NCSWHAT

NCSWA Newsletter, Summer 2004

Editor: Jane Stevens, jsteven@mmjourno.com

Hot town, summer in the city! Back of my neck getting’ dirty gritty!
(Especially in the central valley)
Cool down, let’s sing a different ditty…
Reading summer books can make us witty!

BOOKS

Bill Brand recommends:
•  How to Build a Time Machine, by P. C. W. Davies, Paul Davies. “Time Machine is fascinating. Some of it is obvious stuff, long used in science fiction. But the rest is trippy indeed (no pun intended),” he notes.
•  The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality by Brian Greene. “Brian Greene's book includes the clearest explanation of Einsteinian theory that I've ever read. I walked away thinking (foolishly perhaps) that I understand a lot of it. I got it in the library, then bought a copy, because it's a great, basic reference about science in the 21st Century.”

Alice Friedemann, who reads during her 10-mile round-trip walking commute to work (once she was passed by a woman knitting as she walked, so she figures she’s just a beginner at multitasking), recommends:
•  Mao's War Against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China by Judith Shapiro. “The main thesis of this book is that when free speech is squelched the consequences can be dire for the environment,” writes Alice.
•  Hype About Hydrogen: Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the Climate by Joseph J. Romm
Alice has an online list of more than 100 other books – to peruse it, scroll down until you find her list.

Lynn Narlesky is trying to get through a doomsday book called Our
Final Hour, A Scientist's Warning: How Terror, Error, and Environmental Disaster Threaten Humankind's Future in this Century on Earth and Beyond by Martin J Rees. “The title alone is daunting, but the text may lend itself to lots of discussion as it rackets along biological, nuclear and other types of disaster scenarios,” writes Lynn.

Jane Stevens read two page-turners:
•  The Great Influenza by John M. Barry. “The deadliest plague the world has ever seen emerged in 1918 on a farm in Kansas. Despite hundreds of thousands of deaths in less than a year, U.S. newspapers hardly mentioned the epidemic,” says Jane.
•  Forty Signs of Rain, the first in a climate-change fiction trilogy by Davis author Kim Stanley Robinson. “A fast read, interesting in its simplicity. If the general public is really at such a basic level of understanding of global climate change, we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

Suzanne Bohan is leafing through Our National Parks by John Muir. “He's always a marvel to read,” she says.

SUMMER ADVENTURES

Lynn Narlesky recommends Moss Landing Marine Labs, which gives tours to groups of 10 or more by arrangement through their Friends of MLML group. “I attended an open house event last year that was very informative. The lab covers all kinds of marine science: climate, animals, plant life, geology, and other topics,” writes Lynn.

Nearby, the Elkhorn Slough Reserve is a coastal wonder by land (many trails) and by sea (rent kayaks at Moss Landing from Monterey Bay Kayak company or sign up for a guided tour). “Be sure to pick up a Paddling Guide, which gives tips for careful paddling in this sensitive estuary.”

FALL JOURNALISM WORKSHOP: OCTOBER 16 AT SFSU

In 2001 and 2002, NCSWA organized and sponsored two very successful journalism workshops at San Francisco State University. After catching our breath last year, the board of directors has decided to convene a third one-day workshop, on Saturday, October 16 at SFSU. By keeping the cost minimal for attendees, we expect 100 to 150 registrants to attend.

Our theme, not yet formally titled, will encourage NCSWAns and other writers in the Bay Area to "invigorate your career" or "take it to the next level" by stretching out into new markets, approaching some of the "prestige" publications with worthwhile story ideas, and investing passion and creativity into their writing. In other words, we hope to motivate our colleagues to boost the quality of their work and broaden the kinds of audiences they reach. We can all look forward to an opening address from one of the most accomplished science journalists today, K.C. Cole of the Los Angeles Times, who tackles topics in mathematics and physical sciences with unlimited curiosity, insight, and literary eloquence. We envision contributions in our breakout sessions from book authors, medical and health journalists, and people who have developed reputations as science writers who push the envelope. And an extended lunchtime will offer the best opportunity to network this side of the annual AAAS meeting.

Details about the conference, and instructions for registration, will arrive via e-mail in a dedicated announcement in early September. Meanwhile, mark your calendars for what is sure to be an illuminating day on October 16.

SUMMER NCSWA MEETING ON BUGS TO DRUGS (account contributed by Rob Irion)

Our dinner meetings in June or July tend to be sleepy affairs, what with the warm nights and travel plans drawing attentions elsewhere. But on July 13, more than 60 NCSWAns bucked that trend, ditched baseball's All-Star game, and ventured to the Pyramid Ale House in Berkeley for a tasty buffet and a fascinating talk by chemical engineer and synthetic biologist Jay Keasling of UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley Lab. Keasling is carving out a nice reputation as leader of a team that engineers the genetic pathways inside microbial cells to produce desirable compounds. Their main quarry is artemisinin, an anti-malaria drug with an unreliable -- and costly -- source from a plant. Keasling's group has engineered e. coli bacteria to express the plant's genes and produce artemisinin cheaply, toward a goal of 21 cents per dose. They intend to churn out the compound in "pharmaceutical factories" located where the drug is most needed, such as Africa and India.

Keasling's next target is prostratin, an anti-HIV agent isolated from the stems of a Samoan tree. The substance drives the virus out of hiding in cells and forces it to express itself, making it more vulnerable to combination therapies. "If it's approved, we'll never have enough of it," Keasling said, noting that prostratin is now in stage 2 clinical trials. The dynamic young scientist also spoke of designing organisms from scratch in computers and synthesizing them in "environmentally friendly ways," such as a bacterium that scavenges for nerve agents and then completely consumes them. "We want biology to run like a Pentium chip, not like assembling an old radio," he quipped. If the reaction to his talk was any indication, Keasling at least convinced a crowd of science writers that his goal is well within reach. For more information on his new department at LBL, check out their website.

MEDICAL SOCIETY AWARD DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 30

The San Francisco Medical Society announces the "David Perlman Award for Excellence in Medical/Health Reporting." This $1,000 award is presented each January at annual dinner to recognize the good work of Bay Area reporters from television, radio and newspapers and magazines.

The deadline for nominations is September 30, 2004 for the 2005 award. The report or series must be on a relevant health or medical issue; the report must be well researched, written and produced between October 1, 2002 and September 1, 2004. Nominations must come from print or broadcast media headquartered in the following counties: San Francisco, Marin, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara and Sonoma. Entries may be submitted to the San Francisco Medical Society, 1409 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA,94109.

For further information and award criteria, please contact
Edare Carroll, SFMS Communications Director, at 415/561-0850, ext. 261, or by email at ecarroll@sfms.org.

NEWS ABOUT MEMBERS: WORK SPACE AND MATH MOMENTS

Mary Miller will be traveling to the Galapagos in September to cover a conference on El Nino's impact on sustainable development in emerging Pacific Rim countries. She'll be writing dispatches for the Exploratorium website and posting streaming audio from the sessions, in between exploring the islands and snorkeling with iguanas.

Gordy Slack sends this news: Three diligent freelance journalists rent office space together in a classic art deco building on 14th and Franklin in downtown Oakland. We've just signed a lease for an additional adjoining space and are looking for a collegially-minded writer to share it with. The office, which has great views, includes a shared open space (bullpen) with DSL, plus some communal space and a refrigerator. The rent is $250. Interested journalists should contact g.slack@gmail.com, john_raeside@sbcglobal.net or mollybentley@hotmail.com.

Karen Street joined with Heather Cooley, recent graduate of the Energy and Resource Group, to teach high school and college students climate change. The first two sessions were building a greenhouse and playing with light, then onto IPCC figures and what they mean. They ended with a discussion: "Is this important? What can we do?" The first week they taught them, the second week they improved the curriculum, and the third week the students became presenters, teaching 20 other students climate change. Both student presenters and their students attend Berkeley High School, or are part of a group from Coalinga-Huron and Avenal schools participating in the Academic Talent Development Program.

Suzanne Bohan is avoiding a tan this summer by staying indoors to write a book with her husband Glenn E. Thompson called 50 Simple Ways to Live a Longer Life. NCSWAn Ted Weinstein, owner of Ted Weinstein Literary Management in San Francisco, is the agent for the book deal, which is with Sourcebooks, Inc., in Chicago. The book, which features short, newsy chapters on 50 health topics, is due in bookstores in Spring '05.

David Schwartz’ "Math Moments" column will soon debut in 13 parenting magazines (including Bay Area Parent). He’s actively soliciting pictures and anecdotes of family math moments for inclusion in future columns. What he means by "math moments" is described in a small brochure that he’ll be happy to send to anyone who emails him at david@davidschwartz.com. There's a "reward" for sending him a picture that he uses: one of his signed hardcover children's books, or possibly a gift certificate from advertisers in Bay Area Parent, but that is yet to be finalized.

Mike O’Neill and Mark Springer received four APEX 2004 awards for publishing excellence for their work in Applied Biosystems' BioBeat Online Magazine. Mike received the technical writing and health & medical writing awards; Mark received a Web writing award; both received the Web & intranet site content & writing award. BioBeat has now received a total of 22 awards for publishing excellence in its six-year existence, including the grand award for writing in 2002.

NEW MEMBERS

Carrie Black, who got her master's degree in entomology from UC
Davis, is just starting out as a journalist. She wants to write on a
freelance basis about agriculture, the environment and other science issues to engage herself and the public in important issues that need to be aired. She looks forward to meeting others interested in writing about the different facets of science.

Patti Kahn specializes in developing educational and training materials.

Jennifer Huber, a research associate at ParAllele BioScience, is "dreaming of making a successful transition into science writing."

June C. Cancell, who holds a PhD in psychology, has earned a certificate in technical communications (didn't say where) and is experienced in scientific writing, editing and transcribing.

Betsy Mason is a new science writer at the Contra Costa Times. She just started May 24.

David Nordfors is the program leader of the Innovation Journalism
Fellowship program based at Stanford University. More information
about the program is available online, in Swedish only.

JP Prindle is an award-winning writer, a physicist (former rocket scientist) and the president of C X-Stream, an advanced technology company located in California. He is the author of Patent It Now!, a how-to book on patents, and over the last 20 years has written many scientific and technical papers, including users and training manuals for the U.S. Government, articles on Albert Einstein, digital video, and Search Engine Optimization.

David Harris moved to California from the American Physical Society in College Park, Md., to found and run Symmetry, a magazine of particle physics and science policy. He is based at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.

Diane Lattanzio, who earned a master's degree in public health at UC Berkeley, has been working at the NASA Ames Research Center for the past seven years. She works in the field of aviation safety as a senior research associate.

Mike O’Neill has worked at Applied Biosystems for the last
12 years and in that time has written hundreds of articles on
scientific advances enabled by Applied Biosystems technology.

Hugh Biggar recently completed Stanford's graduate program in journalism with a concentration in environmental and science writing.