Issue date: 2/17/09 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Jordan Bryan [Click to enlarge]

Common sense has entered the building - at least, on the science front. The tech-savvy President Obama not only "understands the importance of technology," like former senator and technology guru Ted Stevens of Alaska, but is also an active participant in today's wired lifestyle. When a president refuses to cede his Blackberry out of fear of "losing touch with normal life," it bodes well for technology's status within the capital. Obama's presidential campaign and proposed scientific policy quickly put to rest any lingering concerns that his love of technology is merely pandering to the space-age electorate. This may very well be the closest we get to a scientific-messiah-president, and that's good news for every American.

As we all know, American dominance in science and technology has seen a fall from grace rivaling that of the Titans. We've all heard this to death, especially in the gloom of last year. Bottom line: we're sucking it up.

That's not entirely true anymore. America is still at the vanguard of scientific innovation, with brilliant minds paving the way. What's different now, as compared to the last eight years, is we finally have a president willing to listen to these minds with an open one of his own. The most tangible evidence of this principal would probably be the nomination of physicist and Nobel Laureate Steven Chu as Secretary of Energy. We finally have someone at the top willing to acknowledge that a political title isn't a substitute for sound scientific discourse.

The danger in all of this is assuming Obama is going to fix everything on his own. He has simply demonstrated his willingness to listen to hard facts and respect people with more expertise than him. All we've gained here (as monumental as it may be) is a friend in the White House finally fit for the times. It's still up to us to demand from him the science policies that will generate game-changing medical solutions, energy sources for the next generation and appropriate information infrastructure that would help everyone from business to academia to manufacturing and beyond.

There is time yet to get things back on track. Who knows - we may even solve our economic woes, assuming intelligence hasn't entirely emancipated itself from the markets. Here are a few things we should keep our focus on in an Obama science policy:

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