Evening star., 1954-05-28
We CONT Afford 1t

!, should Like TO congratulate The
Star for alertneSS to the potentially
disastrous decline in the engineering
and scientific health Of our culture.
Every alert citizen should be grateful
for your persistent efforts to keep this
critical situation in the public view, as
typifled by your excellent editorial,
I'VE Can't Afford It." in The Star Of
May %. The thought that our desper-
ate scientific effort to Offset the Com
munistS' staggering superiority in man
power is being supported by declining
annual crop of engineering and scien-
tific graduates already less than half
that OF the Russians is indeed q sober
ing one.
While ! cannot pretend to UNDER
stand all the complex factors contrib
uting to this distressing lack of inter.
est in scientific career on the part
of our youth. should like to comment
on one obvious aspect of the problem
which is particularly suggestive Of
positive corrective. action; namely, the
failure OF the Federal Government to
provide leadership in improving the
economic incentive for such q career.
While lavishly pouring out incentive
for the accomplishment Of research
and development in the form Of bill
lions Of dollars to the country's industry
and business. our Government has ut
terly failed to provide or encourage eco
nomic incentive in the area which is
necessarily the very essence Of any
achievement in these fields. To be
sure, engineers and scientists have
enjoyed benefits from these expendi-
lures; qualified men find jobs available
to themselves in any field of scientific
endeavor and in any geographical area
they care to choose. But it is common
knowledge, by no means confined to
the profession itself, that scientific
people have proflted less economically
than perhaps any other group involved.
1t Is sad fact that the economic and
social position of the scientific pro-
fessions has declined during q period
of unprecedented scientific activity.
It Is feature Of our American way
OF life that an employed man is gen.
orally paid whatever is necessary to
obtain his good services. no more and
no less. In the case of engineers and
scientists. adhering to high standards
Of professional conduct, without benefit
Of collective bargaining, and lacking the
prerogative of their brothers in the legal
and medical professions of setting their
own fees. this has led to salary scales
totally uncommenSurate with the degree
Of intelligence and training required.
The Federal Government, far from
taking lead in alleviating this Situa-
ton, has held its own engineers and
scientists to salaries well below the
n1eager standards set by private in
duStry. 1t has furthermore adhered
Stubbornly to an archaic policy of salary
proportional to administrative RESPONSE
bility, Offering economic advancement
on the basis of administrative rather
than technical skill. Top-paid engineers
are those who abandon the technology
for which they have trained half a
lifetime in favor of jobs dealing with
budgets, schedules and inventories. It
is not difficult to understand why an
intelligent young man might decide on
an education developing these admin
istrative skills directly instead Of going
through the highly demanding ordeal
OF obtaining an education in engineer
ing or science. is5> = aaf ri
Members of the scientific professions,
while acutely aware of the problems,
are in poor position to bring about
change. Efforts toward collective bar
gaining die aborning because Of the
strong individualistic instinct inherent
in people of scientific leaning;. and
public expressions Of opinion by scien-
lists and engineers carry little weight
because Of the obvious selfish interests
Of the speakers. Our industries will un-
doubtedly be forced eventually into
corrective measures by the law Of supply
and demand, but it is obvious that we
will have an intolerable shortage of
qualified men long before such q
balance is struck. Quick and decisive
action on the Government level is
clearly long overdue If we are not to
concede the next decade Of technical
weapons superiority to the Russians by
1efault. We most aSsuredly cannot
affort it.
H0pvAv y Hha valSv,