Sunday, May 14, 2006
Hunting Big Game
[T]he message Nye brought was a serious one: that the nation needs more scientists and engineers, that if the younger generation doesn't pursue these careers, "life is going to be miserable."
He described the role of increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide in global warming, and how science needed to tackle that problem. Later, after the kids had moved to specialized sessions focusing on everything from video games to genomics, Nye talked with a reporter about how science has been devalued.
"We have this weird thing right now, where people are marginalizing science, claiming that intelligent design is an alternative to evolution," Nye said as he packed up his experiments. "It's such an antiquated point of view."Many people, he said, don't understand science so they accept intelligent design, which claims life and other aspects of nature were created by an intelligent being.
Science isn't even part of the standards contained in the federal No Child Left Behind act, he said.
"The kids love science. That's not the problem," he said. "We're not funding science education."
Perhaps the most popular breakout session was one conducted by several video game designers from Troy-based Vicarious Visions. The students peppered the designers with questions about games that failed, their own personal favorite games and whether they ever got tired of playing.
But attendance was limited. Jonathan Oki, a North Colonie fifth-grader, ended up in a session on health care instead.
While he enjoyed the event and said that Nye's presentation was "pretty cool," he added that "I wanted to go to Vicarious Visions."
