A recent NY Times article quotes me as saying, _women are the canaries in the coal mine, in reference to the current _crisis of dwindling student interest in computer science. By that I meant factors that dissuade women from entering the field play a more fundamental role in dissuading everyone than local perceptions of a bad job market. Key factors include the narrow image of the field and its participants and the fact that, for the most part, the US is in the dark ages with regard to K-16 CS education. I will amplify these assertions and give examples of programs here and abroad that have merit both with respect to enriching the field of computer science itself and viewing computer science within the broader enterprise _scientific, intellectual and beyond.