Introduces the process by which Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) review proposals for research involving human subjects. Describes the composition of IRBs. Presents the Nuremberg code, the elements of informed consent, the judging criteria for proposals, and a sample protocol format. References newly published regulations governing research with…

Questions assumptions by Schoenfeld and Zirkel in a study reviewing gender discrimination cases against institutions of higher education. Critiques the methodology used in that study, cautions about the overall utility of "outcomes analysis," and reports more promising routes of empirical legal research. (15 references) (MLF)

Government regulation of recombinant DNA research is addressed. Issues discussed include the potential of such research; National Institutes of Health guidelines; federal, state, and local regulation; the controversy over self-regulation; first amendment protection for scientific research; and problems in drafting legislation. (JMD)

Reviews the Family Privacy Protection Act of 1995 and its potential impact on research and evaluation involving minors. Although this legislation was not passed, the issues related to both active and passive parental consent for the participation of minors in research are very much alive. (SLD)

It is suggested that the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 applies to agricultural research and development projects receiving federal monies through the land grant college system, and that the Department of Agriculture has neglected its statutory duty to assess long-term environmental impact of agricultural mechanization. (Author/MSE)

The ability of a university to do research free from undue interference is discussed in light of two court cases: Buchanan vs. American Motors Corp. and Dow Chemical Co. vs. Allen. Their principal significance lies in sparing nonparty researchers from the discovery process notwithstanding the acknowledged breadth of discovery. (MLW)

Both congress and the President are under heavy pressure to cut the Federal budget for science and research. Between the reductions in the present year and the next, science programs will lose $1.4 billion for R & D and $210 million in basic research if the proposed budget is approved. (Author/RE)

A discussion of the testing of new drugs in campus medical facilities reviews the process of federal approval of investigational new drugs, analyzes the implications of the federally mandated institutional review board, and the issues of informed consent and the ethics of human-subject research on campus. (MSE)

Summarizes current congressional action affecting educational research and related activities, including appropriations, the Higher Education Act reauthorization, a new research and technology act, and legislation regarding educational testing, youth unemployment and training, paperwork and red tape reduction, and research privacy. (GC)

Begins by examining legal realism and then looks at significant school and race cases of the 1970s to demonstrate the pragmatic and contradictory ways the Supreme Court has employed social science evidence. Available from Duke University Press, Box 6697 College Station, Durham, NC 27708. (Author/IRT)

Performance theorist Herbert Blau's "The Audience" (Baltimore and London, Johns Hopkins Press, 1990) is an important yet neglected theoretical text on theatre audience. Deconstructive, dense and allusive in nature, Blau's text creates a real challenge for his reader. This paper presents a study of "The Audience" employing what I am calling…

Reviews some recent lower court cases concerned with unconstitutionally-segregated schools and the development of remedies that involve four issues: busing, White flight, magnet schools, and compensatory education. Available from Duke University Press, Box 6697 College Station, Durham, NC 27708. (Author/IRT)

Features of the federal income tax law applying to income received from commercially funded university-based scientific research and development activities are discussed, including: industry-sponsored research contracts, separately incorporated entities, partnerships and joint ventures, subsidiaries and unrelated income consequences of…

The issue of whether scientific research is included within the system of protected expression afforded by the first amendment is addressed. Examined is the applicability of constitutional doctrine to state action to prohibit, burden, or decline to fund research because the area of inquiry itself is considered inappropriate or suspect. (AF)

Public access to scientific research obtained by faculty employed at state universities, it is suggested, should be restricted until proprietary rights have been secured. Public access to a state university's research denies that institution a proprietary right, and severely discourages the promotion of high quality basic research. (MLW)