People: President-Elect Of Astronomical Society Pledges To Focus On Science Education

On Science Education Author: Ron Kaufman, p.21 Concerning the role of astronomy in early science education, Frank H. Shu, a professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, and president-elect of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), says his field does not get enough respect. Shu, who will take over the 6,000-member AAS in June 1994, says astronomy can be a useful tool in capturing the interest of students in science at the elementary and secondary levels. "Many teachers have the wrong perception that astronomy is a fairly esoteric subject because it doesn't lead to the development of a better toaster," says Shu, who officially becomes president-elect on June 9. "I would argue that . . . this field has something valuable to offer the nation." Shu says that, unlike many other scientific disciplines, astronomy's facts and concepts can be explained in easily understood ways. "I cannot name a better subject than astronomy to inspire young people to become interested in science," he says. As president of AAS, Shu says, he hopes to inspire teachers to use astronomy in the classrooms. "I don't think professional astronomers would best use their time to teach at the elementary levels," he states, "but we can have a strong influence in the way teachers of science and engineering are trained. And to start that, we have to change our own attitudes." He says part of this change will involve astronomers demanding a higher quality in their own teaching, so that those who will end up as elementary science teachers will be better suited to convey their discipline. Shu says astronomers need to be encouraged to focus on teaching through "a better balance of awards and motivations between excellent teaching and research." He hopes that, along with promoting science education, AAS will begin to have more of an influence on setting national research priorities in the field. "In the past, the American Astronomical Society has primarily regarded its function as running the meetings, publishing the journals, and establishing committees that look into various specialized problems," he says. "It has not attempted to define priorities." Currently, decisions about which research projects get funded are made by panels at the National Academy of Sciences or a similar agency in government. Though he says he has made no specific plans, Shu hopes to enable astronomers to air their views on research priorities through the voice of AAS. Shu, 49, was born in Kunming, China. He received his B.S. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1963 and his Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University in 1968. He has been a member of the faculty of UC-Berkeley since 1973. His interest in science education is evidenced by the authorship of an undergraduate textbook, The Physical Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy (University Science Books, Mill Valley, Calif., 1982) and a two-volume graduate textbook, The Physics of Astrophysics (University Science Books, 1992). He also recently finished writing the "Cosmos" section of the 1994 Encyclopaedia Britannica. In addition to his work in the United States astronomical community, Shu is spearheading the formation of a national Institute of Astron- omy and Astrophysics in Taiwan. Three years ago, the Academia Sinica of Taiwan invited Shu to give advice in starting an institute to both fund and house researchers in the field. Shu says he travels to Taiwan three or four times a year and is anticipating the launch of the institute next year. "This effort," he says, "has attracted support from overseas Chinese astronomers, who all feel this desire to help and push in this direction so Taiwan and China can enter the community of modern nations in a subject that has tremendous cultural and historical importance." Scientists engaged in basic research have a strong ally in Congress: Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (R-Md.). As one of the 124 freshmen in the 103rd Congress, Bartlett, a former researcher in respiratory physiology, says he hopes to be able to increase the funding for undirected basic research. "If Clinton and Gore really respected science and technology, they'd stop trying to direct basic research," he says. "I keep trying to make the point that if it's directed, it's not basic. They want to direct basic research to areas where we're going to have a societal payoff. I understand a layman doing that, but it's not going to work from a scientific viewpoint." As a scientist, "you look for knowledge and go wherever truth leads you," Bartlett says. "You never can tell where the next great idea will come from. And I think that's very true in basic research and early R&D. "We need less government manipulation and control, less bureaucracy, and more money going directly towards basic research." Throughout his career, Bartlett, 66, has been involved in respiratory, metabolic, and stress physiology studies. He received his B.S. in biology with a minor in chemistry from Columbia Union College in Takoma Park, Md., in 1947 and his Ph.D. in physiology with a minor in biochemistry from the University of Maryland in 1952. From 1962 to 1967, he headed the space life sciences group at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where he helped develop an automated anesthesia machine and a breathing metabolic stimulator. From 1967 to 1974 he worked at IBM Corp.'s scientific division in Bethesda, Md. From 1974 until his retirement in 1986, Bartlett taught at Frederick Community College in Frederick, Md. Bartlett is a member of the Armed Services and Science, Space, and Technology committees, yet has not sponsored any legislation specifically concerning science and technology. He says the half- dozen bills he has personally submitted have all related to reforming Congress or the economy, two issues he feels are most important to the average voter. He was one of only four House freshmen to sign a pledge to cut the federal budget deficit in half by 1996 or not seek reelection. "I signed the pledge. If they can find any vote I made which was not focused on reducing the deficit and balancing the budget, I will not run again," Bartlett says. "It's got to be possible to cut it. If it's not possible, we're doomed." In the November election, Bartlett, who represents Maryland's 6th District, on the western border of the state, won 54 percent of the vote, beating the 46 percent garnered by Democrat Thomas H. Hattery. Michael E. Stanley Michael E. Stanley, a Columbia University neuroscientist who studied the biochemistry of suicide and other self-injurious behavior, died of a heart attack April 26 in Short Hills, N.J. He was 49 years old. Stanley, who came to Columbia in 1989, held two positions there: one as clinical professor of psychopharmacology in the departments of psychiatry and pharmacology in the university's College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the other as director of the department of neuroscience at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, part of the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. Stanley received his B.S. in psychology from Montclair State College in New Jersey in 1972 and his Ph.D. in pharmacology from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, City University of New York, in 1979. Before arriving at Columbia, Stanley was a professor at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit.

People: President-Elect Of Astronomical Society Pledges To Focus On Science Education

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