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Feature
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WedNEsdAy, ApRil 24, 2002
Astronomy Week gives campus new outlook
ELISABETH MEYER
Feature Editor
ELISABETH MEYER / Clackamas Print
Volunteer Justin McCollum brings the moon into view during
Saturday's tour of the Haggart Observatory. "One thing about
being the operator of a Newtonian scope is you have to have a lot
of patience," he said. "There's no buttons for you to push; you
have to do it all by hand." McCollum, a physics student at
Portland State University, dedicated many nights last week to
operating the telescope for visitors.
Nursing
Program
Himation
WHO
Potential nursing
students
will meet
9
ccc
Nursing
Program
representatives
WHAT
Question and answer
sessions, application
process information,
and general information
about nursing.
WHEN & WHERE
April 25
6-7 p.m.
inPlOl
May 6
10-11 a.m.
in CC127
Last week’s festivities for As
tronomy Week didn’t draw big
crowds, but astronomy instructor
James Dickinson is still excited
about exposing new audiences to
the lure of the skies.
The week’s events (April 13-20),
which included daily tours of the
observatory and astronomy talks,
were sparsely attended due to
weather, said Dickinson.
“I gave away about 600 flyers
(in the Community Center), so ob
viously more people were inter
ested than could come,” he said. “
The problem was every night
looked like rain. But for a rainy
week, there were pretty good num
bers.”
Although every night was at
least a little cloudy, The Haggart
Observatory’s famously dedicated
volunteers showed
visitors the
¥
rings of Saturn, the moons of Ju
piter, Venus, and the moon through
breaks in the clouds.
This is the first time the college
has celebrated Astronomy Week
in any staff member’s memory, said
Dickinson. “And before, we had
only done Astronomy Day, but we
didn’t want to bet on just one day
being nice this time.”
On Saturday night, volunteers
Donny Miller and Justin
McCollum helped several young
sters and their parents see the
skies through the telescope.
Desiree Bergstrom, four, looked at
the moon through the scope and
told her mother Annette, "It's so
cool, Mama!"
Six-year-old Andy Schinn ex
claimed, “Oh my gosh, I see (the
moon) lighter! I see it better than it
was. After this, can we look at other
weird stuff?”
His mother, Sharon Schinn, was
also impressed by the telescope.
“I didn’t even know this was here,”
she said.
"Have you ever been to a
really good restaurant
and wondered why the
tables are empty? That's
how the observatory is."
James Dickinson
Astronomy Instructor
The Schinns aren’t alone, said
Dickinson. First-time visitors com
prise most of the guest list at pub
licized events. In contrast, the vol
unteers who run the observatory
put in countless hours just in case
someone wants to drop by on a
clear Saturday night.
“Have you ever been to a really
good restaurant and wondered
why the tables are empty?”
Dickinson asked. “That’s how the
observatory is. I’m amazed that
people don’t make time for some
thing that is so convenient. It’s the
only observatory for hundreds of
iniles, and you can go on your way
to the grocery store. And yet ev
ery other person I poke tells me
they’ve never heard about it.”
“People are lining up in Califor
nia to see Star Wars II,” Dickinson
pointed out. “What dumbfounds
me is that people aren’t lining up
to see the coolest thing in
Clackamas County.”
Dickinson hopes events like As
tronomy Week and the fall term
celebration raise the community’s
awareness of the scope’s exist
ence. Then, he said, people will
realize they need to care about the
world they live in. “You can drive
your SUV all you want,” he said.
“But if you look up, you realize that
what you do doesn’t just affect
you.”
The new astronomy club should
help to promote awareness, too.
The Amateur Astronomers of
Clackamas Community College
meet every clear Saturday night in
the Haggart Observatory and club
members can choose to volunteer
at the observatory.
“There’s basically no other place
where you can come with so little
experience to see the stars,” said
Dickinson “You just have to show
up and be willing to learn.”
“We’re just full of potential,”
Dickinson said. “There are plenty
of astronomy classes, plenty of
volunteer opportunities, and
plenty of sky to look up at.”
To reach Elisabeth Meyer e-
mail saladlass@hotmail.com or
drop by B-104.