News & Previews from the World Future Society
September 2005 (Vol. 6, No. 9)

In This Issue:
• Builders Wanted
• Bird Mapping
• Solving the Wastepaper Problem
• Britain's Religious Generation Gap
• Click of the Month: The Role Model Program

BUILDERS WANTED

A building boom, an aging workforce, and higher technical demands of workers are laying the foundations of a potential skills crisis in the U.S. construction industry.

Now employing nearly 7 million carpenters, electricians, inspectors, and other skilled workers, the industry will need one million more workers by 2012 to fill jobs being left by retiring baby boomers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

These workers will also need increasingly sophisticated skills: For example, building inspectors now use laptop computers to monitor inspection activities, and laborers operate high-tech machinery. Construction workers once could learn most of their necessary skills through apprenticeships and on-the-job training, but now they need vocational or technical school training.

"It is absolutely imperative that we address the skills shortage by reaching out to today's youth," says Don Whyte, president of the National Center for Construction Education and Research. The first annual National Careers in Construction Week, October 17-21, "is one initiative the industry is taking to promote a positive image of construction to young people and encourage them to consider a construction career."

SOURCE: National Center for Construction Education and Research, http://www.nccer.org

BIRD MAPPING

A new map of birds' biodiversity hotspots around the globe promises to improve conservation efforts.

The map, developed by biologists at Imperial College London, shows not only where biodiversity is rich, but also where extinction risks are high and where there exists species richness of birds with small breeding ranges. The use of more than one measure of biodiversity brings out the complexity of biodiversity patterns.

"In the past, people thought that all types of biodiversity showed the same sort of pattern," says senior author Ian Owens. "Our new global analyses show that different sorts of diversity occur in very different places." For example, only in the Andes of South America are all three types of bird biodiversity hotspots found. The group's research was reported recently in the Journal NATURE (August 18).

Creating the map was only possible after a global database of all living bird species could be created--a major undertaking in itself, since much of the existing knowledge about birds is at risk of being lost. Owens notes, "The prior bits of work were horribly dispersed: in paper maps on experts' desks, or in very old books and the heads of aging experts who had originally surveyed the areas."

SOURCE: Imperial College London, http://www.ic.ac.uk/P6760.htm

SOLVING THE WASTEPAPER PROBLEM

Genetic engineering is normally associated with creating things, but now researchers are hoping it will destroy.

The global wastepaper glut--caused by insufficient moisture in the world’s landfills to break the paper down--could be solved with a genetically modified form of cellulosome under development at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science. Cellulosome is a molecular complex that degrades cellulose, a major component of wood and other plants.

In the laboratory, the modified cellulosome took only a day to turn finely chopped paper into a syrup of soluble sugars. Although the designer molecules are not yet ready to be applied to actual landfills, the process offers hope for a solution to a growing problem.

SOURCE: Weizmann Institute of Science, http://www.weizmann.ac.il/

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EARLY-BIRD SAVINGS FOR WORLDFUTURE 2006

Plan now to attend the World Future Society's 2006 conference in Toronto next year, and be rewarded with our biggest early-bird registration discount: You'll save $250 off the on-site fee.

WorldFuture 2006: Creating Global Strategies for Humanity's Future will be held July 28-30 at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel in Toronto. The meeting looks to be one of the most inspiring--and practical--conferences ever.

The conference planning committee will accept session proposals until October 31. The deadline for papers submitted to the conference volume is March 6, 2006.

REGISTER BEFORE SEPTEMBER 30, AND SAVE $250: https://www.wfs.org/2006regform.htm
SESSION PROPOSAL GUIDELINES: http://www.wfs.org/2006propguidelines.htm
CONFERENCE VOLUME GUIDELINES: www.wfs.org/2006volguidelines.htm

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BRITAIN'S RELIGIOUS GENERATION GAP

Religious devotion in the United Kingdom is declining even faster than attendance at church services, according to research by David Voas of the University of Manchester.

Children of two nonreligious parents are likely to "inherit" their parents' lack of faith, Voas reports. But a religious couple has only about a 50-50 chance of passing on their beliefs. On the other hand, religious parents tend to have more children than their nonreligious counterparts.

Upbringing has an enormous impact on whether children will identify with a particular religion, Voas notes. However, it is far more likely that a religiously raised child will reject church than that a nonreligiously raised child will join a church in adulthood.

Institutional religion now has a "half-life" of one generation, the study concludes.

SOURCE: The University of Manchester, http://www.manchester.ac.uk/press/title,38696,en.htm

CLICK OF THE MONTH: THE ROLE MODEL PROGRAM
http://www.therolemodelprogram.org/index.shtml

Founded in 1989 in San Jose, California, the Role Model Program offers resources for teachers, parents, and kids for understanding the importance of having--and being--a good role model.

Resources for kids include lists of careers and accompanying educational requirements, as well as helpful Web sites, quizzes, and fact sheets on topics such as gangs, smoking, and alcohol.

Though the Role Model Volunteer Program specifically serves California's Santa Clara County, its resources--including curricula for elementary-school and middle-school classes--are broadly useful to anyone with a desire to make a difference to children at risk.

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EARLY ALERT! MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL OPPORTUNITY

One thing about the future is certain: After three years of holding its dues steady, the World Future Society will soon have to raise the rates for all membership programs.

The dues increases will go into effect before the end of this year, but you can renew your membership (or join now) at the current rates:

REGULAR MEMBERSHIP: https://www.wfs.org/membord2.htm
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP: https://www.wfs.org/proford.htm
COMPREHENSIVE PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP: https://www.wfs.org/compord.htm
INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP: https://www.wfs.org/instord.htm

To avoid future rate increases, please consider a lifetime membership with the World Future Society, now just $700 for regular membership:
https://www.wfs.org/lifeord.htm

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