Nanotechnology And Fairfield Hills

To the Editor:

A nanotechnology college at Fairfield Hills? This proposal opens our eyes to the world of tomorrow that already surrounds us.

Governors of every state are seeking new businesses and industry to provide employment for residents. Good paying jobs are the most desired outcome of any form of economic development. Numerous studies confirm that economic development rarely lowers taxes, as politicians would have you believe. On the other hand, availability of a highly trained workforce engaged in scientific inquiry, encourages high tech companies to locate nearby and pay substantial wages and taxes on their expensive equipment. A few years ago, a Swiss pharmaceutical company bought and renovated an old brick building near MIT for the express purpose of being near the professors doing advanced research at MIT and to have the opportunity to recruit newly graduated PhDs from MIT to work in advance pharmaceutical research labs.

Every year, Chinese universities award 60 percent of their BA degrees in engineering; in the US only five percent are engineering degrees. It requires 15 years to graduate and train an engineer or scientist, and boys and girls must begin in middle school to study the math they will need. Unless we can produce more scientists and engineers, Russia, India, and China will take the lead in innovation. (Friedman, Thomas, The World Is Flat, 2005)

A month or so ago, a woman in Newtown phoned me to ask that I suggest to the FFH Authority that a Newtown High School of Science and Technology be established at FFH. I did as she asked, but only cold stares greeted the idea. The Board of Education also seems fearful of planning any initiative that is bold and may require new funding. They have been so attacked by some town officials they may be unwilling to propose anything bold.

Mr Berendsohn’s proposal for an advanced degree academic center, if it could ever be implemented, would make Newtown a mecca for high tech research, and a high school of science and technology, even a small one starting with 15 or 20 students, would serve our country and provide unparalleled opportunities for our students. Surely, we could find a few rooms at FFH for this purpose. Colleges need many of the same facilities we have advocated: Auditorium/Cultural Arts Center, Student Union Building/Community Center, Gymnasium/Recreation Center, Labs and Lecture Rooms/Classrooms, Outdoor Recreation/Playing Fields. Only a new town hall might appear out of place on a college campus.

For a better understanding of the possibilities of nanotechnology visit the library and read “The Quest for Custom Cures” and “Soul of the New Gene Machine” (Fortune, May 2, 2005.) The diagrams on p.114 will help.

Education is a grave issue. How will the council members react to this proposal? Before you vote in November, find out how your council members view the issue.

Give it some thought. The world of tomorrow is here!

Ruby K. Johnson

16 Chestnut Hill, Sandy Hook                               September 9, 2005