Trevor_S Wrote:


Elite funding from Governmwnt is directly driven by those sitting in
the
couch demanding Aus. be competitive in the sporting arena and their
elected reps following through.

........
I personally think so called elite funding from Government (business
can
spend money how they want on sports funding, that should be up to the
shareholders) is a nonsense and would much rather see the money spent
on
lockers and bike storage facilities, or boat sheds for those who want
to
store a canoe near the river or getting more adults into various
sprorts
or health care (like free prostate cancer screening for men). By
getting adults (and children as well) involved in sport directly or
via
coaching/teaching you will see a trickle down affect to children....

So, what is to be done, aside from a rant on here ?
Trevor S
"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
-Albert Einstein


I'm sorry if it sounds Like name dropping but I once drew the
comparison between Scince funding and Sports funding with Malcolm
McIntosh - at that time head of the CEO and he agreed that at
times,both science and sport can be funded for much the same reason -
to be seen to be doing something on the World stage.

Sometimes this will mean picking and chosing your area to get the most
out of the money, and there will inevitably better and more poorly
funded disciplines. Sometimes it may mean walking away and doing
something completely different when the money you have will never get
you critical mass in an area.

But sometimes you may have to say 98% or so of the world's research is
done outside Australia, perhaps the best thing to do is to take it and
use it. So many "once were researchers" may end up as consultants etc.
helping others to use what is out there. It's still can be a very
useful thing to do

RoryW


--
Rory Williams