update on previous post about the Science Debate:
As part of my effort to take baby action steps, not just complain, I had sent an email to several science & health reporters at the Tribune and also cc'd IBIO in hopes that they would pass it along to their membership.
Dear Tribune:
Here's a story suggestion for you.... Science and Politics. I would LOVE to see this happen. http://www.sciencedebate2008.com/www/index.php?id=6
Maybe there is a local angle? http://www.bio.org/members/biomembers.asp?list=ILhttp://www.bio-link.org/centersIL.htm
Sign on and Pass it on...
Your loyal reader,
L.Z.
I did get a reply from a reporter Jon Van, ( I love it when that happens!!)
L- ,
The local angle is that Fermilab and Argonne as well as other places have been badly hurt by a budget battle in Washington that has inadvertently done a great deal to set back this country’s science and technology competitiveness.
I have written a story about this that should run within the next several days.
Thanks for your interest,
Jon Van
The local angle is that Fermilab and Argonne as well as other places have been badly hurt by a budget battle in Washington that has inadvertently done a great deal to set back this country’s science and technology competitiveness.
I have written a story about this that should run within the next several days.
Thanks for your interest,
Jon Van
I remembered to check today, (because I was out of town last week) and here's his article. National politics is LOCAL.
The budget cuts that enraged and demoralized lab employees also caught the attention of America's corporate technocracy leadership, which is concerned that this country is already letting its long-standing leadership in science innovation slip away.
Noting that Congress passed a $250 billion farm bill "to support industries of the 19th Century," Craig Barrett, chairman of Intel Corp., asked in letters to congressional leaders "isn't it time we pull our political leadership together to start supporting the industries of the 21st Century?"
Looking at budget cuts for science, Barrett warned that "industry is listening carefully to your deliberations. If there is no government support to these areas that will dictate our competitiveness for the next century, then we might as well just accept that and make our investments elsewhere."
Not that I have any say in it, but the company I work for outsources tech support AND software development... It's a "competitive edge" to staying profitable... But as with other new industries that aren't so new anymore.... biotech/pharma is doing more and more outsourcing even of bench lab science. I guess these are the types of worries I have to look forward to as someone who has been in this industry for almost 20 years. Its definitely a two-sided coin.
No comments:
Post a Comment