would be possible with the first level. This approach would be 

 designed to set up dialogue between the legislators and 

 specialized science/engineering/technology experts with respect 

 to a given issue. The dialogue sessions might typically range 

 from one hour face-to-face interviews between technical experts 

 and legislators. To promote efficiency through this mechanism, 

 group briefings or seminars could be set up using the SET 

 professional staff as liaison and coordinators for such meetings. 



The third level of the SET program would be the initiation of 

 technical studies. This approach would be used whenever the 

 first or second levels of operation were not appropriate. 

 Individuals or organizations might foreseeably be asked to make 

 specialized studies in their fields of expertise on behalf of the 

 General Assembly. It is important to note that the North 

 Carolina General Assembly already has a Legislative Research 

 Commission. The committees of the Legislative Research 

 Commission would be set up with a combination of legislative 

 members and non-legislative members, some of whom would be 

 experts in the SET field under review. These committees would 

 conduct in-depth studies of SET issues. 



The science interns selected to participate in the program 

 would be chosen from the undergraduate and graduate scientific 

 and technical programs in colleges and universities in the State. 

 Presumably a large majority of these interns would be majoring in 

 science or engineering programs. 



