Published: August 17, 2007 06:00 am         

About the museum

I may be going out on a limb here, but my guess is Mr. Geiser doesn’t have young children in this area. He doesn’t recognize how university-centric this town is. Look in the same phone book he used, and you will find 10 bars, four nightclubs and 16 liquor stores. I’m not even going to try to count the restaurants and estimate how many cater to college students and adults.

Geiser completely misunderstands the concept of a Children’s Museum. It is not a look-don’t-touch museum. By the way, my children go to those, too, and I’ve never threatened them with a gun. A Children’s Museum is hands-on, teaching science, math and logic through play and experimentation.

The other notion that has escaped Geiser is the museum has been around for years. It has staff, a board of directors and a strong volunteer presence. This past year, museum volunteers taught science in the elementary schools, held summer science camps and have had booths with activities at local fairs and events.

I am the first person to shudder at a $1 million price tag. I vote against every tax increase I can so the government will learn to control the money it has before I willingly give more. However, I think this is money well spent for our children.

So before you condemn the efforts of so many by lumping it in using the broadest definition, please learn a little more about what it is.

     

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