Mississippi Republican Trent Lott recently recalled the Washington he moved to as a House aide in 1968: members of both parties would gather on Thursday evenings to play gin rummy, sip bourbon, and smoke cigars. “They knew each other,” he said. “They respected each other.” Three decades later — when he and South Dakota Democrat Tom Daschle traded Senate leadership as their parties traded majorities — each repeatedly would ask the other: “Is there a way we can get this done together?” Senators were highly partisan and had deep philosophical disagreements, he said. “It ... Read More
State Budget Cuts Hurting Quality of Research
May 28, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
State budget cuts pose a significant threat to the quality of research in the United States, a panel of educators said earlier this month at an American Association for the Advancement of Science conference. While federal grants support 60 percent of university research, AAAS senior policy adviser Albert Teich said, America’s diverse and decentralized education system depends heavily on state funds as well. Two-thirds of U.S. universities with “very high research activity” are state-supported, according to the Carnegie Foundation. That in turn represents a big chunk of the total ... Read More
Beware of Science as Political Veneer
May 13, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
Government officials often are criticized for “politicizing science” by interfering with scientists’ work in order to advance a political cause. The use and abuse of science has been a recurring theme at Miller-McCune, with examinations of the science policies of both the last Bush and current Obama administrations put under the microscope. And earlier this year, Loyola Law School’s Robert Benson castigated the GOP for what he termed its “anti-science mania.” But David Goldston also warns against “scientization of politics” — portraying all government decisions as ... Read More
U.S. Challenged for High-Tech Global Leadership
March 13, 2010 • By • 2 Comments
The United States remains the world's high-tech leader, but other nations are catching up, the National Science Board warned in two recent reports. Science and engineering research is becoming a global enterprise, as more nations develop research capabilities and international collaborations grow in importance, the board said. U.S. corporations are contributing to the shift by conducting an increasing amount of their research and development abroad. The board — which advises the president and Congress on science matters — urged the federal government to take several steps to enhance ... Read More
A Primer on Media in the 21st Century: Part II
July 10, 2009 • By • Leave a Comment
This is the second of two articles examining the Project for Excellence in Journalism's latest annual examination of the news media in the United States. Last year was a watershed for the Internet as news source, no doubt about it. But while they are growing and becoming more significant, new-media outlets are still not filling all the gaps left by the decline of newspapers and other traditional media, according to this year's Project for Excellence in Journalism report titled "The State of the News Media." More than a third of Americans reported getting most of their 2008 campaign news ... Read More
It’s All One World for Energy Concerns
July 9, 2009 • By • Leave a Comment
Global warming, as its name suggests, will require a global response and global solutions, according to experts convened by Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs, but those global solutions don't negate the need for local tailoring. For example, greenhouse gas emissions from developing countries have exceeded those from developed countries since 2006, said Jonathan Wiener, Duke University professor of law and environmental and public policy. One likely reason is "leakage" — an unintended consequence of cutting emissions in the developed world. Tighter ... Read More
A Primer on Media in the 21st Century
July 9, 2009 • By • Leave a Comment
This is the first of two articles examining the Project for Excellence in Journalism's latest annual examination of the news media in the United States. Traditional news media — newspapers, magazines and television news organizations — are testing novel responses to stem the steady losses of their subscribers, viewers and advertisers. Beyond cost-cutting measures like reducing staff, pulling back coverage and shrinking the size of their printed products, news organizations are sharing work with longtime rivals, using amateurs as volunteer reporters and moving heavily or totally ... Read More
Making Diversity a Value, and Not an Event
May 10, 2009 • By • Leave a Comment
Creating an academic diversity program is one thing. But how do you institutionalize it as an integral part of the university, so that it will thrive over the long term? Three long-standing diversity programs share a large number of attributes that provide clues to their success, three speakers revealed at a conference on diversity in science which ended Saturday. They include strong support from top campus leadership, a good fit with the university's overall mission, constant evaluation with wide dissemination of results, campus-wide acceptance, support from beyond the campus, and a ... Read More
If Science Happens in Silence, Did It Happen?
May 9, 2009 • By • Leave a Comment
To increase diversity in the scientific workplace, scientists need to communicate with a diverse audience, two media executives told a conference of scientists today. "You need a public discourse, not just a discussion among scientists," said Scott Jaschik, founder of the online news service Inside Higher Education. "It's so important to engage as public intellectuals," added Frank Matthews, founder of Diverse Issues in Higher Education magazine and a professor at George Mason University. An essential way to do that, they said, is through the news media. Potential scientists must ... Read More
Community Building Keeps Students on the Scientifc Path
May 8, 2009 • By • 1 Comment
Community building is key to keeping students in scientific fields, participants in a conference on diversity in science said today. And the community must extend beyond academics to embrace students' social lives, the scientists said. Research shows that minority college students are more likely to drop out when they don't feel membership in a group, said Brian Booton, program coordinator in the University of Missouri's Undergraduate Research Office. Developing a "supportive community of peers," is central to a Missouri program for minority science students, Booton said. The program ... Read More
