| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"maff" |
| Date: |
18 Dec 2005 03:56:18 PM |
| Object: |
Math and Science Test for Bush |
Math and Science Test for Bush
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/17/AR2005121700947.html
http://forums.delphiforums.com/atheistrefuge/messages?msg=1791.7626
By David S. Broder
Sunday, December 18, 2005; Page B07
Call it an early Christmas gift. A number of legislators of both
parties have put the wrappings on a proposal for next year that could
be the best present under President Bush's tree: an initiative that
would please business, labor, parents, teachers and students -- and be
good for the country.
Latin America Looks Leftward Again
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/18/weekinreview/18forero.html?pagewanted=all
http://forums.delphiforums.com/atheistrefuge/messages?msg=1786.9777
By JUAN FORERO
The appeal of rural socialism is a powerful reminder that much of South
America has become disenchanted with the promises of global capitalism.
The Road to Riches
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.atheism/msg/5ba95f4634dec9cd
and thread
The Road to Riches
http://tinyurl.com/55nzo
A Blueprint for the Future
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.atheism/msg/59c28cd6dfe6f60f
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| User: "stoney" |
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| Title: Re: Math and Science Test for Bush |
20 Dec 2005 09:31:05 AM |
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On 18 Dec 2005 13:56:18 -0800, "maff" <maff91@yahoo.com> wrote:
Math and Science Test for Bush
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/17/AR2005121700947.html
http://forums.delphiforums.com/atheistrefuge/messages?msg=1791.7626
By David S. Broder
Sunday, December 18, 2005; Page B07
Call it an early Christmas gift. A number of legislators of both
parties have put the wrappings on a proposal for next year that could
be the best present under President Bush's tree: an initiative that
would please business, labor, parents, teachers and students -- and be
good for the country.
Inside the package is a creation framed by the best scientific minds
to keep the United States in the forefront of innovation and
technology. It is aimed at ensuring this country's competitive
position in the new global economy and thereby improving the prospects
for more American families to be able to enjoy comfortable,
middle-class lives.
The elements have been embraced by key legislators across the
political spectrum. But none of them has a personal stamp on the
proposal that would prevent the president from making it his own -- if
he decided to highlight it, as some of them have suggested, in next
month's State of the Union address
and then underscored his commitment by putting the needed funds into
his budget.
The major parts of the plan have emerged in a series of reports from
business, academic and government groups -- most recently in that of a
blue-ribbon panel of the National Academy of Sciences headed by Norman
Augustine, the retired chief executive of Lockheed Martin Corp.
They all recite similar warning signs that America's current economic
health conceals significant long-term threats to our prosperity. There
has been a steady erosion in investment in the kind of brainpower that
keeps a nation competitive -- and a consequent decline in American
inventiveness.
The percentage of America's gross national product invested by the
federal government in research in the physical sciences has declined
by half since 1970. Asia and Europe are graduating thousands more
engineering and science majors than the United States every year --
and the gap is growing. Almost half of U.S. patents go to
foreign-owned companies and foreign-born inventors. Our high school
students test poorly in math and science compared with those of our
major trading partners.
Looking at these statistics and listening to educators and business
executives who offer personal testimony about the difficulty of
attracting students to math and engineering or recruiting workers with
those skills, legislators are beginning to respond. Three House
Republicans -- Reps. Frank Wolf of Virginia, Vern Ehlers of Michigan
and Sherwood Boehlert of New York -- sponsored an "innovation summit"
this month that brought university presidents and corporate chief
executives to the Commerce Department to promote action on this
challenge.
The House Democratic Caucus has launched its own task force on
innovation, and last week, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi held a meeting
of its members with Silicon Valley executives.
Things are moving even faster in the Senate. Republican Lamar
Alexander of Tennessee and Democrat Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, along
with Republican Pete Domenici of New Mexico and Democrat Barbara
Mikulski of Maryland, are preparing legislation that embodies the
recommendations of the Augustine task force. Connecticut Democrat Joe
Lieberman and Nevada Republican John Ensign have teamed up on a
related bill.
They call for a coordinated and sustained attack on the problem, one
that Alexander and Bingaman say would cost the country about $9
billion a year. That is no small sum, but it is about one-tenth of
what the Iraq war has been costing us annually.
The first step, Alexander says, is to boost federal investment in
basic research 10 percent a year over the next seven years. Next,
tackle the talent supply problem: Recruit 10,000 future science and
math teachers each year and award them four-year college scholarships,
with big bonuses to those who teach in underserved schools; give
additional training to 250,000 current math and science teachers;
provide large grants to 200 promising young researchers; create an
advanced research projects agency in the Energy Department; provide
25,000 competitive scholarships a year to undergraduates in physical
sciences, engineering and math; fund 5,000 new graduate fellowships a
year in those fields; make it easier for foreign students in those
fields to obtain visas for study here and ease their way if they want
to remain here to work; expand immigration opportunities for people
with those needed skills; provide tax incentives for U.S.-based
innovations; and expand access to broadband communications.
This is a large order, but much more practical than Bush's earlier
promise of a manned mission to Mars. Alexander quotes his mentor, the
late Bryce Harlow, an Eisenhower aide, who taught him that "everything
that comes to the White House is important, but only a few things are
presidential." This, says Alexander, is presidential. And it's there
for Bush's taking.
davidbroder@washpost.com
© 2005 The Washington Post Company
--
Contempt of Congress meter reading-offscale.
Hello, theocracy with a fundamentalist US Supreme
Court who will ensure church and state are joined
at the hip like clergy and altar boys.
America 1776-Jan 2001 RIP
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president
represents, more and more closely, the inner soul
of the people. On some great and glorious day the
plain folks of the land will reach their heart's
desire at last and the White House will be adorned
by a downright moron." --- H.L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
Religion is the original war crime.
-Michelle Malkin (Feb 26, 2005)
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