Wearing protective goggles and white lab coats, students in Mel Joesten's and Shawn Phillips' chemistry class worked to extract the iron shavings that are added to Total brand breakfast cereal, a standard experiment in Vanderbilt's general chemistry courses.

However, the pupils aren't college students engaged in a summer course. They are among the participants involved in the inaugural session of the Vanderbilt Program for Talented Youth.

by Jeff Vincent

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A senior federal health-care official acknowledged last month that Congress could well reject a Clinton administration proposal to allow the government to fine heavily medical researchers who violate government rules on human-subject research. However, he said the White House "felt a responsibility" to seek such penalties in light of widespread public concern over this issue, triggered largely by a death directly attributed to gene therapy research at a major university.

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