Val,
For you, I will start by being somewhat philosophical, because that might just drive you crazy. Do I want you to leave? No. But I do want you to set aside your usual thinking � only just for a while.
Sometimes I think people should introduce themselves by naming their two favorite (read: most appropriate to their own being) Bob Dylan songs. Why two? Because naming just one song leaves too much mystery intact. Naming the second song provides just enough juxtaposition to let sunlight into a very deep place that is usually hidden from the outside world. That "very deep place" is not necessarily dark and foreboding, but it is hidden in a world that has its own light, a world where sunlight is not necessary because the relationships that exist there are just these two: the one with one's own self, and the one between one's own self and God.
My two favorite Bob Dylan songs are "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" and "Shelter From The Storm," and the lyrics are:
http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/love-minus-zerono-limitLove Minus Zero/No Limit
My love she speaks like silence
Without ideals or violence
She doesn�t have to say she�s faithful
Yet she�s true, like ice, like fire
People carry roses
Make promises by the hours
My love she laughs like the flowers
Valentines can�t buy her
In the dime stores and bus stations
People talk of situations
Read books, repeat quotations
Draw conclusions on the wall
Some speak of the future
My love she speaks softly
She knows there�s no success like failure
And that failure�s no success at all
The cloak and dagger dangles
Madams light the candles
In ceremonies of the horsemen
Even the pawn must hold a grudge
Statues made of matchsticks
Crumble into one another
My love winks, she does not bother
She knows too much to argue or to judge
The bridge at midnight trembles
The country doctor rambles
Bankers� nieces seek perfection
Expecting all the gifts that wise men bring
The wind howls like a hammer
The night blows cold and rainy
My love she�s like some raven
At my window with a broken wing
http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/shelter-from-the-stormShelter From The Storm
�Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form
�Come in,� she said, �I�ll give you shelter from the storm�
And if I pass this way again, you can rest assured
I�ll always do my best for her, on that I give my word
In a world of steel-eyed death, and men who are fighting to be warm
�Come in,� she said, �I�ll give you shelter from the storm�
Not a word was spoke between us, there was little risk involved
Everything up to that point had been left unresolved
Try imagining a place where it�s always safe and warm
�Come in,� she said, �I�ll give you shelter from the storm�
I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail
Poisoned in the bushes an� blown out on the trail
Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn
�Come in,� she said, �I�ll give you shelter from the storm�
Suddenly I turned around and she was standin� there
With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair
She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns
�Come in,� she said, �I�ll give you shelter from the storm�
Now there�s a wall between us, somethin� there�s been lost
I took too much for granted, got my signals crossed
Just to think that it all began on a long-forgotten morn
�Come in,� she said, �I�ll give you shelter from the storm�
Well, the deputy walks on hard nails and the preacher rides a mount
But nothing really matters much, it�s doom alone that counts
And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn
�Come in,� she said, �I�ll give you shelter from the storm�
I�ve heard newborn babies wailin� like a mournin� dove
And old men with broken teeth stranded without love
Do I understand your question, man, is it hopeless and forlorn?
�Come in,� she said, �I�ll give you shelter from the storm�
In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes
I bargained for salvation an� they gave me a lethal dose
I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn
�Come in,� she said, �I�ll give you shelter from the storm�
Well, I�m livin� in a foreign country but I�m bound to cross the line
Beauty walks a razor�s edge, someday I�ll make it mine
If I could only turn back the clock to when God and her were born
�Come in,� she said, �I�ll give you shelter from the storm�
* * *
Val, if you knew me, you would say "Of course" time and time again while you consider the details of my "NASA Academy of the Physical Sciences" proposal, especially if you first pondered deeply the Dylan lyric: "Beauty walks a razor�s edge, someday I�ll make it mine." NAPS is an artwork � a thing of beauty that was created through me. Yes, I did it by myself, but I am familiar enough with the creative process to know that I am nothing but a channel for a Creative Force that far exceeds me, and that my doing is mostly just getting out of the way. We are given the rich and complicated substance of our own lives, and our challenge is to reach some personal understanding about that substance, and to then make our substance useful for others � to share the blessing.
For NAPS to finally become a thing of utility in addition to being a thing of beauty, I know others will have to be involved. Yes, to some significant extent, those "others" will be people who see the beauty of NAPS. Those who think NAPS is wrong-headed for whatever reasons should not involve themselves, because they will only become more and more frustrated. NAPS is what it is.
Val, regarding your stated concerns:
#1: I have no agreements and no understandings with NASA � none whatsoever. NAPS is an idea � a proposal. Regarding NASA, read the following excerpts from my proposal:
http://nasa-academy-of-the-physical-sciences.blogspot.com/2009/11/history.htmlI have renamed the academy NASA Academy of the Physical Sciences (NAPS) for five reasons:
1. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a United States government agency with an annual budget exceeding $17 billion. The annual federal funding projected for NAPS in the following document is $61.2 million, which is an amount that could easily hide inside the NASA budget without causing alarm.
2. NASA already has developed resources that effectively lobby the U.S. government for ongoing and increased funding as needed. Those resources include NASA's Education Coordinating Committee (ECC), which is chaired by Dr. Joyce Leavitt Winterton, NASA's Assistant Administrator for Education.
3. NASA has an ongoing need to develop homegrown mathematicians, scientists, and engineers, so taking ownership of NAPS would certainly be in NASA's self-interest.
4. The dream of being involved in space exploration is a common dream among many young people who are gifted in mathematics and the sciences. The opportunity to become a NASA Scholar in my proposed NAPS program would inspire many young people to focus their studies in mathematics and the sciences from a young age, and to work hard at excelling academically.
5. If NASA actually managed NAPS, it could create summer internship opportunities for NASA Scholars between their junior and senior years in high school. Being a summer intern at NASA would certainly inspire many NASA Scholars to pursue NASA careers. Consequently, NASA could recruit select NASA Scholars right out of high school, and thereby influence if not outright direct the higher education choices of those recruits.
http://nasa-academy-of-the-physical...9/11/making-it-happen-nasa-and-naps.htmlPaying for the NASA Academy of the Physical Sciences (NAPS) program I have proposed must be done with serious consideration given to three realities that stand in direct opposition to each other: 1) the academic needs of Talented and Gifted (TAG) students who excel in mathematics and the sciences are generally not acknowledged by U.S. taxpayers, because the general sentiment is that �smart� kids can get by in our public schools without any additional funding for merit-based programs that might result in educational advantages for the top-end few; 2) the U.S. is falling behind in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) expertise when compared to the rest of the world, especially in public schools classroom learning as measured by standardized tests; and 3) U.S. industrial companies, military forces, and intelligence agencies, and the space exploration of NASA must depend on the talents of U.S. citizens who are tremendously skilled and highly educated in STEM, especially regarding top secret �classified� developments that pertain to national security and/or to national defense.
Unfortunately, #1 trumps #2 and #3 in every case in which the outcome is dependent on a vote of the people. Americans are a people who will help the disadvantaged up to mediocre standing while simultaneously dragging the advantaged down to mediocre standing, even when doing the latter is not in their long term self-interest. That strange and peculiar trait seems to battle strongly against anything that smacks of stratified learning tracks, especially if there is a high-end fast track that in any way glorifies those whose talents and skills are not expressed in athletic competitions. In all of this, we are a stupid people, and we can no longer afford that stupidity � even if it means becoming un-American by saying �Yes� to an intellectual meritocracy that we collectively nurture starting no later than the seventh grade.
Establishing NAPS nationwide is a starting point that must be accomplished by whatever means necessary. It appalls me that many who should support my proposal do not, and that they justify their lack of support most ungenerously: from patronizing notions that value the humanities over the sciences as a supposed matter-of-fact, through scary statements that high school�s overriding purpose is forced socialization to the norm, to depressing pronouncements that �smart� kids do not need � nor do they deserve � special considerations of any sort. If it is left to the masses, NAPS will never happen. So the implementation strategy must go stealth regarding funding, and live by the crazy truth that a nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse; in other words, just do it!
Do not go through local public school boards and public school district superintendents seeking support and approval. You will fail if you do so. Do not go through every state�s department of education hierarchy and every state�s legislature seeking support and approval. You will fail if you do so. Do not go through the U.S. Congress seeking support and approval. You will fail if you do so. The simple idea that is NAPS is too complicated for all except those who can see its beauty and its simplicity plainly at first sight. If you have to be convinced that NAPS is a good idea, you will never be convinced. Those who will not need convincing are these: the genius young people who score at the 99th percentile in mathematics and the sciences and who enjoy mathematics and the sciences, and the parents of those young people; Pentagon-based generals and admirals; the highest ranking personnel in the various U.S. intelligence agencies; and the highest ranking personnel at NASA.
Going stealth is as simple as this: entirely federally fund and entirely oversight manage NAPS through the public auspices of NASA with behind-the-scenes shared funding and governance coming from both the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). According to my proposal, the federal funding portion of the NAPS program is $61.2 million per year. NASA�s budget for fiscal year 2009 is $17.6 billion. DoD�s budget for fiscal year 2010 is $533.8 billion. The National Intelligence Program (NIP) spent $49.8 billion in fiscal year 2009 according to official documents (Oct 30, 2009), though the DNI, Dennis Blair, recently stated publicly �we�re talking about the very important business of a blueprint to run this 200,000-person, $75 billion national enterprise in intelligence �� (Sep 15, 2009). Most of the official NIP budget is hidden in the DoD budget, though some of it hides elsewhere; the details of the NIP budget are top-secret �classified� information that exists outside of any public scrutiny. NASA, the DoD, and the DNI have considerable shared interests (for example, spy satellites), so the �contract� work certainly boosts NASA�s $17.6 billion cash flow, perhaps significantly.
The point being this: $61.2 million split three ways between NASA, the DoD, and the sixteen U.S. government and military agencies that answer to the DNI make the NAPS annual federal budget of $61.2 million turn into invisible pocket change that no one will argue about because no one will be able to see it. That is going stealth, and that is a good thing in this case.
The NAPS program implementation then becomes this simple: NASA selects the 150 public research universities it wants to work with, and offers its deal to them and the local public school districts that would be involved at each NAPS site. With the backing of the U.S. government, NASA creates a high school diploma for the NAPS program that would be universally accepted by American colleges and universities. Doing this would bypass any odd high school graduation requirements that might exist in some states. The public identity of the program would be this: NASA Academy of the Physical Sciences is a nationwide effort federally funded and managed by NASA to educate future generations of scientists and engineers to serve the national interests of the United States of America.
Is there a downside to this paying scheme? No. Is there a trade-off? Yes.
Because each of the 150 NAPS academies will likely draw its students from many different public school districts and each NAPS will therefore float outside the control and jurisdiction of just one school district, NASA should establish itself as the de facto public school district equivalent for the entire NAPS program, meaning: NASA should take complete operational control of the NAPS program, and should leave no local program design control of any sort to parent groups, school boards, school district administrators, or the NAPS host universities. To accomplish this, the NAPS �high school� teachers must be NASA employees, and the entire NAPS curriculum must be NASA-controlled.
The NAPS curriculum I have proposed is simple and straightforward, and it is driven exclusively by the standard university prerequisite stream for mathematics and the physical sciences, which � when accomplished � fulfills the core math and science course requirements of any university-level laboratory science major (including the biology major). If anything, NASA might simplify my proposed curriculum in some way, though there is nothing to simplify that I can see. With few exceptions, NAPS will teach only select Advanced Placement courses (which are standardized nationwide) while living as a parasite on the standard undergraduate course offerings in mathematics and the physical sciences found at all public research universities in the U.S., and the subject matter and teaching of the university courses taken by NAPS students will not be tampered with or in any way controlled by NASA at all.
Paranoid people will rightly observe that the U.S. government will have direct free access to NAPS student transcripts through NASA, and that includes access given to the DoD and the various NIP agencies if they partner in funding NAPS. This does not in any way bother me, but it might bother some. To those �some� who are bothered, my advice is simple: do not enroll your child in NAPS under any circumstance. NAPS is an extraordinary optional educational opportunity that will only be available to the very few who qualify. If NASA, the DoD, and the DNI partner in making NAPS happen, then they deserve the access to student transcripts that they will have.
NAPS fulfills the government obligation to provide free public education through the twelfth grade for its students, but it in no way contractually obligates its graduates to ever work for the U.S. government in any capacity at all for any length of time. A NAPS graduate is entirely free to do whatever he/she wants to do with the rest of his/her life. That stated, it will certainly be the case that many NAPS graduates will be recruited by the U.S. government for employment and/or higher education opportunities that might have significant contractual obligations attached (for example, U.S. military academy appointments). But other private industry recruitments and also significant university scholarship offers will certainly come to many NAPS graduates. The plain fact of the matter is this: most NAPS graduates will be academically among �The Top One Percent� of all U.S. high school graduates in any given year; they will be in high demand by many, including the whole assortment of U.S. government agencies and departments.
In the end, many NAPS graduates will maintain their dream to become NASA employees, and they will freely choose to follow NASA�s guidance in their higher education choices in their continuing effort to make that dream happen. If NASA adopts this proposal, it will certainly have the inside track on finding and developing the very best young minds in America to meet the agency's ongoing need to remain on the cutting edge of new space technologies. Many young geniuses are naturally drawn to the exciting work that NASA does, and NASA should invite those young geniuses into its fold by becoming the U.S. government agency that funds and manages the NAPS program.
* * *
Val, I will respond to your concerns #2 through #6 in later replies. My response to your concern #7 about biology has already been given in my Reply #78662 to Clay earlier in this thread, and also in my general Reply #78691 to both Clay and you.
Steven A. Sylwester
