Comments on: The Science President http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/ Random samplings from a universe of ideas. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:09:16 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Budget Doubling? | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/comment-page-1/#comment-11190 Budget Doubling? | Cosmic Variance Wed, 28 Jun 2006 04:09:04 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/#comment-11190 [...] Sean « The Science President      ID Infects the UK » [...] [...] Sean « The Science President      ID Infects the UK » [...]

]]> By: Not Even Wrong » Blog Archive » European Strategy for Particle Physics http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/comment-page-1/#comment-11152 Not Even Wrong » Blog Archive » European Strategy for Particle Physics Fri, 03 Feb 2006 19:57:20 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/#comment-11152 [...] Back here in the U.S., on Monday the Bush administration is releasing its FY2007 budget proposals. An outline of the DOE budget lists an 8% increase in HEP spending to $775.1 million, as well as full funding for RHIC. The NSF should also see a sizable increase as part of the so-called American Competitiveness Initiative. The folks over at Cosmic Variance are experiencing some cognitive dissonance. [...] [...] Back here in the U.S., on Monday the Bush administration is releasing its FY2007 budget proposals. An outline of the DOE budget lists an 8% increase in HEP spending to $775.1 million, as well as full funding for RHIC. The NSF should also see a sizable increase as part of the so-called American Competitiveness Initiative. The folks over at Cosmic Variance are experiencing some cognitive dissonance. [...]

]]> By: Cybernetics » links for 2006-02-02 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/comment-page-1/#comment-11189 Cybernetics » links for 2006-02-02 Thu, 02 Feb 2006 04:24:13 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/#comment-11189 [...] The Science President | Cosmic Variance (tags: Science President USA @) [...] [...] The Science President | Cosmic Variance (tags: Science President USA @) [...]

]]> By: Elliot http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/comment-page-1/#comment-11188 Elliot Wed, 01 Feb 2006 20:29:15 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/#comment-11188 George, Yep. It was compared by Senator Dick Durbin to hitting a hole in one into a moving hole on a green with a hundred other moving holes. All at 18,000 mph. Needs to be in the right hole the first time. Nicholas, Good idea. My rep is Judy Biggert who actually has Argonne AND Fermilab in her district so you would think she'd be on board. Elliot George,

Yep. It was compared by Senator Dick Durbin to hitting a hole in one into a moving hole on a green with a hundred other moving holes. All at 18,000 mph. Needs to be in the right hole the first time.

Nicholas,

Good idea. My rep is Judy Biggert who actually has Argonne AND Fermilab in her district so you would think she’d be on board.

Elliot

]]> By: CanuckRob http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/comment-page-1/#comment-11187 CanuckRob Wed, 01 Feb 2006 20:00:11 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/#comment-11187 "Tonight I propose to train 70,000 high school teachers, to lead advanced-placement courses in math and science ... bring 30,000 math and science professionals to teach in classrooms" I wonder how 70,000 science teachers are going to like being trained in teaching intelligent design. This flies in the face of the support that Bush gets from the religous right and I can't imagine he will actually follow through on it. “Tonight I propose to train 70,000 high school teachers, to lead advanced-placement courses in math and science … bring 30,000 math and science professionals to teach in classrooms”

I wonder how 70,000 science teachers are going to like being trained in teaching intelligent design. This flies in the face of the support that Bush gets from the religous right and I can’t imagine he will actually follow through on it.

]]> By: Nicholas Warner http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/comment-page-1/#comment-11186 Nicholas Warner Wed, 01 Feb 2006 19:58:47 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/#comment-11186 My initial reaction the "Science President" was one of horror and I confess to a deep dislike of Dubya. HOWEVER we need to try to do something positive, and do it by taking a leaf out of the republican play-book. The chances are that your congressperson doesn't have a clue about what is meant by basic science and so we need to help him/her define it and support it. Therefore, write to your congressman/woman and say how heartened you were by GWB and explain the importance of basic research and say exactly what it is for you (Cosmology, String Theory, ... ) Talk about how you have gone to elementary and high school classes and talked to rapt XXX grade students about the mysteries of the universe. Do it on letterhead and then phone, and keep phoning the congressmans office to emphasize how important it is ... and how we need money for post-docs, graduate students, computers ...... . Try to get a group of your colleagues to have an "audience" with your Congressperson...... Before you post another word to a blog, WRITE TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES and get them behind this. It is probably a quixotic waste of time, but think of it as a poor-man's form of Pascal's bet. If the republicans are met with endless moaning then it will certainly come to nothing, and we will have the satisfaction of being correct but impoverished ...... My initial reaction the “Science President” was one of horror and I confess to a deep dislike of Dubya. HOWEVER we need to try to do something positive, and do it by taking a leaf out of the republican play-book. The chances are that your congressperson doesn’t have a clue about what is meant by basic science and so we need to help him/her define it and support it. Therefore, write to your congressman/woman and say how heartened you were by GWB and explain the importance of basic research and say exactly what it is for you (Cosmology, String Theory, … ) Talk about how you have gone to elementary and high school classes and talked to rapt XXX grade students about the mysteries of the universe. Do it on letterhead and then phone, and keep phoning the congressmans office to emphasize how important it is … and how we need money for post-docs, graduate students, computers …… . Try to get a group of your colleagues to have an “audience” with your Congressperson……

Before you post another word to a blog, WRITE TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES and get them behind this. It is probably a quixotic waste of time, but think of it as a poor-man’s form of Pascal’s bet. If the republicans are met with endless moaning then it will certainly come to nothing, and we will have the satisfaction of being correct but impoverished ……

]]> By: George Musser http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/comment-page-1/#comment-11185 George Musser Wed, 01 Feb 2006 15:32:48 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/#comment-11185 Re: #7, 8, 10: Besides the question of decoys, the trouble with missile defense concerns the basic physics of ballistic flight and intercept. Making plausible assumptions about response time and rocket velocities, it is very difficult for a rocket to reach another rocket. Even if the interceptor gets there in time, what exactly does it do to stop the inbound missile? You can't just wish away the momentum. (There are also myraid engineering challenges, such as ensuring software reliability.) See Daniel Kleppner et al.'s article in the January 2004 Physics Today and Richard Garwin's article in the November 2004 Sci Am. George Re: #7, 8, 10: Besides the question of decoys, the trouble with missile defense concerns the basic physics of ballistic flight and intercept. Making plausible assumptions about response time and rocket velocities, it is very difficult for a rocket to reach another rocket. Even if the interceptor gets there in time, what exactly does it do to stop the inbound missile? You can’t just wish away the momentum. (There are also myraid engineering challenges, such as ensuring software reliability.) See Daniel Kleppner et al.’s article in the January 2004 Physics Today and Richard Garwin’s article in the November 2004 Sci Am.
George

]]> By: Brad Hoge http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/comment-page-1/#comment-11184 Brad Hoge Wed, 01 Feb 2006 14:47:29 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/#comment-11184 The most specious claim President Bush makes about supporting science is his smoke and mirror approach to science education. He says we need the brightest and most creative minds to keep us out in front of new development and technology, but his policies as carried out through "no child left behind" are antithetical to this agenda. Science literacy requires teaching methods (constructivism and inquiry) that emphasize conceptual learning over rote knowledge aquisition. Even though inquiry is clearly stressed in national and most state standards, it is nearly impossible to devise standards based testing that encourages this constructivist apporach to teaching. Scinece educators are stuck trying to use good pedagogy while somehow preparing students for inherently ineffective and biased tests. Any good science knows that constructivism works, but that they are risking their jobs or at least promotions if they don't slant their practices towards the test. Once again, President Bush's policies are implemented with our without "expert" input. The most specious claim President Bush makes about supporting science is his smoke and mirror approach to science education. He says we need the brightest and most creative minds to keep us out in front of new development and technology, but his policies as carried out through “no child left behind” are antithetical to this agenda. Science literacy requires teaching methods (constructivism and inquiry) that emphasize conceptual learning over rote knowledge aquisition. Even though inquiry is clearly stressed in national and most state standards, it is nearly impossible to devise standards based testing that encourages this constructivist apporach to teaching. Scinece educators are stuck trying to use good pedagogy while somehow preparing students for inherently ineffective and biased tests. Any good science knows that constructivism works, but that they are risking their jobs or at least promotions if they don’t slant their practices towards the test. Once again, President Bush’s policies are implemented with our without “expert” input.

]]> By: Elliot http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/comment-page-1/#comment-11183 Elliot Wed, 01 Feb 2006 07:14:58 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/#comment-11183 Lubos, Your naive assessment amazes me. He ALWAYS says a lot of things... then he does what is good for his buddies in the energy business and his friends at PNAC. Perhaps the fact that American is not your native language provides a challenge to your ability to seperate reality from total B. S. I'd sure be likely to misunderstand a speech in Czech. A genius???.... the bar must be pretty low to qualify. Elliot Lubos,

Your naive assessment amazes me. He ALWAYS says a lot of things… then he does what is good for his buddies in the energy business and his friends at PNAC.

Perhaps the fact that American is not your native language provides a challenge to your ability to seperate reality from total B. S. I’d sure be likely to misunderstand a speech in Czech.

A genius???…. the bar must be pretty low to qualify.

Elliot

]]> By: Budget Doubling? | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/comment-page-1/#comment-11182 Budget Doubling? | Cosmic Variance Wed, 01 Feb 2006 04:05:22 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2006/01/31/the-science-president/#comment-11182 [...] Sean « The Science President      [...] [...] Sean « The Science President      [...]

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