GOVERNMENT
NSFs Shakhashiri Pushes for More NSF Funding, Time for Education Target is about $600 million per year—20% of agency's present budget—and 10% of researchers' time devoted to science education Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, assistant director for science and engineering education at the National Science Foundation, is not shy about asking for what he wants. And what he wants for science education is more money and more time: 20% of NSF's budget and 10% of scientists' time. The twin problems of scientific illiteracy and a shrinking supply of new science professionals cannot be addressed adequately without both of those, he believes. Since coming to NSF five years ago from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he founded the Institute for Chemical Education, Shakhashiri has been relentless in pressing his case within the agency, the White House, and Congress for more funds for science education. He has just as consistently lobbied academic scientists to reserve more time from their research to devote to educational concerns. But the once seemingly tireless chemist now seems weary and frustrated at times. "I feel for the most part satisfied in what I've accomplished in the past five y e a r s / ' Shakhashiri says. "Is the job done? No. We've made good progress. But I don't want progress, I want advances. As long as I feel I can be effective I will continue here, but I'm eager to go back to classroom teaching." At NSF, Shakhashiri has presided over the rebuilding of the education directorate, which the Reagan 12
June 5, 1989 C&EN
Administration abolished in the quested for 1990 insufficient, ACS spring of 1982. At that time, the asks that the education directorate agency scrapped all of its education be funded at $231 million next year. programs except some graduate felFor the past several years, Conlowships and awards, preferring to gress has given more money to the concentrate on funding basic re- NSF education directorate than the search in science and education. Administration requested. Earlier In fall 1983, however, the direc- this spring, Jerry A. Bell—professor torate for science and engineering of chemistry at Simmons College in education was reestablished amid Boston, current director of the Ingrowing fear that the future of the stitute for Chemical Education, and U.S. was threatened by the weak an NSF education administrator state of U.S. education in general. from 1984 to 1986—thanked ConThe directorate received $171 mil- gress for its support during a hearlion in fiscal 1989—almost 9% of i n g held by the House Committee NSF's budget and about the same on Science, Space & Technology's proportion it commanded a decade Subcommittee on Science, Research ago. The Administration has re- & Technology. quested $190 million for the direc"I assure you that without the torate for fiscal 1990, again about help of this Subcommittee and that 9% of NSF's total budget. of the Congressional Committees on That is well below the 40% share Appropriations, the NSF budget for that education received in its hey- science, engineering, and mathematday in the late 1950s, however, and ics education would still be very well below what Shakhashiri says small," Bell said. "Since 1985 the could be put to good use now. "The Administration's requests for science NSF level of effort for science edu- education have displayed a dismal cation should be about $600 million lack of leadership." a year: $300 million for precollege programs, $200 million for college Science education gets programs, and $100 million for gradabout 9% of NSF funds uate fellowships and traineeships. If the NSF budget doubles over the next several years to about $3 billion altogether, $600 million for education would be 20% of that." American Chemical Society president Clayton F. Callis supported that $600 million target—a figure suggested by two reports of the National Science Board—in testimony before Congress last month (C&EN, Antarctic May 22, page 39). "This nation must program strengthen and emphasize science Science & engineering education at all levels in order to education maintain and improve our competitive position worldwide, and to proFiscal year 1988 total = $1.9 billion vide the technically literate work force needed in the future," Callis Source: National Science Foundation said. Calling the $190 million re-
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i versity of Chicago, or Houston, or | UCLA." z. The current culture in UniVerSlties, he thinks, does not place a high enough value on teaching at the college or precollege level. He'd like to see academics devote 10% of their time to educational issues. Many of the programs the NSF education directorate has devised are mechanisms to bring together scientists with educators. "We have a huge budget deficit and a huge trade deficit," Shakhashiri says. "But we don't have a brain deficit in this country. We need to encourage the talent in this country to pursue careers in science or—for those who choose not to— to at least be tolerant if not supportive of what scientists want to Shakhashiri: job not yet done do." Pamela Zurer Pending the passage of the 1990 budget, Shakhashiri has two major programs in the planning stages. They are a state initiative and an urban initiative in science, mathematics, and technology education. "These will be a systematic approach to try to work with state governors, The Environmental Protection Agenbusiness leaders, and the education cy, in a just-completed report to community to elevate the level of Congress on the state of hazardous scientific literacy," he says. materials handling at academic in"At the same time, we will work stitutions, concludes that most probwith people in big urban settings lems arise from the institutions' lack to address problems characteristic of awareness about hazardous wastes of those settings/ like high dropout and appropriate regulations. Most rates," Shakhashiri says. "We'll try recommendations focus on increasto get university scientists and sci- ing that awareness. entists from industry to work with Entitled "Report to Congress: the 100 largest school districts. We Management of Hazardous Wastes want a collaborative effort among from Educational Institutions," the institutions of higher education, report was ordered in the 1984 state educational institutions, and amendments to the Resource Conthe private sector to put in place a servation & Recovery Act. Congress sustained set of activities aimed at asked that the report be completed improving science and math educa- by April 1987, a deadline missed by tion." only two years. EPA emphasizes that Shakhashiri believes strongly that the report is only factual in nature, working scientists should get much as the agency was not directed by more involved in science education Congress to develop regulatory proissues. "We can't just sit back and grams or statutory changes to conlet somebody else worry about it," trol wastes in school labs. The rehe says. "We want to be sure we port includes an analysis, based on have the right human resources data the agency received from school available to meet the demands of labs, of the methods available for the 21st century. I'd like to see peo- treatment and disposal of academic ple from the chemistry department hazardous wastes. EPA estimates that about 30,000 at Columbia University, say, pay some attention to how chemistry is universities, colleges, and high taught in New York City. I could schools in the U.S. generate up to a say the same thing about the Uni- total of 4000 metric tons of hazard-
EPA examines schools' handling of toxic waste
ous wastes annually. This is less than 0.01% of the 240 million metric tons of total hazardous wastes estimated to be generated in the U.S. each year. The very small percentage is one of the reasons that this report was requested. When RCRA was being reauthorized, organizations concerned about the rigidity of current rules for disposal of hazardous wastes as they applied to academic labs wanted Congress to set different disposal rules for schools than for industry. The EPA study was a step to get the government to recognize that academic labs are not comparable to industrial labs. Most of the data EPA relied on to prepare its report was collected under a contract from Tufts University, completed in 1987. The Tufts group made a study of 26 institutions—19 colleges and universities and seven high schools—of various sizes and in different localities. The study looked at what wastes were generated and how they were handled. Other data came from material supplied by the American Chemical Society and from educators at several universities. A major concern about the EPA study is that the data are relatively old. Since the Tufts data were collected, for instance, major community right-to-know and emergency response legislation have gone into effect. These are included in Title III of the Superfund Amendments & Reauthorization Act of 1986. The recent legislation has heightened
Bulk of lab wastes that can't be treated is placed in lab packs for disposal June 5, 1989 C&EN
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