March 28, 2002
Contact: Paul Zingg
(805) 756-2186
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
California's Economic Health Endangered: Baker Forum Keynote Speaker
To Report on Critical Need for Improvement in Science, Tech Education
The
newly scheduled speaker for Cal Poly's April 5 Baker Forum,
California Council on Science and Technology Executive Director
Susan Hackwood, will report on what the state must
do to remain the nation's science and technology leader and keep its
high-tech economy healthy.
Hackwood's address, "California at Risk: The Imperative for Science and
Technology Educational Reform," will discuss a CCST report warning that
"California's educational system is not producing the science and
engineering graduates needed to meet industry's growing requirement for
skilled workers. This (threatens) California's leadership position in
science and technology."
Hackwood will speak at 4:30 p.m. in the Cal Poly Theatre. Admission to
this inaugural Baker Forum keynote address is free and open to the
public. Parking also will be free.
"California produces technologies that are the envy of the world,"
said
Cal Poly Provost Paul Zingg. "However, the same cannot be said of our
ability to generate sufficient numbers of scientifically and
technically educated graduates from our colleges and universities to
meet the needs of the high-tech sector of the California economy. Over
the past decade, the number of students entering scientific and
technical fields has stagnated or declined in California.
"Given our dependence on a science- and technology-based economy, our
increasingly diverse population and the serious weaknesses of our
educational system, California faces unique challenges if we are to
maintain our position as a global leader in high technology," Zingg
said. "We simply must find ways of engaging more Californians in the
study of science, mathematics, engineering and other technical
subjects."
Hackwood will share the results of the CCST's just-completed two-year
study of mathematics, science and technology education in California
from kindergarten through graduate school and continuing education.
The report is titled "A Critical Path
Analysis of California's Science and Technology Education System."
(The previously scheduled appearance of Harvard zoologist Stephen Jay
Gould has been canceled because of unforeseen circumstances.)
Cal Poly President Warren J. Baker is a member of the CCST committee
that has guided the analysis, which addresses various aspects of the
problem, including the technology sector's demand for workers and the
"digital divide" between the computer-literate and those who aren't
part of the "wired" society. The study identifies how schools at
all
levels can better prepare future scientists, engineers and other
skilled workers.
Currently, more than 14,000 high-tech jobs in California are unfilled
for lack of qualified workers, the council says, while only 20,000
science and engineering graduates are produced each year -- only 60
percent of the number needed to satisfy industry demand.
The California Council on Science and Technology is sponsored by the
state's key academic institutions. Its 120-plus members -- including
leaders in science and technology, members of the national academies
and six Nobel Prize laureates -- advise the state on all aspects of
science and technology, including energy, information technology,
biotechnology and education.
Council Director Hackwood is also an award-winning professor of
electrical engineering at UC Riverside, specializing in multimedia
technologies, distributed asynchronous signal processing and cellular
robot systems. Co-editor and co-founder of the Journal of Robotic
Systems, she has worked extensively with industry, academic and
government partnerships in transferring technology from research to
manufacturing and is active in regional and state economic development.
The biennial Baker Forum was established by the Cal Poly President's
Cabinet on the occasion of the 20th year of service to Cal Poly by
Baker and his wife, Carly, to further the dialogue on critical public
policy issues facing the nation and higher education. It gives
particular attention to the special social and economic roles and
responsibilities of polytechnic and science and technology universities.
More information about the Baker Forum is available on the World Wide
Web at www.bakerforum.calpoly.edu
and by phone at (805) 756-6553.
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