Techno-optimism does not breed an Ecological Paradigm

Although attitudes may be shifting toward an ecological paradigm according to Dunlap, we are still loosing species and habitat, possibly facing global degradation because the techno-optimist tend to believe that technology will save the human race.

Since Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, the US economy has grown quite significantly stimulating our national wealth and stability. Our drive for innovation has catalyzed the technological revolution, providing a higher standard of living, allowing the ‘American Dream’ to be realized.

"Investing in the right scientists and the right technologies can improve the human condition quite dramatically." According to Bill Gates as he speaks to motivate the Indonesian people during a Presidential Inauguration speech in 2008. However we need to question his motivations, because they clearly could be financially driven, as his company Microsoft stands to earn billions of dollars during a technological revolution of a 3rd world country as it morphs into a technocratic society.

Find entire essay here:
http://janedapain.net/files/techno-optimism.pdf

The Lost STEM: Decline of Techno-innovation

There is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education gap in public schools developing, likely a response to, ‘saturation overload’ in media and technology, and a lack of diversity in STEM outreach. Students in American schools are slipping behind in STEM education, leaving our brightest minds unchallenged, or even worse, uninspired to create, develop or invent our nations next source of income, or better yet, our national pride.

We live in a time where technology is everywhere, and our economic wealth today, is partly because of our success at being an innovation-nation in technology and systems development. Since President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act in 1958 we have seen a great rise in access to education especially in STEM subjects for all United States Citizens. However, in the last two decades, there has been a downward trend in the number of students graduating with STEM degrees, as well as proficiency in STEM subjects for students in public schools. Similar to the drake equation which evaluates the possibilities of life in the universe; the reasons why STEM is loosing ground is the United States is an equally complex equation.

Read the original essay here:
The Lost STEM: Decline in Techno-innovation

Saturation Overload, the Ethical Dilemma of the Technological Revolution

Synopsis: Impacts of technologies and digital innovation are now starting to be seen for the first time in the post-techno world. Social, cultural and environmental hazards are guiding our technological revolution toward, corporate and product control, network collapse and a technology gap. Media and digital technologies lack ethics today, and thus saturation overload has taken hold of our daily lives, now it threatens our society with a learning deficit in technology. However, the solution presents its self in art education in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), allowing students to create deeper understanding of ethics and inventive behavior.

Read the essay here:
Saturation Overload: The Ethical Dilemma of the Technological Revolution

Don’t Be Digitally Misrepresented (Ned Gazette)

When we hear about identity today, in the digital age, it seems we hear more about identity theft than anything else. But there is more to worry about than merely someone stealing our identity. What about misrepresenting it?

Daily, even several times a day, things happen to give us a digital identity. We make purchases using a debit card; we walk down Pearl Street, constantly watched on surveillance; we make a cell phone call, or buy something on E-bay, or e-mail friends, family, or lovers. You get the picture. This is the extent to which we leave a digital portrait, whether we intend to or not.

This digital description of us starts from birth and ends several weeks after we are deceased. When we’re gone, and someone attempts to create some history about us in the future, what will they find? Maybe some phone records, a few computer documents left behind, and an electronic digital history of our lives. But is that what any of us actually intended?

Today people create several different kinds of digital identities: for instant messenger, for e-mail, for work and for leisure. People work online globally, for companies and people they have never seen or touched, purely through their digital identity. People everywhere are creating media and data that is a very valuable part of their identity. Blogs, online photo/video galleries, and network profiles like Myspace and Tribe are all huge content producing monsters, full of digital identities.

Possible employers, business partners, lovers and others use the internet to search for info on you, and what pops up on Google is often very interesting. How do you protect and promote yourself on Google at the same time? You can protect yourself by knowing your technological enemy through education. You can start by utilizing the free and or open-source tools available to the general public. Start creating content your proud of, that is reliable and can be backed up with facts and sources. Participate in online forums and groups, to learn about others who share your interests. Become a part of the online communities and mold your digital identities, yet, Always use caution when becoming a part of any online community, and be cautious when molding a digital identity. Cautious about what information your releasing, and to whom. Also be cautious about whom you interact with, how, and where.

Maybe we should be thankful that Nederland is a step behind. Or maybe it is just moving in the right direction, when it comes to invasive data mining and surveillance of its citizens. In a world where everything is documented, it’s nice to know there are places like Nederland where we can take refuge from the digital documentation of our daily lives. A place where we can step lighter, still participating in the future of technology, and yet not let it overwhelm us in our peaceful mountain town. Nederland might just be one of the last places to find solace from these kinds of invasive technologies without cowering in the face the future.

SIDEBAR:

As an experimental electronic artist, it is my lifelong art project to create a more accurate digital identity of myself. I don’t want to erase the ‘day to day’ data; instead I try to create new data daily, that is both personal and relevant to me. I also try to hack data created by others about me and use it in my digital art. The creation of a new media biography will become my dominant history, utilizing my skills as a digital artist. Building blogs, creating digital art and narratives, creating music, video and photography gives me the chance to tell my story with a unique format. Users whom google ‘Jane Crayton or JanedaPain’ find relevant info about me. I am taking over my public/published media, and this control is key when you’re trying to market yourself as an artist and a producer of content. Of course, figuring out how to fund it and keep it live, long after I’m gone, is the next big question!

Technically Burned (Ned Gazette)

There were several Nederites who ventured out into this unwelcoming harsh environment to brave the elements, just to solder LED's in dust storms. Burning Man is the largest Participatory Arts Festival in the world, with well over 40,000 participants traveling to the Black Rock Desert to see the 21st Man Burn.

Nederland had several community members actively participating in granted art projects like the Black Rock Glacier. Burners typically camp with major theme camps at Black Rock City, where they focus on specific contributions to the community. There are 198 members on the Boulder Burns Yahoo Group, and over 800 members on the Colorado Burning Man Yahoo Group, making this is a very active community within Burning Man.

This was my fourth Burn, and my son's third. Burning Man is not something many people can claim they have an entire family, three generations, attending. This year I traveled with my son Jared, "The Cuss Kid," age 10, my father Dave, and husband Edwin, to the Black Rock Desert. Here we played in alkaline dust of a dried lake bed called a 'playa.' The fine dust becomes a second skin, a glow of ghosts in the desert disco lights. We had worked for over a month finishing all the final details for our mobile pedal powered jellyfish, with upstairs pillow lounge. It is uniquely upholstered and designed to be the most comfortable jellyfish you've ever played on. Complete with Led Spotlights, El Wire and fabric sewn tentacles this jellyfish was perfectly styled for the hot days and cold nights. The outrageous art vehicles and mobile discos float across the playa in a sea of creativity, through islands of installations and sculptures.

This year we were lucky to witness a full lunar eclipse on Tuesday at 2:53 a.m., when the whole city came to a stop and watched the earth's shadow eclipse the full moon. Just as all of our heads were turned towards the sky, someone climbed up to light the ‘Man’ on fire. The irony is ‘The Man’ burned twice in a Green Year. Most of the art this year, as in all years, is geared towards the theme, and in 2007 the theme was Greening the Man. This year's theme burned twice in a year dedicated to 'green' education.

Participating in the community of Burning Man is a key element to the festival's success, bringing some of the most profound art home to so many hearts. There is not a better place on earth to learn about sustainable living, radical self-reliance, and trade economies within such a groundbreaking technologically advanced event. And this year, there were more green vehicles and sustainable art than ever before. Burners built entire cities (off the grid) using the latest technologies, and for what? Well, a good party, for the hell of it, because we can!

We camped with Entheon Village and the Pyronauts of Giza. These two theme camps built some of the largest structures at BRC to feature art, speakers, music, dance and fire. I spent two evenings doing visual art for Dj's and dancers to enjoy, projecting on 7 hexagonal screens in a 90' dome with over 75K Watts of sound. It’s about the boundaries that we can push and the limitations that we can exceed, how far can we go. This is not a festival for the light hearted, it is not a simple camping trip in the desert, or a party at the beach (although it used to be).

Every year a "temple" is built, dedicated to the ones who have passed on or those who need forgiveness. People write on the structure, leaving messages and mementos for their loved ones. Then the structure is burned on Sunday, the final night of Burning Man, releasing all the energies that participants have infused within it.

Burning Man is a life changing experience, it is a culture, a way of thinking, and a style, and Burners are here in Nederland plotting and scheming for "The American Dream 2008."

Spooky thoughts after Rhythm Science

I am profoundly interested in digital landscapes that caress our senses. DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid is a fictional character created as an artistic outlet for the artist Paul D. Miller. Paul describes his journey through self discovery and artistic creation for the public. The DJ Spooky persona was an evolving platform for his "conceptual art project" which developed into this "social sculpture, coding a generative syntax for new languages of creativity" This platform allowed him to use the over saturated youth culture as a subject for his music. He became a sound archivist as well as archiving text and images to use is his art as well.

Paul explains how the controversy of mixing and sampling can be just as unique as the original. How "the best Dj's are griots, and whether their stories are conscious or unconscious, narratives are implicit in he sampling idea." These stories are relevant, fresh and they convey "psychological collage space" which is unique to the art scene. All of these samples can be taken in context or out of it, they can all collage to create a new understanding and a new contextual space that is not limited to the old associations of the original material.

Today with technology artist are able to create, out of samples and images that have previously been a part of another artistic platform. But technology has given us the ability to mix and create other frequencies of artistic expression that is quite controversial. Paul likes to create in this hyper-fluid environment of information culture, this is what he calls "cybernetic jazz." I am interested in this remixing of images and sounds to create different artistic expressions, stories and emotions. I am interested in the live performance and remixing the social medial structure.
Paul really made me think about language and communication through technology. Paul explains " Saying that people are literate means that they have read widely enough to reference texts, to put them to a conceptual framework. They are capable of creating an overview." This basically says that if you are consuming art and music then eventually when you have consumed enough you may then use some of that knowledge to create your own art and music. Monkey see monkey do.

The Inherent American Design Flaw

The Inherent American Design Flaw
For Educating Youth In
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
by: Jane Crayton
May 5, 2005

Educational Public Outreach is a new way for industry and groups get involved in the education of our youth. It is important for all kinds of industry to participate in educating students for future employment needs, as well as preparing them to be productive citizens. Yet in the technologically advanced world we live in, America is leading the industrialized nations as the least educated in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This is a deeply rooted cultural problem, and we need to address this situation before it spirals out of control. We are not just fi ghting a battle between creationism and evolution in our schools, it is a battle
of religion versus scientifi c method, a battle of gender rolls, and social stigmas. American students are falling behind in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) because it is inherent in our society in our belief system to be negative towards change and the pursuit of knowledge. What do American Students understand about STEM and is there a problem? Are we teaching our youth enough in STEM to make them competitive in the future? The answer is no, and the reason is a combination of compelling circumstances and social systems entangled with government infrastructure that have hindered STEM education and development for centuries.

Motivated by A Nation at Risk in 1983, systematic research in science education has confirmed that, despite well-intentioned efforts of interested scientists and dedicated teachers, too many students leave the US educational system with fundamental misconceptions of key scientific concepts. (Of- ferdahl, Prather, Slater)

Why are we not teaching our children enough about Natural Sciences? What social attitudes exist about these subjects. How can we change the social stigmas and stereotypes that exist about STEM? What happens if we don't? These questions are fundamental for us to understand how to better communicate basic STEM education into our modern youth.

Eighty-two percent of our nation's twelfth graders performed below the proficient level on the 2000 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science test. The longer students stay in the current system the worse they do. According to the 1995 Third International Mathematics and Science Study, U.S. fourth graders ranked second. By twelfth grade, they fell to 16th, behind nearly every industrialized rival and ahead of only Cyprus and South Africa. (US Department of Education)

Although this is not a disease is still is an epidemic of mass proportions, Even president Bush considered a member in the Religious Right Movement can't ignore that his country's children are behind in STEM. This lack of science education is a deep rooted debate, which has resulted in the dumbing down of millions of American children, especially girls. Educational Public Outreach is now going to serve as an important roll for the scientific community because we have to serve as the translators of this critical topic that encompasses several different social dilemmas.

Research indicates that the greatest gains in learning and attitudes toward science result from
instructional environments that engage students by taking into account the needs of learners, in particular, their pre-instructional beliefs and reasoning difficulties. (Offerdahl, Prather, Slater)

Beliefs? How do beliefs play a role in the education of science? Well they have always played a roll in the education of science, because science is almost seen a direct competitor to religion. Understanding our universe and the creation of it, is somehow seen as diminishing the authority of beliefs and religious creationism, and this is the first hurdle that must be knocked down. Simply belief and theory are two different things, one can understand theory, yet still have beliefs.

Evolution and gravitation are fundamental scientific theories. The American public has no problem accepting the theory of gravitation, a.k.a, gravity, but the theory of evolution is widely attacked. (DeVore)

Even more amazing is that the theory of gravity is as understood and widely accepted yet the theory of evolution is not. In fact gravity, we know it exists, we know how it acts, but it is still not a fully understood force of nature. We do not fully understand the properties of gravity at the subatomic level. Just as we have not fully developed a map guiding us through the exact phases of evolution of human beings, or of our solar system, and even our universe. And it is very unlikely that we ever will, I wonder what the probability of that is?

What's important here is that we are thinking and we are figuring out what is happening in the world around us. We are using our inductive and deductive scientific methods to help us generate the bigger picture and greater understanding of the natural laws of physics. But these methods are only considered theories and the term theory can imply a lot of different meanings especially in the eyes of the American Public. What is it about the word “theory” that has got so many people questioning it? Maybe it's the fact that there are currently six
defi nitions for the word in the American Heritage Dictionary.

The·o·ry
1 A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena.
2 The branch of a science or art consisting of its explanatory statements, accepted principles, and methods of analysis, as opposed to practice: a fi ne musician who had never studied theory.
3 A set of theorems that constitute a systematic view of a branch of mathematics.
4 Abstract reasoning; speculation: a decision based on experience rather than theory.
5 A belief or principle that guides action or assists comprehension or judgment: staked out the house on the theory that criminals usually return to the scene of the crime.
6 An assumption based on limited information or knowledge; a conjecture.
[Late Latin theoria, from Greek theoria, from theoros, spectator : probably thea, a viewing + -oros, seeing (from horan, to see).]

Is there a problem with The Theory of Evolution? Or simply the word “theory” and it's common understanding. Coincidentally enough this subject came up a couple of times during the question and answer phase of the presentation It's Only a Theory: American Attitudes about Evolution at the NAI conference. And although most of the scientist in the room understand the Latin meaning for the word theory, the majority of the American public views the word theory and understands it like the previous explanation from the American Heritage
Dictionary, definition number 6, “An assumption based on limited information or knowledge, a conjecture.”

So how did we get from 1“ A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena.” And 2 “The branch of a science or art consisting of its explanatory statements, accepted principles, and methods of analysis, as opposed to practice: a fi ne musician who had never studied theory.” To 6” An assumption based on limited information or knowledge, a conjecture.”? That is a bit contradictory, wouldn't you say? But then again, The American Heritage Dictionary is just giving all known all known all explanations and meanings for the word. And they are in effect a form of media just as much as the bible or any televised NOVA program. Its no surprise that the understanding of one theory versus another theory is not any more clear than the current meaning and understanding of the word theory itself.

For astro-biologists, there may be questions about the specific events, mechanisms, and processes of evolution, but not the fundamental importance of the theory of evolution. For the anti-evolutionists, biological evolution is the central but not sole target. The origin and evolution of the universe, stars, and planetary systems including Earth are also under siege. (DeVore)

So where do we start to unravel this complex web of social stigmas, beliefs, and fears about our own existence in this great cosmological universe? How do people have faith when they learn how insignifi cant they are? How can we have something to live for, when we are just a speck of dust? I can understand these fears, and I think that they are an important part of learning how to defi ne our own meaning in life. These are questions that are not only scary for people, but they are scary for societies and for governments.

Questions that define our importance in the universe are the type of questions that governments are concerned could bring about anarchy, or disruptive, behavior according to some “theorists”. This is the kind of stereotype that can change critical thinkers into critical doers, and could define terrorist thinking in the age of the Freedom Act. Science breeds critical thinkers, and critical thinkers are people more likely to question things they don't understand, including governments and religions.

“Evolution is at the center of an American science vs. Religion debate that shows little prospect of resolution,” according to DeVore. Even today in the year 2005, public schools across America are teaching creationism instead of evolution.

HARRISBURG, PA-The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, Americans United for
Separation of Church and State and attorneys with Pepper Hamilton LLP filed a federal lawsuit today on behalf of 11 parents who say that presenting “intelligent design” in public school science classrooms violates their religious liberty by promoting particular religious beliefs to their children under the guise of science education. (ACLU)

This is an example of current battles happening here in America right now, This legal action was filed just 6 months ago in December of 2004 in the State of Pennsylvania. But, is this a surprise? This battle has been going since 1633 when Galileo published his Dialogue well before Darwin. This was the beginning of the war between religion and science, belief and knowledge, hope and scientifi c deduction. In his Dialogue, Galileo supported the Copernican theory of a heliocentric system, in which the earth revolved around the sun. At the time
this was quite a controversy because the Bible suggested that the sun orbited the earth, providing society the beginning of anthropocentrism.

Be·lief
1 The mental act, condition, or habit of placing trust or confi dence in another: My belief in you is as strong as ever.
2 Mental acceptance of and conviction in the truth, actuality, or validity of something: His explanation of what happened defi es belief.i
3 Something believed or accepted as true, especially a particular tenet or a body of tenets accepted by a group of persons.

[Middle English bilieve, alteration (influenced by bileven, to believe), of Old English geleafa.]
SYNONYMS belief, credence, credit, faith. These nouns denote mental acceptance of the truth,
actuality, or validity of something: a statement unworthy of belief; an idea steadily gaining cre-
dence; testimony meriting credit; has no faith in a liar's assertions. See also synonyms at opinion.

ANTONYM disbelief
When we look at the defi nitions of belief we fi nd that there is a lot more assuming and placing confidence in something, the acceptance that something is true from simple mental conviction. Is creationism more widely accepted belief over the theory of evolution. Could you say that creationism is a theory, could you say that evolution is a belief?

American attitudes toward evolution have been studied via polling and other more extensive research efforts. Analysis reveals that a minority of Americans accept the theory of evolution as a valid explanation for the origin of human beings. (DeVore)

So where is the line between creationism and evolutionism in the classroom, and how do we make sure our students and youth are getting what they need to prepare them for the future of technology and science in our modern world? How do we know what they need, and how do we measure our success or failure in teaching this difficult set of theories and accepted knowledge?

Certainly we cannot be dogmatic in our approach, or appear to be preaching a religion of “sci-
entism.” If we do, then we have no more right to a piece of the science curriculum than the religionists. (Stenger)

It is hard to accept something as truth when it may question your preconceived beliefs. That is why we have to be careful in our approach to educate our youth about science and technology. It is evident that the separation between the religious and the scientifi c communities is still at great distances. Just as we do not want to be preached or harassed about creationism, they probably view scientist as attacking their value system with the theory of evolution.

Science is not easy to understand, it is a cumulative process of information gathering and assembling throughout ones life. Evolution is a powerful tool of understanding compounded and constantly changing knowledge and it takes time to understand the process of this natural phenomena we are a part of. And it takes a person a certain amount of inherited knowledge from their environment, learned behavior and educational instruction which helps defi ne the persons ability to understand and learn the complexities of the natural sciences.

In the beginning was nature. The background from which and against which our ideas of God
were formed, nature remains the supreme moral problem. (Paglia) In the beginning humans needed a reason, an explanation for natural phenomena, disaster and disease. They needed a reason to keep going, they needed a reason as to why such doom should come their way. The
explanation they created became a system of beliefs in deities and gods. These beliefs transformed into a belief that we are important and eventually the anthropocentrism belief systems were well and thriving. These religions have transformed and recreated themselves over time trying to explain and reclaim the desired knowledge of creation and the natural sciences.

Astrobiology affords new understandings of life on earth and the possibility of life beyond earth. These new understandings raise profound implications for humanity. It is important that these implications be explored rigorously. (Olien, Impey, Poss, Slater, Woolf)
When we start to look at science and break down our existence, we become simply a living being, an organism on a world, in a solar system, within a galaxy, residing in a universe. When a person starts to breakdown the physical and societal norms they can begin to accept themselves as simply human. “I gain self esteem because I realize I am a human, and as capable as any other human.”

I am also conscious and an intelligent being. It is very enlightening to understand your own consciousness within this great universe. Especially when you understand how unlikely you were to exist anyway, and then to exist and to have consciousness, would be quite rare. I think the Drake equation considers consciousness to factor with the intelligent section. How conscious do we have to be to be intelligent and vice versa.

When one realizes that they are just an organism and a realization that there are only slight differences between the sexes, and even other organism all together we become simply creatures of existence. The female can now transcend to equality, and now we are broken down into our simplest forms “beings”.

“If the bringing of women - half the human race - into the center of historical inquiry poses a formidable challenge to historical scholarship, it also offers sustaining energy and a source of strength.”
(Lerner)

Women have a lot to offer in the way of equal knowledge and skill, even more they are half the human race as Lerner points out in his statement supporting women in technology at IBM. The problem of religion and sexism is one of great complexity, one that deals in politics centuries old, social stigmas and stereotypes, nature, art and general education. A culmination societies knowledge fi ltered into a system of selected knowledge, ready to distribute evenly and lightly upon fresh open minds. Even more alarming is the thought that this is happening more often through the media than educational institutions.

How do I make sure that my future daughters will be taught the importance of natural science, equally to their male counterparts? Can we effectively fi ght creationism and religion without addressing feminism and the gender rolls that society still participates in via the media and material culture? The invention of cyberfeninism and the technofeminist culture to come.

Like feminism, cyberfeminism is open to defi nition but contains gender as the common overarching element. Cyberfeminism takes feminism as its starting point, and turns its focus upon contemporary technologies, exploring the intersections between gender identity, the body, culture and technology. (Brayton)

What is empowering in their research is the understanding that the gendered stereotyping of technology as being a masculine domain and practice must necessarily fall apart, as younger women are growing up with new information technologies as part of their everyday reality. Unlike older women who grew up without computers in their lives, these young women have more easily accepted cyberspace by its everyday presence in contemporary society. (Brayton)

When religion is present, in culture, society and in the classroom; the female is seen as a sexual, motherly object. She is the Mary, Mother Teresa, even Princess Diana, and the simplicity of equality is forgotten in the language of our ancient philosophers and modern press. Yet today we see that our girls are just as interested in technology as most boys given the right opportunities. Religion casts a shadow of disgrace and indifference upon the sexes, and that can cause serious delays in the education of all students in STEM.

Religion makes the natural world signifi cant and gives us purpose and presence without proof, asking us to believe in an invisible proof of faith. Its no wonder America ended up behind in STEM because we are still trying to fi gure out the ultimate debate started centuries ago. We claim to have a separation of church and state, but we still have “In God We Trust” on our money, and thus creationism in our classrooms.

In Aguillard, the high court invalidated a Louisiana law that forbade the teaching of evolution in public school unless “creation science” was taught alongside it as an alternative. There, as in Dover, the law made no express reference to God or to any religion. Yet the Justices nonetheless found that its purpose “was to restructure the science curriculum to conform with a particular religious viewpoint.” (Dorf)

In 1987, the Supreme Court ruled in Edwards v. Aguillard, that the belief that a supernatural creator was responsible for the creation of human kind is a religious viewpoint and cannot be taught in public schools along with the scientifi c theory of evolution. (Dorf)

Why did we decide to not include religious training in our schools? Why was there a separation of church and state? Freedom or the desire to have freedom is the answer. Religious groups have always been trying to get involved in government, predictively so they can get to the people whom “need to be saved” or need to have “faith”.

Is the American Public afraid that we will loose our faith, our will, our desire to participate if we do not have religion as our guide. Will people go crazy, and have no cares if they realize the signifi cance of time? Are the scientist just using the term science as a crutch to carry out their own atheist views? Can someone believe in science and evolution and still have moral values and function in society?

In critically examining evidence for or against intelligent design to the universe, it must be understood that we are following the traditional practice of science, seeking a scientific explanation for observations about the universe that have been previously attributed to the action of supernatural deity. Believers will call us nasty names, like “atheist” and “secular humanist,” and accuse us of undermining faith and morality. (Stenger)

How can Americans play a roll in making sure that each child, male and female has equal opportunity to a full and equal education? Recently the new legislature introduced got a lot of publicity for its efforts to make sure No Child [is]No Child [is]No Child Left Behind. This legislature mandates that all students must receive a certain qualified amount of education by a certain age or grade. And the legislators were careful to include specific guidelines as
to how to research and coordinate such educational training for teachers in STEM.

As the U.S. Commission on National Security in the Twenty-First Century reports, “More Americans will have to understand and work competently with science and math on a daily basis . . . the inadequacies of our systems of research and education pose a greater threat to U.S. national security over the next quarter century than any potential conventional war that we might imagine.” (US Department of Education)

It is ironic that the lack of education can be used against us in conventional war fare and terrorism on one hand, but then on the other, critical thinking derived from scientifi c deduction is often considered a form of terrorist thinking.

No Child Left Behind requires states to fi ll the nationʼs classrooms with teachers who are knowledgeable and experienced in math and science by 2005. The president supports paying math and science teachers more to help attract experience and excellence. (US Department of Education)

The rights of our citizens, to be granted equal opportunity of education, no matter what gender, or eccnomic status. Nor shall the school, city or state interfere with the type of education a person receives, yet sadly it does. Educational boards across the nation are subject to local laws that also govern them. Sometimes these laws are set against the national legislation.

Our teachers are strong and our students want to learn and master this very important combination of natural science, modern technology, social and moral values. They want to lean to live with an acceptance of both belief and theory as fundamental building blocks for our society and understanding our universe. It is important for us to realize the impact of the knowledge we present to our children, and that the impact of creationism, religion, intelligent design all have in the development of our future society, today. To teach American
students the basic fundamentals of STEM will require a complete change in thinking for our society. It will require us to accept the critical thinker, to accept the feminist, accept our selves as people who can change and promote progress towards a greater knowledge and empowerment for everyone.

Works Cited
(ACLU) American Civil Liberties Union. Pennsylvania Parents File First-Ever Challenge to “Intelligent Design” Instruction in Public Schools “Intelligent Design” is Religious Argument, not Science, Say Parents. (2004) http://www.aclu.org/ReligiousLiberty/ReligiousLiberty.cfm?ID=17207&c=139 , May 1, 2005

Brayton, Jennifer. Cyberfeminism as New Theory (1997) http://www.unb.ca/web/PAR-L/win/cyberfem.
htm, May 1, 2005

DeVore, Edna. It's Only a Theory: American Attitudes about Evolution Education and Public Outreach SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA. NIA 2005 Abstract

Dorf, Michael C. Why It's Unconstitutional to Teach “Intelligent Design” in the Public Schools, as an Alternative to Evolution. Find Laws Legal Commentary, Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2004, http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dorf/20041222.html, May 1, 2005

Impey, Chris; Olien, Tom; Poss, Richard; Slater, Tim; Woolf, Nick. Astrobiology and the Sacred. Steward Observatory University of Arizona Tucson, AZ. NAI 2005 Abstracts

Lerner, Gerder. IBM Women in technology, From plugboards to petafl ops: The evolving role of women at IBM. (1982) http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/witexhibit/wit_intro.html, May 1, 2005at IBM. (1982) http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/witexhibit/wit_intro.html, May 1, 2005at IBM

Mifflin Houghton, The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, (2004) Houghton Miffl in Company. http://www.answers.com/beliefs&r=67, May 1, 2005

Offerdahl, Erika G., Prather, Edward E., Slater, Timothy F.; Astrobiologyʼs Impact on Science Education. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics University of Arizona, Tucson AZ. NAI 2005 Abstracts

Stenger, Victor J, Intelligent Design Humans, Cockroaches, and the Laws of Physics.1997; http://www. talkorigins.org/faqs/cosmo.html, May 1, 2005

US Department of Education The Facts About...Science Achievement, No Child Left Behind http://www.ed.gov/nclb/methods/science/science.html, May 1, 2005