I
thursday, September 3, 1981
page 8
daily nebraskan
Recruiter blames chemist shortage on attitudes
By Leslie Kendrick
An anti-science and anti-technology bias in the Ameri
can culture is the main reason for a shortage of chemists, a
UNL chemistry professor said.
Craig Eckhardt, graduate student recruiter for the
chemistry department, said such incidents as the Three
Mile Island accident have created an anti-science attitude
in the United States. Because of this attitude, fewer stu
dents are majoring in science fields, Eckhardt said.
Government and industry have shown an anti-science
bias by hiring fewer scientists, Eckhardt said. Because
the opportunities for a science major are becoming fewer,
persons interested in science may not choose a science
career, he said.
"The academically gifted undergraduates say to them
selves 'Why should I put my talent into something that
has no future?'," he said. "It doesnt take the undergrads
long to figure out where their opportunities lie."
Because fewer students are interested in science, the
chemistry department has stepped up recruitment efforts,
Eckhardt said. The increase in national recognition for
UNL's chemistry department is helping recruitment ef
forts, he said.
"We are very fortunate to have a strong reputation in
research and in teaching," Eckhardt said.
A chemistry career is often not considered in a state
such as Nebraska, he said.
"A career in chemistry is often overlooked by students
in an agricultural state. When they think of chemistry,
they think of East Coast industries. They tend to forget
how vital chemistry is to agriculture. Things such as plant
hormones and pesticides are all a result of chemistry .
Despite the anti-science bias in America, there is still
a great need for chemists, said Harry Foxwell of the
American Chemists Society.
Foxwell said according to a study done by G.C.
Meisels, UNL's chemistry department chairman, there is a
need for about 5,000 to 6,000 chemistry graduates.
Meisels found that only 4,000 bachelor degrees in chemi
stry are being given each year, Foxwell said.
The demand for chemistry PhD.s is about 2,000 to
2,500 a year, according to Meisels figures. Foxwell said
the American Chemists Society estimates only 1,540
Ph.D.s will be produced in 1982.
Exact figures are unavailable because Meisels' office
refused to release any study findings.
The shortage of chemists will end up hurting the U.S.
economy, Eckhardt said. Post-industrial societies can no
longer support their economics through the manufactur
ing of steel and coal, he said. Instead, countries must sell
technology that depends on updated science, Eckhardt
said.
"The Japanese have realized this and may well take
away the computer market from the United States," he
said.
Eckhardt said that out of 10,000 people in Japan,
about 100 will become lawyers, 400 will become account
ants and about 450 will become scientists and engineers.
Eckhardt said the Japanese figures contrast sharply
with U.S. figures. Out of every 10,000 people in the Uni
ted States, about 700 will become lawyers, 700 will be
come accountants and 80 will become scientists and en
gineers. If the United States plans to maintain its current eco
nomic status, it must compete more technologically with
post-industrial nations, Eckhardt said.
"We have to turn people's attitudes aroung towards
science as being for their own well-being," he said.
"In order for the citizens to be protected they must
not run away from science but understand it, or, if you
think science is evel then change it by getting into it."
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