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Broad Federal Effort Urgently Needed to Create High-Quality Jobs
http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/0309100399?OpenDocument ^

Posted on 10/13/2005 2:18:30 AM PDT by Arjun

Broad Federal Effort Urgently Needed to Create New, High-Quality Jobs for All Americans in the 21st Century

WASHINGTON -- The unmatched vitality of the United States' economy and science and technology enterprise has made this country a world leader for decades, allowing Americans to benefit from a high standard of living and national security. But in a world where advanced knowledge is widespread and low-cost labor is readily available, U.S. advantages in the marketplace and in science and technology have begun to erode. A comprehensive and coordinated federal effort is urgently needed to bolster U.S. competitiveness and pre-eminence in these areas so that the nation will consistently gain from the opportunities offered by rapid globalization, says a new report from the National Academies.

Given the United States' history of economic and scientific pre-eminence, it is easy to be complacent about these complex issues, the report says. Following are some indicators that illustrate why decisive action is needed now:

· For the cost of one chemist or one engineer in the United States, a company can hire about five chemists in China or 11 engineers in India.

· Last year chemical companies shuttered 70 facilities in the United States and have tagged 40 more for closure. Of 120 chemical plants being built around the world with price tags of $1 billion or more, one is in the United States and 50 are in China.

· U.S. 12th-graders recently performed below the international average for 21 countries on a test of general knowledge in mathematics and science. In addition, an advanced mathematics assessment was administered to students in 15 other countries who were taking or had taken advanced math courses, and to U.S. students who were taking or had taken pre-calculus, calculus, or Advanced Placement calculus. Eleven countries outperformed the United States, and four scored similarly. None scored significantly below the United States.

· In 1999 only 41 percent of U.S. eighth-graders had a math teacher who had majored in mathematics at the undergraduate or graduate level or studied the subject for teacher certification -- a figure that was considerably lower than the international average of 71 percent. · Last year more than 600,000 engineers graduated from institutions of higher education in China. In India, the figure was 350,000. In America, it was about 70,000.

· In 2001 U.S. industry spent more on tort litigation than on research and development.

Without a major push to strengthen the foundations of America's competitiveness, the United States could soon lose its privileged position. The ultimate goal is to create new, high-quality jobs for all citizens by developing new industries that stem from the ideas of exceptional scientists and engineers.

The congressionally requested report -- written by a 20-member committee that included university presidents, CEOs, Nobel Prize winners, and former presidential appointees -- makes four recommendations along with 20 implementation actions that federal policy-makers should take to create high-quality jobs and focus new science and technology (S&T) efforts on meeting the nation's need for clean, affordable, and reliable energy. Some actions will involve changing existing laws, while others will require financial support that would come from reallocating existing budgets or increasing them. The committee believes that ongoing evaluation of the results should be included in all of the measures.

"America must act now to preserve its strategic and economic security by capitalizing on its knowledge-based resources, particularly in S&T, and maintaining the most fertile environment for new and revitalized industries that create well-paying jobs," said committee chair Norman R. Augustine, retired chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md. "The building blocks of our economic leadership are wearing away. The challenges that America faces are immense."

A brief overview of the four recommendations follows, with a sample of proposed actions to implement them.

Ten Thousand Teachers, Ten Million Minds

Increase America's talent pool by vastly improving K-12 mathematics and science education.

· Among the recommended implementation steps is the creation of a merit-based scholarship program to attract 10,000 exceptional students to math and science teaching careers each year. Four-year scholarships, worth up to $20,000 annually, should be designed to help some of the nation's top students obtain bachelor's degrees in physical or life sciences, engineering, or mathematics -- with concurrent certification as K-12 math and science teachers. After graduation, they would be required to work for at least five years in public schools. Participants who teach in disadvantaged inner-city or rural areas would receive a $10,000 annual bonus. Each of the 10,000 teachers would serve about 1,000 students over the course of a teaching career, having an impact on 10 million minds, the report says. Sowing the Seeds

Sustain and strengthen the nation's commitment to long-term basic research.

· Policy-makers should increase the national investment in basic research by 10 percent each year over the next seven years. Special attention should be paid to the physical sciences, engineering, mathematics, and information sciences, and to basic research funding for the U.S. Department of Defense, the report says.

· Policy-makers also should establish within the U.S. Department of Energy an organization called the Advanced Research Project Agency -- Energy (ARPA-E) that reports to the undersecretary for science and sponsors "out-of-the-box" energy research to meet the nation's long-term energy challenges.

· Authorities should make 200 new research grants annually -- worth $500,000 each, payable over five years -- to the nation's most outstanding early-career researchers. Best and Brightest

Develop, recruit, and retain top students, scientists, and engineers from both the United States and abroad. The United States should be considered the most attractive setting in the world to study and conduct research, the report says.

· Each year, policy-makers should provide 25,000 new, competitive four-year undergraduate scholarships and 5,000 new graduate fellowships to U.S. citizens enrolled in physical science, life science, engineering, and mathematics programs at U.S. colleges and universities.

· Policy-makers should provide a one-year automatic visa extension that allows international students to remain in the United States to seek employment if they have received doctorates or the equivalent in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or other fields of national need from qualified U.S. institutions. If these students then receive job offers from employers that are based in the United States and pass a security screening test, they should automatically get work permits and expedited residence status. If they cannot obtain employment within one year, their visas should expire. Incentives for Innovation

Ensure that the United States is the premier place in the world for innovation. This can be accomplished by actions such as modernizing the U.S. patent system, realigning tax policies to encourage innovation, and ensuring affordable broadband Internet access, the report says.

· Policy-makers should provide tax incentives for innovation that is based in the United States. The Council of Economic Advisers and the Congressional Budget Office should conduct a comprehensive analysis to examine how the United States compares with other nations as a location for innovation and related activities, with the goal of ensuring that the nation is one of the most attractive places in the world for long-term investment in such efforts. · The Research and Experimentation Tax Credit is currently for companies that increase their R&D spending above a predetermined level. To encourage private investment in innovation, this credit, which is scheduled to expire in December, should be made permanent. And Congress and the administration should increase the allowable credit from 20 percent to 40 percent of qualifying R&D investments.

The study was sponsored by the National Academies, which comprise the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council. They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter. A committee roster follows.

Copies of Rising Above The Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future will be available this fall from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu. Reporters may obtain a pre-publication copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).

[ This news release and report are available at http://national-academies.org ]

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy

Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century

Norman R. Augustine1 (chair) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lockheed Martin Corp. (retired) Bethesda, Md.

Craig R. Barrett1 Chairman of the Board Intel Corp. Chandler, Ariz.

Gail Cassell2 Vice President of Scientific Affairs and Distinguished Lilly Research Scholar for Infectious Diseases Eli Lilly and Co. Indianapolis

Steven Chu3 Director E.O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley, Calif.

Robert M. Gates President Texas A&M University College Station

Nancy S. Grasmick State Superintendent of Schools Maryland Department of Education Baltimore

Charles O. Holliday Jr.1 Chairman and Chief Executive Officer DuPont Wilmington, Del.

Shirley Ann Jackson1 President Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, N.Y.

Anita K. Jones1 Lawrence R. Quarles Professor of Engineering and Applied Science School of Engineering and Applied Science University of Virginia Charlottesville

Joshua Lederberg2,3 Sackler Foundation Scholar Rockefeller University New York City

Richard C. Levin President Yale University New Haven, Conn.

C. Daniel Mote Jr.1 President and Glenn L. Martin Institute Professor of Engineering University of Maryland College Park

Cherry A. Murray1,3 Deputy Director for Science and Technology Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore, Calif.

Peter O'Donnell Jr. President O'Donnell Foundation Dallas

Lee R. Raymond1 Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Exxon Mobil Corp. Irving, Texas

Robert C. Richardson3 Vice Provost for Research and F.R. Newman Professor of Physics Cornell University Ithaca, N.Y.

P. Roy Vagelos2,3 Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Merck & Co. Inc. (retired) Bedminster, N.J.

Charles M. Vest1 President Emeritus Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge

George M. Whitesides1,3 Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor of Chemistry Harvard University Cambridge, Mass.

Richard N. Zare3 Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science Department of Chemistry Stanford University Stanford, Calif.

NATIONAL ACADEMIES STAFF

Deborah D. Stine Study Director

1 Member, National Academy of Engineering 2 Member, Institute of Medicine 3 Member, National Academy of Sciences


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: america; china; education; india; science
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1 posted on 10/13/2005 2:18:32 AM PDT by Arjun
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To: Arjun

Why the federal government? All we'll get is some PC gobble-de-gook (note the scientific language) that will spend a lot of money and only make things worse.


2 posted on 10/13/2005 2:41:21 AM PDT by aardvark1 (Eschew obfuscation.)
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To: Arjun

Good post and what our politicians need to read. Globalization
is what Government needs to prepare us for.


3 posted on 10/13/2005 2:45:03 AM PDT by NixonsAngryGhost (WARNING- Arlen Specters Brain is Radioactive)
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To: Arjun

Too little, too late. That train already left the station.


4 posted on 10/13/2005 2:45:03 AM PDT by durasell
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To: Arjun
"Broad Federal Effort Urgently Needed to Create High-Quality Jobs"

The Government can create high quality jobs? Who knew?

5 posted on 10/13/2005 2:51:24 AM PDT by muir_redwoods (Free Sirhan Sirhan, after all, the bastard who killed Mary Jo Kopechne is walking around free)
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To: Arjun
But who's gonna get them?

· Policy-makers should provide a one-year automatic visa extension that allows international students to remain in the United States to seek employment if they have received doctorates or the equivalent in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or other fields of national need from qualified U.S. institutions.

Just another example of an initiative that seems to be doing the opposite of what it says it is about on its face.

6 posted on 10/13/2005 2:53:53 AM PDT by The Red Zone (Florida, the sun-shame state, and Illinois the chicken injun.)
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To: Arjun
· In 2001 U.S. industry spent more on tort litigation than on research and development.

This says it all. The lawyers are making everything too expensive. Stupid corrupt lawsuits are draining funds, and forcing more companies over seas. You can fight competition, you can fight the government, but you can't fight law suits.

7 posted on 10/13/2005 3:01:14 AM PDT by Exton1
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To: Exton1

You assume that those companies spent all that money defending themselves against lawsuits.


8 posted on 10/13/2005 3:02:56 AM PDT by durasell
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To: durasell
"Too little, too late."

True, but these are not bad proposals, would not cost too much, and might help a little bit on the margins. My daughter is in her senior year majoring as a chemical engineer, so it is too late for her to benefit, but I think that students who are willing to forgo many of the more pleasant experiences of college in order to put in the time needed to study engineering should have some additional incentives.
9 posted on 10/13/2005 3:06:36 AM PDT by Ninian Dryhope
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To: Ninian Dryhope

So we graduate four or five times the number of mediocre engineers. In China or India mediocre engineers are a dime for two dozen. If we produce "genius engineers" and "genius scientists" who push nano tech and big pharma ahead, that's a different story -- but requiring few people.

The cost differential between American and foreign engineers (like manufacturing) is simply too great.


10 posted on 10/13/2005 3:12:08 AM PDT by durasell
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To: Arjun

If America wants Chemical Companies and Engineering firms to compete (on a number basis) with China, graduates will have to work for $15,000 a year salary, and NO perks, No health care, No company car, No 401k, No 6 week paid vacation etc.

I read recently where Microsoft stated that Indian Engineers were good at structure, but were unimaginative, and were not able to "think outside of the box". For this reason, most of their real R&D is still located in Redmund.

LLS


11 posted on 10/13/2005 3:27:35 AM PDT by LibLieSlayer (Preserve America... kill terrorists... destroy dims!)
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To: Exton1
In 2001 U.S. industry spent more on tort litigation than on research and development.

I knew lieyers were bad but my jaw just dropped to the basement.

12 posted on 10/13/2005 3:28:52 AM PDT by The Red Zone (Florida, the sun-shame state, and Illinois the chicken injun.)
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To: dennisw; Willie Green; neutrino; ninenot; A. Pole

ping


13 posted on 10/13/2005 3:29:53 AM PDT by raybbr
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To: The Red Zone

http://www.minnlawyer.com/story.asp?storyid=4080


Most litigation is not some unhappy consumer suing a large company, but one company suing another company. You will notice that all tort reform does not include lawsuits brought by one company against another company. And for good reason, with limited liability companies would shrug off copyright or patent infringement judgements as the cost of doing business.


14 posted on 10/13/2005 3:37:28 AM PDT by durasell
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To: aardvark1
Increase America's talent pool by vastly improving K-12 mathematics and science education. · Among the recommended implementation steps is the creation of a merit-based scholarship program to attract 10,000 exceptional students to math and science teaching careers each year. Four-year scholarships, worth up to $20,000 annually, should be designed to help some of the nation's top students obtain bachelor's degrees in physical or life sciences, engineering, or mathematics -- with concurrent certification as K-12 math and science teachers. After graduation, they would be required to work for at least five years in public schools. Participants who teach in disadvantaged inner-city or rural areas would receive a $10,000 annual bonus. Each of the 10,000 teachers would serve about 1,000 students over the course of a teaching career, having an impact on 10 million minds, the report says.

I beg to disagree. You can spend millions, even billions, and yes you will end up with some very bright teachers. Teachers can't teach to kids who refuse to cooperate. Many of today's students don't want to be at school and don't even try to learn. There biggest challenge every day is to see how much they can get away with without getting caught. "COOL" rules! The "smart" kids just try to stay out of the way. All day they are bombarded with the profanity and gutter behavior of the miscreants. I would love to see a scholarship program that would reward kids for being acheivers in high school. Show that you are serious about learning (through four years of high school) and get the chance of a lifetime. Maybe even put them on a priority list for lucrative gov't. jobs that come open after the student graduates from college.

Sorry about the rant. I worked in a middle school and coached the Scholars' Bowl team. What a great bunch of kids! But, unfortunatly, at least 60% of the students didn't care a lick about learning anything. Teachers spend most of their time dealing with the show-offs.

15 posted on 10/13/2005 3:52:06 AM PDT by REPANDPROUDOFIT
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To: Arjun

Jobs? The only jobs the government creates are lawyers, accountants, professional college students and a host of other types of businesses that suck at the government teat or owe their existence to the stroke of the mighty government pen.


16 posted on 10/13/2005 3:52:50 AM PDT by DH
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To: DH

There was an initiative like this in 1958 when the Russkies beat us into space. It resulted in the "New Math" which made everyone even more incapable of understanding arithmetic, and then came the 1960s and the ruling that everything had to be 'relevant' and that math and science were not only irrelevant but were evil.

The Premier of Ontario has proposed legislation to force 'children' to remain in school until age 18 -- the same 'children' who can torture and murder cats and get 14 days' home confinement and no other penalty (that is a true case that we had) -- somehow incarcerating 'children' in buildings is all right in one aspect and not in another?

The way to create good jobs is simply to get out of the way of the people who know how to do it.


17 posted on 10/13/2005 4:14:03 AM PDT by KateatRFM
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To: KateatRFM

The way to create good jobs is simply to get out of the way of the people who know how to do it


You mean the Chinese?


18 posted on 10/13/2005 4:16:11 AM PDT by durasell
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To: Arjun

Sounds like targeted tariffs are just what the country needs.


19 posted on 10/13/2005 4:47:17 AM PDT by Nephi (The Bush Legacy: Known conservatives are ineligible for the Supreme Court.)
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To: aardvark1
I guess we should give up the A-bomb. It has to be worthless because all government projects are bad and all private sector projects are good. I am so sick of all you corporate sycophants.
20 posted on 10/13/2005 5:38:40 AM PDT by fairtrader
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