Thomas Friedman's Opinion

Here’s another piece highlighting the importance of improving our math and science education to keep our country competitive. Thomas Friedman wrote in the New York Times Opinion Page on Sunday expressing his views on the upcoming $1 trillion economic stimulus package. It’s an interesting read and once again emphasizes the critical need for quantitative professionals.

An excerpt:

"You see, even before the current financial crisis, we were already in a deep competitive hole — a long period in which too many people were making money from money, or money from flipping houses or hamburgers, and too few people were making money by making new stuff, with hard-earned science, math, biology and engineering skills.

The financial crisis just made the hole deeper, which is why our stimulus needs to be both big and smart, both financially and educationally stimulating. It needs to be able to produce not only more shovel-ready jobs and shovel-ready workers, but more Google-ready jobs and Windows-ready and knowledge-ready workers."

To read the article in it's entirety, click here.

Linda Burtch
Burtch Works
Email: lburtch@burtchworks.com
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Family Dinner Conversation

Just a few nights ago, during our family dinner, the topic of the eighth-grade social order arose. It seems my 13-year-old twins, Jay and Becky, have a pretty clear understanding of where they (and all of their classmates) stand in the pecking order.

Becky said she resides somewhere in the middle —abercrombie jeans and Ugg boots are clear plusses, but being in the advanced math group lowers her overall score. Jay said he’s on “the lower end” and Becky did nothing to dispute this or buttress her twin.

Jay has been known as a “math geek” since second grade. He is a terrible dresser, combs his hair once a month (whether it needs it or not), plays competitive chess and piano for the jazz band, is two grades ahead in math (where he is the top student, definitely a social blunder), and programs his calculator for fun. Apparently all that’s keeping him from plummeting to the very bottom of the social heap are decent soccer skills and some talent in track.

Fortunately, I was armed with information from a timely Wall Street Journal piece called Doing the Math to Find Good Jobs, published the very day of our family discussion. The Journal reported that the best job in the U.S. is … (drum roll, please) … mathematician! In even more good news, two closely related fields came in second and third – actuary and statistician. These standings are based in part on favorable working conditions – an indoor environment free of toxic fumes, with no heavy lifting required. The quantitative sciences also score high in terms of pay, low stress levels (really?) and a good work-life balance.

I was able to reassure my “math geek” son that though it may seem like he’s on the bottom social rung of eighth grade, with hard work and a little luck, his skills and talents will give him a quick elevator ride to the top of the job stratum as an adult. As Bill Gates once said: “Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.” He should know.

Let this reassure you as well, my analytical friends, and revel in your career choice!

My best wishes to you and yours for a healthy and prosperous 2009

Linda Burtch
Burtch Works
Email: lburtch@burtchworks.com
Don’t Forget to Connect to me on LinkedIn and become a Facebook fan!

R, the Magic Language!

As I have reported previously, the use of R as the statistical tool of choice has grown dramatically in the past couple of years. The program is free and is in an open-source format allowing users to modify the tool specifically to their situation. In case you missed it, the New York Times had an interesting piece in the business section on Wednesday touting the power of R. Click here for a pleasant diversion from all the gloomy business news.

Linda Burtch
Burtch Works
Email: lburtch@burtchworks.com
Don’t Forget to Connect to me on LinkedIn and become a Facebook fan!