From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Where are the rocket scientists when we need them?

Hello again, I'm Wormon-Aulney, and this is an archived edition of To the Point.

From Public Radio International, a daily look at the issues Americans care about most. After the

Soviet Union fired the first satellite into orbit, a crash program led the United States to

revolutionize science and technology. Now China, India, even South Korea, and Singapore are putting

the U.S. to shame when it comes to high skills and innovation. They're turning out PhDs in science and engineering,

pushing unfettered inquiry where the U.S. once was unrivaled.

On to the point, President Bush says his competitiveness initiative

will restore American leadership,

but will cuts in basic education still put the country in economic jeopardy?

On reporter's notebook later on, a recipe for a better life in the coming year. First the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio

International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John D.

and Catherine T. MacArthur

Foundation. Hello again, Warren Alney, back with an archived edition of To the Point. Business

leaders and high-tech scientists are worried that America is losing its edge in technological progress.

On To the Point, can the President's Competitiveness Initiative put America back on track, or will China and India and other developing

countries dominate the world's technological future? On reporter's notebook, the man who made

superfoods famous has some ideas that could lead to New Year's resolutions. First, this news

update. As 2006 came to a close, winter was coming late to the U.S. and to Europe.

In Italy, France, and Austria, the lack of snow caused a depression at mountain resorts,

...