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trusten

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Member since : Jun-19-2009 (Verified)
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trusten 9 months ago
The U.S. should change its measurement standard to the International System of Units (the modernized metric system). The deadline should be set according to the time of initiation of the metrication plan, so 2019 may not be a good choice.

The decimal metric system is easier to use than U.S. customary units, and full knowledge and use of it in the U.S. will be consistent with our march into the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century. Currently, the U.S. is the only nation that does not even have a plan to change to metric. The Nation's adherence to antiquated measurement units is considered to represent the preservation of our heritage, when, in truth, it is adherence to a burden. The metric system is no longer "foreign", since Congress in 1988 declared it to be the "preferred system of measurement for trade and commerce" in the U.S. Most Americans use metric units every day, but may not recognize it. (milliliters, millimeters, meters, grams, milligrams, kilograms).

The Metric Study Act of 1968 resulted in a 1971 Commerce Department report to the Congress, "A Metric America, a decision whose time has come." In the foreword to the report, then Commerce Secretary Maurice Stans recommended the following approach to U.S. metrication, which I wish to reintroduce here, since the points maid on U.S. metrication then are relevant today:

-That the United States change to the International Metric System deliberately and carefully

-That this be done through a coordinated national program

-That the Congress assign the responsibility for guiding the change, and anticipating the special problems described in the report, to a central coordinating body responsive to all sectors of our society;

-That within this guiding framework, detailed plans and timetables be worked out by these sectors themselves;

-That early priority be given to educating every American schoolchild and the public at large to think in metric terms;

-That immediate steps be taken by the COngress to foster U.S. participation in international standards activities:

-That in order to encourage efficience and minimize the overall costs to society, the general rule should be that any changeover costs shall "lie where they fall";

-That the Congress, after deciding on a plan for the nation, establish a target date ten years ahead,by which time the U.S. will have become predominantly, but not exclusively, metric;

-That there be a firm government commitment to this goal.


Paul Trusten, R.Ph.
Public Relations Director
U.S. Metric Association (USMA), Inc.
www.metric.org
3609 Caldera Boulevard, Apartment 122
Midland TX 79707-2872 US
+1(432)528-7724
mailto:trusten@grandecom.net