ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 5, 1997 TAG: 9701030064
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
WARNING: America is making a big, big mistake by underfunding basic scientific research.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science reported recently that the nation's spending for research - by government, business and institutions - declined last year to 2.4 percent of the gross domestic product. That's the lowest since 1981, a recession year.
What's more, federal funding for research is projected to fall by as much as 20 percent over the next five years. The Clinton administration is reportedly planning sharp cuts in the budget for next year.
How stupid can we get?
Bill Clinton made a big deal, during the presidential campaign, of his credentials for building a "bridge to the 21st century." Yet he has sat on his hands while federal funding for research and development declined in his first term.
In the past, a lot of government support for research went to military-related projects, which produced innumerable spin-off benefits. Today, less is going for Star Wars and such. But the government still needs to find ways to support research that is too basic - that is, too far removed from commercial applications - for private industry to undertake on its own.
The alternative is to lose the research capacity that keeps us at the edges of expanding knowledge and the technological edge that supports our high standard of living.
There's also a cultural danger: that these absurd budget priorities may reflect citizens' priorities; that the public may become too alienated from the scientific world to grasp its importance and cherish its values.
In his best-seller, ``The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark,'' Carl Sagan, the great popularizer of science who died last month, warned of just this danger: ``We've arranged a global civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces.''
The nation needs a technologically and scientifically literate population not just because high-wage jobs depend on technical knowledge, or because citizens need to make judgments about technical issues from environmental protection to medical procedures. We need a population excited enough about science to demand national support for research endeavors, from space probes to AIDS remedies.
LENGTH: Medium: 51 linesby CNB