Jenny Li Wed Apr 14, 2010 1:35 amTo all you Arcadia students out there you must think I’m crazy when I say that the US may soon face a nerd crisis. In other words, a shortage of people with higher intelligence than the average Joe. I know it does seem impossible since we attend a high school that has such a high percentage rating in all our exams. Not only is our test scores high, but we go to a school where the “average” number of Advance Placement courses a student takes is three and a “fail” grade might just be a B. But we forget that Arcadia High School is just one high school out of the thousands of other schools in our nation. Also we are one of the best public schools in California in fact we were ranked by Newsweek as no. 521 on its 2008 list of the United States' 1300 best public high schools. So it definitely does come as a surprise to us to think that the U.S is facing a nerd crisis when our school is teeming with nerds – but it’s true.
According to Dr. Regina Dugan, director of DARPA (agency of the U.S responsible for the development of new technology), the US was facing a lack of a critical resource -- a lack so severe that it endangers the security of the nation. No it’s not oil, rare minerals, or natural resources (though we are severely lacking). It’s nerds. Yes, that’s right it’s those geeky, dorky, smarty pants that the nation is lacking.
The cause of this? Dugan claims that the lack of emphasis on science and engineering education in America is to blame. This lack of education is resulting in manpower shortages for occupations that Dugan herself called "the nation's elite army of futuristic technogeeks." Not only is this shortage effecting DARPA is it effecting all areas where technology may apply. This is no laughing matter seeing as technology was what made U.S the world power it is today. The shortage may also explain the increasing amount of technological innovations that are stemming from other nations like Japan.
Dugan points out that should this problem not be resolved soon than the U.S position as leading world power will longer be the case. Solutions that she herself suggests includes encouraging teenagers with scholarships, contests with iPod prizes, and career days as a means of generating interest in science, technology, engineering, and medicine. In September she also personally visited five different universities (Texas A&M, Caltech, UCLA, Stanford and Berkeley) to ask for “renewed commitment”.
So the next time you make fun of a nerd - or is a nerd and is made fun of – just think of how important a role nerds play in the future of our nation. They’re practically worth more than gold itself!
According to Dr. Regina Dugan, director of DARPA (agency of the U.S responsible for the development of new technology), the US was facing a lack of a critical resource -- a lack so severe that it endangers the security of the nation. No it’s not oil, rare minerals, or natural resources (though we are severely lacking). It’s nerds. Yes, that’s right it’s those geeky, dorky, smarty pants that the nation is lacking.
The cause of this? Dugan claims that the lack of emphasis on science and engineering education in America is to blame. This lack of education is resulting in manpower shortages for occupations that Dugan herself called "the nation's elite army of futuristic technogeeks." Not only is this shortage effecting DARPA is it effecting all areas where technology may apply. This is no laughing matter seeing as technology was what made U.S the world power it is today. The shortage may also explain the increasing amount of technological innovations that are stemming from other nations like Japan.
Dugan points out that should this problem not be resolved soon than the U.S position as leading world power will longer be the case. Solutions that she herself suggests includes encouraging teenagers with scholarships, contests with iPod prizes, and career days as a means of generating interest in science, technology, engineering, and medicine. In September she also personally visited five different universities (Texas A&M, Caltech, UCLA, Stanford and Berkeley) to ask for “renewed commitment”.
So the next time you make fun of a nerd - or is a nerd and is made fun of – just think of how important a role nerds play in the future of our nation. They’re practically worth more than gold itself!