Adv 1 – Leadership



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a/t: fund stem cp



Inspiration is key

Ehlmann 2, Bethany, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Washington University, studies Environmental Change at Oxford, Jeeshan Chowdhury, School of Medicine, University of Alberta, Eric Collins, School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Brandon DeKock, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Douglas Grant, Department of Chemistry, University of Mississippi, Stuart Ibsen, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Jessica Kinnevan, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of New Hampshire, Wendy Krauser, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Mercer University, Julie Litzenberger, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, Timothy Marzullo, Department of Neuroscience, University of Michigan, Rebekah Shepard, Department of Geology, Oberlin College [“Humans to Mars: The Political Initiative and Technical Expertise Needed for Human Exploration of the Red Planet,” April 25-26, Group report of the 2002 Astrobiology Academy]

Some argue that money put into the space program could be better spent by putting it directly into the educational system to encourage students into the sciences and engineering. This is an unfortunate misconception. America is already one of the top spenders per student in the world (NSF, 2002). Although more funding could always be useful to the American educational system, it does not promise the sustained effort needed to increase the number of Americans pursuing advanced degrees in science or engineering. The government cannot simply buy more computers, fund more scholarships, and lower teacher-to-student ratios enough to convince an 18 year old freshman to invest at least 8 years in the pursuit of a science and engineering advanced degree. Students need something to inspire their efforts. The idea of space exploration significantly influencing America’s youth is not without precedent. During the Apollo era of the 1960’s, there was a dramatic increase in the number of students pursuing advanced degrees in science, math, and engineering (Figure 1b). Furthermore, as the Apollo program was dismantled and NASA’s funding cut, the number of students going into these fields correlates with the downward trend of NASA’s budget. The Apollo era “To the Moon” goal serves as model for how NASA can inspire a generation.



***Ocean Science***




Solvency – modeling



A US agency gets modeled internationally

Kearny 3, William Kearney, Director of Media Relations Heather McDonald, Media Relations Assistant Office of News and Public Information, “Major Ocean Exploration Effort Would Reveal Secrets of the Deep,” November 4th, http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=10844

WASHINGTON -- A new large-scale, multidisciplinary ocean exploration program would increase the pace of discovery of new species, ecosystems, energy sources, seafloor features, pharmaceutical products, and artifacts, as well as improve understanding of the role oceans play in climate change, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Academies' National Research Council. Such a program should be run by a nonfederal organization and should encourage international participation, added the committee that wrote the report. Congress, interested in the possibility of an international ocean exploration program, asked the Research Council to examine the feasibility of such an effort. The committee concluded, however, that given the limited resources in many other countries, it would be prudent to begin with a U.S. program that would include foreign representatives and serve as a model for other countries. Once programs are established elsewhere, groups of nations could then collaborate on research and pool their resources under international agreements. "The United States should lead by example," said committee chair John Orcutt, professor of geophysics and deputy director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. Vast portions of the ocean remain unexplored. In fact, while a dozen men have walked on the moon, just two have traveled to the farthest reaches of the ocean, and only for about 30 minutes each time, the report notes. "The bottom of the ocean is the Earth's least explored frontier, and currently available submersibles -- whether manned, remotely operated, or autonomous -- cannot reach the deepest parts of the sea," said committee vice chair Shirley A. Pomponi, vice president and director of research at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Fort Pierce, Fla. Nonetheless, recent discoveries of previously unknown species and deep-sea biological and chemical processes have heightened interest in ocean exploration. For example, researchers working off the coast of California revealed how some organisms consume methane seeping through the sea floor, converting it to energy for themselves and leaving hydrogen and carbon dioxide as byproducts. The hydrogen could perhaps someday be harnessed for fuel cells, leaving the carbon dioxide – which contributes to global warming in the atmosphere – in the sea. Likewise, a recent one-month expedition off Australia and New Zealand that explored deep-sea volcanic mountains and abyssal plains collected 100 previously unidentified fish species and up to 300 new species of invertebrates. Most current U.S. funding for ocean research, however, goes to projects that plan to revisit earlier sites or for improving understanding of known processes, rather than to support truly exploratory oceanography, the report says. And because the funding bureaucracy is discipline-based, grants are usually allocated to chemists, biologists, or physical scientists, rather than to teams of researchers representing a variety of scientific fields. A coordinated, international ocean exploration effort is not unprecedented, however; in fact, the International Decade of Ocean Exploration in the 1970s was considered a great success.




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