Outlines pending federal legislation affecting science policy, discusses an exodus of top officials from the National Institutes of Health, and lists members of the Office of Technology Assessment Advisory Council. (JR)

Reasons are discussed concerning the House of Representatives' defeat in 1974 of a bill to establish a National Metric Conversion Board which would coordinate the process of voluntary conversion to the metric system a ten-year period. A brief history of the metric system in the United States is included. (DT)

Foreshadows approaches to Congress by the American Institute of Biological Sciences to ensure that the professional biologist is heard when decisions affecting biological research or world problems with biological components are made. (AL)

Describes federal legislative action of interest to biologists, considering bills concerning the protection of marine mammals, ocean dumping of wastes, and the conservation of fisheries. (AL)

The controversy concerning H.R. 4572, the Public Printing Reorganization Act, is presented; the bill is scheduled to appear before Congress this month. The belief among the scientific community and publishing industry is that it will jeopardize the distribution of publications of scientists' research. (SA)

Describes a wilderness conference in which a petition calling for "protection of our common global environment" was written and later submitted to the United Nations. (LS)

Discusses the issue of faculty unionization on college campuses. The case of Yeshiva University is presented as the future of unions in the 1980s is considered by the Supreme Court. (SA)