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Save the Novins
Planetarium by
Joseph A. Lypowy 3/10/07
Local visionaries have
had the foresight to
establish the Novins
Planetarium in our
county which has for
decades been educating,
entertaining and
inspiring over 30,000
visitors per year,
mostly school children.
Unfortunately the
planetarium is broken
and its web site states
the following; "The
Planetarium theater is
currently dark, but we
hope that the stars will
return, shining brighter
than ever".
What will it cost to
keep those stars
shining? I was told that
it would cost
approximately $45,000 to
repair the projector and
$500,000 to totally
revamp the planetarium.
In my mind the answer to
that is a no brainer.
When you compare the
cost of fixing the
planetarium to the cost
of other
expenses that are spent
in this county, the
planetarium is a
pittance. You
have scores of useless
political patronage jobs
and multitudes of
political
lawyers costing the
taxpayers millions. You
can afford 3 million
Dollar bubbles, 6
million Dollar hockey
rinks, 2 million Dollar
astro turf fields, but
you can't come up
with 40 thousand to fix
the planetarium? That is
scandalous!
I
would consider loosing
the Novins Planetarium
in ways to "The burning
of the books" in Nazi
Germany. I see this as a
trend today where too
much emphasis is put on
organized sports and not
enough on other
important cultural and
educational activities.
I hope that the people
of this county demand
that this great facility
be brought back to full
function and that we, as
a community, show our
commitment to the
sciences and culture of
education.
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Since
the beginning of
civilization man has
gazed into the heavens
with awe and marveled at
the infinite universe.
The study of the stars
lead to some of mans
first sciences of
astrology and astronomy
and has impacted
science, philosophy and
religion greatly. Space
represents the ultimate
frontier for mankind and
instills imagination and
a sense of idealism in
young minds.