The California Council on Science and Technology has awarded the first California Science and Technology Policy Fellowships, placing 10 science and technology advisors to serve one-year terms in the California State Legislature. "CCST's S&T Fellows Program is an exciting opportunity for both the fellows and the state legislators they will support," said CCST Council Vice Chair Mim John. "Throughout its history, California has been a world leader in scientific and technical innovation. The fellows will serve a pivotal role in helping both the Senate and Assembly ensure that state policy helps maintain that leadership."

On September 8th, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council held a symposium to release a new report emphasizing the importance of introducing engineering into K-12 education. The report examines the status and nature of efforts to teach engineering in U.S. schools. California Teacher Advisory Council (Cal TAC) member Pete Arvedson attended the symposium to participate in the discussion with the committee.

The past year has been challenging for California. The state's record budget deficits forced it to slash many important programs. Our hopes for addressing California's serious problems with its physical, social, and economic infrastructure- science and math education, healthcare, water and energy supplyhave been deferred. Science and technology are at the core of California's economic strength, and the state must use them to remedy the growing shortcomings in our infrastructure.

UC Riverside's Bourns College of Engineering celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. As the Founding Dean, CCST's Executive Director, Susan Hackwood and Council member Jeff Rudolph kicked off the distinguished lecture series. Their presentation "Beyond the Classroom: Learning Science in 2030" will set the stage for the lecture series which will focus on Engineering Opportunities and Challenges: The Next 20 Years.

CCST Council member Alice Huang discussed science policy at the state and national level in an address to the Council in October. Having completed the second of two terms as a CCST Council member, she will assume the presidency of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in February 2010. She was designated President-Elect at the February 2009 AAAS meeting. "I am sorry to be leaving CCST, because it has been a very valuable experience," she told the Council.

This report describes current barriers to financing health information technology as a tool for health care delivery. An earlier version of this report was commissioned by the Governor's Health Information Technology Advisory Commission (HITFAC) and submitted to that body in May 2008. Principal researchers, Dr. Robert H. Miller, PhD and his research team at the University of California, San Francisco, describe and analyze information obtained from September 2007 through early May 2008.