High-Tech, High Priority
Space may be the final frontier, but the people who explore its farthest reaches want to help make the universe more accessible to San Fernando Valley residents. As part of a laudable partnership between the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Glendale Community College, scientists and teachers want to bring distant nebulae to within a few freeway exits of millions of people. More important, it would give thousands of high school and college students relatively easy access to one of the most cutting-edge outfits in the country.
To make it happen, though, one of the least cutting-edge outfits in the country--the U.S. Congress--must agree to pay for what amounts to a high-tech slice of pork in the district of Rep. James Rogan. Happily, the freshman Republican from Glendale is on the fast track and the $2-million center enjoys support on Capitol Hill.
Deservedly so.
American children rank near the bottom internationally in science and math, an unacceptable showing from the nation that put men on the moon. As the international economy demands increasingly complex technical skills, American students risk losing their place. But getting students excited about something as vast and incomprehensible as the universe first requires making it accessible. That’s the idea behind the JPL center.
The 7,000-square-foot center would include a 120-seat planetarium and lecture hall as well as a seismic observation facility and labs linked to JPL. Students could access JPL’s telescopes and would be able to research NASA and JPL archives. The center would be one of several dozen nationwide designed to boost interest in science and science education.
Fancy gadgets alone won’t solve the problem, though. Glendale College President John Davitt said he hopes to use the new buildings and equipment to help design programs that integrate the resources of JPL into lessons with students at the college and in the high schools that feed it. That should include a close relationship between JPL employees and the college--a relationship that can begin long before construction begins.
There’s no better way to inspire interest in math or physics than to demonstrate how those disciplines were integral to the success of the Mars Pathfinder mission--the latest high-profile venture between JPL and NASA. Students so often lag in math and science because so often the subjects are taught as abstractions. Rote formulas will inspire very few. But when teachers and students are exposed to killer applications, they are more likely to understand the foundations on which they’re built. The JPL center promises to help at least a few budding scientists blast off into the future.
