[IP] Losing Our Edge: America shouldn't keep slipping in science
*Story:* Losing Our Edge: America shouldn't keep slipping in science
<http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/051704dnediscience.97a43.html>
The author is a retired dean from University of North Texasschool of
education. UNT is in Denton, 30 miles from north Dallas. Dan Hanson
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*Losing Our Edge: America shouldn't keep slipping in science *
*12:04 AM CDT on Monday, May 17, 2004 *
**
America is losing its edge.
The United States dominated science and technology through most of the
20th century, but other nations are catching up. The pattern has been
obvious to anyone who has bothered to look.
The hottest new automotive technology, a gasoline-electric hybrid, burst
on the American market from Japan. The latest breakthrough in biomedical
research occurred in South Korea. When the Pentagon looked around for a
university to conduct stem-cell research, it settled on a school in Sweden.
Where foreign students once came to the United States to study
engineering -- and often stayed here to work, increasing America's edge
in brainpower -- this nation now often imports engineers who studied
overseas. Pick up an issue of /Scientific American/, and you are likely
to read about research in Cape Town or Zurich.
That isn't entirely bad. In a modernizing world with a global economy,
the brightest scientists can find opportunities at home. India, for
example, decided to stem its brain drain by establishing universities
dedicated to science and technology.
But other signs on the home front are bad. Fewer Americans are majoring
in engineering. Last year, the National Science Foundation issued a
report on the lack of a science and engineering workforce (available on
the Web by going to *http://www.nsf.gov** *and entering "The Science and
Engineering Workforce: Realizing America's Potential" in the search
field). Some pundits blame that on outsourcing and a weak job market for
engineers. There is an abundance of unemployed, 55-year-old engineers at
the moment, but the economy is in a downturn, and demand will increase
for those who keep their skills updated. And the looming retirement of
baby boomers will require a highly trained workforce to replace them.
Will they come from the United States, where a long-term decline in
students' math skills has been well documented?
A quieter trend has been that American universities are attracting fewer
foreign students to graduate programs. Recently, /The New York Times
/documented America's relative decline in other, less noticeable areas:
patents, scientific papers published in top journals, doctoral degrees
and Nobel Prizes. The United States still is strong but no longer
dominant. It certainly isn't shabby for one nation to get slightly more
than half of the Nobel Prizes or American patents in the 21st century,
but we, as a nation, aspire to more than that.
Some problems are self-inflicted. Politics has gotten involved in
science, undercutting, for example, stem-cell research. Global warming,
pollution, oil extraction and even evolution have become so politicized
that a nonscientist can get lost, believing theories that mainstream
scientists find appalling. Instead of hearing nuanced scientific
discussion, the public is subjected to political shouting matches.
Regaining our edge will take a change in mind-set. More young people
need to be encouraged to study science -- to be convinced that it not
only is important but also interesting.
We already have the facilities to educate them, as well as the
scientists who can inspire a new generation, especially in North Texas.
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center is one of the
world's top medical research facilities. The school is particularly
proud of biochemistry Professor Xiaodong Wang, who was just elected to
the prestigious National Academy of Science, because he is a home-grown
talent, the first person to enter Southwestern as a student, stay on the
faculty and gain national acclaim.
UT-Southwestern isn't alone. The University of North Texas has a math
and science program to bring high school students onto campus full time.
The University of Texas at Dallas has been particularly active in
research, with nanotechnology, the Center for Brain Health and several
cooperative research programs with such high-tech firms as Texas
Instruments and Alcatel. Southern Methodist University and the
University of Texas at Arlington also have strong science and
engineering programs.
The problem is preparing today's schoolchildren for those opportunities.
They need a solid base of math and science throughout their education.
And they must be encouraged so that they don't find math and science
intimidating. The children of today will determine whether we regain the
scientific edge tomorrow.
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