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The article examines the state of computer science education in U.S. high schools. Statistics on the number of U.S. high school students having taken a computer science course are presented, a proposed graduation requirement for computer science education in New York City, Chicago, Illinois, and Arkansas is scrutinized, and the question of why computer science education is important is raised.

The authors discusses the relative paucity of U.S. high school and college students who are interested in computer science (CS) as a field of study and the experience of teaching first-year college students CS. The article examines steps being taken in U.S. states such as California and Texas to promote interest in CS among students and implementing CS education.

In this article the authors discuss securing funding commitments for improving computing education research. The authors believe that a form of domain-specific education research is needed to improve the research base. The computing education research funding in the U.S. through the National Science Foundation's directorates Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering and Education and Human Resources are examined. Several suggestions for improving computing education are offered.

The article examines issues relating to computer science (CS). Particular focus is given to the steps needed to reach the goals of CS access for all, and to the aesthetics of programming. Additional topics discussed include the Expanding Computing Education Pathways (ECEP) alliance, the President's CS for all initiative in the U.S. and criteria for program elegance including minimality, accomplishment and modesty.

Selections are presented from blogs about computer science from the Communications Web site, located at http://cacm.acm.org.

The article discusses problems in the field of computer science. The problem of deadline-driven research is discussed, noting that a trend has developed in the early 21st century in which researchers are pressured to publish for no other reason than to increase the length of their list of publications, with detrimental effects on the quality and influence of their published works. The problem of academic inequality is also discussed, mentioning that U.S. colleges have contributed to the economic and social stratification of society due to the pursuit of students who fit certain characteristics, which excludes minority students who may not have been given the same opportunities throughout their lives but who still show the same talent and promise as non-minority students.

Excerpts from blogs posted on the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Web site are presented, as well as reader comments related to the blogs, on topics such as reading academic research papers, encouraging students to create computer programs, and the significance of Web visibility.

The author addresses some of the issues facing the computer education research (CER) community. Topics discussed include National Science Foundation's (NSF) funding of efforts to create a CER in the U.S. and Europe, research issues to be faced by CER in areas of broadening participation, students and learning, computing in primary and secondary education and tools, underrepresentation of women and minority groups in computing, the importance of interventions to make computing available for females, minorities and low-income students.

In this article the author explains how computer programming skills can boost the efficiency and creativity of scientists and engineers. He presents the story of his friend who works in oceanography and mechanical engineering but spends 95% of his time in front of the computer writing programs to collate and analyze data collected in the field. He also cites several reasons to learn computer programming including discovering more creative solutions, working 10 times faster, and communicating effectively with programmers.

In this article three different authors discuss different topics related to the computer sciences. An author examines issues arising from computer security and the cost of user effort. Another author discusses malware that is inserted into Internet advertisements, primarily messages urging computer users to install and run fake virus software that has been infected. The third author discusses the significant difficulties and complications of computer science education in the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar.