People with a true passion for a science don't get into it for the money...they study science because they love it. Any one else is kidding themselves.
On the other hand though...I am a scientist (meteorologist) working for a contractor for the US govt and I make a decent wage (enough to pay my insane school loans), work very flexible hours, and am hands on with the science every day...even when it doesn't always seem like it. If I didn't love my job I wouldn't have it...I would do something easy, like everyone else.
Even though some scientific funding has been hurt recently the government is still funding scientific research (i.e., my own funding). I know for a fact that the NSF (National Science Foundation) is sending out more funding since they received bailout/recovery money from the government. Global warming research is one of the most important that needs to continue to be funded. Hands down it's the most important area that needs to be realized...we're talking about saving our world! Green technologies go along with this...more research into solar energy, biofuel, etc.
A resounding YES to undergrads being taught FORTRAN. I am a graduate student in Meteorology and FORTRAN is alive and kicking in the meteorological community. It is a vital part of many of our programs and models. Perl and Cshell are also very important but I wouldn't be able to do major parts of my thesis without the aid of FORTRAN. The undergrads at my graduate school are required to take FORTRAN (especially if they are in the met program) and they use it in their upper-level core classes. I wish I'd taken the FORTRAN class at my undergrad so I wouldn't have had to catch up during my thesis. Knowing FORTRAN definitely helped me grasp other languages faster.
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People with a true passion for a science don't get into it for the money...they study science because they love it. Any one else is kidding themselves. On the other hand though...I am a scientist (meteorologist) working for a contractor for the US govt and I make a decent wage (enough to pay my insane school loans), work very flexible hours, and am hands on with the science every day...even when it doesn't always seem like it. If I didn't love my job I wouldn't have it...I would do something easy, like everyone else.
I can verify MoldySpore's story (since I went to school with him and witnessed the events), so please apologize. Thanks.
If your Facebook privacy settings are up all the way (i.e., friends only) then what is there to worry about?
Even though some scientific funding has been hurt recently the government is still funding scientific research (i.e., my own funding). I know for a fact that the NSF (National Science Foundation) is sending out more funding since they received bailout/recovery money from the government. Global warming research is one of the most important that needs to continue to be funded. Hands down it's the most important area that needs to be realized...we're talking about saving our world! Green technologies go along with this...more research into solar energy, biofuel, etc.
A resounding YES to undergrads being taught FORTRAN. I am a graduate student in Meteorology and FORTRAN is alive and kicking in the meteorological community. It is a vital part of many of our programs and models. Perl and Cshell are also very important but I wouldn't be able to do major parts of my thesis without the aid of FORTRAN. The undergrads at my graduate school are required to take FORTRAN (especially if they are in the met program) and they use it in their upper-level core classes. I wish I'd taken the FORTRAN class at my undergrad so I wouldn't have had to catch up during my thesis. Knowing FORTRAN definitely helped me grasp other languages faster.