Paul, Preferred is a meaningless term to some people. It might be the government's preference but that doesn't mean it is everyone Else's preference.
What needs to be done is to change the the word "preferred" to "only legal". Dr. Holdern and President Obama needs to pressure Congress to make that step first and then everything else will fall into place. Jerry ________________________________ From: Paul Trusten <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2009 3:58:03 PM Subject: [USMA:44040] ATTN: Dr. Holdren -- the metric system of measurement for U.S. competitiveness 2009-03-21 John P. Holdren, PhD, Director Office of Science and Technology Policy Executive Office of the President 725 17th Street Room 5228 Washington, DC 20502 Dear Dr. Holdren, As you begin to lead President Obama's call to educate all Americans for the 21st-century global economy, I urge you to include, as a vital part of this challenge, U.S. conversion to the metric system of measurement. Although Congress in 1988 declared the metric system to be the "preferred system of measurement" for U.S. trade and commerce, the Nation continues to be an island in a metric world. The U.S. is one of only three countries that has not yet written a plan to change over to the International System of Units (SI, or the modern metric system). The other two countries are Liberia and Myanmar (Burma). It would seem that any campaign to strengthen STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) training for all Americans would be to eliminate this old barrier to learning, commerce, and, as your office has said, to "participation in modern society." The U.S. Metric Association (USMA), Inc., is a non-profit, national organization, founded in 1916, and dedicated to U.S. changeover to SI as the Nation's sole, everyday, measurement standard. We believe that the time is now for our country to initiate a coordinated, national plan for the switch to metric. A good starting point would be to teach only the metric system in our Nation's schools, and also work to educate Americans of all ages in the advantages of the decimal metric system. If we fail to make this change soon, we may be overlooking a component of the reinvigorated economy you seek. Sincerely, Paul Trusten, R.Ph. Public Relations Director U.S. Metric Association, Inc. www.metric.org 3609 Caldera Blvd. Apt. 122 Midland TX 79707-2872 US +1(432)528-7724 [email protected]
