Charles Miller's Page

Surprisingly to me, the Iowa City (IA) area, though the home a the University of Iowa, does not have a community based science center. Given the possible resources that a university could contribute to such an effort (i.e. near-retirement professor expertise, student help, a conglomeration of science-leaning individuals), I am saddened that my University's leaders has not seen it fit to push for such an obvious public outreach effort. Our university recently built a "sports hall of fame" building that is somewhat of an albatross. How wonderful it would be if I could be a part of an effort to help the University play a real community role in demonstrtating the value of learning and discovery. Alas, universities nowadays hew too close to the "corporate model" of promoting profitable ventures that aren't necessarily high-minded. My gosh, my university was the home of Dr. James van Allen and some trend setting biomedical advances. Yet, the University, I think, fails to meet its role as a public promoter of science and interest in the scientific method.

If there are others in the eastern Iowa area with an interest in promoting a community based science center (possibly in conjunction with the U. of Iowa), I would love hearing from them.