Presidential Science Debate 2008
It's been awhile but I had to share this site I heard about.
sciencedebate2008.com
Here the presidential candidates answered questions about technology and science.
The topics covered were
1. Innovation
2. Climate Change
3. Energy
4. Education
5. National Security
6. Pandemics & Biosecurity
7. Genetics Research
8. Stem Cells
9. Ocean Health
10. Water
11. Space
12. Scientific Integrity
13. Research
14. Health
I'm only concerned with my top 2 at the moment. Innovation & Education.
In the innovation response from Obama, he threw out some eye-opening stats:
"The U.S. annually imports $53 billion more in advanced technology products than we export."
"China is now the world’s number one high technology exporter."
"The U.S. ranks 17th among developed nations in the proportion of college students receiving degrees in science or engineering; we were in third place thirty years ago."
As I.T. professionals we should not be surprised by these stats. Americans are not interested in math & science. As a fellow American, when I went to college I think it was about 2 people that was in the Mathematics department with me. Granted I went to a small school (approx. 5000 students), but it was still only 3 of us that graduated the same year.
Both Obama and McCain have plans to fix this but I don't think it will do any good.
In Education, Obama basically picked up where he left off and repeated some of the same things in said in the Innovation response. All I can remember reading is STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) (I have a problem with the acronym but that is for another day) But basically he said the school curriculum needs to focus more on a STEM education.
McCain basically said the problem is with teachers not being well-trained and that he will provide them with more and better training.
Sad to say both of them miss the point!
In order to spurn innovation in America, companies need to hire innovative people in America. Innovative does not depend on education. Let me repeat that, Innovation does not depend on Education. Some of our most innovative scientists were not highly educated people. They did not go to the Harvards and Yales. These were people with ideas and worked hard at trying to implement them with the limited knowledge they began with.
The problem with education in the US is that we don't have school all year around. If any candidate said that, they might as well take a long vacation afterward because they would not be going to the White House. We try to cram 24 months of information into 9 months of school. When I went to school we learned at a slower pace and a test did not determine if you were going to graduate or not. I think the pace of school today in the US actually turns kids off from learning complex things because of the pace.
Go to the site and come back and tell me what you think.
Until next time...
sciencedebate2008.com
Here the presidential candidates answered questions about technology and science.
The topics covered were
1. Innovation
2. Climate Change
3. Energy
4. Education
5. National Security
6. Pandemics & Biosecurity
7. Genetics Research
8. Stem Cells
9. Ocean Health
10. Water
11. Space
12. Scientific Integrity
13. Research
14. Health
I'm only concerned with my top 2 at the moment. Innovation & Education.
Innovation
In the innovation response from Obama, he threw out some eye-opening stats:
"The U.S. annually imports $53 billion more in advanced technology products than we export."
"China is now the world’s number one high technology exporter."
"The U.S. ranks 17th among developed nations in the proportion of college students receiving degrees in science or engineering; we were in third place thirty years ago."
As I.T. professionals we should not be surprised by these stats. Americans are not interested in math & science. As a fellow American, when I went to college I think it was about 2 people that was in the Mathematics department with me. Granted I went to a small school (approx. 5000 students), but it was still only 3 of us that graduated the same year.
Both Obama and McCain have plans to fix this but I don't think it will do any good.
Education
In Education, Obama basically picked up where he left off and repeated some of the same things in said in the Innovation response. All I can remember reading is STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) (I have a problem with the acronym but that is for another day) But basically he said the school curriculum needs to focus more on a STEM education.
McCain basically said the problem is with teachers not being well-trained and that he will provide them with more and better training.
My Thoughts
Sad to say both of them miss the point!
Innovation
In order to spurn innovation in America, companies need to hire innovative people in America. Innovative does not depend on education. Let me repeat that, Innovation does not depend on Education. Some of our most innovative scientists were not highly educated people. They did not go to the Harvards and Yales. These were people with ideas and worked hard at trying to implement them with the limited knowledge they began with.
Education
The problem with education in the US is that we don't have school all year around. If any candidate said that, they might as well take a long vacation afterward because they would not be going to the White House. We try to cram 24 months of information into 9 months of school. When I went to school we learned at a slower pace and a test did not determine if you were going to graduate or not. I think the pace of school today in the US actually turns kids off from learning complex things because of the pace.
Go to the site and come back and tell me what you think.
Until next time...
Comments