PRESS RELEASE TO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
FROM: PAUL TRUSTEN, PUBLIC RELATIONS DIRETOR, U.S. METRIC ASSOCIATION SUBJECT: MEASURE UP, AMERICA! CELEBRATE NATIONAL METRIC WEEK OCTOBER 5-11, 2008 National Metric Week is the time of the year set aside for the U.S. to focus upon the metric system of measurement. During the week of the year containing the tenth day of October (10/10, to emphasize its decimal ease of use), the U.S. Metric Association (USMA, see www.metric.org) and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) join forces to celebrate the metric system by encouraging an awareness of its importance in the world and its convenience here at home. This year, National Metric Week runs from October 5 to October 11. USMA and NCTM urge teachers and students to emphasize the metric system in their work this week with appropriate discussions and demonstrations (for examples, please see http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/metric-week.html). Also known as the International System of Units, or SI, the modern metric system is the worldwide measurement language of science and technology as well as being the everyday standard of measurement in almost every country except the U.S. National Metric Week should serve also to remind Americans that, by continuing to delay the inevitable changeover to the metric standard, the U.S. prolongs the domestic inconvenience and the international disadvantage of adhering to its antiquated measurement units. Measure up, America---go metric!
