www.newswire.ca

MONTREAL, Feb. 27 /CNW Telbec/ - The L'OREAL-UNESCO program FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE today honored twenty women scientists from all corners of the globe.

The Awards, presented by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of L'OREAL, Lindsay Owen-Jones, and Director-General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, recognized five Laureates working in the field of Material Sciences in addition to fifteen Fellows in the Life Sciences at a ceremony held at UNESCO's Paris Headquarters. This year's Awards bring to 71 the number of women, from 45 countries, who have been honored by the program.

The L'OREAL-UNESCO FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE program aims to improve the position of women in science by recognizing outstanding women researchers who have contributed to scientific progress (L'OREAL-UNESCO Awards of $100,000 each), and young women scientists engaged in exemplary and promising projects (UNESCO-L'OREAL Fellowships of $20,000 each).

The L'OREAL-UNESCO Award distinguishes five remarkable women researchers representing the five continents: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America. Often, these women's exceptional careers have opened up new and revolutionary ways of improving conditions of life and well being.

Professor Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Nobel Prize in Physics 1991, presided over an international jury of ten eminent scientists. ("see list of 2003 Award Laureates below"). Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Lindsay Owen-Jones said: "The discoveries that you make push forward the boundaries of science. You are emblems who are a great source of hope; attracting new young women to your fields of research and inspiring a great calling that ensures the future of science." Koichiro Matsuura added: "You are the role models for today's young girls, opening a door to freedom and adventure that has been forbidden them for too long. In today's knowledge societies, women must contribute to scientific research, and mark it with their vision of the world and its development." The expansion of the Awards to include the discipline of the Material Sciences, coupled with a significant increase in their monetary value, demonstrates the commitment of the Award partners to ensure that the L'OREAL- UNESCO FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE program finds its place alongside the world's leading international awards programs.

The UNESCO-L'OREAL Fellowships encourage young women scientists to pursue their research projects in the laboratory of their choice. This year, fifteen women from five regions were rewarded. By fostering young researchers and their hopes, the FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE program works to reinforce the vocation of women in scientific disciplines. Since the creation of the Fellowships in 2000, the program has distinguished a total of 45 young scientists. ("see list of 2003 Fellows below")

LOCAL INITIATIVES The annual international Award ceremony is the highlight of an increasingly full program of local initiatives being organized worldwide; including in Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Italy, Republic of Korea, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey and the United Kingdom. These initiatives ensure that women in science benefit even further from the partnership forged between L'OREAL and UNESCO.

In Canada a national program called "Mentorship for Science" is being developed jointly between L'Oréal Canada, the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and Actua, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the scientific and technical literacy of young Canadians. This mentorship program, which is set to be launched later this spring, will partner leading women scientists, such as the FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE laureates, with young Canadian girls in order to stimulate and encourage these young girls to pursue careers in science.

Note to Editors:

• Life Sciences and Material Sciences both contribute to the scientific success of L'OREAL. In twelve research centers in France, Asia and America, more than 2,700 scientists are responsible for the registration of hundreds of patents annually. 55% of these scientists are women - a percentage unmatched elsewhere in the industry.

• L'OREAL is the world's number one cosmetics company, present in 140 countries. For more details, visit www.loreal.com - UNESCO is an intergovernmental organisation. It currently has 188 Member States. The main objective of UNESCO is to contribute to peace and security in the world by promoting collaboration among nations through education, science, culture and communication.

THE 2003 AWARD LAUREATES

Karimat EL-SAYED (Egypt), Professor of Solid State Physics, Ain Shams University, Cairo, has specialized in the detection of impurities in materials relevant to industrial metallurgy and semi-conducting materials.

Fang-Hua LI (China), Professor, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, is a specialist of electron microscopy. Her work has pushed back the limits of observation of crystalline structures through the elimination of interference.

Ayse ERZAN (Turkey), Professor of Physics, Istanbul Technical University, has used the concepts of fractal geometry to study the collective phenomena of percolation, in which the interactions of simple constituents translate to behavior at large scale or over long periods.

Mariana WEISSMANN (Argentina), Senior Researcher, Argentine National Research Council, Buenos Aires, has helped to move our understanding of quantum solids from a qualitative view to quantitative predictions. She has also been a pioneer in the use of computers to study the properties of solids.

Johanna M. H. LEVELT SENGERS (USA), Scientist Emeritus, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, has contributed to a better definition of water and steam properties for scientific applications. Her work has aided industry in its search for cleaner and safer ways to dispose of hazardous and toxic waste.

THE 2003 FELLOWS

Africa Côte d'Ivoire: Ahou Edwige SIRANSY - Physiology Nigeria: Sodangi Abdulkarim LUKA GESINDE - Parasitology South Africa: Karin JACOBS - Mycology

Arab States Palestinian Authority: Mary George KAILEH - Molecular Biology Syria: Darie ALIKAJ -Virology Tunisia: Samia REJIBA - Molecular Biology

Asia-Pacific Australia: Devi STUART-FOX - Ecology/Evolutionary Biology Iran: Shiva SEYED FOROOTAN - Molecular Biology ("The third Asia-Pacific Fellowship Recipient will be announced in the coming weeks.")

Europe/North America Israel: Victoria YAVELSKY - Molecular Biology/Immunology Romania: Adriana JALBA - Plant Biology Turkey: Ahu ALTINKUT UNCUOGLU - Molecular Biology

Latin America/Caribbean Argentina: Maria Gabriela PALOMO - Marine Ecology Peru: Dionicia GAMBOA VILELA - Molecular Biology Venezuela: Rocio DIAZ-BENJUMEA BENAVIDES - Parasitology/ Biology

-30-

For further information: Teresa Menna, Corporate Communications, L'Oréal Canada, (514) 287-4613, tmenna@ca.loreal.com; www.forwomeninscience.com

L'OREAL CANADA INC., UNESCO has 3 releases in this database.

www.heraldtribune.com By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN Associated Press Writer

Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Thursday ordered state officials to begin regular surveys of gasoline prices around the state in an effort to stop gouging. Under the executive order, the state will give consumers pricing information, and any possibly unfair prices will be reported to the attorney general. Granholm, who became governor last month, said she wanted to prevent a recurrence of apparent gouging prompted by fears about national security after Sept. 11, 2001. "The anxiety felt by consumers in those difficult days has begun to reappear in recent weeks as gas prices have increased dramatically," she said in a statement. AAA Michigan said Monday that the state's average price for self-serve regular gasoline last week was $1.70 a gallon, 56 cents higher than a year ago. The governor acknowledged that prices have been volatile in part because of uncertainty over war in Iraq and a slowdown in oil imports from Venezuela but said they still bear watching. Granholm urged passage of bills by two Democrats that would expressly ban price gouging during states of emergency declared by the governor. The law now contains no specific ban on gasoline price gouging. While attorney general, Granholm took action against 48 service stations that had raised prices sharply in the days after the Sept. 11 terrorism. The stations were required to refund more than $100,000 in overcharges to consumers and to pay about $30,000 in civil penalties to the state, Granholm said.

www.canada.com Vito Pilieci CanWest News Service Thursday, February 27, 2003

The Canadian Petroleum Products Institute says the continuing rise and fall of gas prices at the pump is not the product of collusion in the industry, but the result of a healthy competitive market.

"People don't understand and it's almost impossible to explain," said Alain Perez, president of the institute, an association of Canadian companies involved in the refining, distribution and marketing of petroleum products. "How do you convince people that you are actually losing money?"

Many motorists are quick to suggest a conspiracy when pump prices jump by several cents -- almost simultaneously -- at gas stations.

But Perez said the reason the prices rise is because competing gas stations, who are at war with one another for customers, continuously chip away at their prices, driving them downward over the course of a few days.

The prices continue to fall until the selling price of the gas is lower than what the gas station paid for it.

"(Consumers) think, 'Why am I driving in the morning and it's at 72.9 cents and coming back in the afternoon and seeing 79.9 cents?' " he said. "At 72.9 cents, people are actually losing money."

When the price reaches the money-losing level, one of the gas stations will raise its prices, usually by several cents, to offset losses, and all of the competing gas stations in the area quickly follow suit.

Then the cycle starts all over again.

"I cannot stop that, nobody can stop that," said Perez. "If we were able to stop that, we would be colluding."

The institute's statements come at a time when gas prices are soaring due to the threat of war in Iraq, economic strife in Venezuela and a long and very cold winter in Eastern Canada.

The statements were made in reaction to plans by a House of Commons committee, which wants to question Canadian oil industry executives about high gasoline prices over the next few weeks.

Canadian oil companies argue that aside from geopolitical events occurring around the world, high Canadian gas taxes are one of the most significant reasons that prices are soaring at the pumps. Taxes account for about 31.2 cents of the price of a litre of gasoline.

ogj.pennnet.com Maureen Lorenzetti Washington Editor

WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 27 -- Allegations of price-gouging in energy markets may be based on frustration, not facts, Senate Energy Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM) said Wednesday.

Natural gas and crude oil prices have soared in the past few weeks, the lawmaker acknowledged, but the sudden increases likely are market-related, Domenici said.

"This week, wholesale natural gas prices jumped 38% in 1 day. The spot markets jumped even higher. Wholesale natural gas prices are at $7.15/MMbtu. Crude oil is trading at $37/bbl," he said. But, he added, "We've been down this road before. We were here 2 years ago. Prices were just as high, driven by rising demand and tight supply."

And this time around, it's a good bet that the same market forces are at work, Domenici said.

Congressional concerns Some legislators, particularly those from large energy-consuming states such as New York and California, voiced concerns that fuel suppliers may be taking advantage of a jittery market spooked by a series of seemingly daily geopolitical crises among the world's larger oil exporters: lingering strikes in Venezuela, growing unrest in Nigeria, and possible military action in Iraq.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), a vocal critic of the Bush administration's energy policies, wants the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether consumers are being gouged for their purchases of heating fuel and gasoline. He also called on the White House to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help bring prices down.

"Having but not using the SPR is like having an ace in the hole and saying you're not going to play the card," Schumer said. "This is no longer a partisan issue. Republicans in Congress just joined me in the call to open the reserves. The Bush administration must take action now to reduce gas prices for consumers before the economy goes over the edge.''

Responding to Schumer and a growing chorus of East and West Coast lawmakers, Domenici urged "caution and careful consideration" before making such allegations. He added that federal regulators are monitoring the situation and so far have not found evidence to suggest manipulation. The New Mexico lawmakers also concurred with the White House that the SPR should be used only for sudden supply shocks (OGJ Online, Feb. 26, 2003).

"I understand the frustration and anxiety that prompts allegations of gouging and price-fixing. The natural gas market has been deregulated and is a free market," he said. "The Commodity Futures Trading Commission continues to monitor the market for manipulation. Meanwhile, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is taking action to ensure the integrity of gas price reporting to ensure consumers have accurate market information. These actions are responsible and prudent."

Domestic production needed One way to avoid future price spikes would be to produce more domestic energy, he suggested, echoing comments made by Sec. of Energy Spencer Abraham before the committee earlier in the week.

"Insufficient production is our core problem; allegations and rumors are just a temporary distraction. If we want to stabilize energy prices, we must produce more energy," he said.

The White House and Republican leaders say that to encourage domestic production, Congress should this year pass a comprehensive energy bill.

"If we don't, we will visit this scenario again and again. The use of natural gas in the production of electricity in this country is expected to double in the next several years. Virtually every power plant we're building relies on natural gas. That means these crises in supply and price will only get worse if we don't act swiftly and decisively.

"I am committed to passing a comprehensive energy bill that will provide affordable, reliable, and clean energy for all Americans. At the very least, we must give the president an energy bill that will increase our own domestic production," Domenici said.

www.heraldtribune.com The Associated Press

When weather forecasters call for ice and snow, Randy Hayes knows he will be busy. Hayes, a delivery driver for Quality Oil Co., Hayes crisscrossed southern Winston-Salem on Wednesday, topping off tanks with home heating oil. "We're just like the grocery store," he said. "Whenever there's going to be bad weather, we get a lot of business." As with other petroleum products, the price of heating oil has risen dramatically in recent months. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the average price in North Carolina was $1.52 a gallon, a 49 percent jump from a year ago and a new high for the state. The increased cost for oil has strained household budgets, especially for those living on fixed incomes. "I just get Social Security," said Betty Robbins, who had her tank filled by Hayes. "I've spent a lot more on oil this winter because of the storms, and the price just keeps going up." Officials said that the increase is the result of higher demand for fuel oil during the unusually harsh winter, a prolonged strike in Venezuela and uncertainty about war in Iraq. The high cost of oil has drained the resources of agencies that help those who can't pay their heating bills. "We're helping as many people as we can," said Jim Campbell, the emergency-assistance coordinator for the Forsyth County Department of Social Services. "We're getting about twice as many calls as last year." Campbell said that during a cold week, his office has processed about 120 applications for heating assistance each day. Because of increased fuel costs, the department can only afford to pay for about 100 gallons of heating oil or kerosene for each family, roughly a one-month supply. Information from: Winston-Salem Journal