In Defense of Overhead Projectors?
McCain is really going after Obama for the $3 million he asked for to replace a projector at a science planetarium in Chicago. Will any brave teacher stand up in defense of overhead projectors?
For the record: CBS News says the projector was never actually funded, and the AP reports that what Obama wanted was to overhaul an entire theater system, including a replacement of a projector that was 40 years old.
One more thing on this subject: McCain is now saying his proposed spending freeze would exempt defense programs, veterans affairs — and “some other vital programs.” Is education vital?
~ Guest blogger Elizabeth Green
October 9th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Planetarium theaters are vital to science education. I grew up in the Chicago area and took plenty of field trips to the Museum Campus downtown, including to the Adler Planetarium, where I had a chance to see the stars that city light pollution obscures. If not for the planetarium, I wonder whether I would have minored in astronomy in college.
I live in New York now, and when the Hayden Planetarium here got a new theater, I bought a membership to the museum and have purchased many-a-ticket to the shows and lectures that use the projector. If $3 million is the cost of a projector as good as the one at Hayden, then I would guess it pays for itself in memberships, ticket sales, and, most importantly, the research of future scientists.