By Gretchen Randall

Date: October 13, 2005

Issue: The National Academy of Sciences warns in a new report, "Rising Above The Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future," that the U.S. must act now to prevent the loss of our position as world leader in science and technology. Some alarming statistics from the report are:
€ Last year more than 600,000 engineers graduated in China, 350,000 in India and only 70,000 in the U.S.
€ Last year 70 chemical plants were shut in the U.S. with only one new one being planned for construction here while 50 are being built in China.
€ 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.
€ In 2001 U.S. industry spent more on tort litigation than on research and development.

The report, which was requested by Congress, also offered suggestions on how to re-build our skills in science, math and engineering, some of which are listed below:
1. Create scholarships to attract math and science teachers to our schools.
2. Recruit, train and retain top engineers from the U.S. and abroad.
3. Re-write tax policy to encourage innovation and R& D spending by industry.
4. Create an agency in the Department of Energy to work on long-term energy needs.
5. Set up research grants for top-notch researchers.

Comment 1: "The building blocks of our economic leadership are wearing away. The challenges that America faces are immense." (Norman R. Augustine, retired chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp. and committee chair for the report.)

Comment 2: We need a massive effort to re-build our nation's pre-eminence in science and technology and the high-paying jobs they produce.

Link: Read more of the report's recommendations at http://www.nationalacademies.org <http://www.nationalacademies.org/>

Issue Alert from Winningreen A101305

Contact: Gretchen Randall
Winningreen LLC
3712 N. Broadway – PMB 279
Chicago, IL 60613
Phone: 773-857-5086
e-mail: grandall@winningreen.com