Appliance Design - January 2009 - (Page 5)

EDItorIal ® www.applianceDESIGN.com publishing staff Fern Sheinman Publisher richard J. Babyak Editor larry adams Managing Editor Daryl Delano Economics Editor E’lisa Campbell Production Manager Matt Britcher Art Director (619) 233-4585 sheinmanf@bnpmedia.com (440) 886-1210 babyakr@bnpmedia.com (773) 467-8590 adamsl@bnpmedia.com (508) 746-7986 dhdelano@comcast.net (248) 244-6257 campbelle@bnpmedia.com (248) 486-7800 britcherm@bnpmedia.com D letter to the New Guy own physics. They are often enabled by illinformed media whose perverse notion of objectivity bestows equivalency upon positions of grossly unequal weight, as if including the views of the Flat Earth Society constituted balanced reporting. Wafting in from the left will be dangerously hypnotic melodies played by those who seek to romanticize science by composing ballads of heroes and villains. They idealize the concepts that inspire them and imbue those notions with wild expectations. They demonize the things they don’t find aesthetically pleasing. They can steer you down dead ends, and, at the same time, convince you to discard valuable tools. Then, assaulting your ears from all directions will be a grating, omnipresent white noise that is created by stacks of lobbyist cash sliding across a table. It is the most treacherous tone of all because it represents an inherent structural impediment to sound policy making. Established technologies have power and wealth, emergent technologies do not. Therefore, policies directed by lobbyists will always favor the old over the new. It all comes down to the money. Who gets it, and how much. In an ideal world, you could just spread funds around like fertilizer and observe what grows and what doesn’t. But the fundamental economic predicament, the allocation of scarce resources, is now more pressing than ever. Investments must be made strategically, combining solutions for both immediate and long-term problems. There will be many divergent voices arguing their case, each pulling you in a different direction. A cabinet-level science adviser can help you sort them out, but, at some point, you must decide for yourself. And, if you make those decisions rationally, based on the facts, then you will surely deliver a change we need. < circulation Christine a. Baloga (248) 244-8262 Corporate Audience Development Director balogac@bnpmedia.com amy Schuler (920) 231-4932 Group Audience schulera@bnpmedia.com Development Manager alison Illes (248) 244-1730 Corporate Fulfillment Manager Illesa@bnpmedia.com Catherine M. ronan (248) 244-8259 Corporate Audience ronanc@bnpmedia.com Audit Manager robert liska 800-223-2194 List Manager robert.liska@edithroman.com marketing lynn Davidson Marketing Director Paul Dykstra Trade Show Coordinator (248) 244-6417 davidsonl@bnpmedia.com (248) 786-1609 dykstrap@bnpmedia.com editorial advisory board Mark Skaer, Senior Editor, The News Susan Sutton, Editor, Ceramic Industry roy Sakelson, Editor-in-Chief, Circuitree tom Williams, Publisher/Editor, Quality Magazine Darlene Brezinski, Ph.D., Editor, Paint and Coatings Industry Don Hegland, Editor, Assembly BNP Media Helps People Succeed in Business with Superior Information BNP Media 2401 West Big Beaver Rd., Suite 700, Troy, MI 48084, (248) 362-3700, Fax: (248) 362-0317; www.bnpmedia.com For subscription information or service, please contact Customer Service at: call (847) 763-9534 • Fax: (847) 763-9538 or email: AD@halldata.com APPLIANCE DESIGN Volume 57, Issue 1 (ISSN 1552-5937) is published 12 times annually, monthly, by BNP Media, 2401 W. Big Beaver Rd., Suite 700, Troy, MI 48084-3333. Telephone: (248) 362-3700, Fax: (248) 362-0317. No charge for subscriptions to qualified individuals. Annual rate for subscriptions to nonqualified individuals in the U.S.A.: $161.00 USD. Annual rate for subscriptions to nonqualified individuals in Canada: $198.00 USD (includes GST & postage); all other countries: $211.00 (int’l mail) payable in U.S. funds. Printed in the U.S.A. Copyright 2009, by BNP Media. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for product claims and representations. Periodicals Postage Paid at Troy, MI and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: APPLIANCE DESIGN, P.O. Box 2148, Skokie, IL 60076. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. GST account: 131263923. Send returns (Canada) to Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON, N6C 6B2. Change of address: Send old address label along with new address to APPLIANCE DESIGN, P.O. Box 2148, Skokie, IL 60076. For single copies or back issues: contact Ann Kalb at (248) 244-6499 or KalbA@bnpmedia.com. ear President-Elect Obama: Open letters to an incoming president are much like votes. Submitted in vast quantities, they seem individually inconsequential, but prove cumulatively decisive. Armed with that insight, I lend my voice to the chorus of calls urging you to elevate the role of science and technology in your administration. As you know, these pleas began even before your victory, such as in the collective endorsement of your candidacy by 76 Nobel Prize winners in physics, chemistry, and medicine, put forth in a public letter in late October. Some of this counsel elaborated generally on the need to increase government funding of the long-term basic research that provides the foundation for development, while other views offered specific recommendations for directing such funding. Still others, noting the complexity of issues before us, offered guidance on choosing a science adviser, someone to help you sort through the blizzard of ideas, reports, and data that will hit your desk like an avalanche. The American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association of American Universities, and scores of other organizations, have strongly recommended that you have such an adviser appointed by Jan. 20, and endow that individual with cabinet rank status. I agree. The policies you outlined during your campaign suggest you are receptive to such advice. Your revolutionary use of the Internet for mobilizing people and raising funds shows that you grasp the importance of technology in society. And, your widely praised selection of a Nobel Prize winning physicist for energy secretary reveals your respect for scientific expertise. But installing the right people is the easy part. Demonstrating the courage to listen to them will prove harder when assailed by a throng of advocates with competing agendas. Among the clamor, three particularly loud sirens will try to drown out the quiet voices of reason and empiricism. Shooting in from the right will be a piercing noise produced by those who seek to politicize science by undermining evidence with disinformation. While they are entitled to express their own opinions, they are not entitled to invent their Richard Babyak, Editor E-mail: babyakr@bnpmedia.com | HVAC | Majors | Water Processing | Housewares | Commercial Appliances | | Vending | Medical | Lab | Test & Measurement | Lawn & Garden | Electronics | | Computers | Communications | Business Equipment | applianceDESIGN January 2009 5 www.applianceDESIGN.com http://www.appliancedesign.com http://www.bnpmedia.com http://www.appliancedesign.com

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Appliance Design - January 2009

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