Nebraska Museum Siege

[Scott L. Gardner]

This is another excellent letter to the University of Nebraska.

Scott Gardner

From:  censky at uconnvm.uconn.edu
To: Ppaul at unlnotes.unl.edu
Subject: Nebraska Museum cuts
Copies to: hperlman at unlnotes.unl.edu, Redwards at unlnotes.unl.edu
Date sent: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 14:24:07 -0500

Dear Vice Chancellor Paul:

I appreciate the tough decisions that universities must make atthis
time in our economic history but one hopes that decisions made at this
time will not impact our collective history. I am currently Director
of the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History (CSMNH) at the
University of Connecticut, and will soon take the position of Director
of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (SNOMNH) at the
University of Oklahoma. Prior to these positions, I was employed for
19 years by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH), one of the
Nation's major stand-alone museums.

I have experience in both museums that have curators (CMNH and SNOMNH)
and a museum that has no curators (CSMNH). I can say from this
experience that museums that do not have curators are severely limited
in their operations and their impact. The role of a scientist in a
museum is to not only do research but to work with education staff to
present that research to the public in a way that is understandable
and that makes it relevant to them. Unless we can present our
research, which often seems esoteric, to the lay public in a way that
has meaning to them in their everyday lives, we will continue to
struggle to receive funding dollars for our research and our
universities. Museum curators make this happen even though, speaking
as an administrator, it can be like pulling teeth to get it to happen.
Scientists, in general, just want to do their research. Curators are
paid to do more than research and are accountable for more than their
own research. You may be saying that we have scientists at the
University that can fill this role. From personal experience I can
tell you that it is nearly impossible to get scientists to assist with
exhibits when it is not part of the irresponsibility. Without curators
in the museum, the quality of exhibits will suffer. In turn, the
University's reputation will likely suffer because the Museum is the
public face for the university.

I would also like to note that the reason that you have
internationally recognized collections is because you have researchers
on staff who work on those collections, publish on those collections,
and in a sense, advertise those collections. Without the active
research on the collections, all you have is storage!

Education has no higher purpose than preparing people to lead
personally fulfilling and responsible lives. However, there is more at
stake now than individual self-fulfillment. The world has changed in
such a way that science literacy has become necessary for everyone.
The most pressing problems that we now face are global problems. What
the future holds in store for individuals depends largely on the
wisdom with which humans use science and technology. Yet, most
Americans are not scientifically literate. One only has to look at
international studies of educational performance to see that U.S.
students rank near the bottom in science and math. Few elementary
teachers have even a rudimentary education in science, and many junior
and senior high school teachers do not meet reasonable standards of
preparation in science. Teachers in science have crushing teaching
loads that make it nearly impossible for them to perform well. Along
with that, as we took our first steps into the 21st century, the
technology in many of the schools remained in the 19th century.
Textbooks emphasize the learning of answers rather than exploration of
questions, and memorization rather than critical thought. Museums can
and do fill the gap in education. They can do this when they have
current information and that is accomplished with a staff of research
curators.

I urge you to reconsider the proposal to eliminate the research staff
at the Museum along with some of the collections.


Ellen J. Censky,
Director,  Connecticut State Museum of Natural History
University of Connecticut
2019 Hillside Road,
Unit 1023
Storrs, Connecticut 06269-1023
860-486-6198
860-486-0827 (fax)




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Scott L. Gardner
Curator of Parasitology
The Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0514

e-mail: slg at unl.edu
Tel: 402-472-3334
Fax: 402-472-8949
Web: http://hwml.unl.edu
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