Beyond Taxol - Medicine's crusade against cancer got a blockbuster of a weapon added to its anti-tumor drug arsenal in 1992 when Taxol hit the market. Thanks to a patented, short-cut production method developed by a team of FSU chemists led by Dr. Robert Holton, the precious drug—once tediously extracted from the bark of the Pacific yew tree--was mass-produced and marketed exclusively by pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb.

End-of-Life Strife - Each year, far too many terminally ill Floridians face their final days in needless worry over the details of their dying, say specialists who study end-of-life issues in the Sunshine State. Such patients fret about whether their living wills will be honored, how their estates will be settled, and more often than not, the terrifying prospects of being denied sufficient pain medication to prevent an agonizing death.

Beer & Taxes - Economists who have looked at the tragedy of highway deaths of and by drunk American youth have been almost unanimous in their recommendations to policy-makers—hike the so-called "sin" taxes on beer, youth's favorite form of beverage alcohol, to the point where price deters consumption.

An Engineering Challenge - With John Glenn's historic return to space serving as a backdrop, this fall the Florida A&M/Florida State College of Engineering announced this fall that the school is destined to become home to a nationally recognized program in space science education.

Friendly Fire - Florida's baptism of fire last summer drew more than national attention to a holocaust that charred 458,000 acres of the Sunshine State. The calamity focused renewed attention on the debate about how and where fire fits into the natural order of things on a planet inexorably headed toward a population crisis.

Radiation Booster - Each year, 700,000 Americans undergo radiation therapy to treat a variety of cancers. In almost every case, the lethal rays destroy not only cancer cells, but healthy ones as well. The problem is compounded when the cancer being treated is one of many that are naturally more resistant to radiation than others.