DALLAS, Feb. 3 — President Bush told the nation's students on Friday that if they studied math and science they would not be joining the "nerd patrol" but helping their own futures and the economic health of the United States.
"You know, a lot of people probably think math and science isn't meant for me — it kind of seems a little hard, algebra," Mr. Bush said at a panel discussion, organized by the White House, outside Albuquerque at the Intel Corporation's largest chip-making plant. "I can understand that, frankly."
But Mr. Bush urged people to heed the story of a high school senior on the panel, Nicole Lopez, who told the assembled crowd that she had joined gangs in her freshman year and was on the wrong road until two teachers, now her mentors, helped steer her toward math and science. Ms. Lopez said she would attend the University of New Mexico and planned to major in civil engineering.
"I hope people listening and hear Nicole's story take a look at math and science," Mr. Bush said.
The president also said, "I'm looking for a mentor, by the way, both in math and English."
Mr. Bush was near Albuquerque, in the suburban city of Rio Rancho, as part of his post-State of the Union road show to promote major proposals in the address. In Rio Rancho, he pushed what the White House is calling the "American competitiveness initiative," which calls for, among other things, doubling federal spending on basic research grants in the physical sciences over 10 years, at a cost of $50 billion.
Later in the day, Mr. Bush flew to Dallas, where he and the first lady and a gaggle of reporters and camera crews visited an Advanced Placement biology classroom at the School of Science and Engineering in the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center.
While the Bushes watched, Michael Harrell, a 12th grader, demonstrated a science experiment that involved DNA and insulin. Mr. Bush listened carefully, then said, "I got it." Looking at some blank faces among reporters, he added, "I'm not sure if the press got it."
In his State of the Union address, Mr. Bush called for the training of 70,000 Advanced Placement teachers and the recruitment of 30,000 math and science professionals to help out in school classrooms.
"In order for America to be a competitive nation in the years to come, we have got to have a work force that is strong in engineering and science and physics," he said at the end of the classroom visit. "You know, some would hope that the competition around the world will go away. It's not going to. And so we have a choice to make: Do we want to retreat, become protectionist, or do we want to seize the moment and shape our future?"
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