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About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 2023)
Page 12 n THE ASIAN REPORTER U.S.A. Americans have poor math skills. It’s a threat to U.S. standing in the global economy, employers say. By Jon Marcus of the Hechinger Report OSTON (AP) — Like a lot of high school students, Kevin Tran loves superheroes, though perhaps for different reasons than his classmates. “They’re all insanely smart. In their regular jobs they’re engineers, they’re scientists,” said Tran, 17. “And you can’t do any of those things without math.” Tran also loves math. This summer, he studied calculus five hours a day with other high schoolers in a program at Northeastern University. But Tran and his friends are not the norm. Many Americans joke about how bad they are at math, and already abysmal scores on standardized math tests are falling even further. The nation needs people who are good at math, employers say, in the same way motion picture mortals need super- heroes. They say America’s poor math performance isn’t funny. It’s a threat to the nation’s global economic competi- tiveness and national security. “The advances in technology that are going to drive where the world goes in the next 50 years are going to come from other countries, because they have the intellectual capital and we don’t,” said Jim Stigler, a psychology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who studies the process of teaching and learning subjects including math. The Defense Department has called for a major initiative to support education in science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM. It says there are eight times as many college graduates in these disciplines in China B October 2, 2023 White House aiming to scrub medical debt from people’s credit scores, which could up ratings for millions By Josh Boak The Associated Press ASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris said last month that the Biden administration is taking the first steps toward removing medical bills from people’s credit scores, which could improve ratings for millions of people. Harris said that would make it easier for them to obtain an auto loan or a home mortgage. Roughly one in five people report having medical debt. The vice president said the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is beginning the rulemaking process to make the change. The agency said in a statement that including medical debt in credit scores is problematic because “mistakes and inaccuracies in medical billing are common.” “Access to healthcare should be a right and not a privilege,” Harris told reporters in a call to preview the action. “These measures will improve the credit scores of millions of Americans so that they will better be able to invest in their future.” The announcement comes after a long push by the Biden administration to minimize the importance of medical debt in how people’s creditworthiness is rated. CFPB director Rohit Chopra said that credit reporting companies Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian announced last March that they would stop reporting “some but not all medical bills on an individual’s credit report.” In addition to pulling medical bills from credit reports, the proposal would prevent creditors from using medical bills when deciding on loans and stop debt collectors from using credit ratings to pressure people with healthcare-related debt. The government will hear feedback from small businesses and then issue a notice of a proposed rulemaking at some point next year. W CONCERNING TREND. Kevin Tran, 16, right, speaks about the Bridge to Calculus summer pro- gram at Northeastern University in Boston. Tran loves math. This summer, he studied calculus five hours a day with other high schoolers in a program at Northeastern University. But Tran and his friends are not the norm. Many Americans joke about how bad they are at math, and already abysmal scores on standardized math tests are falling even further. (AP Photo/Reba Saldanha) and four times as many engineers in increase by more than 30,000 per year Russia as in the United States. through the end of this decade, Bureau “This is not an educational question of Labor Statistics figures show. That’s alone,” said Josh Wyner, vice president much faster than most other kinds of of The Aspen Institute think tank. In jobs. July, the think tank warned that other “Mathematics is becoming more and nations are challenging America’s more a part of almost every career,” said technological dominance. Michael Allen, who chairs the math “We are no longer keeping pace with department at Tennessee Technological other countries, particularly China,” the University. Aspen report says, calling this a Tennessee Tech runs a summer camp “dangerous” failure and urging teaching cybersecurity, which requires decision-makers to make education a math, to high school students. “That national security priority. lightbulb goes off and they say, ‘That’s Meanwhile, the number of jobs in why I need to know that,’” Allen said. math occupations — positions that “use Computer-related jobs — ranging from arithmetic and apply advanced tech- software development to semiconductor niques to make calculations, analyze production — require math, too. Ana- Continued on page 14 data, and solve problems” — will HELP FOR PEOPLE AFFECTED BY GAMBLI NG Habit Check Habits can bring positive momentum to our lives. They help us do regular tasks without devoting too much mental energy to them. But for the same reason, habits can cause us to prolong behaviors that no longer serve our best interests. If gambling has become a habit for you — or a loved one — help is available. 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