SCIENCE IN THE NEWS -April 9, 2002: Digest
VOICE ONE:
This is Sarah Long.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Doug Johnson with Science in the News, a VOA Special English program about recent developments
in Science. Today we tell about President Bush’s choices for the two top medical positions in the United States
government. And we tell about the winner of one of the world’s largest prizes.
((THEME))
VOICE ONE:
President Bush has nominated candidates for the nation’s two top medical positions. He named Elias Zerhouni
(EL-ee-ahs Zur -HOH-nee) to direct the National Institutes of Health. The N-I-H, near Washington, D-C, is the
government ’s medical research agency.
The president chose Richard Carmona (Car-MOAN-ah) to be surgeon
general. The surgeon general is the government ’s chief policy advisor
and spokesperson about health issues. The Senate must approve both
nominations.
VOICE TWO:
The National Institutes of Health has lacked a director for more than two
years. Cancer researcher Harold Varmus left that position at the end of
Nineteen-Ninety-Nine.
Doctor Zerhouni currently serves as a top official at Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. He also is chief of
radiology at the university’s hospital. Doctor Zerhouni is nationally known for excellence in radiology and
research administration.
He is an expert in the science that uses X-rays and other techniques to find and treat diseases. These techniques
include magnetic resonance imaging that shows soft body tissue. He also has earned praise for developing a
process that takes moving pictures of the heart.
Some critics say Doctor Zerhouni is not especially known for performing research. By comparison, the former NI-
H director, Harold Varmus, won a Nobel Prize for Medicine in Nineteen-Eighty -Nine for research on the
genetics of cancer.
VOICE ONE:
Elias Zerhouni is fifty-one years old. He is an American citizen who was born in Algeria. He completed his
medical education at the University of Algiers in Nineteen-Seventy-Five. That same year, he and his wife arrived
in the United States without family or friends in this country and with little money. He began his training as a
doctor at Johns Hopkins.
In the early Nineteen-Eighties, Doctor Zerhouni taught at the Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk. He
returned to Johns Hopkins in Nineteen-Eighty -Five. Ever since, he has held increasingly important
responsibilities there. He also has established or helped establish two medical companies. One of these
companies made it possible for patients to have magnetic resonance imaging without going to a hospital.
President Bush congratulates Dr.
Richard Carmona, right, and Dr. Elias
Zerhouni.
(Photo -Tina Hager/White House)
Last year, Doctor Zerhouni helped get private money to start the Institute for Cell Engineering at Johns Hopkins.
The institute is working to develop research with special cells called stem cells. Scientists believe this research
may result in treatments for a number of diseases.
VOICE TWO:
President Bush says he is sure Doctor Zerhouni will defend Administration positions on important medical
research issues. These include stem cells and cloning --creating genetic copies of living things.
If confirmed by the Senate, Doctor Zerhouni will lead a huge medical research organization. N-I-H occupies
more than one-hundred-twenty hectares in Bethesda, Maryland. It has twenty-seven separate institutes or centers.
They employ fifteen-thousand people.
The N-I-H budget for Two-Thousand -Three is expected to be more than twenty-seven-thousand-million dollars.
This is about one-hundred percent more than in Nineteen-Ninety-Eight.
N-I-H scientists supervise about forty-thousand research projects. They search for causes and treatments for
many diseases. However, N-I-H carries out its main research on cancer, heart disease, AIDS and genetic diseases.
It also has increased research on chemicals used in possible terrorism attacks.
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE ONE:
President Bush has chosen Richard Carmona to be the country’s new surgeon general. Doctor Carmona is fifty-
two years old. He is an expert in emergency medical care. He operates hospital emergency rooms in Tucson,
Arizona. He also serves as a police officer.
Two years ago, the National Association of Police Organizations named him one of nation’s best policemen.
About ten years ago, Doctor Carmona rescued a person trapped on a dangerous, snowy mountainside. He did this
while suspended from a helicopter. This heroic action became the subject of a movie.
VOICE TWO:
If confirmed as surgeon general, Doctor Carmona will direct the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health
Service. More than five-thousand-five -hundred public health workers belong to this organization. Its members
work during national emergencies. For example, they worked during the terrorist attacks in New York City and
near Washington, D-C, last September.
The surgeon general also prepares reports on public health issues. President Bush said he has asked Doctor
Carmona to speak to the nation about alcohol and drug problems. The president also wants him to urge
Americans to get more physical exercise.
VOICE ONE:
Richard Carmona grew up in a poor Hispanic family in New York City. He left high school before completing
the requirements. At age seventeen, he joined the United States Army. He won Purple Heart medals after being
wounded two times during the Vietnam War.
Richard Carmona finished his high school education after returning from the war. Then he attended college and
medical school at the University of California in San Francisco.
He continued his medical education at hospitals in San Francisco. He moved to Arizona in Nineteen-Eighty -Five.
There he started the first emergency care program in the area. He became director of these trauma services at
Tucson Medical Center.
VOICE TWO:
Richard Carmona serves as a doctor for the Pima County police. He helps lead their special crisis force team. He
also teaches at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Friends describe him as one of the most energetic people
they have known.
Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts heads the Senate committee that will question Doctor
Zerhouni and Doctor Carmona. He has praised both men. Senator Kennedy says he looks forward to hearing their
positions on health issues.
((MUSIC BRIDGE)
)
VOICE ONE:
A British physicist who became a Christian clergyman has been awarded one of the world’s largest prizes. The
Reverend John Polkinghorne is this year’s winner of the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion.
The Templeton Prize is worth about one-million dollars. It is named for British
businessman John Templeton. Mister Templeton established the award in Nineteen-
Seventy-Two to honor people for their work in religion. The winners for the past
four years have been scientists.
The Reverend John Polkinghorne is a mathematical physicist. His writings on the
links between science and religion have helped increase public interest in the
subject.
VOICE TWO:
John Charlton Polkinghorne was born in England in Nineteen-Thirty. His family was very religious and often
attended Church of England services. As a boy, John became interested in mathematics. He completed his
education at the University of Cambridge.
He later became a professor of mathematical physics at Cambridge. His mathematical programs for estimating
the movement of fast-moving particles are considered his most important scientific findings. His work led to his
membership in the Royal Society, Britain’s leading scientific organization.
Professor Polkinghorne decided to leave his teaching position to study religion in Nineteen-Seventy-Nine. Three
years later, he became a Christian clergyman.
VOICE ONE:
Father Polkinghorne has written more than twenty books. The best known ones include “Belief in God in an
Age of Science”
and “The Faith of a Physicist.
”
Father Polkinghorne says he believes in both science and
religion. He says he sees them as helping each other, not as opponents. He says the idea of a huge explosion
creating the universe does not affect his belief in God as creator.
Father Polkinghorne will receive the Templeton prize in a private ceremony in London later this month. He says
he will use the prize money to aid the study of science and religion.
((THEME))
VOICE TWO:
This Science in the News program was written by Jerilyn Watson and George Grow. It was produced by Cynthia
Kirk. This is Sarah Long.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Doug Johnson. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice
of America.
Email this article to a friend
Printer Friendly Version |