[CoWy ASA] Report from JSM Council of Chapters and statistical literacy bill

[Matt Ostberg]

ASA Members,

At the Council of Chapters meeting at JSM, it was announced that the ASA
wants to enlist the chapters in asking our representatives to Congress to
support a bill that's being proposed that would promoted statistical
education in K-12 programs in the U.S.  Basically, the ASA would like us to
ask our chapter if anyone would be willing to speak with his/her U.S.
Representative or Senator (or someone in their office) about the bill.

Attached is an email from Council of Chapters Comunications Officer (see
below) with more information about the bill and what the ASA is doing to
promote it, and how our chapter members can get involved.  People interested
in getting involved are asked to sign up via a website given in the email
below.

Anyone interested in speaking with a congressperson please sign up.
Also, anyone who signs up please contact the chapter representative (Nels
Grevstad, ngrevsta at mscd.edu) so that he can coordinate with you.

Thanks,
Matt Ostberg


________________________________________
From: James J. Cochran [jcochran at cab.latech.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 12:29 PM
To: Grevstad, Nels
Cc: Bonnie LaFleur (Vice-Chair, District 5); Pierson, Steve
Subject: ASA Statistical Literacy Grassroots Campaign!

Dear Nels,

I am writing in my role as COCGB Communications Officer to inform you of
an exciting development and to invite your chapter to become involved. A
member of Congress plans to introduce soon a bill to promote statistics
education at the K-12 level through support of professional development
and other programs to improve statistics education. This is a tremendous
opportunity for ASA chapters and their members to share their enthusiasm
for statistics and statistical literacy with their Congressional
Representatives. It is also a terrific opportunity to educate members of
Congress about what statisticians do and the many important
contributions statisticians make to society (in areas such as the
economy, health care, national security, and the environment).

I'm writing on behalf of the Council of Chapters Governing Board (COCGB)
to encourage you to enlist your chapter in this initiative; this
commitment will require your chapter to identify one or more members who
are willing and able to meet with members of Congress who represent your
chapter area and urge them to cosponsor this bill (If the geography of
your chapter covers multiple Congressional districts, you are welcome to
sign up for a few!). ASA staff will provide you with all the support
that you will need, including how to request meetings, how to conduct an
effective meeting, how to make a compelling case for statistics
education, and the broader context for the ASA statistical literacy
grassroots campaign. ASA will also provide you with a packet to leave
behind in the office of your U.S. Representative. For more information
and to sign up, go to http://www.amstat.org/outreach/statliteracy. I
participated in the ASA Congressional Visits at JSM in 2009 (I visited
with one Senator and staff members for two Senators and four
Representatives) and enjoyed the experience very much - the support
provided by the ASA staff was tremendous and as a result, I was very
comfortable in these meetings. Please also note that I am strongly
committed to this initiative - I am working to arrange for meetings with
two members of the House of Representatives (Congressman John Fleming of
the 4th Congressional District of Louisiana, and Congressman Rodney
Alexander of the 5th District).

COCGB sees this as an important effort to support and also as a great
activity for ASA chapters. By being involved in this initiative, we can
simultaneously raise the profile of statistics in the House of
Representative and engage our chapters members. I hope you will give
this request serious consideration and enlist your chapter!

Please contact me or ASA Director of Science Policy Steve Pierson
(pierson at amstat.org; 703.302.1841) if you have any questions about this
program or your chapter's potential involvement.

Best Regards,

Jim

James J. Cochran
Past Chair, Statistics Without Borders
Editor-in-Chief, Wiley Encyclopedia of Operations Research and
Management Science
Editor-in-Chief, INFORMS Transactions on Education
Bank of Ruston Endowed Research Professor
Department of Marketing and Analysis
College of Business
Louisiana Tech University
Ruston, LA 71272
(318) 257-3445
(318) 257-4253 (fax)
URL: http://www.business.latech.edu/~jcochran/=