SEPTEMBER QUESTION-OF-THE-MONTH for BOTH mentors and students:
No matter where you may live, you must be aware of the devastation that
hurricane Katrina left in several southern states. Our thoughts are with
all GEM-SET members who have been impacted by this tragedy. The somber
question to our participants is how can people in science, engineering,
and technology careers help with the current situation and prevent future
hurricanes from having such a tragic impact? Please give specific examples
of how people in these careers can make a difference at times like this.
In order to be eligible for the grand prize subscription to SCIENCE NEWS, send your response to GEM-SET@uic.edu before October 1, 2005.

A: FROM STUDENT MEMBER ALEXIS K. IN GERMANY
I keep coming back to dam fundamentals, and, no, I'm not swearing. I mean the design and building of structures that separate water from land, animals, and man-made structures. Ok, not really dams so much as levies, as in the desperate situation we're seeing with some of the Gulf Coast states. The levies broke and so did the lives of tens of thousands of people. I am seriously pained to think about it. Dam. If only public servants had done a more effective job of demonstrating to other public officials and the public the need to address decrepit water barriers and spend more tax money on these projects.

Building or rebuilding a community isn't limited to a few science, engineering or technological fields, but instead is related and relevant to all science, engieering and technological fields. Some are obvious, such as structural engineering, civil engineering, marine engineering, meteorology, statistics, actuarial science, physical sciences, medical sciences, and the like, but the real truth is that experts in science, math, engineering and technological careers don't get too far publically if public officials won't heed expert warnings (I understand that the SET commuinities have been warning for decades about New Orleans being a bull's eye waiting to be struck) nor if the public lacks the will to priorititze mundane expenditures for such things as properly building land and water separation structures.

Clearly I am avoiding direct answers to the monthly question because in my sense of things, science, engineering and technology as fields of study and careers are involved in everything, always. Science is, "in everything." Technology is an attempt to order and control the science of everything, and engineering is found in all that humans have made throughout time. The gulf coastal states are inseperable from science, engineering and technology (SET). For me the more fundamental question is why our society devalues SET to the point of creating and maintaining what could be avoidable vulnerabilities either from man-made or natural causes. The remedy is for SET careerists to be aware enough about the greater good of community to prioritize the importance of learning effective public relations and business skills so they can better advocate for science, engineering and technology decisions that are multigenerationally and globally sound.
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A: FROM STUDENT MEMBER FRANCISCA L. IN CA
People in science, engineering, and technology careers can help prevent hurricanes from having such a tragic impact by using their knowledge from their respective careers. A scientist can come up with a better way to detect hurricane movement. An engineer is able to come up with methods for building strictures or dams that can aide people survice if a hurricane were to hit. They can safegard homes and buildings from washing away or completely flooding. Technology can assist to get information out to the people, to leave their homes and evacuate the city and what direction the water is coming from, the safest route. A big problem is that all the electricity is gone no one quite knows what is going on. Communication between the survivors or stranded is vital to get the operations running smoothly.By working together and using the knowledge from each of their careers it can make the process of rebuilding or preventing such chaos.