Nina wrote "Lately I've been asked to speak to 9th graders about a career in
science, and it's depressing. Jobs in science in the next decades are
going to be filled by foreigners with good backgrounds in science, not
by the kind of students I've been seeing. Not the kids' fault; its our
fault for not teaching decent science."

A point especially brought home by Thomas Friedman in his book _The World Is
Flat_...interesting reading!

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And there are some really great science teachers out
there, but each of them is doing so at great sacrifice, because
we will not pay them nearly what they can qualify to earn in the
private sector. Many choose to support their family better over
staying in the low paying, much abused profession of teaching. We
say we value education, but our actions belie our words.
And that's not even going into the politics of
pseudo-science scams like "intelligent design".
Alan Walker
http://bonsai-bci.com http://LCBSBonsai.org


-----Original Message-----
From: John Quinn

Nina wrote "Lately I've been asked to speak to 9th graders about
a career in science, and it's depressing. Jobs in science in the
next decades are going to be filled by foreigners with good
backgrounds in science, not by the kind of students I've been
seeing. Not the kids' fault; it's our fault for not teaching
decent science."

A point especially brought home by Thomas Friedman in his book
_The World Is Flat_...interesting reading!

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by John Romano++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

I had some time to kill in the grocery store -- finished MY
half of the shopping early this time -- and picked up the
current Esquire Magazine. I forget the real title, but
there's an article in there about "Idiot Science" that is
well worth reading if you care about the state of science
knowledge in general over here. (I tried to find it at
www.esquire.com, but it's not working this morning.)

The magazine cover lured me in, but it was the educational
content that kept me there while Jackie finished the
shopping. :-)

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Who is
allowed to do the non-discretional shopping -- butter, eggs,
milk, peanut butter, bread, etc. -- while she makes all the
decisions.



Alan Walker wrote:
And there are some really great science teachers out
there, but each of them is doing so at great sacrifice, because
we will not pay them nearly what they can qualify to earn in the
private sector. Many choose to support their family better over
staying in the low paying, much abused profession of teaching. We
say we value education, but our actions belie our words.
And that's not even going into the politics of
pseudo-science scams like "intelligent design".
Alan Walker
http://bonsai-bci.com http://LCBSBonsai.org


-----Original Message-----
From: John Quinn

Nina wrote "Lately I've been asked to speak to 9th graders about
a career in science, and it's depressing. Jobs in science in the
next decades are going to be filled by foreigners with good
backgrounds in science, not by the kind of students I've been
seeing. Not the kids' fault; it's our fault for not teaching
decent science."

A point especially brought home by Thomas Friedman in his book
_The World Is Flat_...interesting reading!



************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by John Romano++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Quinn"
Subject: [IBC] Superthrive


Nina wrote "Lately I've been asked to speak to 9th graders about a career
in
science, and it's depressing. Jobs in science in the next decades are
going to be filled by foreigners with good backgrounds in science, not
by the kind of students I've been seeing. Not the kids' fault; its our
fault for not teaching decent science."

A point especially brought home by Thomas Friedman in his book _The World
Is
Flat_...interesting reading!


John and Nina,
As an old Industrial Arts teacher ( Woodshop and drafting) and an old Voc
Ed. H.S. Electronics teacher I can tell you that not only "Science" is , or
will suffer. Our kids are more and more leaving school without knowing how
to do anything but play video games and makeup a web page.
My oldest son was part of the "gotta get into computers" rage ten years ago
in HS, now he is, he enjoys it but the average saleries are low. Too many
kids!
But, try to get something fixed or built. Now those young kids are at the
mercy of the few who can actually do something with their hands without
pushing computer keys. It's only going to slowly get worse. Thank god there
are still fine vocational HS's. When I was a kid ( I'm 56) my dad could do,
fix or build anything. Every father in the neighborhood was the same. This
held pretty true with me and I'm not afraid of most type jobs. But I sure
see it coming!
I spent 16 years in the medical field repairing medical xray machines in
hospitals and clinics, offices, etc. It was 75% mechanical and 25%
electronics ( most people thought it was the other way around when they'd
ask about it) . Before I left that good-paying job for a high paying bonsai
business :) I could see it coming...the new hirees from college with
electronics degrees ( most guys I worked with were old Navy electronics guys
with precvious 2 yr TECH SCHOOL backgrounds) can troubleshoot or design the
heck out of a circuit but man some couldn't even SOLDER , and forget
something like re-tapping a stripped out screw hole!! I've had a few
Sessions with my 28 yr old Computer tech about "Using Hand Tools".
Just something I've been noticing...It's a comin"
Dale

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On Oct 29, 2005, at 2:10 PM, dalecochoy wrote:

snip
John and Nina,
As an old Industrial Arts teacher ( Woodshop and drafting) and an old
Voc
Ed. H.S. Electronics teacher I can tell you that not only "Science" is
, or
will suffer. Our kids are more and more leaving school without knowing
how
to do anything but play video games and makeup a web page.
snip

Dale


Along this line, I would also argue that our isolation from nature, and
lack of understanding how nature works, has contributed to our
ecological crisis. Living here, close to NYC, I find that many people
see nature as an enemy--either it's too hot, or it's raining, or in the
winter the snow is a nuisance. Nature is something that gets in our
way.

A new neighbor down the street who bought a McMansion was walking by a
few weeks ago so I introduced myself. When she told me which house she
and her fiance had bought I realized it was one that included about 5-6
acres of bog. I asked if they planned to leave it as is to enjoy the
birds and wildlife. No, she said, they had brush hogged the whole
thing. Bear in mind this was in the middle of a bad drought. The fiance
said it wasn't like a bog now--it was nice and dry.

Now, after 18" of rain during the last few weeks, their lawn is back to
being a bog. I hope they don't try to fill it in.

Craig Cowing
NY
Zone 5b/6a Sunset 37

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