<p>Maybe I’m just a terrible reader, but where does he say he gives his political advice to people he teaches?</p>
<p>My apologies to all. It was padad who gives the politically charged advice to his students. My comments should have been directed at him and not thisoldman.</p>
<p>FF - you have no idea what you are talking about. I am a scientist, I have being doing research for 30 years, and these are the worst times ever for science. The increase in funding you refer to was initiated during the Clinton administration,with bipartisan support. Research grants go through a process of peer review, and then are funded up to a “pay line” that is a function of the research budget. In a good year this pay line is 20-25%. A bad year is 15%. For the last several years it has been around 10%. Similar to padad, I cannot honestly advise young people to pursue a career in academic science, given the amount of work required, the length of the training (the age of obtaining a first independent research award is now around 40) and the precariousness of support. Unfortunately, many people are leaving the field (who were trained at taxpayer expense) to private industry or, worse yet, to become patent lawyers.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.the-aps.org/publications/tphys/2007html/August/NIH_Funding.htm[/url]”>http://www.the-aps.org/publications/tphys/2007html/August/NIH_Funding.htm</a></p>
<p>Based on the funding numbers on previous posts, I again re-emphasis, the lack of spending control and lack of focus of this administration that I voted for in 2002.</p>
<p>Padad consults his students:</p>
<p>“pure basic science is totally unrewarding…I don’t tell my students to go into basic science.”</p>
<p>As I said - what if everybody took Padad’s advice and stayed away from basic science ? Where do we get our teachers from ? Who works in labs and industries that’s not on Padad’s glamour list ? America can’t be all about just a handful of top jobs. What about the rest of us? If you are a chem teacher who enjoys teaching the youngs, even those who are have humanities as career goals, some appreciation of the physical world and you want to be in the community where you grew up with friends and families, taking a less glamorous job as chem teacher is looked down upon?</p>
<p>typo above: “consults” should be “council”.</p>
<p>You are not understanding padad’s (and my) point. We have made a career in basic science. I could be paid much more as a physician or in the private sector, but elected instead to do research and teach. I am expected to obtain 100% of my salary, and that of my employees, as well as all of the resources for my research, from grant support (your tax dollar at work). I was willing to accept this expectation because I was reasonably confident that I could compete for these funds. I cannot now honestly counsel my students that they will be able to similarly compete. There are too many people chasing too few $. </p>
<p>For the scientifically inclined there are other opportunities, such as teaching or “less glamorous” lab jobs. But the goose that has been laying the golden egg of incredibly well trained and motivated scientists that has made US science without equal is being strangled.</p>
<p>In my post #5 about managing student loans. I refer you to WSJ, Oct 24, 2007.</p>
<p><a href=“Yahoo Finance - Stock Market Live, Quotes, Business & Finance News”>Yahoo Finance - Stock Market Live, Quotes, Business & Finance News;
<p>perhaps our good Republicans should reevaluate subsidies, least the Democratic Party takes this issue away from them. </p>
<p>My list is really a move towards the center. It depends if you are to the right of this or to the left.</p>
<p>Interesting how this discussion: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=409799[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=409799</a> meshes with the assertions made here about science and engineering education in America today.</p>
<p>Besides your personal aspirations and they are important, what changes you like to see if your government takes a turn toward the middle ?</p>
<p>I start off with one: sensible immigration policy.</p>
<p>What’s yours ?</p>
<p>So far, I am sorry to conclude most people are embroiled in their narrow field of personal interests and plainly could care less about what direction our country (The US) is heading, other than the usual harrangs like government as evil, whoever in power is subjected to ridicules, big corporations are all run by amoral greedy men…etc, let alone come up with constructive ideas for the future.</p>
<p>With that, I think except a handful of those who care, those who think far ahead, Americans deserve whatever fate awaits them. We forsook science and technology long ago, some denied the problem, others think a management job always await them and US will always be the country of choice. Continue to indulge in this way and there will be a day of rude awakening. There is no reason to think this generation of Americans has any hope for continued greateness.</p>
<p>Cry the beloved country !</p>
<p>Fencersmother,</p>
<p>You said:</p>
<p>"I see the poor every day in my neighborhood, and not one of them is working. And, our poor are not poor. They have big screen tv’s, access to free medicines and vaccines, free transportation, free day care… the list is endless. Heck, with free breakfast and free lunch, they hardly have to feed their own children.</p>
<p>Kluge, I completely doubt your stats. And, they might be true in your neighborhood, but they are not in mine.</p>
<p>What makes you think our kids are not better off than the generation before them? Many, even most, have cars. 90% of them have cell phones, computers, ipods… what do they NOT have that I had? Health insurance? Please! I never had it till I went to college and was forced to take what the college required. Access to higher education? ANYONE can go to college. Access to employment? I could shovel **** in a barn all day for $1.25 an hour - they can work at McDonald’s for $8/hr, and eat for free while they’re there.</p>
<p>I just don’t buy this crap about the poor. Go to Chad if you want to see poor. Or Ruwanda, or rural Chile. No Americans are poor. Some are just less rich than others."</p>
<p>The irony is that if conservatives have their way, our poor will be like those in Chad, and India, with people living in cardboard boxes as the wealthy go shopping for completely unnecessary items. I just got an email about the 4 star lunches schools are supposedly giving school kids, and I have to say - I never imagined my fellow Americans would be so incredibly mean-spirited and uncaring about poor kids. I don’t believe that all of the poor in your neighborhood have big screen TVs, and live in almost luxury. Plus, maybe they don’t work because they are ill - how do you know?? We have become mean Americans.</p>
<p>Gee, edvest1, if I recall, 9/11 happened under Bush’s watch, after an FBI guy brought an al Queda warning out to his ranch, where he was “clearing brush,” and he told the agent, “OK, you have covered your a**, now you can go.”</p>
<p>And condi said, “No one could ever have imagined they would fly planes into buildings,” and then was forced at the 9/11 commission to read a paper titled with that topic that she had received in August 2001.</p>
<p>The reason this administration is SO aggressive in pointing the finger at Dems as being “easy on the terra’ists,” is to deflect attention from the fact that the worst attacks in US history occurred under an out-of-touch vacationing republican administration.</p>
<p>Oh, and yourworld, if we turned toward the middle, we would have universal heathcare, very inexpensive colleges, and not spend a trillion dollars a year on weapons. </p>
<p>Oh, we would be like Canada!!</p>
<p>
Maren, why is there a direct correlation of conservatives in charge and the condition you described above ?</p>
<p>In support of Maren’s assertions, I once read an article citing abortion statistics. While Republican candidates were usually claiming to be ‘pro-life’ and Democrat candidates claimed to be ‘pro-choice,’ when Republicans were in office, abortion rates skyrocketed, presumably due to welfare cuts. When Democrats were in office, abortion rates decreased.</p>
<p>Interesting.</p>
<p>I totally do not understand the callousness of many who claim to be religous conservatives. What about compassion?</p>
<p>Cut food lunch programs, cut Medicare, cut housing money, cut food stamps, all in the name of fiscal conservatism, and where do you think the poor will go? Will they all shrivel up and die?? No, they will have to live on the streets.</p>
<p>That is the America many conservatives desire. I don’t want that America, that is for sure. If this occurs, the wealthy won’t be able to build high enough fences and gates to keep the starving from climbing them to get food for their kids. </p>
<p>In a just society, we take care of those in need. I seem to remember something in the New Testament about that, too, not anything about cutting taxes to the wealthiest, though. I can’t find that.</p>
<p>Yeah. Jesus was quite a liberal, actually! Feed the poor, free the oppressed, question authority, forgive your enemies, give generously…</p>
<p>
Maren, while your compassion is touching, but do you think your government is a gift wagen? Give,give,give,spent,spent,spent? </p>
<p>It’s self-quenching to say what you say, but can you answer the question from post#49
I think Yourworld meant to include not just the temporary out-of-luck but people perpetually on welfare, refuse to pull themselves up because of laziness or blame the rich. Answer Yourworld’s question please.</p>
<p>Jesus fed the poor for a time but He also said a man ought to fish for himself.</p>
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</p>
<p>There will always be those who will abuse the system, unfortunately. But, there will also always be those who truly did meet with misfortune. No one wants to give handouts to people who abuse the system. That’s not the question! The question is whether you deny the truly needy just because there are some who abuse the system.</p>
<p>Which would you rather do:</p>
<p>Feed the poor, and if anyone is abusing your generosity, that is between them and God, but at least your conscience is clean.</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>Don’t feed the poor, and thereby deny those who truly are in need, but at least you didn’t give anything to someone who didn’t really need it. Oh, and hope that you never need help yourself.</p>