Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 14, 1994 TAG: 9402150270
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
It's been 128 years since Congress first authorized metric measurement, yet America remains the world's only officially non-metric industrialized country. Everyone needs to get with the program, particularly private industry, educators and government.
As President Clinton noted in a speech to a metric conference last year: "To improve our balance of trade and to succeed in the international marketplace, America must produce goods and services that fit the needs of other nations."
That means leaving behind pounds and gallons and feet as expeditiously as possible, especially as trade barriers continue to fall.
You can find 2-liter soft-drink bottles in stores, and car engines are now measured in cubic centimeters or liters. But many businesses still stubbornly resist conversion.
A recent report by the General Accounting Office singles out educators for not being aggressive enough in promoting public understanding of metrics. Meantime, major government agencies such as the Defense Department and NASA aren't fully converting procurement policies. The Federal Highway Administration is still studying how to make highway signs metric.
In a world market, America cannot forever retain its own standards and measurements in opposition to those used by all its trading partners. Besides, metrics are a simpler and more rational system.
by CNB