Science Cheerleader

Exciting week! Score ONE for our ongoing efforts to help Congress get the information it needs to form sound science policy!

The American Association for the Advancement of Science announced a venture, funded by the MacArthur Foundation, called Expert Labs. This new, non-profit independent lab, will “help policy makers in the U.S. Federal Government tap into the expertise of their fellow citizens.” Fellow EXPERT citizens, that is. You, me, folks like us…well, we’re still left out of the discussion, for now. But I’m here to tell you, things are a-changing! Stay tuned.

In the interim, I ask of the AAAS, MacArthur Foundation and the very talented director of Expert Labs (Anil Dash): Why didn’t you just include a way for non-expert citizens to weigh in on the societal implications of these policies? That’s the real point of “opening government to the people” isn’t it? Peer-to-Policy so to speak.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled at this latest development and all 661 of you who signed this petition should be, too. But, clearly, our work isn’t finished. Not until our “non expert” opinions are taken into consideration….
Cheers!

Darlene

Hey kids! Have you caught the latest dance fever? The Funky Monkey? The Charlie Brown? The Adhesion and Endocytosis in Neuronal Migration? It’s all the rage!  

Particularly at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The AAAS reps a group of 65,000+prestigious scientists. Note to self: post that interview you did with AAAS CEO Alan Leshner.

Sooooooo.Believe it or not, the AAAS is hosting a Dance Contest! The contest is open to anyone who has (or is pursuing) a Ph.D. in any scientific field regardless of whether you’ve remained in academia. NOTE: Deadline is strict in the AAAS meaning of the word: Submit entries “Not later than 23:00 EST 16 November 2008.”

If, like me, you’re three letters shy of earning your Ph.D., fear not. You can VOTE for your favorite by viewing the youtube clip. The winner of the most popular category is determined by the number of views. I hear there’s even talk of a world tour for the winners! Here’s something to whet your appetite:   

In Friday’s post, I asked readers this: What do you think the federal government should do to prepare K-12 students for the science and technology driven 21st Century? (One of seven questions recently presented to Congress by a consortium of science organizations.)

Predictably, you/the readers, replied with some terrific suggestions. Fact is, your comments are often better than my posts. As it should be. I’m just here to rally the troops and serve as a conduit between the public, government and science. Nothing will change without your reactions.

So, scan the comments, reply with your thoughts, and keep the conversations going. Never know who is reading them. Case in point: my last article prompted famed Professor Marvin Minsky–aka the Father of Artificial Intelligence and co-founder of MIT’s Media Lab–to post a comment. Earlier, David Brin–science fiction writer and author of The Postman–weighed in with some thoughts.

We’re all on an even playing field here. Your comments are as valuable as Minsky’s and Brin’s. They want to hear from you. So does Randy Atkins at the National Academy of Engineering. And Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association of the Advancement of Science (I’ll post my recent interview with Alan, soon).

In the words of Bart, a Science Cheerleader subscriber, “if this site gets a conversation started on what sort of future we want and what is needed to get us there, more power to you!”