IP: NSF Director Lane Extols Role of "Civic Scientist"

[Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News
Number 23: February 16, 1996


NSF Director Lane Extols Role of "Civic Scientist"


During the annual meeting of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, NSF Director Neal Lane spoke to the science
community about its role in explaining the importance of science. 
Excerpts from his February 9 remarks, entitled "Science and the
American Dream: Healthy or History?" are quoted below.  The "//"
indicates that selections from separate paragraphs have been
combined in the interests of space.


                           *****


"I particularly appreciate this chance to speak with you because I
believe that we need to have a dialogue about the future of science
in America and the critical role of the science community in
determining that future."


"Substantial funding and major mobilization of science toward
national goals dates primarily from World War II.//  What a
difference five decades can make....  The ballooning of the budget
deficit in the 1980s along with the economic drain from interest on
the federal debt have energized the electorate to demand greater
accountability of all government investment, including science and
technology.//  In this new environment, leadership from you, the
science community, requires a much more public and civic persona. 
You are needed more than ever to be visible and vocal in your
communities.  This requires your presence, as scientists, outside
the walls of your laboratories and the gates of your universities
to a much greater extent than in the past."


"Now...science can only be funded if the electorate and their
representatives remain convinced of its value and contribution. 
These understandings and necessary explanations are not well suited
to crash efforts in times of a budget crisis.  They need to be
routine parts of a community discourse on the goals and values of
various investments that the national could or should make.  Only
then will science and technology's fundamental contribution be
inherently valued in today's climate of accountability.  Without
this understanding among citizens and policy makers, science and
the American dream may only be a memory from the past and not a
part of our future.


"In the early years, science helped protect us from our enemies. 
But today when it comes to science, the American people could be
their own worst enemy....  There is very limited public
understanding of science and, more important, how science and
technology contribute to our lives, our aspirations, and our
national goals.  Perhaps the public's lack of understanding says
more about us than about them.//  I believe that the new leadership
needed from the research community is to carry our understanding of
science and its value into the life of our own communities through
our teachings, to be sure, but in many other ways as well.//  I
would argue that scientists are the only genuinely credible people
to deliver the message.  I understand that some of you may have
neither the desire nor will to do so, but I have little doubt that
if you do, the experience will be fulfilling and the results
successful."


"The public likes science, but do scientists like the public?  I
think we need to ask this question of ourselves as a community.  We
may then better comprehend the discrepancy between public interest
and public understanding."


"The exercise to balance the budget in seven years will be a test
of national restraint and endurance under difficult circumstances
-- with or without cutting federal research and development.  But
cutting the very components that are growth creating and enhancing
at such a time seems counterproductive.//  When we dramatically
reduce science, technology, and education, we are shaking the very
underpinning of our societal structure."


"Damage or destruction to any part of this intricate system could
eventually undermine the whole structure.  It is the system in all
of its complexity and uniqueness that generates knowledge and
national wealth far greater than the sum of its parts.//  I believe
the American people and many of their elected representatives do
not understand this.  It is up to us to convey that concept, that
understanding, and its value to America's progress and the American
Dream."


"What we need, I think, is the science community's leadership to
educate the nation about the value of science and technology to our
national well-being.  This may seem an impossible task!//  I grant
you that these things happen slowly and imperceptibly at the
grassroots.  They are not about staged visits to Washington
representatives but rather about the collective influence of
singular forays into local community life."


"An important part of our work as scientists is to present our
findings in scientific papers for journals and conferences.  At the
other extreme, however, there are opportunities for talks at
community meetings like the Kiwanis Club and the League of Women
Voters (I share your angst because I have a pending date with the
Arlington Rotary Club.)//  I will argue that such meetings as these
are increasingly important, even though I'm afraid they don't
contribute significantly to tenure or other professional
advancement, at least not yet.


"Two weeks ago, I gave a speech in Texas in which I spoke of the
perception in Congress of the science community's stony silence in
the wake of major cuts, actual and projected, in R&D.  This
relative silence was taken as a negative sign for lawmakers who
were fighting to hold the line against deeper cuts in science.  It
provided ammunition for those policymakers intent on offering up
`science funding' for budget-balancing.


"I am speaking of the kind of leadership that only this community
-- which I am privileged to know so well -- can deliver.//  We have
a civic role to play for the nation.  Science and technology are
integral to all our lives as citizens, perhaps so integral that we
often take them for granted like sunlight or rain.  However, nobody
understands better than we who are scientists what it takes to
build a strong science and technology presence."


"In closing, I want to remind you that as scientists, you know from
experience that being accountable and being creative and visionary
are not mutually exclusive.//  I am not unaware of your reluctance
and perhaps even feelings of awkwardness to step forward in a new
and uncharacteristic pose -- the civic scientist.//  I would like
to challenge all of us, myself included, to find our own personal
path to bring this message to our citizenry."




###############
Public Information Division
American Institute of Physics
Audrey T. Leath
fyi () aip org
(301) 209-3094
##END##########