SCIENCE IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST -- Aug 4 th

[David Farber <farber () linc cis upenn edu>]

business opportunity.  The principal determinants of success are the
quality of the scientists and engineers available to industry and the
knowledge base and core competencies which permit both informed
decision-making and technological innovations.  Thus, the continued
health of our major research universities is of utmost importance to
our science and technology-based industrial sector.  Research is, by
its nature, a long-term activity and our industrial managers should be
able to plan their commitments with the security that government
policies will be reasonably predictable throughout the research
activity.


        The heartland of fundamental science and engineering research
and advanced education is our unmatched system of research universities
and federal laboratories.  While fundamental research is declining in
much of industry, industrial leaders frequently speak of the value of
"people transfer" and "idea transfer" with academic institutions.
Faculty and student participation in industrial research and in
industrially-sponsored research can have many benefits beyond the
research product itself:  the educational benefit to the students of
learning about the industrial environment; the access of industry to
many of our most talented faculty; early identification of the most
promising students; possible long-term research collaboration on
problems of interest to industry.


        Our research infrastructure (the people, instrumentation,
information systems, institutions, and buildings) in colleges and
universities, in industry, and in Federal laboratories is an enormous
national resource.  It enables our highly successful research
enterprise to continue forward in a leadership position.  It is a
resource which must be continuously renewed and renovated.  Used
judiciously, it can also be one of our most effective resources for
addressing our national objective of improved science and mathematics
education. Stronger coupling between researchers and teachers at all
levels--from kindergarten through graduate school--will naturally bring
these resources into play to enrich our educational system.


        The magnitude of the costs of repairing research laboratories
and upgrading research instrumentation indicates a continuing need for
government  programs to modernize our research infrastructure and
policies that will encourage private sector investments. Given the
strictures on funding of discretionary government programs for the
foreseeable future, and the priority this Administration places on
strengthening the support for research funding, it is essential that
careful consideration be given to the design of an infrastructure
renewal program.  The National Science Foundation estimates that the
total cost of performing all needed repair and renovation of existing
academic research space is in the range of $7 to $8 billion.  These
figures do not include provision for replacement of space that is of
such poor quality that renovation would not be appropriate.
Institutions indicated that 13 percent of their existing research space
needed major repair to be used effectively, and an additional 23
percent needed limited repair.  An additional 3 percent was reported to
be in such poor condition that complete replacement would be needed.
Further, a survey of academic department heads indicated that high
priority scientific instrumentation needs total about $3 billion.  The
primary justification for the highest priority needs was that of making
important frontier experiments accessible to academic researchers, both
faculty and students.


        Partnerships between the Federal government and states can also
be used to develop scientific resources and talent throughout the
country. The Federal government already seeds partnerships with
participating states, and the states provide matching funds as a
demonstration of commitment to increasing their competitiveness for
merit-based Federal and private sector research support.  Such programs
frequently pay other dividends-- tying together education and research
and strengthening the research infrastructure within states.


We will work in partnership with universities and the private sector to
modernize our research infrastructure.  To stimulate private sector
infrastructure investments in our educational institutions, we will
both support elimination of the cap on tax-free bonds for such purposes
and  re-evaluate allowances for use  of facilities and equipment,
consistent with industrial practice.  The NSTC will develop options for
how to implement the Federal investment as  a systematic, long-term,
multi-agency, merit-reviewed program.


The NSTC, with advice from PCAST and the broader scientific community,
will advise on impediments to industry investment in fundamental
research and recommend policies to encourage industry investment.  The
Clinton Administration has supported and proposed making the Research
and Experimentation Tax Credit be made permanent.


The unique assets of the Federal research enterprise will be viewed as
a national resource not only for research and post- graduate education
but also for enriching the full educational continuum.  Federal
agencies and their technical facilities will strengthen programs
offering research experiences for pre-college and undergraduate college
teachers and technical training and apprenticeships for the
school-to-work transition and for displaced workers.


The Clinton Administration will maintain a strong commitment to
Federal-state-industry partnerships for forging stronger links between
the educational community and the workplace and for seeding
merit-reviewed research programs across the nation as important
investments in developing research capabilities and associated
educational benefits.


Produce the finest scientists and engineers for the 21st century


Our principal resource for maintaining leadership in fundamental
science and engineering and for capitalizing on its advances is our
talent pool of well-educated scientists and engineers. They are the
wellspring of new ideas and new solutions to challenging problems.
American colleges and research universities are unmatched in their
ability to provide advanced education and to enrich it through
forefront research.  This system has served the nation exceptionally
well, directly coupling post-secondary and advanced education with the
unique training afforded by research at the intellectual frontier.
These institutions are truly national and international in character,
bringing in students from across the nation and the globe, and then
sending them out to teach, to do research, to start companies, to
branch out into new careers with the creative energy needed to address
a broad range of challenges.


        Our goal is to maintain this excellence and to encourage the
ongoing reexamination of advanced education in our colleges and
universities.   The scientifically literate society that America will
need to face the challenges of the 21st century will require
orientation to science early in life and frequent reinforcement.
Because training scientists is a long process, we can not quickly
overcome shortfalls in trained personnel in some areas and should not
react precipitously in allocating our training support.


        We will sustain this tradition of excellence only by engaging
the talents of our diverse population.  America derives great strength
from its diversity, yet the country has not had a coherent policy for
developing all our human resources for science and technology.  Women,
minorities, and those with disabilities are underrepresented in most
fields of science, mathematics, and engineering with respect to their
proportions in the population.  Much of this underrepresentation in
science starts very early in the educational process.  It will be
essential for the future well-being of the country, and specifically of
the scientific enterprise, that we educate the twenty-first century
scientific workforce by explicitly engaging participants representative
of the nation's diversity.
        Role models are clearly important.  We must also do all that we
can to encourage excellent mentoring of individuals in underrepresented
groups and access to research experiences.  This will be stimulated
through awards to be distributed at state and local levels where the
nurturing of individuals with interest and talent occurs.  We will
continue to sponsor research experiences for members of groups who are
underrepresented in the sciences.  Our Federal laboratories will
continue to provide centers for such activities; however, beyond that,
we ask all Federal grantees to engage creatively in the process. It is
a critical investment in the future of this country.


The NSTC will produce a human resources development policy for
sustaining excellence and promoting diversity in the science and
technology workforce.


Every Federal agency's educational programs in science, mathematics and
engineering will have, as one measure of success, its impact on
increased participation by underrepresented groups.


The NSTC will develop a new program of Presidential awards for
individuals and institutions that have outstanding records in mentoring
students from underrepresented groups toward significant achievement in
science, mathematics, and engineering.


Raise scientific and technological literacy of all Americans


We must improve the U.S. educational system to give our children an
understanding and appreciation of science and the opportunity to
compete successfully for high quality jobs and to lead productive
lives.  Our educational system is the foundation of public scientific
and technical literacy.  The technology-based global economy of the
next century will place a high premium on science and mathematics
education, on knowledge of foreign languages and cultures, on facility
with technologies, and on versatility and flexibility.   Our economic
strength will depend more than ever on the ability of the American
people to deal with new challenges and rapid change.  Yet, we have
known for over a decade that the education of America's children,
particularly in science and mathematics, has fallen below world
standards for a significant fraction of our population.


        This Administration's agenda is centered on "Goals 2000:
Educate America."  This initiative calls for systemic reform of
elementary and secondary education organized around the challenging
national education goals.  Demonstrated competency in mathematics and
science by all students leaving grades 4, 8, and 12 is one of the key
goals.  All students must be prepared for responsible citizenship,
ongoing learning, and productive employment in the twenty-first century
economy.  Responsibility for implementation lies with the states, who
will develop their own comprehensive improvement plans aimed at
reaching the national education standards.  The Goals 2000 process will
promote coherence among Federal, state, and local education programs,
with Federal resources helping to provide comparable tools across the
nation for addressing the educational standards.  With respect to the
mathematics and science goals, we emphasize the special opportunities
and obligations of our scientific and technical community to help meet
this critically important national challenge.


        We are committed to facilitating expanded partnerships between
the educational community, the private sector, and government at all
levels.  America's scientific and technical communities employed in
colleges, universities, industry, and government  represent an enormous
resource for improving the science, mathematics, and technological
education of our children.  Our elementary and secondary school
teachers are also an enormous resource and deserve our support.  We
need both to stimulate more research into the application of learning
technologies and the practice of mathematics and science education,
drawing upon the experience of outstanding teachers and successful
programs, and to join the science education and research cultures
symbiotically.  Partnerships built around a common purpose are the key
to the systemic reform needed in science and mathematics education.
Only a cooperative effort by individuals and institutions will take us
to our national education goals.


        Our commitment cannot end with high school.  The school-to-
work transition and lifelong learning opportunities are increasingly
important in the workplace because of rapidly evolving technology.  Our
Administration wishes to learn from industry and from state and local
governments how Federal science and technology assets can be used most
effectively for these purposes.


        The lifelong responsibilities of citizenship increasingly rely
on scientific and technological literacy for informed choices.  Our
scientific community must contribute more strongly to broad public
understanding and appreciation of science.  Our education system must
provide the necessary intellectual tools at twenty-first century
standards.


We will work with the research and educational communities to implement
mathematics and science education standards to meet the needs for
higher achievement, to prepare students for high quality jobs of the
future, and to foster excellence in and appreciation of science.


We must involve teachers in career-long professional development where
researchers work in partnership with practicing teachers to bring the
excitement of research and its discoveries into the classroom.


Federal agencies will encourage research scientists to use their
research experiences in support of public understanding and
appreciation of science.


This Administration will encourage the development of
industry-state-local government consortia and regional alliances to
bring telecommunications and other information resources to elementary
and secondary schools, two and four- year colleges, and universities.
The National Information Infrastructure will play a central role.  We
must educate our children for the twenty-first century workplace in a
twenty- first century setting.




A Shared Commitment


We have outlined a broad program for advancing science in the national
interest.  We do so because science and technology depend on one
another for continuous advancement and, in turn, are important for the
health, prosperity and security of Americans.  We do so because
research at the frontiers of human knowledge provides unparalleled
education for the young scientists and engineers who will help shape
the nation's future.  We do so to learn more about the world around us
and about ourselves.


        The public investment is returned ultimately through
improvements in the quality of life.  We recognize that science is but
one part of a larger enterprise, and so our policies in science,
technology, education, government performance, environmental
protection, health care, international trade, information and
communications, intellectual property protection, regulation, fiscal
and monetary affairs, and other areas must work together.  A thread
running through this complex fabric of policy guidance is the pressing
need for raising the scientific and technical literacy of the next
generation to twenty-first century standards.  This is essential for
the continued enlightened support of the scientific enterprise by the
American people.  More important, it is critical for the nation's
future.


        We must all go forward with a sense of shared commitment to
common goals and to excellence.  The policies outlined here are only
the beginning of a process.  Strong federal investment and new
partnerships will be essential.  Our scientific and technical
communities represents an enormous reservoir of talent, dedication and
drive.  We challenge them to continue their vigorous exploration of the
frontiers of scientific knowledge and simultaneously to ensure that all
Americans share their vision of the excitement, the beauty, and the
utility of science in achieving our national goals.  If they,
government, and the nation as a whole accept the challenges set forth
here and meet them together, our children and grandchildren will have a
secure foundation on which to build their futures.