UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- "What science has brought us, does bring us, and will bring us is the stuff for volumes and volumes of discussion. We understand so much that has improved the quality of life -- public health, for example, vaccinations. We know how the world systems work, the ecology, the physical systems enough so that we can predict where we're going – climate change, for example. We understand how cells protect themselves from viruses in ways that will allow us to manipulate the genetic material to prevent genetic diseases. And our social and behavioral sciences tell us a lot about how we can get along more peaceably. Every example I chose has a flipside. We have millions of Americans who deny their kids vaccinations and, what's troubling, millions more who say that's OK. We have millions of Americans who are denying the evidence about climate change. We have most American high school biology students not getting a satisfactory treatment of evolution in their classes. As for social and behavioral sciences, when was the last time you heard an argument -- a debate -- in economics that was based on evidence, rather than ideological assertions?"
-- Rush Holt, executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), spoke about the need for scientists to become involved in policy discussions during "Scientist-Citizen: Science Policy in the Age of Promise and Peril," a town hall event held in the Freeman Auditorium in Penn State's HUB-Robeson Center on Oct. 13.