The newly reorganized New England Science Writers (see article by Jim Cornell on page 27) joined the Society of Environmental Journalists October 28, to hear Vice President Al Gore at Kresge Auditorium on the MIT campus. The session was scheduled as part of the SEJ annual meeting. On September 27, NESW visited the Genome Center at the Whitehead Institute, largest of the nine genome centers supported by the National Center for Human Genome Research.
Wayne B. Jonas, M.D., new director of the controversial NIH Office of Alternative Medicine, chose to meet with the news media for the first time in his present post by talking to and taking questions from the DC Science Writers Association, November 2, at the National Academy of Sciences. Other recent DCSWA activities included an October evening of spectacular physical phenomena organized by Boyce Rensberger, of The Washington Post, and Dick Berg, of the University of Maryland's physics department; and in September a panel discussion of politically charged museum science-featuring Patricia Gossell, curator of the Smithsonian's Science in American Life exhibit; Spencer Weart, historian of science at the American Institute of Physics and a critic of that exhibit; Anthony Capaccio, editor of Defense Week, who critiqued press coverage of the Enola Gay exhibit at the Air and Space Museum; and Joel Achenbach and Curt Supplee of The Washington Post. Joining them were 100 science-education program directors attending a conference at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
The Georgia Area Science Writers Association (GASWA), in conjunction with the Georgia Tech's Interactive Media Technology Center (IMTC), looked into the use of interactive media in science communication at a lecture and demonstration November 2. Michael J. Sinclair, director of Georgia Tech's IMTC, offered a history of the technology, an overview of its present applications-and a vision of the future. Formerly known as the Multimedia Technology Laboratory, the IMTC produced interactive presentations that played a significant role in helping Atlanta win its bid for the 1996 Summer Olympics.
In July, members enjoyed an Indian buffet and a talk by Deborah Blum of the Sacramento Bee on the strategies she used to report the animal research stories that became the basis of her book, The Monkey Wars. On August 19, about 70 members turned out for a workshop on computer-assisted reporting hosted by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Among the speakers at the workshop were New York Times technology writer John Markoff, who had become embroiled in controversy over his breaking story about the capture of accused hacker Kevin Mitnick.
PASWA members met on October 23 at the newly renovated New Jersey State Aquarium in Camden. They heard Aquarium staffers explain why the displays of monochromatic New Jersey flounder had been replaced by iridescent tropical fish. In February, PASWA will visit the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia for a behind-the-web tour of the Academy's special exhibit on spiders.
What follows is the currently available list of active regional science writers groups, complete with contact information. Leaders of any active groups not listed should contact NASW headquarters.
Central Pennsylvania Science Writers Association
Scott Turner
814-865-9481 (ph)
814-865-9421 (fx)
sxt11@psu.edu
201 Rider House
Penn State University
University Park, PA 16802
Chicago Area Science\Medical Writers Association
Jon Van or Ron Kotulak
312-222-4280 or 312-222-3539 (ph)
312-222-3143 (fx)
no e-mail
The Chicago Tribune
435 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
DC Science Writers Association
Mary Knudson
301-495-9379 (ph)
301-495-0319 (fx)
71614.3114@compuserve.com
9023 Flower Ave.
Silver Spring, MD 20901
Georgia Area Science Writers
John Toon
Georgia Institute of Technology
71045.164@compuserve.com
New England Science Writers Association
Delia K. Cabe
Madison Publishing Corp.
NESW, 9 Cambridge Center
Cambridge, MA 02142
delia.cabe@mosby.com
New York Area Science Writers Association
Robert Coontz
212-460-9027, ext. 29 (ph)
212-260-1356 (fx)
100010.3053@compuserve.com or
coontz@is2.nyu.edu
The Sciences
New York Academy of Sciences
622 Broadway
New York, NY 10012
North California Science Writers Association
Blake Edgar
415-750-7116 (ph)
415-750-7106 (fx)
no e-mail
Pacific Discovery
California Academy of Sciences
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA 94118
Philadelphia Area Science Writers Association
Mitchel Zoler
610-896-0719 (ph)
610-896-9823 (fx)
no e-mail
International Medical News Group
262 Trent Rd.
Wynnewood, PA 19096
Wisconsin Science Writers Association
Terry Devitt
608-262-8282 (ph)
608-262-2331 (fx)
trdevitt@facstaff.wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin
25 Bascom Hall\500 Lincoln Dr.
Madison, WI 53706
The San Diego Science Writers group is attempting a comeback and plans to hold monthly breakfast meetings on the first Wednesday of the month, with first meeting slated for January 10 (to avoid conflict with New Year's celebration plans). Contact person is David Graham, science reporter at the San Diego Union-Tribune, phone: 619-293-1247.