I have been a member of two honorary sci/tech societies for years. Honored by their allowing me to be a member of their societies- and appreciative of their missions.

The first society to honor me with membership was Tau Beta Pi. This is the engineering equivalent of Phi Beta Kappa. It’s motto is Integrity and Excellence in Engineering. (FWIW, my fraternity’s motto was Tact, Initiative, and Integrity. I was perfect at the last two…) Tau Beta Pi Association is the second oldest collegiate honor society (Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest one- and it is for the liberal arts). Tau Beta Pi chooses the best engineering students in American universities- not only for their academic excellence- but for their commitment to personal and professional integrity.

Sigma Xi was founded the next year (after Tau Beta Pi). This Scientific Research Honor Society chooses its members based upon their research achievements- or their potential to achieve great things with their research.

Dr. Jamie Vernon is the current Executive Director and CEO of Sigma Xi. And, he shared a letter to the members encouraging us to speak up and out- to overcome the sad state of our politics with its misconduct,  to work together to rebuild the faith of America (and the world) in science, and to build trust in the findings of scientific professionals.

He cited the anti-vaxxers with their insipid claims that vaccines don’t help eradicate disease. He didn’t mention the fact that many ultra-Orthodox Jews have been worked over by anti-vaxxers, convincing them to avoid vaccinating their kids. As a result, this past summer, a young El Al flight attendant died of measles. (Most of these ultra-Orthodox make routine pilgrimages to Israel, the Holy Land- and only fly on El Al.) But, she was but one of many to succumb to this one ‘eradicated’ disease; this year there were 1215 cases of measles from 1 January to my daughter’s birthday (22 August)- the highest number of such cases since my son was born in 1991. So much for “eliminating” measles as a disease that attacks humans.

The fact is that we need herd immunity. We need something on the order of 95% of our population to be vaccinated against those ailments that we have managed for which we have managed to develop preventive measures (and in many cases eradicate the disease)- to insure that the entire population is protected.

But, it’s not just vaccinations that are at issue. We have folks who invent facts about climate change (a term coined by Frank Luntz- who now [finally] regrets this choice- instead of global warming and climate catastrophe), the safety of genetically modified crops (almost all of our foodstocks are mutants, way different from the varieties that existed when our grandparents and great-grandparents were alive), and how to keep our water supplies safe, among other sci-tech issues the world must address (and rely upon scientific data).

The fact is the situation is getting a little better.  Faith in science has increased to 86% from 76% over the past 3 years. Our medical profession is considered to be acting in the best interests of society by 87% of us.

But, to be honest, there is a strong political bent to this situation. 60% of society feels that scientists need to be active in policy debates- but then it’s 66% of the GOP members don’t want scientists to provide background on policy matters. (Now you know why TheDonald is destroying the sci/tech base of the Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Energy (among other governmental agencies.)

There’s more bad news. Hispanics and Blacks distrust medical researchers more than the rest of society. (Yes, I know about the Tuskegee Medical Study. As well as the studies that used slaves as medical subjects. But, those were decades ago.) This distrust extends to their feelings about nutrition and environmental research (which may explain why diets to preclude diabetes, renal disease, and the like are not likely to be followed).

Which is why Dr. Vernon wants our organization to augment public trust, to cultivate honor, integrity, and honesty among junior colleagues and students. To use our meetings to promote professional ethics- be they held at a university, at a laboratory (these are almost always governmental facilities), or in industrial situations.

To ensure this is not lip service, the Board of Directors has established a Committee on Scientific Conduct and Professional Ethics. I would consider it an honor to be chosen to be on that committee to help promote this.

On a more personal note… You- my esteemed readers- can rest assured that I pledge to provide you with the data and facts to help make this world a better place for all of us- especially our kids.