Risky argument over cause and effect
Article Abstract:
It is common for individuals not to understand statistical arguments concerning health risks. Three issues, relating to cause and effect, have recently re-emerged, which demonstrate that statistical ideas are not understood. These issues are: (1) the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided to assess the possibility that electromagnetic radiation from power lines could cause certain cancers; (2) the EPA suggested that low-level radiation waste, such as that from hospitals, does not have to be disposed of as stringently as high-level waste, such as that from nuclear power plants; and (3) the Vietnam Veterans have sued the Veterans Administration and the Centers for Disease Control to reopen the investigation on the carcinogenic effects of the defoliating agent, dioxin, or Agent Orange. In each of these three issues there is insufficient evidence to confirm the risks, but still, some epidemiological studies are left unexplained. Research has found excess leukemias and brain cancers in children living near power lines. In the case of 'declassifying' low-level radioactive waste, if actuarial arguments are regarded, then certainly an additional risk applied to an unrestricted population means additional deaths. In the case of Agent Orange, previous studies have not found a significant number of soldiers who were exposed to doses high enough to cause potential problems. However, the purpose of the EPA is to investigate public health issues, not to do basic research, and so these investigations are all justified. Scientists must let statistics be the basis of their conclusions, and not manipulate statistical results to support their personal theories and prejudices. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1990
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Texas A & M struggles to gain the respect that its researchers have already won
Article Abstract:
Texas A & M University, located 100 miles northwest of Houston, TX, wants to improve both the scope and the quality of its research. Although founded to provide agricultural education on land given for that purpose by the US government, since 1969 the school has ventured into such diverse research fields as oceanography and space. New limits on state and US Department of Agriculture funding have been offset by money from an endowment of oil-rich Texas land and private contributions. The new Institute of Biosciences and Technology will try to combine human and agricultural biotechnology.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1992
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Kinder, gentler, more useful mathematics
Article Abstract:
The National Research Council (NRC) examined the graduate programs in mathematical sciences at ten universities and concluded that many of them fail to educate students properly. The report, entitled 'Educating Mathematical Scientists: Doctoral Study and the Postdoctoral Experience in the United States,' confirmed the common-sense idea that students are more apt to succeed when teachers are helpful. The NRC report may stimulate large-scale reforms in the graduate teaching of mathematics.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1992
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