In the November 10, 2000 Issue:

Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2002. Information in this issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest was prepared under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration. Redistribution to all others interested in tech-based economic development is strongly encouraged — please cite the State Science & Technology Institute whenever portions are reproduced or redirected. Any opinions expressed in the Digest do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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Results in the Governors’ & Statehouse Races
While the Presidential election remains up in the air, the eleven state gubernatorial and 5,918 state legislative races produced more definitive results. Here is a brief summary.

 Governors
Overall, Democratic candidates won eight governorships, a net gain of one. Republicans took three. Incumbents held their positions in Indiana (Frank O’Bannon - D), New Hampshire (Jeanne Shaheen - D), Utah (Michael Leavitt -R), Vermont (Howard Dean - D), and Washington (Gary Locke - D).

New Democratic governors include Ruth Ann Minner in Delaware, Bob Holden in Missouri, Mike Easley in North Carolina, and Bob Wise, who upset Governor Cecil Underwood in West Virginia. The two new Republican governors are Judy Martz in Montana and John Hoeven in North Dakota.

Governorships were also decided in American Samoa and Puerto Rico. Sila Calderon, candidate of the Popular Democratic Party and current Mayor of San Juan, becomes the first woman governor of Puerto Rico. Democrat Tauese P.F. Sunia narrowly won re-election in American Samoa.

State Legislatures
Preliminary results from Tuesday’s election indicate Democrats and Republicans will each control 16 legislatures and 15 will be split between the parties. Washington and Oregon were still undecided at press time. Nebraska’s unicameral legislature is nonpartisan. Prior to the election, Democrats controlled 19 legislatures, Republicans held 17, and 13 others were split. In many states, the margin between the parties decreased.

The website of the National Conference of State Legislatures reports, “Even where parties made political gains in state legislatures, they were offset by losses. For the first time in 40 years, Democrats have taken control of the Colorado Senate. Democrats also earned a tie in the Arizona Senate, where members must work with a 15-15 party split. Republicans wrested control of the Vermont House from the Democrats and earned a tie in the South Carolina and Maine Senate chambers. In South Carolina, it is the first time since Reconstruction that Democrats have not been the chamber's majority party. The Pennsylvania House entered the evening with a tied chamber, but Republicans have regained control.

“In Missouri, the Senate officially stands at a 17-17 tie. However, three incumbent senators -- two Democrats and a Republican -- ran successfully for higher office, creating a virtual 16-15 Republican majority when the chamber meets in January.”

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Outcomes: Ballot Initiatives
Several ballot initiatives that affect technology-based economic development were approved by voters around the country on Tuesday, including:

Measures that failed included:

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Useful Stats: Change in R&D/GSP 87-97; National R&D Patterns
The National Science Foundation has released the final version of State Science and Engineering Profiles and R&D Patterns: 1997-98 (Early Release Tables were made available in May). The special report includes several statistical tables of value to states developing Innovation Indices, S&T Report Cards, or other comparative studies.

The report provides easy 30 statistics for each state as well as the distribution of federal R&D obligations by department and performer in each state. Of special note in the 30 page overview is Table 4 which presents the state distribution of R&D expenditures by sector and source of funds for the odd years between 1987-1997. Trends in R&D activity within each state are easily identified. Table 3 presents R&D intensity within each state for 1997. Intensity is measured by R&D as a percentage of Gross State Product (GSP).

Using the 1997 figure and generating a similar measure for 1987 based on Table 4 and 1987 GSP estimates, SSTI has developed the accompanying table presenting the approximate change in R&D intensity for each state between 1987 and 1997. The states are presented in rank order by approximate percent change. According to the chart, New Hampshire shows the greatest growth in R&D intensity, followed by Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, and West Virginia. Oregon, Alaska, Maine, Rhode Island, and Nevada round out the top ten states for growth. Alabama, Missouri, Utah, Kansas, and New Mexico show the greatest decline among the states in R&D’s share of the Gross State Product.

State Science and Engineering Profiles and R&D Patterns: 1997-98 (NSF 00-329) can be downloaded from the National Science Foundation website at: http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf00329

National Patterns of R&D Resources: 2000
The National Science Foundation also has released early statistical tables for the National Patterns of R&D Resources: 2000. Included are annual statistics presenting national expenditures for research and development from 1993-2000 that are characterized by performing sector, sources of funding, basic research, applied research and type of funds. Please note, the table labeled “State expenditures for R&D, by performing sector and sources of funding: 1993-2000" presents Table 4 described above for 1987-1997. The National Patterns Early Release Tables can be downloaded from: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/srs01401/start.htm

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$20 Million Gift Targets Women in S&E
The majority of an anonymous gift of $26.5 million to the University of Southern California (USC) will be used to increase the representation of women in the hard sciences and engineering faculty and encourage middle school girls to choose a science pathway in education. Money also will be used to create new faculty positions in the sciences, upgrade laboratories, increase scholarship aid for undergraduates, create new fellowships for graduates and fund child care.

The USC program favors a long-term approach to redressing the gender imbalance in the sciences and engineering faculty. USC will use most of the $20 million of the gift apportioned to the issue as an endowment, applying its investment income toward hiring women faculty and providing enduring support for faculty, postdoctoral fellows and students. A networking group composed of USC’s female scientists has advised the university on the establishment of the program, called WISE, for Women in Science and Engineering.

USC expects the program to initiate more competition among elite institutions of higher education to train, attract and keep highly qualified women faculty members in the sciences and engineering.

The balance of the gift, a total of $6.5 million dollars will be used for capital improvements in the USC School of Social Work, including the completion of a new research wing.

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Funding Opportunities

Department of Agriculture
The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) of the USDA has announced its Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program application window for FY 2001 funding. With distance learning, students in isolated rural schools can participate in virtual field trips or take college preparatory and foreign language classes. Telemedicine projects enable rural patients to be examined by doctors in distant locations, bringing better health care service to remote communities and saving time, money, and lives. A total of $25 million in grants and $300 million in loans will be available for distance learning and telemedicine; awards will be made in the form of grants, loans, and grant-loan combinations. All applications for grants must be postmarked no later than March 2, 2001; applications for loans or combination loan-grant may be submitted any time up to September 30, 2001. Applicants who submit by February 2, 2001 will get their applications reviewed for completeness by RUS. Application procedures and guidance are available on the Internet at http://www.usda.gov/rus/telecom/dlt/dltpublications.htm

For more information, contact Orren Cameron at 202-690-4493.

Environmental Protection Agency
The Office of Wastewater Management, Office of Water at EPA is soliciting pre-proposals from eligible entities under the Clean Water Act that address the requirements of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES) program. The emphasis is on wet weather activities such as storm water, combined sewer overflows, sanitary sewer overflows, and concentrated animal feeding operations as well as projects that enhance the ability of the regulated community to deal with non-traditional pollution problems in priority watersheds. Innovative projects, demonstrations, and studies that have maximum transferability or can be used as models relating to the prevention, reduction, and elimination of water pollution are being solicited. All pre-proposals received (preferably via e-mail) before 5 pm EST on November 27, 2000 will be considered. EPA will award approximately $3.9 million through these agreements ranging from $10,000 to $500,000. The agency intends to award at least $200,000 per year from FY 2001 through FY 2005, to applicants whose projects address cooling water intake issues to include technical and environmental studies. Pre-proposals should be e-mailed to WQCA2001@EPA.GOV by 5 pm EST on November 27. For more details contact Barry Benroth by telephone at 202-564-0672 or by e-mail at benroth.barry@epa.gov

National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation has released a solicitation under the Urban Systemic Program in Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education (USP). The USP is a K-12-based program that promotes systemic reform of science and mathematics education for all students. It also includes programmatic components that seek to foster partnerships between urban school districts and two-and four-year colleges and universities and embed research and educational practice and learning. Only urban school districts that serve central city areas are eligible to apply through this program announcement. A 20 percent cost share is required. It is anticipated there will be 10 to 15 cooperative agreements made totaling $45 million. Proposals are due by 5 pm January 31, 2001. To download the solicitation go to http://www.nsf.gov FastLane Submission is also required. For more information on FastLane, contact Ramona Lyon at (703) 292-5184 or rlyon@nsf.gov

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People

Dr. Angeline Dvorak has been named as the first full-time president of Mississippi Technology, Inc. She will also serve as chief executive office of the Institute for Technology Development.

The Maine Science & Technology Foundation has appointed Dr. Kerri-Ann Jones as statewide director of the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

SSTI is sad to report the October death of Gloria Timmer, executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO). Ms. Timmer was very helpful to SSTI on several projects in her capacity at NASBO and previously as the Kansas state budget director.

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