FW: Personal Message from Alan Hale (co-discoverer of Comet

[Toby Zabinski <zabinski@PANTHEON.YALE.EDU>]

Thought this might be of interest!

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               (**)                                         (**)
               (**)              Toby Zabinski              (**)
               (**)             Media Specialist            (**)
               (**)          Amity Jr. High School          (**)
               (**)           190 Luke Hill Road            (**)
               (**)       Bethany, Connecticut  06524       (**)
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               (**)        Zabinski@pantheon.yale.edu       (**)
               (**)                                         (**)
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>>>>
>>>>    The message which follows is an open letter to any and all young
>>>>   scientists who, like me, are frustrated, angry, bitter, etc. about
>>>>   the sorry state of science funding in our society today, and who
>>>>   have been struggling just to get a decent career started. Due to my
>>>>   current "15 minutes of fame" that I am receiving as a result of
>>>>   Comet Hale-Bopp, I believe I have an opportunity to raise some
>>>>   awareness of this issue, and possibly to get things turned around
>>>>   at least a little bit.
>>>>
>>>>   Anyway, please take the time to read through this, and if you feel
>>>>   like responding to it, please do so. Most importantly, please pass
>>>>   this around to anyone and everyone you think might be interested in
>>>>   responding; I'm trying to reach as large an audience as I can, and
>>>>   the more responses I can get from those whose experiences have been
>>>>   like mine, the better the chances I have of actually being able to
>>>>   accomplish something.
>>>>
>>>>   Thanks,
>>>>
>>>>   Alan
>>>>
>>>>   -!---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>   An open letter to the scientists of my generation:
>>>>
>>>>   I am Alan Hale, the co-discoverer of Comet Hale-Bopp which, as I'm
>>>>   sure you're aware, is getting a tremendous amount of media attention
>>>>   at this time. Like I'm sure is true for many of you, I was inspired
>>>>   by the scientific discoveries and events taking place during my
>>>>   childhood to pursue a career in science only to find, after completing
>>>>   the rigors of undergraduate and graduate school, that the opportunities
>>>>   for us to have a career in science are limited at best and are which I
>>>>   usually describe as "abysmal." Based upon my own experiences, and those
>>>>   of you with whom I have discussed this issue, my personal feeling is
>>>>   that, unless there are some pretty drastic changes in the way that our
>>>>   society approaches science and treats those of us who have devoted our
>>>>   lives to making some of our own contributions, there is no way that I
>>>>   can, with a clear conscience, encourage present-day students to pursue
>>>>   a career in science. It really pains me a great deal to say something
>>>>   like that, but I feel so strongly about this that I have publicly made
>>>>   this statement at almost every opportunity I have been given.
>>>>
>>>>   I am trying to use the media attention that is currently being focused
>>>>   upon me to raise awareness of this state of affairs, and perhaps start
>>>>   to effect those changes that will allow me to convey a more positive
>>>>   message to the next generation. So far, I'm sensing a certain
>>>>   reluctance among the media to discuss this issue, as they seem far more
>>>>   interested in items which I consider to be irrelevant and unimportant.
>>>>   But I intend to keep hammering away at this, and I'd like to believe
>>>>   that eventually some are going to sit up and take notice. I am also
>>>>   attempting to schedule meetings with some of our government leaders, to
>>>>   see if I can at least get some acknowledgement from Washington that
>>>>   this is a problem that needs to be dealt with.
>>>>
>>>>   My reason for writing to you is to ask your help. I know that I'm not
>>>>   alone in being frustrated about the current prospects for pursuing any
>>>>   kind of decent career within science, and I'm quite sure that many of
>>>>   you have "horror stories" about your searches for decent employment
>>>>   that are quite similar to my own. I'd like to hear them. I'd especially
>>>>   like to hear from those of you who are on your second or third or
>>>>   fourth post-doc, or who have left the field as a result of the
>>>>   employment situation, or who have experienced severe personal
>>>>   difficulties (e.g., break-up of a marriage, etc.). I realize that some
>>>>   of these might be painful to discuss, but I'd like to show that we are
>>>>   not a bunch of impersonal statistics, but that we're human beings
>>>>   trying to make an honest living and perhaps make a contribution or two
>>>>   to society while we're at it. Speaking of statistics, though, if you
>>>>   received any information about the numbers of applicants to some of the
>>>>   positions you applied to -- which was often a 3-digit number in my case
>>>>   -- I'd like to hear that, too.
>>>>
>>>>   Please e-mail your stories to me at ahale@nmsu.edu, with a subject
>>>>   line of "horror stories" or something like that. Please let me know if
>>>>   you would prefer to remain anonymous when I share these stories with
>>>>   the press and the government. Also, please pass this message on to any
>>>>   of your friends and colleagues who might be interested in sharing their
>>>>   stories with me, and keep in mind that I would like to receive stories
>>>>   from as many scientific disciplines as possible. (Because of the amount
>>>>   of e-mail traffic I'm receiving these days, along with everything else
>>>>   that's going on, I probably won't be able to acknowledge each message
>>>>   individually.)
>>>>
>>>>   Thank you for your time, and I hope to hear from you. Perhaps, with
>>>>   the opportunity we have before us right now, we have the chance to make
>>>>   a difference.
>>>>
>>>>   Sincerely,
>>>>
>>>>   Alan Hale
>>>>
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