Intellectual Olympiad is alive and well in Australia
Allan Snyder is right in stressing the importance of attempting to raise the profile of intellectual endeavour in Australia to the same level as that enjoyed by sport ("Dream of Australia that exudes Creativity", ANU Reporter, May 6), although the weather here may be against his wishes being fulfilled to the extent he dreams about. However, a variant of what Allan suggests, that is "mastermind(ing) a permanent intellectual component into the Olympic movement", worthy as it is, has already been realised with the support of two previous Prime Ministers! I am referring, of course, to the Australian Science and Mathematics Olympiads and their participation in the international competitions which annually engage the brightest young intellectual achievers from some 80 countries in some of the toughest contests imaginable. In 1988 the International Mathematics Olympiad was held here in Canberra, and the Prime Minister of the day, Bob Hawke, presented the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals at the closing ceremony. Canberra also captured the 1995 International Physics Olympiad, and Prime Minister Keating was its Patron. The International Chemistry Olympiad takes place in Melbourne in June this year. Not only is the capture of these events a great prize for Australia - for, like the Olympic Games, the hosting of them is fiercely contested - but their staging here does at least part of what Allan is advocating. For a short period, at least, an Olympiad event has the potential to put high intellectual achievement under the spotlight at centre stage. If it fails to achieve this in Australia, we lose an opportunity which other countries certainly grasp. I was in Belgrade last year when one of its teams returned home having achieved conspicuous success. Before the team left it was featured on TV; after it returned with its medals, the media attention was, of course, even greater. And this was for an event held far away from Europe in South America. The impact of the Australian Olympiad program is far greater than simply that of changing what Allan calls the "mindset" of other countries towards us by briefly capturing international attention once in a while. The Olympiads also undoubtedly help to change the mindset of Australians about themselves, for it's not only overseas eyes that see Australia as "a place of only beaches, minerals and sport", to quote Allan again. Many of us have the same perception. How can the Australian Mathematics and Science Olympiads, whose "product" at the end of the day is four highly internationally competitive teams comprising about 20 of Australia's brightest young people, have an impact on a widespread Australian "mindset"? The answer lies in the far larger pool of young Australians from which these highfliers emerge. They are selected from some 100 students, themselves high fliers, who have been selected by competitive examination from thousands of students around the nation to attend special training schools and taught not only more about mathematics, biology, chemistry or physics, but more importantly how to think. It is through the thousands of students from whom these fortunate people are chosen - and their parents - that the "mindset" that concerns Allan and many others can be changed. Allan Snyder's idea for "nurturing our creativity" may be different from that which drives those actively engaged in the Science Olympiad movement, and he no doubt elaborated further on it at the Round Table Conference. There are many ways of skinning a cat. Nevertheless the mathematics and science "Olympics" deserve the rapidly increasing attention they are now attracting as they touch the lives of an increasing number of highly talented and motivated young Australians. Robert W. Crompton Chairman, Rio Tinto Australian Science Olympiads