Message to Members: Laudable Laureates
Voice Your Opinion: Voting Technology
AAAS in Action: News to Note
AAAS at Work: Programs at the Forefront
AAAS Announcements: Items of Interest
Read On, Online: Science Sites


Message to Members:
LAUDABLE LAUREATES

Dear AAAS Member,

Among our distinguished membership are six 2004 Nobel Prize winners, lauded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in chemistry, medicine, and physics.

Trailblazing research into how the human body destroys unwanted proteins won the prize for chemistry for three scientists, two of whom are AAAS members: Aaron Ciechanover of Israel and Irwin Rose of the U.S. The prize for medicine was awarded to a pair of American medical researchers, Dr. Richard Axel and Dr. Linda B. Buck, for their findings on the structure and organization of the human sense of smell. The prize for physics went to a team of three Americans for their discovery of how the smallest known pieces of matter are held together by “color force.” Two are AAAS members: David J. Gross and Frank Wilczek. Read more about these Nobel winners: http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2004/1008nobelIntro.shtml .

I congratulate these Nobel laureates and every member of AAAS—together, we are the leading international voice in advancing science and serving society. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Alan I. Leshner, CEO, AAAS

P.S. Give the gift of Science and AAAS membership this year to a colleague, friend or yourself!
http://promo.aaas.org/kn_marketing/winter2.html


Voice Your Opinion

Do you believe that new electronic voting technologies (e.g., touch-screen machines) reported the results of the 2004 election more reliably and accurately than older technologies? Submit your vote.

See last month's poll comments: http://promo.aaas.org/kn_marketing/poll1004.shtml htm .


AAAS in Action:
NEWS TO NOTE

Fighting a Proposed Ban on Therapeutic Cloning
AAAS has joined a coalition of 125 health, research, education, and other groups in a letter urging the U.N. General Assembly to reject a proposal to ban stem cell research involving therapeutic cloning. The coalition favors responsible regulation rather than a global ban which would address a harm that does not exist. In 2002, AAAS endorsed a ban on reproductive cloning in the U.S. while supporting strictly regulated research cloning to help find cures for degenerative diseases. Read more: http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2004/1014cloningIntro.shtml .

Using Science to Gauge Genocide
Geospatial imagery has been used for the first time as a foreign policy tool by the U.S. State Department to convince a skeptical international community of the scope and terror of the crisis in Darfur , Sudan . During a half-day public discussion at AAAS on 20 October, scientists presented satellite imagery from June of this year which showed ruined villages and refugee flows. Read more: http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2004/1026sudan.shtml . Listen to audio recordings and view speaker materials: http://shr.aaas.org/darfur/bios.shtml#audio .

New AAAS Leader Wins Leadership Prize
Dr. Gilbert S. Omenn, AAAS president-elect, has received the prestigious John W. Gardner Legacy of Leadership Award from the White House Fellows Association. Dr. Omenn succeeds Shirley Ann Jackson as AAAS president in February 2005. Read about his accomplishments as a scientist and medical expert and current professor of internal medicine, human genetics, and public health at the University of Michigan : http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2004/1007omenn.shtml .

AAAS Council Names Fellows
The AAAS Council has elected 308 members as Fellows of AAAS. These individuals will be recognized at the Fellows Forum on 19 February 2005 during the AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, D. C. For a list of the newly named fellows, go to http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2004/1101 fellows.shtml.


AAAS at Work:
PROGRAMS AT THE FOREFRONT
A Review: Inter-American Institute (IAI) for Global Change Research
During the next year, AAAS will conduct a review of the IAI under a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to provide a retrospective assessment of the Institute as well as guidance for the future. The final report will be available in September 2005.

IAI is an intergovernmental organization supported by 19 countries in the Americas dedicated to international cooperation and open exchange to increase understanding of global environmental change and provide science based information to policy makers. The Institute was established in 1992, in response to concerns about ozone depletion, loss of bio diversity, and changes in rainfall patterns. From 1994 to 1996, NSF hosted the IAI, which then moved to a permanent location in Sao Jose dos Campos , Brazil . Read more about IAI initiatives and member countries: http://www.iai.int/.


AAAS Announcements:
ITEMS OF INTEREST

New: Science Bio-Med Roundup
The monthly review of biological and medical articles from Science is now online. This information is compiled specifically for the life science and medical community and covers topics in microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology, developmental biology, medicine, neuroscience, and plant biology. To sign up, go to http://www2.sciencecareers.org/promos/biosubmit.asp .

Free Career Guide for Young Scientists
Looking for your first job? Planning a career change? Professional Paths for Young Scientists , a free booklet from AAAS, offers essential advice on choosing between academia, industry, and government; how to impress recruiters; and changing career directions. For additional career information, go to www.ScienceCareers.org and http://nextwave.sciencemag.org/ . To order your booklet, send an e-mail to memuser@aaas.org .

2005 AAAS Annual Meeting: Register Early Online
The Nexus: Where Science Meets Society is the topic of the five-day annual meeting which begins 17 February 2005 . AAAS members can register early online to assure rooms in one of our two partner hotels in Washington , D.C. , historically the most popular venue for this event. Sessions will cover scientific and public policy topics such as risk taking in research, the safety of the nation's food supply, and the future of newborn screening. Global research will be discussed at sessions including science in the Arab world and scientific exchange in an insecure environment. A presentation of the latest discoveries from planetary explorations and physical science frontiers of research, as well as special events, will celebrate the World Year of Physics 2005. A Science Career Fair includes career-enhancing workshops. Information: http://www.aaasmeeting.org. To register online: http://registration.expoexchange.com/showAAA051 .

AAAS Annual Meeting: Teacher Opportunities
K-12 teachers (primary and secondary) can take advantage of special savings on registration for the AAAS Annual Meeting, 17-21 February 2005 in Washington, D.C. Earn CEU credit hours while learning to integrate top quality Internet content into the classroom with Science NetLinks ICFC training. Attend a one-day seminar, Forum for School Science. Enjoy Public Science Day, Family Science Days, and more. For information and to register: http://www.aaasmeeting.org/teachers.

'Tis the Season to Give the Gift of Science
Give a membership to the largest general science society in the world at a special discounted rate. Your gift includes 51 issues of the weekly journal Science and online access to Science archives, new research, career information, discounts on books, and more. As our thank you, you'll receive our popular limited edition AAAS shirt. For details and to order, go to http://promo.aaas.org/kn_marketing/winter2.html.

AAAS-SWARM Division 80 th Annual Meeting—Call for Papers
The Southwestern and Rocky Mountain (SWARM) Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science is pleased to announce our 80 th Annual Meeting to be held in Tucson, Arizona, April 13-16, 2005. The 2005 program promises to be one of our best, with state of the art symposia spanning numerous disciplines, keynote speakers, field trips, presenter awards, and an exhibit hall. Please visit the Meeting Section of our website at www.aaas-swarm.org to obtain up-to-date information on the program, meeting specifics, and to submit a presentation and to pre-register. Deadline for pre-registration is February 14, 2005 . We hope to see you in Tucson.

Meet Up at Upcoming Events
Stop by the AAAS booth to pick up your member pin.
National Science Teachers Association Northwestern Area Convention, Seattle , Washington , U.S.A. 18-20 November. Information: http://www.nsta.org/conventiondetail&Meeting_Code=2004SEA .

National Science Teachers Association Eastern Area Convention, Richmond , Virginia , U.S.A. 2-4 December. Information:
http://www.nsta.org/conventiondetail&Meeting_Code=2004RIC.

American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting, Washington , D.C. , U.S.A. 4-8 December. Information: http://www.ascb.org/ .


READ ON, ONLINE

AAAS News & Notes appears in Science in the last issue of each month. Or access http://www.aaas.org/ or http://www.scienceonline.org/ .