George Rebane

[Yesterday KVMR broadcast my bi-weekly commentary which I recorded as posted below.  I was informed by KVMR that they may need to edit out the solicitation for contributions for TechTest2010 scholarships due to some very specific FCC rules.  The commentary was in fact broadcast without the solicitation which I do retain here in hopes that you may consider it, and write a very large check for Nevada County’s young scholars.  Small ones will also be gratefully accepted.]

Ever since WW2 America has been the world’s technology leader, and technology has been the main driver of our country’s wealth creation.  And that wealth has spread itself far and wide across the land raising the quality of our lives to unprecedented heights.  Sadly, all of that may be coming to an end.

Hi, I’m George Rebane.  It turns out that the wealth, which lifts everyone’s quality of life, is today produced mostly by people good at science, technology, and math.  These are hard subjects and not accessible to everyone.  Americans on the whole have been turning away from learning these skills.  But overseas, young people are entering these fields in such droves that our businesses are importing foreign technologists in the attempt to keep America innovating.
 
Wealth consuming and redistribution skills are not very marketable in this age of globalization.  And even though our universities still rank first in teaching advanced science and technology, the students who study these subjects are mostly foreigners.  What is worse, most foreign students return home after completing their degrees and, perhaps, spending a few years working for an American technology company.  Ultimately we wind up exporting this valuable expertise and experience.

Dr Frank Tipler, professor of mathematical physics at Tulane University, is one of the world’s leading physicists whose ideas are at the forefront of human knowledge.  In a recent essay he describes some truly awesome science that we as a species are ready to discover, but he ends it with a startling lament –

“In order to have advances in physics and engineering, one must first have physicists and engineers.  The number of students majoring in these subjects has dropped enormously in the quarter century that I have been a professor.  Worse, the quality of the students we do have has dropped precipitously.  …  As a result, most American engineers and physicists are now foreign born.

But can foreign countries continue to supply engineers and physicists?  That is, will engineers and physicists be available in any country?  The birthrate of most developed nations has been far below replacement level for a decade and more.  This birth dearth also holds for China, due to their one-child policy and, remarkably, is developing even in the Muslim and the southern nations.  We may not have enough people in the next twenty years to sustain the technology we already have, to say nothing of developing the one I’ve just described.”

What can we do to help delay this catastrophe, and perhaps avoid it altogether?  Here in Nevada County there is an ongoing effort to address this problem.  It is called the TechTest merit scholarship exam sponsored by the Sierra Environmental Studies Foundation, an all-volunteer, non-profit organization located in Nevada County.

TechTest is a grueling four-hour exam for the county’s graduating high school seniors headed for science and technology careers.  Now in its fourth year, TechTest2010 will be given at Nevada Union High School this spring.  The test is written by SESF and is administered by the TechTest academic committee of teachers headed by physics teacher Mr John McDaniel.   SESF funds the scholarships, this year totaling more than $15,000.  You can find out more about TechTest and look at past copies of the test on sesfoundation.org.

I am the foundation’s Director of Research and author of the TechTests.  If you agree with me that encouraging science and technology careers is a worthwhile investment, I ask you to consider contributing to the TechTest scholarship fund.  Every penny of it will go to deserving young people.  Again, please visit sesfoundation.org

And please visit my blog at georgerebane.com.