People and Events
Two Million Minutes: Preparing US Students for the Global Economy
By USBE&IT
Mar 27, 2008, 18:02

Joining Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute faculty, students, math and science teachers, education adminstrators and business people, Career Communications Group publisher and CEO Tyrone Taborn called for special emphasis to be given to providing education and opportunities to underserved, minority populations.

Mr. Taborn was speaking at the screening of Two Millions Minutes, a documentary that takes a look at how high school students in China, India, and the United States, build intellectual foundation, absorb the fundamentals of math, chemistry, biology, physics and computer science — knowledge that will broaden or narrow their career choices—in the 4-year period leading to university.

In a post-screening dialogue about preparing American students to compete in the global economy, educational experts and students shared their thoughts about what changes should be made in American education. Career Communication Group CEO, Tyrone Taborn called for “special emphasis to be given to providing education and opportunities to minority populations.”

Two Million Minutes reflects some of the issues raised in a 2002 report, "The Quiet Crisis: Falling Short in Producing American Scientific and Technical Talent," by Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson, PhD, where she said, “The US is still the leading engine for innovation in the world It has the best graduate programs, scientific infrastructure, and the capital markets to exploit it. But there is a quiet crisis in US science and technology that we have to wake up to. The US today is in a truly global environment, and those competitor countries are not only wide-awake, they are running a marathon while we are running sprints. If left unchecked, this could challenge our preeminence and capacity to innovate."

Two Million Minutes examines how high school students allocate the minutes in the 4-year period leading to university, and how critical it is to build a solid intellectual foundation in mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics and computer science.