In the January 18, 2002 Issue:
- MEP to be Eliminated in President's FY 2003 Budget?
- President Names Council on Bioethics
- Knowledge-based Economy Requires Diversity, Group Asserts
- Tech-talkin' Governors: State of the State and Budget Addresses
- Index Has Maine Achieving 'Modest Progress'
- 'Shoes' Slow Arizona's Progress, Report Says
- Useful Stats: IT Worker Metro Affordability Index
- AEA Releases CyberEducation 2002
Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2003. Information in this issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest was prepared under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration. Redistribution to all others interested in tech-based economic development is strongly encouraged — please cite the State Science & Technology Institute whenever portions are reproduced or redirected. Any opinions expressed in the Digest do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
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MEP to be Eliminated in President's FY 2003 Budget?
Yesterday's edition of USA Today reported "the Commerce Department's Manufacturing Extension Program [sic], funded this year at $107 million...would be eliminated [in FY 2003] because the White House says they should be financed by the private sector."The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), a nationwide network of not-for-profit centers in over 400 locations nationwide, functions solely to assist small and medium-sized manufacturers. With centers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, MEP makes it possible for even the smallest firms to tap into the expertise of knowledgeable manufacturing and business specialists across the U.S. Since its founding, the program has worked with more than 107,000 manufacturing firms.
MEP is funded through a three-way partnership between the states, industry, and the federal government. By working to make manufacturers more technologically competitive and efficient, the centers are an integral part of most states' tech-based economic development strategies.
More information on MEP can be found at: http://www.mep.nist.gov
President Names Council on Bioethics
With biotechnology taking center stage on several occasions during the past year, President Bush has appointed an 18-member Council of Bioethics to address some of the more controversial aspects of the field. Policy suggestions to emerge from the council are likely to impact the activities of the significant investments many states and localities are making for biotechnology research and seed capital.The Council will consider a range of bioethical matters connected with specific biomedical and technological activities, such as embryo and stem cell research, assisted reproduction, cloning, uses of knowledge and techniques derived from human genetics or the neurosciences, and end-of-life issues. The Council may also study broader ethical and social issues, such as the protection of human subjects in research and the appropriate uses of biomedical technologies.
Council members, whose names were released the day before the group's first meeting, include:
- Leon R. Kass, M.D. — Chair. Addie Clark Harding Professor, College and the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago, and Hertog Fellow, American Enterprise Institute.
- Elizabeth Blackburn, Ph.D. — Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California San Francisco.
- Stephen Carter, J.D. — William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Yale Law School.
- Rebecca Dresser, J.D., M.S. — Daniel Noyes Kirby Professor of Law, Washington University School of Law.
- Daniel Foster, M.D. — Donald W. Seldin Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School.
- Francis Fukuyama, Ph.D. — Bernard Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University.
- Michael Gazzaniga, Ph.D. — Director, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Dartmouth College.
- Robert P. George, J.D., D. Phil. — McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University, and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.
- Alfonso Gomez-Lobo, Ph.D. — Ryan Family Professor of Metaphysics and Moral Philosophy, Georgetown University.
- Mary Ann Glendon, J.D., L.LM. — Learned Hand Professor of Law, Harvard University.
- William B. Hurlbut, M.D. — Consulting Professor in Human Biology, Stanford University.
- Charles Krauthammer, M.D. — National Columnist, The Washington Post.
- William F. May, Ph.D. — Cary M. Maguire Professor of Ethics Emeritus, Southern Methodist University.
- Paul McHugh, M.D. — Henry Phipps Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Psychiatrist-in-chief of the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
- Gilbert Meilaender, Ph.D. — Richard & Phyllis Duesenberg Professor of Christian Ethics at Valparaiso University.
- Janet D. Rowley, M.D., D.Sc. — Blum-Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, and Human Genetics, Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago.
- Michael J. Sandel, Ph.D. — Professor of Government, Harvard University.
James Q. Wilson, Ph.D. — The James A. Collins Professor of Management and Public Policy Emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles.Reports in this week's online edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education conveyed fears by several scientists and lobbyists that the group's composition would lean toward additional restrictions on stem-cell research and cloning technology. Others expressed concerns that no patient representatives were included on the council.
The council's first two-day meeting, which was focusing on human cloning as its first issue, concludes today in Washington, D.C. More information on the Council members is available from the White House press release: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020116-9.html
Knowledge-based Economy Requires Diversity, Group Asserts
The nation faces social and economic crisis unless America succeeds in promoting and taking advantage of racial and ethnic diversity, according to a report released last week by the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF).In Investing in People: Developing All of America's Talent on Campus and in the Workplace, chief executive officers of leading corporations and presidents of prominent universities note that while the U.S. minority population is steadily increasing, members of most racial and ethnic groups are not making sufficient educational strides. As a result, the nation is headed for a crisis of workforce skills
and knowledge, the group contends.The report posits "a large number of the people who will be available to work [in the future] will be minorities — who currently lag behind whites in their training and educational credentials." It warns that without the required investments in improving education for all Americans, tomorrow's workers will not be ready to meet the challenges of a knowledge-intensive economy.
The report further calls on business and institutional leaders, policy makers, and the general public to become actively involved in promoting and expanding diversity efforts. It outlines several important steps that can be taken to foster diversity and provide equal opportunity and quality education to all Americans, including:
- Encourage corporate foundations to provide support for diversity initiatives and to share the programs and their results with professional peers.
- Support and strengthen existing outreach programs that focus on: the value of attending college, ways to prepare students and assist them in applying for and attending college, and the importance of lifelong learning.
- Create programs where they do not exist.
- Provide the resources to ensure that teachers are prepared to work effectively with racially and ethnically diverse students.
- Urge national policy makers to increase the amount of the Pell Grant to its congressionally authorized annual maximum of $5,800 per student. (The 2000-01 maximum Pell Grant per student was $3,750.)
The report is the work of a special Diversity Initiative Task Force convened by the BHEF in 1999 to explore issues related to racial and ethnic diversity in America. A PDF version of Investing in People: Developing All of America's Talent on Campus and in the Workplace is available at: http://www.acenet.edu/bookstore/pdf/investing_in_people.pdf
Tech-talkin' Governors: State of the State and Budget Addresses
This week, the SSTI Weekly Digest continues its series on governors' State of the State addresses, highlighting those portions concerning programs, policies and issues immediately affecting the tech-based economic development community.Delaware
Ruth Ann Minner, State of the State, January 17, 2002
http://www.state.de.us/governor/speeches/2002/011702StOfState.htm
- Requested the Economic Development Office to make biotechnology a prime focus of the state's Strategic Fund investments.
Iowa
Thomas J. Vilsack, Condition of the State, January 15, 2002
http://www.state.ia.us/governor/agenda/Condition_of_the_State_2002.htm
- Proposed a tax credit against college graduates' income that will help offset all or part of their college tuition.
- Proposed creating a set of incentives to help fuel national venture capital investment in Iowa, encourage Iowa's angel investors to make substantial investments in Iowa startups, and enable those who can invest only a small amount to do so.
Kansas
Bill Graves, State of the State, January 14, 2002
http://www.accesskansas.org/governor/state/stotst02.html
- Recommended a $1 million enhancement, bringing the total to $15 million for student financial aid provided by the Board of Regents. This will enable an additional 750 students to benefit.
- Recommended $750,000 for a pilot program to determine the effectiveness of a tax credit incentive for value-added agriculture.
- Recommended $500,000 to enhance the partnership between educational
institutions/businesses and Kansans that exists through the Training Equipment Grant program.Massachusetts
Jane Swift, State of the State, January 15, 2002
http://www.state.ma.us/gov/speech/sp011502stateofstate.htm
- Proposed extending the $10 million Workforce Training Fund program for the next three years.
South Carolina
Jim Hodges, State of the State Address, January 16, 2002
http://www.state.sc.us/governor/
- Called for the legislature to create a new fund to support research at universities with $40 million in lottery proceeds. The fund will support new centers of excellence, including an Automotive Center at Clemson.
- Urged legislation that authorizes certified capital companies to create a venture capital pool of $100 million for new technology companies.
- Urged passage of the people's lottery plan enabling college scholarships for high school students, free graduate education for classroom teachers, and lifetime learning scholarships so that any adult at any age can attend a technical college. This would benefit more than 100,000 students.
Index Has Maine Achieving 'Modest Progress'
Describing Maine as making "modest progress" in strengthening its capacity for innovation-driven economic growth, the Maine Science and Technology Foundation (MSTF) released on Tuesday The Maine Innovation Index 2002, a report on Maine's performance in the new economy.The Index measures 30 major indicators that, according to the report, are required for successful innovation-driven economic growth. Of the indicators, 13 showed improvement in the past five years, five showed no change, and three decreased. For nine indicators, five-year data is not yet available.
Among the report's key findings:
- The state's public investments in research and development (R&D) have increased from approximately $2.5 million in 1997 to an historic high of $41 million in 2001.
- Maine's total funding for R&D has experienced an increase in absolute dollars but has remained relatively flat as a percentage of gross state product (GSP).
Federal funding for R&D in Maine has increased as a proportion of the GSP since 1995. The state still lags other states but has made significant progress in closing the gap, rising to 40 percent of the national average.- Maine's nonprofit research laboratories constitute a unique strength, having received increased federal funding since 1993. As a measure of R&D activity, Maine's spending in this category exceeds the national average.
- Though below the national average, Maine's venture capital investments in Maine in 2000 rose 479 percent over 1999.
- Maine continues to have an above-average high school graduation rate despite lagging other states in college attainment. The proportion of Maine adults 25 years of age and older with a four-year college degree rose from 18.8 percent in 1990 to 22.8 percent in 2000.
"Wages in technology-intensive industries in Maine equaled $40,500 in 1999, compared to $26,000 in non-technology-intensive industries. If we want to raise Maine incomes, we must focus on increasing the number of workers employed by high-technology sectors," said Joel Russ, president of MSTF.
Founded in 1993 by the Maine legislature, MSTF is a state-chartered, private, nonprofit corporation that provides policy advice to the governor and legislature, develops the state's action plan for supporting science and technology, evaluates the state's public investments in research and development, and maintains the state's science and technology clearinghouse.
The state legislature first asked MSTF to develop an index of science and technology measures five years ago. Entitled 1998 Maine Science & Technology Report Card, it was one of the first efforts by any state to document trends in science and technology indicators. The Maine Innovation Index 2002 <http://www.mstf.org/innovation_index/index.html> updates and expands the original report card.
'Shoes' Slow Arizona's Progress, Report Says
Five Shoes Waiting to Drop on Arizona's Future, a 50-page report released by the Morrison Institute of Public Policy, details five key trends that could harm the state's future if they are not well managed.The "shoes waiting to drop," according to the report, are trends already at work in Arizona that are altering the state's social and economic make-up. The report says that Morrison Institute researchers believe it behooves Arizona to recognize the trends and respond to them as it plots a course in a time of transition.
The trends are encompassed by the following:
- a talent shakeup that hinders Arizona's ability to attract and retain highly skilled workers;
- a Latino education dilemma that finds many Arizona Hispanics in need of better educational opportunities to keep moving forward;
- a fuzzy economic identity that interferes with the state's economic development agenda;
- a lost stewardship that leaves Arizona without leaders in challenging times; and
- a revenue sieve that finds Arizona's tax system old, leaky, unbalanced, and inconsistent with where the next wave of economic growth will occur.
Five Shoes Waiting to Drop on Arizona's Future is the fourth Arizona Policy Choices (APC) report, Morrison Institute's annual publication that focuses on public policy issues facing the state of Arizona. Morrison Institute is a part of the School of Public Affairs (College of Public Programs) at Arizona State University. The report is available at: http://www.asu.edu/copp/morrison/APC01New.pdf
Useful Stats: IT Worker Metro Affordability Index
Three Texas cities, Dallas, Houston and Austin, top the second annual Affordibility Index prepared by techies.com, a technology workforce placement company. The study tracks which cities offer the best combination of top salary and low cost of living for information technology professionals.Salt Lake City, Atlanta, the DC/Baltimore corridor, Seattle and Phoenix round out the top eight metro areas.
The Affordability Index compares average tech salaries in 38 major U.S. job markets and regions against ACCRA's Cost of Living Index <http://www.coli.org/>, giving recruiters and tech professionals an idea of the relative value of salaries in different job markets.
The Index assigns a score of 100 to Detroit, having average pay levels and cost of living. Cities that score less than 100 are less affordable than Detroit for technology professionals, while tech salaries stretch farther in job markets that score higher than 100.
New York/New Jersey, the Silicon Valley and Los Angeles — where high salaries do not offset an even higher cost of living — rank last. The San Francisco Bay Area/Silicon Valley posted the highest average salary at $83,500; the lowest average salary of $58,400 was found in the mountain region.
A full report of markets and Index rankings is available at http://inside.techies.com/Research, along with charts and summaries for other techies.com workforce surveys and studies.
AEA Releases CyberEducation 2002
AEA, formerly the American Electronics Association, in conjunciton with the Nasdaq stock market, has released CyberEducation 2002, a compendium and comparative analysis of several trends and educational statistics from across the country.Using off-the-shelf data from sources such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Education, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Test, and other standardized tests, AEA concludes that student performance in math education is improving, yet challenges remain. The report also provides performance profiles for each of the 50 states.
CyberEducation 2002 is available for $190 for non-AEA members. Free links to most, if not all, of the educational statistics used in the report may be found from the National Center for Educational Statistics <http://nces.ed.gov/index.html> and the NSF Division of Science Resource Statistics <http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/stats.htm>.
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