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I have been away from my computer all day and was not able to respond  
to the messages as quickly as I would have liked. It has been a  
fascinating discussion.

I won't belabor any of the many good points on both sides of the  
issue, but I would like to make a couple of clarifications of things  
I may have stated poorly based upon others responses.

1. I started these threads and I stated in the first post that the  
author was one of the producers. I think I also implied or made  
explicit that she certainly had her biases. I even pointed out at  
least one flaw in the article and there are many more which were  
either willful on the part of the author or a result of her political  
or economic world view. ( I would argue that the biases of both the  
author and the film as well as the biases of its detractors make this  
film MORE attractive as subject of public discussion in our  
institutions, not less. Especially given the popularity of the film  
and Al Gore. If the film starred Marjoe Gortner and no one saw it,  
why even consider screening it?)

2. While I brought up the point that many of our stores were likely  
to sell this movie and asked whether there was a political/moral/PR  
difference between selling the movie for profit or screening it/ 
giving it away as part of an education program, I never meant to  
imply that anyone should charge money for something given to them for  
free distribution to schools. I assume that we would all conform to  
all applicable laws, regulations and ethics on this issue, not to  
mention all relevant tax laws regarding political activity and  
lobbying. (My guess is we would be even more strict with ourselves  
than your average politically active church or Intelligent Design  
"foundation" would be. Which puts science centers and museums at a  
disadvantage in the public forum, but that's another debate for  
another time)

Now that I have read the NSTA response, I have one quick reaction.

The statement did not address what I thought was the most damning  
sentence in the article, which was that in the email "rejecting" the  
DVD's (NSTA does not characterize it a rejection, so there is some  
discrepancy here,) NSTA said it would place "unnecessary risk upon  
the [NSTA] capital campaign, especially certain targeted supporters."

Note the quote marks. This means that these are represented as  the  
NSTA's exact words. And it certainly sounds like the NSTA is making a  
programatic decision based at least partly over concerns over  
offending major funders. This to me is a serious issue. And I say  
that as a Director of a program that is the beneficiary of large of  
amounts of corporate philanthropy. Not only do I think this is a  
dangerous precedent to set for one's institution, but by making the  
response public the NSTA has made it even more difficult for those of  
us who accept corporate money and in kind donations to defend  
ourselves against accusations of being a tool of big business.

If the author misquoted NSTA or edited the response to make it sound  
worse than it was (absolutely possible) it seems the NSTA would want  
to get out in front of this. What they do say is....

"In the op-ed Ms. David goes on to characterize NSTA as a willing  
corporate America partner that eagerly pushes corporate messages  
about the environment.

This is not true."

and

"Before we accept any funds from outside groups (corporate or  
otherwise), and as a condition of any support, we make it clear that  
NSTA is solely responsible for developing, directing, and  
implementing the programs we offer to teachers."

They then give some concrete examples.

This is a good thing. I am glad they do not let funders influence  
content. But that is not what the quote I find so troublesome alludes  
to. It seems to suggest that NSTA censors itself to some extent based  
upon how a targeted funder may view it at a later date.

These are two different issues. The statement from NSTA addresses  
active influence by a funder, but not the implied self-censorship the  
quote suggests.

I would feel more comfortable with the NSTA if they addressed both  
issues.

Matthew White




On Nov 28, 2006, at 5:19 PM, Maija Sedzielarz wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
> Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
> institutions.
> ********************************************************************** 
> *******
>
> Dr. Gerry Wheeler, Executive Director of NSTA, has posted a  
> response to the issues raised in the Wash. Post article at http:// 
> www.nsta.org/pressroom&news_story_ID=52959.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Nov 28, 2006, at 2:54 PM, Marc Taylor wrote:
>
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
> Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
> institutions.
> ********************************************************************** 
> *******
>
> I put the subject line as "An Inconvenient Truth" because "Al  
> Gore's Film" seemed to be adding fuel to the fire. Here goes:
>
> Here in New York, we are not far from The Goddard Institute for  
> Space Studies, where the storied James Hansen crunches his numbers.  
> I could imagine inviting him to an event, and I'm sure the subject  
> of his run-in with the administration would come up. But the IPCC  
> and the underlying science seems to be behind Hansen's  
> interpretations, and I would hope that that would be the message of  
> the day.
>
> I would suggest that, rather than simply show the film, you show  
> excerpts from the film and bring in your own educators to  
> illustrate certain points, and invite scientists to discuss the  
> topic. Turn it into a larger and deeper event. Just don't go the  
> "Fair and Balanced" route and try to get one milquetoast skeptic  
> and one frothing doomsayer on your panel. The presence of  
> thoughtful researchers will help to quiet cries of bias or virulent  
> liberality. Rush Limbaugh and would decry it anyway, but you'll  
> never make that man happy (well, I can think of one way you could,  
> but it involves packing his christmas stocking with... oh, never mind)
>
> Most climate scientists are quite alarmed by what's going on, are  
> very eager to communicate what they have found, but still will  
> admit uncertainties. This has always been the fustration of  
> politicians, who don't like how scientific advisors qualify  
> everything. A politician's job is to make decisions, and don't like  
> all this "on the one hand..". and "or the other hand..." stuff.  
> Thus the joke that they would just once like to meet a one-handed  
> scientist.
>
> There are plenty of discoveries which did not make it into the  
> film. The possible *mechanical* breakup of the Greenland ice sheet,  
> by gravity slide lubricated with rapidly mobile meltwater, is a  
> recent discovery and makes the submergence of Shanghai a closer  
> prospect. The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation is a complicating  
> factor which I don't think was detailed.
>
> As science centers, we have to approach complex and possibly  
> controversial topics, and not just because it draws visitors with  
> the "forbidden fruit" of touchy subjects. "If not us, who..." But  
> rather than just show the film, do what we are best at -- take  
> people by the hand, bring together the public, educators, and  
> scientists, and get the inner workings of science out into the open.
>
> Oh... and speaking of Apple computers: Gore is on the board of  
> Apple, uses a Mac laptop, and uses Keynote, not Powerpoint. Of  
> course, at this point it's probably like getting people to say  
> "electrostatic facsimile" rather than "Xerox copy." And I say that  
> as someone who wishes I could just skip ALL this silicon  
> hollafaulta and send messages by owl.
>
> Marc Taylor
> Coordinator, Andrus Planetarium
> Hudson River Museum
> 511 Warburton Avenue
> Yonkers, NY 10701
> 914 963 4550 x223
> Fax 963 8558
> [log in to unmask]
>
> ********************************************************************** 
> *
> More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
> Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http:// 
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> More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
> Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http:// 
> www.astc.org.
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