      Norway claims the minke whales it hunts are plentiful and says
small coastal towns need the revenue from the sale of whale meat.
      AP-NY-11-12-97 1931EST
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 10:54:19 -0800
From: Hillary <[e-mail]>
To: "[e-mail]" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Bishops to go Meatless?
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

c The Associated Press

      By DEB RIECHMANN
      WASHINGTON (AP) - Aiming to improve Catholic unity and
penitence, the nation's bishops are considering a return to
meatless Fridays, a practice that hasn't been mandatory since the
1960s, except during Lent.
      Members of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops Pro-Life
Committee, where the proposal originated, say reinstating meatless
Fridays would give Catholics a way to publicly display their
penitence on Fridays - the day the Bible says Jesus suffered and
died on the cross.
      ``Maybe we need to return to that, but more broadly, we're
studying the very nature of Friday as a penitential day and how do
we better call ourselves to observe it,'' says Cardinal Bernard Law
of Boston, chairman of the pro-life committee.
      The proposal also is intended to be a way for the nation's 61
million Catholics to express themselves against abortion,
euthanasia, war violence, drugs and other ``attacks on human life
and human dignity.''
      ``The question now is, `Did we lose the whole notion of Friday
being a penitential day?''' Law said. ``Our pastoral experience is
that people have tended to lose sight of it since the obligation of
abstinence on Friday was removed.''
      And there is another question: Is giving up meat a sufficient
sign of penitence. ``Fish is very good - I have to say that coming
from Boston,'' says Law, who abstains from meat in his home on
Fridays.
      The 300-member bishops conference ends its national meeting here
Thursday.
      Archbishop Adam Maida of Chicago says that if the proposal is
endorsed, Catholics might not turn to fish.
      ``I know people who on their fast days do bread and water,''
Maida says. ``When I was a child, our staple on Fridays was potato
soup and potato pancakes.''
      But he says the proposal is not just about not eating meat on
Fridays. Catholic beliefs have become homogenized into American
culture, he said.
      He says Catholics need to publicly witness that ```I'm a
Catholic. I am for life and I affirm the value of life as taught by
the church.'''
      Archbishop Francis E. George of Chicago says he's in favor of
meatless Fridays because it would help Catholics identify with
Christ's suffering and death. But he admits he doesn't always
abstain today.
      ``If there's fish around, I'll try to eat it,'' George says.
      Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete of New York pointed to his portly
shape and said he thought it would be healthy for him to eat more
fish, which is generally considered more healthful than some other
meats.
      But Albacete doesn't want to see people scorned if they don't
embrace the practice. ``My concern is that it not be presented as,
`If you eat meat on Friday you'll burn in hell.' I think that would
be an abysmal mistake.''
      Jerry Pokorsky, a priest for the diocese of Arlington, Va., said
reinstating meatless Fridays would raise awareness of penitent
Fridays and modern-day attacks against human life, such as
abortion, which the Roman Catholic Church opposes.
      ``If the bishops decide that this is the way to go, I'd be in
favor of it because it's a question of solidarity with fellow
Catholics - a public expression of unity,'' Pokorsky said. ``We
have an obligation as Catholics to do penance on Fridays. And I
think it's a beautiful expression of our solidarity with the
unborn.''
      Personally, though, Pokorsky probably would choose pasta over
fish.
      ``There is some fish I like,'' he says. ``I like perch - lake
perch from the Great Lakes. But I'd rather have chicken or meat.''
      AP-NY-11-11-97 1905EST
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 12:41:30 -0500 (EST)
From: cenobyte <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: More research done on humans
Message-ID: <l03102800b0933a78766a@[208.21.242.82]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

An example of how some in medical experimentation answer the already-flawed
question: Will it be Fido or your child?
______________________________________________

>From the AP newswire:

MEDICAL-EXPERIMENTS, 11-14-97
MEDICAL-EXPERIMENTS-HNS GROUPS OPPOSE MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS ON
MENTAL PATIENTS
 By JOHN CAHER c.1997
Albany TimesUnion
ALBANY, N.Y. Six psychiatric patients and three advocacy groups are
fighting in court to end New York's widespread practice of conducting
medical experiments on children and mentally incompetent adults.  While the
state insists that its experiments on hundreds of children and mental
patients in recent years, including victims of Alzheimer's disease and
schizophrenia, are both necessary and appropriate, critics contend that the
so- called "human subject experimentation" violates the fundamental
liberties of the patients.  The patients and their representatives are
trying to ban all risky, "non- therapeutic" experiments conducted without
the informed, intelligent consent of the patients. They also are seeking an
order that would bar the state from conducting "therapeutic" experiments on
incompetent patients without judicial review.  On Wednesday, New York's
Court of Appeals will hear arguments in a perplexing case that pits the
state's responsibility to protect people who, because of their age or
mental condition, cannot protect themselves, against the state's role in
fostering treatment and rehabilitation.  In the balance, according to a
flurry of friend-of-the-court briefs supporting experimentation, is a
time-honored and generally safe practice that had led to the development of
crucial new drugs, such as lithium and clozapine, medications that have
revolutionized the treatment of manic-depression and psychotic illnesses.
"No one is cavalier about involving anyone, let alone incompetent adults or
miners, in research," said Stephan Himowitz, an attorney with the state
Office of Mental Health. "No one is cavalier about doing tests that aren't
necessary.' ' Regardless, the patients and advocates are seeking a broad
ruling that would impose new limits on the state, bringing New York law
into line with that of several other states, according to Ruth Lowenkron,
an attorney with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, one of the
plaintiffs.  In what is now the benchmark decision, a midlevel appellate
court last December said New York could no longer conduct non-therapeutic,
relatively risky experiments on mentally incompetent adults or children,
except for those in a federally funded program.  Lowenkron and Cliff Zucker
of Disability Advocates in Albany want the state's highest court to extend
that decision to therapeutic experiments and seek to ban federally funded
experiments as well as those paid for with state tax dollars. Under a 1990
state regulation, doctors in New York mental hospitals are allowed to
conduct experiments on patients. Some of the experiments involve yet
to-be-approved psychotropic drugs "which are capable of causing permanent,
harmful or even fatal side effects," according to last December's court
decision. Other experiments, according to the court, involve "highly
invasive painful testing with no benefit expected." Lowenkron said the
state is essentially exploiting some of its most vulnerable citizens and
turning them into "human guinea pigs' ' in the vaguely stated interest of
science.  But Himowitz and the assistant attorney general who will argue
the state's case next week, Lucia M. Valente, claim the plaintiffs have
exaggerated the risks of the experiments and understated the benefits.
Further, according to the state, all research conducted at state facilities
occurs with the consent of the patient or a surrogate, and ceases whenever
a patient _ even an incompetent patient _ objects.
NYT-ll-14-97 1632EST
(END)



Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 11:47:06 -0600
From: Horgan <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: A plea for homeless cats and dogs....
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
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If you are near a large PetsMart store this month, go in and check out
the video playing for their "Just a Buck can Change their Luck"
fundraising program.  The video hits home when it says "Enough cats and
dogs are euthanized each year to fill this entire stadium" and pans a
huge empty stadium...and goes on to say "And seven more just like it."
The phrase "and seven more just like it" is repeated several times and
you can't help but cry and picture cats and dogs filling those seats.  I
am glad that this video will make customers aware of how huge a problem
pet overpopulation and irresponsible people really is.

-MELODY-
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 12:47:45 -0500
From: Peter Muller <[e-mail]>
To: ar-news <[e-mail]>
Subject: [Fwd: ANTI-HUNTING DEMO IN KINGSTON]
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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From: Anne Muller <[e-mail]>
To: Connie Young <[e-mail]>, Danielle <[e-mail]>,
    Del & Fred Seligman <[e-mail]>,
    Denise Tremblay <[e-mail]>,
    Donna & Tony <[e-mail]>,
    Gregg Feigelson <[e-mail]>,
    Kim & Kristie Adams <[e-mail]>,
    Melanie <[e-mail]>,
    Peter Muller <[e-mail]>,
    Scott Wilson <[e-mail]>,
    Shelton Walden <[e-mail]>
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          Sat, 15 Nov 1997 01:39:15 +0000
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Subject: ANTI-HUNTING DEMO IN KINGSTON
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Date: Fri, 14 Nov 97 22:24:55 +0000
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HI EVERYONE,  PLEASE PUT THE WORD OUT TO ALL YOUR LISTS!  THANKS.

PLEASE JOIN US ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER  23, AT 2 P.M. AT THE INFAMOUS
KINGSTON TRAFFIC CIRCLE FOR OUR ANNUAL ANTI-HUNTING DEMONSTRATION
SPONSORED BY C.A.S.H. - THE COMMITTEE TO ABOLISH SPORT HUNTING.  LET
THE
HUNTERS AND GENERAL PUBLIC KNOW HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THE
ABOMINATION OF
KILLING DEER, BEARS AND COYOTES  (THERE IS NO LIMIT TO THE NUMBER OF
COYOTES THAT CAN BE KILLED!) FOR FUN AND PROFIT.

MEET US AT EXIT 19 ON THE  NYS THRUWAY - GO THROUGH TOLL BOOTH (IF
COMING FROM THE SOUTH) AND PARK AT THE INFORMATION TRAIN JUST OFF
THE
CIRCLE.

SEE THE PERVERTS FIRSTHAND WHO SAVAGELY KILL YOUR WILDLIFE.

SEE THE DEC PRETEND TO DO "SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH" BY "EXAMINING"  OUR
SLAIN WILDLIFE.   THE KILLINGS ARE ORCHESTRATED BY THE DEC TO TAKE
ADVANTAGE OF THE FIREARMS MONEY AND LICENSE FEES.

LEARN THE TRUE STORY!! CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS AND SAY, "I WANT YOU TO
PUT
AN END TO THIS CRUEL INSANITY!!!!"

IF YOU NEED MORE INFORMATION CALL THE COMMITTEE TO ABOLISH SPORT
HUNTING
914-256-0200 OR 914-255-4227.


AS DANIELLE ALWAYS SAYS,
TAKE CARE, TAKE ACTION!  SEE YOU THERE!


ANNE


Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 13:26:33 -0500 (EST)
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Thanksgiving No-Turkey "Turkey"
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

 Subject: Thanksgiving No-Turkey "Turkey"

 Forgive me if someone has already posted this info...

 My health food store is stocking a seitan look-alike "turkey" from a company
 called "Now and Zen."  If you haven't heard about them, they can be reached
 at 1-800-335-1959.  The vegan "turkey" has "yuba,"  a beancurd skin, bread
 stuffing, and a quart of gravy.  It weighs five lbs., and serves 8-10.  Cost
 is $39.95, and I think you have to order through your health food store, but
 I'm not really sure how that works.  I believe that the 16th is the last day
 to order!

 This sort of thing turns me off bigtime, especially because it looks just
 like a cooked turkey, but it might be a good way to bring some carnivores
 into the fold.  At the least, it might keep 'em from squawking too loud at
 your family veggie thanksgiving feast!

 Best,
 Lynn Manheim
 Letters for Animals



Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 14:12:15 -0500
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Poultry Farmers Want More Rights
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

factory farming trends
from Associated Press http://wire.ap.org/
----------------------------------------
 11/15/1997 11:04 EST

 Poultry Farmers Want More Rights

 By CURT ANDERSON
 AP Farm Writer

 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Most American poultry growers don't own their birds.
 They provide labor, buildings and utilities for the processing companies,
 who control every other aspect of raising flocks from egg to finished
 product.

 The companies agree to contracts with individual farmers, paying them a
 set fee for raising the birds minus deductions for dead birds and the
 costs of treating disease. The growers are ranked by performance and paid
 accordingly.

 While processing companies say this arrangement provides uniform, quality
 birds and a steady supply of flocks for slaughter, some growers say the
 arrangement is unfair. They want to organize into marketing cooperatives
 to deal with the companies.

 ``They have absolute control of the process,'' said Frank Morison, a
 contract chicken grower for Perdue Farms on Maryland's Eastern Shore and
 a vocal opponent of the system. ``I finally figured out I'm a
 sharecropper here.''

 Legislation introduced this month by Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, would
 make it easier for growers to create bargaining associations and give the
 secretary of agriculture broad new authority to force processors to
 negotiate.

 In addition, the bill would prevent processors from attempting to
 ``dominate or interfere'' with formation of grower associations and
 mandate binding arbitration if the two sides reach impasse.

 The bill would apply to the estimated 44,000 farms -- about 13 percent of
 all farms -- with production contracts for chickens, turkeys, milk, hogs,
 fruit and vegetables. Poultry is by far the most universal, with 90
 percent of farms under contracts.

 Kaptur, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations agriculture
 subcommittee, who is strongly supported by labor unions, said some
 contract growers feel they are ``almost held in bondage'' by the
 processors. They feel unable to negotiate alone terms that enable them to
 pay off loans for buildings.

 ``Right now, they are almost powerless,'' Kaptur said. ``Together, they
 can be an important force, where they have some standing in the economic
 contract that is signed.''

 Improved bargaining power also could boost the growers' income, Kaptur
 said. On Maryland's Eastern Shore, for example, a typical poultry grower
 with two chicken houses nets less than $10,000 a year, according to the
 National Contract Poultry Growers Association.

 ``They have this huge capital investment,'' Kaptur said. ``If something
 goes wrong, they absorb all the loss. If something goes right, their
 margin is very small.''

 Processors say, however, that Kaptur's bill represents unwarranted
 government intrusion in a private business relationship.

 ``The bill looks like mandatory collective bargaining,'' said Richard
 Lobb of the National Broiler Council, the main processors' organization.
 ``It certainly has that potential through the government power to impose
 terms, rather than letting the terms be set by the market.''

 Lobb said without individual contracts, costs to processors would go up
 because of disruptions in the stream of birds coming into the plants.
 Processors also could not ensure the flocks arrive in exactly the
 condition they want.

 ``The companies know exactly what they're getting, and the birds are bred
 to very exact specifications, right down to the color of the skin,'' Lobb
 said. ``They have no interest in going out and buying a variety of
 different birds.''

 Beyond the economics, the processors say the majority of growers are
 satisfied with the steady income provided by the contracts. Additionally,
 processors contend that most growers have other income sources and use
 chicken houses as supplements for such extras as a child's college
 education.

 ``Everybody goes into it knowing that is the system,'' said Dick Auletta,
 spokesman for Perdue Farms. ``It never was supposed to be primary income.
 They knew that in advance.''

 With Congress in adjournment until January, Kaptur will have to wait
 until spring for her proposal to be considered. So far, she has attracted
 support only from Democrats.

Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 13:16:40 -0800
From: "Bob Schlesinger" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: National Enquirer carries story about Nadas
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

>From Ark Online News
http://www.arkonline.com
Nov 15, 1997
-------------------------------
The National Enquirer did a story on Nadas that appears on page 14 of their current issue  that
went on sale November 11th and will be on newsstands and Supermarket checkout counters until
November 18.  Nadas is the gentle 3 year old family collie-malamute mix that has been on death
row for 14 months in Jackson County, Oregon for allegedly chasing a horse.  The horse was not
injured, however Oregon livestock law as interpreted by Jackson County officials mandates that
Nadas be put to death, simply for the act of "chasing".

The Enquirer article directed people to contact Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber asking him to
pardon Nadas. As of Friday, the governor's office had received over 1000 faxes and an unknown
number of letters.  However the governor still will not intervene according to counsel Jeff Brown,
maintaining that his powers of clemency do not apply to animals.

Activists believe the governor is stonewalling in order to not offend the livestock industry, as
votes by pro-livestock legislators are needed by the governor for his highway bill that failed in the
last legislative session.  The livestock industry perceives any attempt at weakening this law a
threat to them.  Non-lethal alternatives have been proposed, and individuals throughout the west
coast of the US have offered to adopt Nadas however Jackson County officials have refused.

The governor does have the power to revoke the forfeiture order that resulted in the
impoundment of Nadas in the first place.  This was the solution used by Governor Christie
Whitman of New Jersey 2 years ago in freeing a dog on death row in that state.  However,
Governor Kitzhaber has thus far refused to consider this option.

The Enquirer urges its readers to contact the governor at:

Governor John Kitzhaber
254 State Capitol Building
Salem, Oregon 97310

FAX:  [phone]

-----------------------------------
NOTE: More details about the Nadas story are available at http://www.arkonline.com

Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 13:37:51 -0800
From: "Bob Schlesinger" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: International Boycott of some Oregon Businesses Announced
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

>From Ark Online News
http://www.arkonline.com
Nov 15, 1997
-------------------------------------------
Oregon animal activists today announced a boycott of businesses in Jackson County, Oregon as a
result of the county government's role in condemning a dog to death for allegedly chasing a horse.
The boycott will affect some world-wide mail order businesses.

Nadas, a 3 year old collie-malamute mix beloning to Sean Roach of Medford Oregon was seized
in September of 1996 after a 13 year old neighbor claimed the dog had chased her horse.
Although the horse was not injured in any way, county officials seized the dog and, claiming a
mandate under an obscure Oregon livestock law, sentenced Nadas to die.  Nadas has languished
on death row in an isolation cage at Jackson County animal control facilities for a year and two
months while legal appeals were pursued.  Last month, the Oregon Court of Appeals refused to
reverse the county's decision.  In the meantime, county officials have not permitted anyone,
including the media, to visit Nadas.  The county commisioners also will not consider non-lethal
alternatives.  Sean Roach has offered to give up his dog if someone else adopted him and his life
could be spared.  Many people in Oregon and outside the state offered to do this, however, the
county commisioners have refused to permit this option.  The implementation of the death
sentence is currently on hold pending a last minute appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court, which is
expected to deny hearing the case.

Activists are hoping that local pressure by some large business interests will be able to pressure
the county commissioners to change their minds.  Among others, the boycott will affect the
international mail order gift companies below.  You can help by contacting these companies and
politely explaining why you cannot buy their products this season, however, if they are able to
convince their county government to spare Nadas, not only will the boycott end, but they will get
a lot of free publicity as a result.  The two companies below have web sites and can be contacted
by email as well as conventional means:

Jackson and Perkins
1 Rose Lane
Medford, OR  97501
1-800-872-7673
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Harry and David
PO Box 712
Medford, Oregon 97501
1-800-547-3033
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

In addtion, the boycott will affect the Ashland Shakespeare festival if the boycott is not lifted
before next spring.  To follow updates on this story, periodically check Ark Online at
http://www.arkonline.com.
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 17:28:44
From: "[e-mail]" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail]
Subject: 11/15/97 NJARA Fur Demo
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hello All,

The New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance Fur Action Task Force held a peaceful
demonstration today at Steven Corn Furs on Rt. 17 North in Paramus, NJ.

Local newspaper reporters were on hand to cover the demonstration.

The protest was well attended and turnout was larger than expected.
Traffic along Rt. 17 was backed up in both directions due to rubber-neckers
trying to get a glimpse of what was going on.  Positive reaction by passing
traffic outnumbered negative reaction by at least 20:1.

The best reactions however were from the patrons of the fur store.  Upon
entering and leaving the store they were subject to questioning by Joe
Miele, chairman of the Task Force.  "Do you know how many homeless children
could have been fed with the money that you spent/will spend on that fur
coat?"  "You could be helping AIDS babies with the money you are spending
instead of selfishly buying the skins of dead animals."  "Why not put you
money to use mby trying to make the world a better place than spending it
on animal torture?"

Questions such as these stun the patrons of fur stores whose taunts always
include a remark about how animal rights activists care more about animals
than children.

For more information please contact the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance
at 732-446-6808.


Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 19:46:26 -0800
From: Andrew Gach <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Science for sale
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Tobacco researcher funded by industry lawyers

The Associated Press
DALLAS (November 15, 1997 12:06 p.m. EST)

Tobacco industry lawyers contributed millions of dollars toward the work
of a scientist known for poking holes in theories linking secondhand
smoke to disease, according to a published report Saturday.

Two law firms which represent Phillip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, the
nation's No. 1 and No. 2 tobacco companies, have paid more than $7.5
million over 25 years to finance some of Dr. Gary L. Huber's work at
three universities, The Dallas Morning News said.

One hospital, the University of Texas Health Center, hid the work Huber
did for the tobacco lawyers and the $1.68 million they sent the hospital
between 1985 and 1996, records show.

Documents, provided to the newspaper under the state's open records law,
show that money was routed through an outside account with a Greek code
name to keep it off hospital books.

"I think at some point we should have said to ourselves -- given the
source of these funds, and what the overall activity is with them, and
the difficulty in controlling all these accounts, and the
way the money is being paid -- it just probably isn't worth it," said
Dr. Richard Kronenberg, an associate executive director at the center,
adding that he now regrets allowing the relationship.

Huber resigned last year and says he's being made a scapegoat for sloppy
record-keeping at the hospital.

Huber recently agreed to cooperate with the state of Texas in its $8.6
billion Medicaid lawsuit against the tobacco companies, and state
attorneys say they hope his experience with the industry will provide
devastating whistleblower evidence. He worked for them as a lung
specialist.

Shook, Hardy & Bacon of Kansas City, which works for Phillip Morris, and
Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue of Cleveland, which represents R.J. Reynolds,
declined to comment, citing a gag order.

They denied, however, that there was anything improper in their
arrangement with Huber.
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 20:01:15 -0800
From: Andrew Gach <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Seal pups dying
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Seal pups dying along California coast

Scripps Howard  (November 15, 1997 00:53 a.m. EST)

Scientists are seeing a massive die-off of northern fur seal pups along
the California coast, the first sign of El Nino's devastating blow to
marine mammals.

By March, wildlife biologists predict that thousands of sea lions,
harbor seals and northern elephant seals also will die as their food
supply shrinks.

On San Miguel Island in the Channel Islands, California's only fur seal
rookery, about 1,500 pups died in September, victims of their mothers'
poor nutrition, said Robert DeLong, a federal research biologist at the
National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle.

"We've seen it before in El Nino years," DeLong said. "Sure, it's hard
to watch, but it's cyclical and part of nature.

"This is simply a manifestation of the changes that occur within the
marine system because of the warming by El Nino."

The fur seals eat anchovies, squid, hake, octopus, sardines, lantern
fish and other sea life.  Because of El Nino, a weather phenomenon of
warmer ocean currents emanating from the tropical Pacific, the sea
creatures probably have moved to colder waters or aren't as plentiful,
DeLong said.

"I assure you the female fur seals wanted to find food sufficient to
maintain adequate lactation so their pups would triple their weight by
the time they were weaned," DeLong said.

The pups, weaned at one month, were grossly underweight and had no
blubber to sustain them the same conditions seen in the last serious El
Nino of 1982-83.

"They were emaciated," DeLong said. "They were starving to death."

"We actually counted, picked up and put in a stack the dead puppies,"
more than half of the 3,000 born in June, July and August, he said.

The Marine Mammal Center, a wildlife rescue center in the Marin
Headlands north of San Francisco, has received 21 reports of stranded or
dead northern fur seals, five times normal for this time of year.

The malnourished pups started washing up Sept. 29 from Marin to San Luis
Obispo counties.

"We have eight on site that have survived," said center spokeswoman
Susan Andres.

"They're all juveniles," Andres said. "The hard part now is keeping food
in them. Some are eating pieces of fish. Others we have to (feed)
through the mouth."

Northern fur seals, the most sensitive of the pinnipeds, are El Nino's
canaries in a coal mine, scientists say.

"Come next March, April and May, we'll see sea lions, harbor seals and
elephant seals affected," said Joe Cordaro, a wildlife biologist with
the National Marine Fisheries Service in Long Beach, Calif.

"Winter storms will be battering the pups up on the shore," Cordaro
said. "Only the strong will survive."

The last El Nino in 1992-93 although not as serious as in 1982-83 killed
2,600 seals, including 38 northern fur seals. In 1996, a normal weather
year, about 1,278 died, including 12 northern fur seals, according to
Cordaro.

Northern fur seals have two Pacific populations. San Miguel Island has
12,000, and the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea have more than 1
million. In the past, the Pribilof seals haven't been affected by El
Nino.

At this point, scientists can't agree on whether the true test of an El
Nino has occurred: a drop in ocean productivity.

In normal years, the ocean's cold coastal waters well up, bringing tiny
plants and animals called plankton from the continental shelf's floor to
the surface.

In El Nino years, the warmer waters don't contain the rich array of sea
life. Creatures die, for lack of food, in a domino effect.

DeLong and other researchers at the National Marine Mammal lab believe
that off Santa Barbara where San Miguel Island is located the sea
already contains fewer nutrients.

Terrence Gosliner, senior curator at the California Academy of Sciences
in San Francisco, agreed that surface water temperatures were above
normal 8 degrees higher at the Farallon Islands and that warmwater
species such as marlin, albacore and barracuda were swimming off
San Francisco Bay.

But Gosliner said he couldn't confirm the loss of nutrients off the
coast of California because of El Nino.

DeLong disagrees. "If you talk to any northern fur seal female,' he
said, 'she'll tell you El Nino is here for sure."

******************************************************

Maybe the northern fur seal female will have something else to tell you
besides: namely, that anchovies, squid, hake, octopus, sardines, lantern
fish and other sea life on which seals depend for survival are heavily
exploited by the giant fishing industry, magnifying the effect of El
Nino.
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 20:11:26 -0800
From: Andrew Gach <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Lobster escapes the pot thanks to his color
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

New York Times on the Web
November 16, 1997


          Albino Lobster Lands in the Spotlight Instead of the Pot

RAYMOND, Maine -- Bill Coppersmith says the traffic in his
fish market here has never been so intense, "what with visits by
curious folks and the television and newspapers."

Coppersmith, a 20-year veteran of lobster fishing off Casco Bay,
looked over at his holding tanks and peered at the cause of all the
attention.

"It's the white lobster," he said. "There's none anywhere else and now
I've caught it and the whole world wants to have a look."

Coppersmith, 40, held forth at his Fishermen's Net store in between
interviews with reporters for London television and a Japanese
newspaper.

He said he caught the white lobster the morning of Nov. 10 and "had
to look twice before I believed it."

The lobster weighs just over a pound, and though it was earlier
estimated by Coppersmith to be 7 years old, is now believed by him
and others who fish for lobster to be closer to 20.
"When the trap broke the water, it just glowed," he said. "It almost
looked like a toy. Then, I looked it all over, and I realized this is
for real, it's not painted or anything."

Barney Hamlin, the store manager, said he and Coppersmith had
telephoned nationwide, but could not find another lobster like the
white one, which they have named Lincoln.

At the University of Maine's Lobster Institute, director Robert Bayer
said that albino lobsters were extremely rare. He said he had seen
one other specimen, near Kittery on the New Hampshire border,
some 15 years ago.

Bayer, a professor of marine sciences at the University in Orono, said
that the albino was the product of two lobsters with the albino trait
and possessed a recessive gene trait that amounts to an absence of
pigmentation.

Coppersmith has no plans to eat his lobster. But Bayer speculated
that, if boiled, it would emerge from the pot a "sort of cooked white
gray -- not red."
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 20:40:01 -0800
From: Andrew Gach <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: 1. Old-boy network threatened, researchers run scared
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

The New York Times on the Web
November 4, 1997

Academy of Sciences, Fighting to Keep Panels Closed, Is
Rebuffed by Justices

          By NICHOLAS WADE

The National Academy of Sciences, an elite club of the nation's
leading scientists and a major provider of scientific advice to
the federal government, was dealt a painful setback by the U.S.
Supreme Court on Monday.

Without comment, the justices let stand a lower court's ruling that the
academy's committees are subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
That 1972 law requires that meetings of committees advising the
government be open to the public, and assigns government officials
certain roles in the committees' operations.

Officials of the academy say that subjecting it to the law would
undermine its independence from the government and the credibility
of its reports.

"It is certainly a true crisis for the academy, probably the most
serious one we have ever faced," said Dr. E. William Colglazier, its
executive officer.

Now that it has been defeated in the courts, the academy is hoping to
persuade Congress to exempt it from the law's requirements. Failing
that, the scientists who sit on the academy's governing council say,
they will simply not appoint committees -- in effect threatening to
bring the Academy out on strike, since running committees is a
principal part of its business.

"The ultimate outcome may be that the country loses the capacity of
getting independent scientific advice from the academy," Colglazier
said.

The issue is particularly significant because academy committees have
considerable influence in shaping many of the government's technical
decisions. Such a panel usually includes the country's leading
scientific experts in whatever matter is at hand. It was an academy
committee that looked into the reasons for the Challenger space shuttle
disaster, and some 600 lesser committees at any given time are
distilling the best available scientific knowledge on issues ranging
from gulf war syndrome to nutritional standards. The committees' members
serve without pay, although their expenses are covered by government
contracts with the Academy.

The feared effect of the advisory committee law has caused deep
concern among researchers. "Scientists believe that a unique
institution is in jeopardy, maybe mortal jeopardy, because requiring
the NAS to conduct its affairs under the act would be so different
that it is really threatening," said Frederick Anderson, a lawyer who
filed a brief supporting the academy's appeal on behalf of 84 leading
scientists, including many Nobel laureates and former government
officials.

The academy's critics, however, contend that the institution is already
too close to the government and that public scrutiny would increase,
not diminish, its independence. They say the academy's real fear is
openness, not government influence.

This full-blown institutional crisis for the academy, which was
chartered by Congress in 1863 to provide scientific advice to the
government, mushroomed out of a minor legal skirmish with the
animal rights movement. In 1994, the Animal Legal Defense Fund
and two other groups sued for access to an academy committee
revising a manual for care of laboratory animals. The groups argued
that the academy was a quasi-governmental body subject to the
Federal Advisory Committee Act and that its meetings were
therefore required to be open.

Although the plaintiffs lost in a federal district court, the U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in their
favor. The National Academy of Sciences appealed to the Supreme Court,
which on Monday let the decision stand.

Academy officials object to the law on the ground that it would give
the government what they call an intolerable degree of control over
the academy's committees. Besides mandating open meetings and
free access to documents, the law requires a federal official to
preside or be present. The academy argues that this would inhibit free
discussion, particularly on the part of scientists who might receive
financing from an agency being criticized. Even the perception of
government control over committees would undermine the credibility
of the academy's reports, its officials say.

Dr. Bruce Alberts, the academy's president, said government
agencies often sought its advice because their own scientific advisory
committees lacked credibility. "Dan Goldin," Alberts said of the
NASA administrator, "could use his own committees, but he goes to
us for things on which he really wants the public and Congress to be
sure the outcome wasn't tainted by his staff."

The academy's reports are credible because they often criticize the
agency that sponsors them, Alberts said, an outcome that would be
much harder if the agency's representatives were sitting in the
committee room.

Colglazier said that under the advisory committee law, "a government
official has to approve every meeting and decide if the committee
membership is appropriately balanced, including politically balanced,"
a requirement that would conflict with the academy's mission of
providing purely scientific advice.

Susan Turner-Lowe, the academy's press officer, said a demand for
political balance "would be like asking a creationist to sit on a
committee about evolution."

Dr. Jack Gibbons, President Clinton's science adviser, agreed that
the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act would
undermine the academy's independence and in addition impede the
institution's ability to give timely advice.

"The problem with FACA is that it injects government control and
supervision," Gibbons said. "I need the academy's help sometimes in
weeks, and it would exclude them from giving a rapid response."

But Eric Glitzenstein, counsel for the animal rights groups, dismissed
as a "total smokescreen" the argument that the law would change the
way the academy runs its committees or selects their members.

"Nothing in the current statute says NAS could not continue to
choose its members," Glitzenstein said. "The truth is that they don't
want to have their operations scrutinized."

Glitzenstein disputed the argument that under the law the government
would be able to tell the academy how to balance its committees,
politically as well as in the scientific dimension.

"No court has ever invalidated a committee on grounds it was not
balanced as to viewpoint," he said. "Most judges have thrown up
their hands and said: 'We don't know what a balance of viewpoints
is. We cannot discern it."'

In its own brief to the Supreme Court, the Justice Department took a
position somewhere between those of the academy and its critics.
Several federal agencies that make frequent use of the academy's
committees asked the department to support its appeal, but in the
end the department advised the justices not to review the case.

Review would be premature, the department argued, because the
law's effect on academy proceedings was not yet clear. Implying that
the consequences might not be so dire as the academy predicted, the
department said it did not agree that the mere presence of a
government employee at committee meetings would compromise
independence.

The academy is now pinning its hopes on an effort to persuade
Congress to declare it exempt from the law. A supporting letter sent
to Congress last week by Franklin Raines, director of the White
House Office of Management and Budget, said that in the
administration's view, the advisory committee law was not intended
to apply to the academy.
***********************************************************

For anyone who may not know it: the NAS is the most ardent and powerful
promoter of vivisection in the world today.

Andy
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 20:42:09 -0800
From: Andrew Gach <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: 2. Congress bails out the science establishment
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

New York Times on the Web
November 16, 1997

Science Advisers Stay Independent but Must Be More Open
           By NICHOLAS WADE

The National Academy of Sciences, the leading dispenser of
scientific advice to the government, will recast its procedures as
a result of legislation passed last week by Congress.

The legislation frees the academy from an unpleasant box, but at a
price. It exempts the academy's committees from the strictures of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act, but requires greater openness in
the academy's procedures, with the sanction that agencies may not
use the academy's advice if it does not follow the new rules.

While saving the academy from the consequences of a lost legal
battle that reached the Supreme Court, the legislation also adopts
substantial parts of remedies won against it in that case and in another
lawsuit brought by a public interest group, the Natural Resources
Defense Council.

The academy exerts considerable influence over public life because
its committees' findings affect many aspects of government policy.
The academy is a self-electing group of the nation's most
distinguished scientists.

It operates a system of some 600 committees to advise the
government on technical issues ranging from arms control to pest
control. Though most of the scientists are not members of the
academy, their reports are reviewed by the academy and are issued
with its imprimatur.

The academy's committees have worked for the most part in closed
sessions, unlike the scientific committees that advise federal agencies
directly. The academy's advice is generally highly regarded, and the
volume of work the academy does for the Executive Branch and
Congress has steadily increased.

But individual committees have on occasion come under criticism and
the whole system recently became mired in a legal crisis when three
animal rights groups sued the academy, arguing that all its committees'
meetings and materials should be open to the public under the
Federal Advisory Committee Act.

 Although the plaintiffs lost in a federal district court, the United
States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in
their favor. The academy fought the issue up to the Supreme Court,
saying the act would give government officials control over the
academy's committees and destroy their independence.

Earlier this month the Supreme Court declined to hear the academy's
appeal. The academy then asked Congress for an exemption from
the act, declaring that it would appoint no committees that would be
subject to the act's requirements.

Congress has acted on the academy's plea with unusual speed, but it
has not granted the blanket exemption the academy sought. While the
animal rights groups' case was under appeal, the Natural Resources
Defense Council argued in a separate suit that in reviewing plans to
build a new laser physics machine, the academy had appointed a
committee whose members had strong conflicts of interest.

Under the new law, the academy is exempted from the Federal
Advisory Committee Act and is thus relieved of the danger that
government officials might tell it how to run its committees. But it
must publish the names of people it proposes to appoint to committees
and insure that conflicts of interest are avoided and that committees
are balanced with respect to their function.

Although the academy was doing much of this anyway, it must now
do so as a matter of law, and its clients are enjoined from using its
advice if it fails to do so.



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