Three issues are discussed that relate to (1) the need for the United States to become more technologically competitive and more daring in ways to produce, nurture and encourage high quality research and (2) the state of the talent pool that must produce the scientists, mathematicians and engineers to do this research. The first issue concerns recent declines in the human resources pool in scientific research. Declines in the higher education "pipeline" are reviewed, and suggestions are offered to graduate schools for increasing enrollment among both minority groups and non-minorities. The second issue concerns efforts by the National Science Foundation that have resulted in a commitment by the Federal Government to double its funding over the next 5 years, a commitment that is predicated on the introduction of centers for science and technology designed to improve our national competitiveness. A third issue concerns the anticipated funding, construction, and utilization of a very large particle accelerator called the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC). The commissioning of this facility presents challenges to the physics community and to universities to prepare the graduate students and faculty who will be needed to conduct research in this facility. These challenges involve the preservation of quality in the university and the provision of flexible arrangements to accommodate radical changes in the way frontier research is conducted. (KM)