Happy Metric Day! Each year, the week of the year containing the 10th day of the 10th month (to emphasize the decimal nature of the measurement system) is designated as National MetricWeek jointly by the U.S. Metric Association (USMA) and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). USMA and NCTM unite annually to focus on the importance and the convenience of the worldwide measurement system (the International System of Units or SI, the modern metric system) that is based on that easy number 10, just like U.S. currency.
The Congress declared in 1988 that the metric system is the preferred system of measurement for U. S. trade and commerce. However, America remains the only major country without a plan to change over to metric as the Nation's everyday measurement standard. However, the U.S. does share this status with two other countries: Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Liberia. USMA continues to advocate a long-delayed change in American education: the cessation of use of inch-pound units in the classroom, and the teaching of only the metric system of measurement in the Nation's schools. In tandem with that advocacy, USMA continues to work hard for changes in the American measurement world that our students will enter, so that metric-only education will be both effective and necessary by the time our students complete their basic education. SIncerely, Paul R. Trusten Registered Pharmacist Vice President and Public Relations Director U.S. Metric Association, Inc. www.metric.org [email protected] +1(432)528-7724
