Business Round Table Discussion and Recommendations

G'Day, folks! I was referred to this press release - Business Round Table Recommendations - by Ms. Judith LightFeather of The Nanotechnology Group. This PDF file - Tapping America's Potential - The Education for Innovation Initiative - has a list of recommendations that the U. S. should follow forthwith. I completely agree with all the recommendations, except significantly increasing "basic research" funding. Evidently, education is a very important factor! Duh! (This derision is for politicians, who dream on that we will be technologically superior, even when we act illogically.) I believe that we should signifiantly increase the teaching budget with appropriate share of research funding. Unfortunately. nowadays, universities and colleges have become income generators for their school systems. They operate more like a billion-dollar corporation, rather than non-profits and not-for-profits charged with educating tomorrow's technological leaders. At most "prestigious" institutions (I graduated from one of them) in the U. S., professors are tenured based on the number of publications and amount of funding that they have secured for their institutions. Is that "Sorry, no time for you Mr. Undergrad," which I hear from that "distinguished" professor? Oh, I see that he is extremely busy writing technical proposals and business plans for their start-ups incubated on campus and employing slave-labor (undergrad and grad students) for a few dollars a day. We cannot ask him to enlighten his students, because he is enriching himself and his institution; he is only human! Terribly lamentable, indeed! Opinions, anyone?

Best,

Nanoguru.