I don't know how many of you have checked out the recent job listings, but I was very surprised this year at how many are in China, India, Japan. Doesn't bode well for the future of US science.
On Mon, Aug 2, 2010 at 2:46 PM, Aaron T. Dossey <[email protected]> wrote: > Actually the most important thing needed in science/research in America, as > with most everything else, is JOBS JOBS JOBS. > Science (and the rest of America) suffers from a very simple dysfunction: > too much investment in too few. > > Too few PI's, too many fully and highly skilled/trained creative scientists > forced to work for them - and relinquish their intellectual property to > their bosses, not to mention give up hope of a position in science from > which they could retire. > > Aaron T. Dossey, Ph.D. > Biochemistry and Molecular Biology > > > > > > > Wayne Tyson wrote: > >> >> >> Ecolog: >> >> Because it all boils down to individuals and cases and the devil is in the >> details, I would say that (the article at the link is.gd/dTIL2)* as Madhu >> suggests, is as good a place as any to start. Generalizations won't cut it, >> but that doesn't mean that trends and entrenched habits and even >> inconvenient truths are not useful--to a point, of course. Hacker and >> Dreifus have illuminated some possible pathways to betterment, but like all >> good teachers, wisely choose not to belabor the obvious and bore us all to >> tears. Their job is to help all to UNDERSTAND, not merely to "know." As they >> point out: "It's the job of the teacher to get students interested and >> turned on no matter what the subject is. Every student can be turned on if >> teachers really engage in this way." That is the issue, and that is the >> challenge. Always has been, always will. It is out of THIS that the magic of >> fuller and fuller understanding grows. >> >> Ecology, like a "roofer's card," covers everything. Every teacher should >> have a fire in hisher belly and infect as many other people with the disease >> as possible, in and out of institutions. Those who are primarily interested >> in glory and/or riches should keep a day job in the military or the stock >> market and settle for ecology as an avocation. Getting rich and famous just >> isn't in the cards in ecology; it ain't for the egocentric. It's a square >> peg in a round hole problem. >> >> True, the whole trend in the world is toward acquisitiveness rather than >> inquisitiveness, and right there is the tension between emphasis on a life >> of ease and an easy life. Subordination of all kinds should be resisted, but >> ecology most of all, as a study of life in its context, should resist >> selling out to the acquisitors. Students, which means all of us who stand >> before Nature in naked ignorance, would do well to suffer their suffering >> unto Ecolog--and all of the 10,000-plus subscribers should pass the word >> that this is the place to start. To some degree (and once one gets hooked, >> CAN one stop?) every single person should be an ecologist. Jobs, JOBS? We >> don' need no stinkin' JOBS--what we need is a LIFE! >> >> WT >> >> >> * For some reason, inclusion of the actual link caused the system to >> reject the post without sending the request for confirmation message. Sorry >> for any inconvenience. Have others noticed this? What is it about the link >> that causes this? This is the first time I have encountered this. The fact >> that Madhu's post was able to get through the system with this "defect" only >> adds to the mystery. >> > -- Malcolm L. McCallum Managing Editor, Herpetological Conservation and Biology 1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution. 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction MAY help restore populations. 2022: Soylent Green is People! Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
