Continued declines in interest and enrollment in computer science has troubled the computing community for the past few years. After the dot-com bubble burst, employment fell and computer science majors rationally followed suit. However, in the past couple of years this trend has continued to puzzle the field’s leaders who hear widespread but anecdotal stories of graduates receiving multiple job offers and employers noting trouble finding talent for open positions. New data has recently been published that provide more than mere anecdote for the strong job prospects in information technology (IT).

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September 27
Hearing:
The Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights of the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the proposed Google-DoubleClick merger.
2 p.m., 226 Dirksen Building

Markup:
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a markup of pending legislation, including S.1965, the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act.
2:30 p.m., 253 Russell Building

Update 9/18: Apparently the title for this post is still apt. This legislation made it onto the calendar for House consideration earlier this week, but it looks like, once again, it has been pulled. We don’t expect to see action this week. The delay apparently still revolves around claims of whether the legislation unduly burdens state and local jurisdictions.

Original Post 9/10: When I started writing this post last week, the House of Representatives had finally scheduled Representative Rush Holt’s (D-NJ) e-voting reform legislation – the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act (H.R. 811) for consideration. However, lingering concerns voiced by state and local officials and disability groups appear to have stalled the legislation’s consideration yet again. This latest delay is after the bill’s author made concessions – including more flexible deadlines, additional reviews of technology to determine accessibility and proposed additional federal funding - to address these concerns.
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September 18
Meeting:
The Department of Commerce will host the Inaugural National Summit on American Competitiveness.
8:30 a.m., Reagan Center Amphitheater, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C.

The President’s top advisory council on science and technology issues today released a report finding that the current supply of U.S. networking and information technology professionals is falling short of what is needed. In addition to an inadequate number of workers, the report states that worker education and training is lacking. To address this, the council recommends refocusing Federal programs intended to deal with IT workforce issues and improving curriculum to be more aligned with industry needs for computer science and other IT fields.
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September 10
Hearing:
The House Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing on the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act.
10 a.m., 2175 Rayburn Building

September 12
Meeting:
The Advisory Committee to the Secretary of Commerce on Measuring Innovation in the 21st Century Economy will meet to discuss the recommendations they expect to release in the fall.
9 a.m.-noon, Department of Commerce Auditorium, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C.

CONTENTS

[1] Newsletter Highlights
[2] California Decertifies Voting Systems; Strict Requirements for Reinstatement
[3] TGDC Approves New Version of Voting System Guidelines; Draft Now Under Review at EAC
[4] USACM Releases Annual Report
[5] ACM Submits Comments on STEM Education to National Science Board
[6] About USACM
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Congress has returned from its August recess.

September 6
Meeting:
The Election Assistance Commission will meet to discuss, among other items, the Commission’s regulatory authority under the National Voter Registration Act. A preliminary agenda is available online.
10 a.m.-5 p.m., 1225 New York Avenue, N.W., Suite 150, Washington, D.C.