R.V.3. 13061 SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION BILL FOR 1962 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1961 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, Washington, D.C. The committee met at 10 a.m., pursuant to call, in room F-37, the Capitol, Hon. Carl Hayden (chairman) presiding. Present: Chairman Hayden, Senators Ellender, Hill, Magnuson, Holland, Pastore, Kefauver, Monroney, Byrd, Saltonstall, Young, Smith, Dworshak, and Hruska. Also present: Senator Proxmire. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE U.S. SCIENCE EXHIBIT PARTICIPATION IN CENTURY 21 EXPOSITION STATEMENTS OF JOHN PRINCE, ACTING EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE SECRETARY; OSCAR H. NIELSON, DEPARTMENT BUDGET OFFICER; DR. ATHELSTAN SPILHAUS, COMMISSIONER, U.S. SCIENCE EXHIBIT; CRAIG COLGATE, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, U.S. SCIENCE EXHIBIT; DR. RICHARD BOLT, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR (RESEARCH), NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION; AND DR. DAEL WOLFLE, EXECUTIVE OFFICER, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE JUSTIFICATIONS Chairman HAYDEN. The committee will be in order. We have a supplemental request, items under "General Government matters, Department of Commerce and related matters," in which further estimates have been submitted. Inasmuch as Senator Holland is chairman of the subcommittee that is in charge of the bill, I am going to ask him to ask the questions. Senator HOLLAND. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The first item for consideration is a request in the amount of $1 million for "Participation in Century 21 Exposition." The House denied the request. At this point there will be placed in the record the extract from House Document 231 of September 1 transmitting this request, the justifications in support of the amount requested, and the Department's request for amendment of the House bill to restore this item. (The extract, the justifications, and the request referred to follow :) [Extract from H. Doc. No. 231 of Sept. 1, 1961] DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE "GENERAL ADMINISTRATION "PARTICIPATION IN CENTURY 21 EXPOSITION "For an additional amount for 'Participation in Century 21 Exposition', for expenses necessary to carry out the provisions of the Act of September 2, 1958 (72 Stat. 1703), as amended (73 Stat. 486), $1,000,000, to remain available until expended." This proposed appropriation is to provide additional funds to improve the design and coverage of the science exhibits in accordance with the final plans for Federal participation in the exposition at Seattle, Wash. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE-PARTICIPATION IN CENTURY 21 EXPOSITION The Federal science exhibit will provide a vehicle whereby the United States can tell the world its message of science working for man's betterment, and present the role of man using science in his search for truth. Although the U.S. Government has participated in science expositions abroad, it has never directed a similar educational program at the American people, who are increasingly called on to support expenditures for science. Much of the exhibit material being planned will have residual use for educational and research purposes. This project will, more than any similar effort by the U.S. Government, focus the attention of thousands of American youth on science, stimulating them to an understanding of the subject, and creating a desire to participate in its many fields. As one AEC scientist put it: "If out of this exposition, a few thousand young people are stimulated into taking up science careers, you have provided this Government with a priceless gift." Planning for the Federal science exhibit is almost complete. Details of many of the 125 exhibits have been determined. It is now possible for the first time to foresee with some precision the costs of bringing this project to a successful conclusion. An additional $1 million will be necessary to produce a first-class science exhibit which will be a credit to the U.S. Government. The major factor in our present need for additional funds is the necessity for producing top-quality individual exhibits. Our best present estimate is that the 125 exhibits in the Federal Science Pavilion will cost about $1 million more than originally estimated. When the original budget was prepared, the number and content of the exhibits remained to be established, their specifications remained to be drawn, and the bids on their construction remained to be let. No one had, or could have had, any precise idea as to their complexity or cost. Exhibits are the heart of the entire project. If they are not outstanding, the value of the Government's participation will be diminished considerably. The development and construction of exhibits portraying the nature of scientific research is pioneering work, since nothing like these particular exhibits have ever been attempted before. Their only justification lies in their novelty, their excellence, in the permanent impact they have on the visitors who see them, and their influence on similar shows which will follow. It is the earnest hope of the Science Advisory Committee to the U.S. Science Exhibit, representing the collective thinking of the U.S. science community, that everything possible be done to make these exhibits as accurate, as stimulating, and as educationally rewarding as possible. Visitors to the U.S. Science Pavilion will comprise a heterogeneous audience— of all age levels, degrees of interest, and educational backgrounds. Exhibits must be planned to attract the attention of as many as possible from this audience and reduce complex scientific subjects to layman's terms. To present the story of science in meaningful terms, we are planning three theaters, each with its own unique program, a junior science laboratory with about 25 special audience-participation exhibits for young people, two buildings with about 115 exhibits, and a final building with one overall exhibit, which will cap the show, depicting the horizons of science. We have engaged the best scientists and the best designers available to assist us in planning the contents of the science pavilion, and have chosen each exhibit and program in it with great care. The criteria have been based partly on cost, but more fundamentally on the necessity that each exhibit must capture a visitor's attention, no matter what his level of comprehension, and influence his understanding of science. Sound and time-tested museum practice teaches that to be effective an exhibit should combine as many as possible of the following elements: (a) Tell a story.-It cannot deal with unrelated, isolated subjects. It must tell an interesting and sequential story to every visitor. It must deal with a subject with which a visitor is not normally acquainted. If the subject is technical, the story must begin with fundamentals and proceed to logical conclusions. (b) Command attention.-An exhibit is in competition with those around it, and with other attractions for time and attention. (c) Provide variety.-Monotony must be avoided through the use of varied exhibit techniques-live demonstrations, rear-screen projectors, stereosound, movement, light, color, etc. (d) Permit visitor participation.-Button-pushing is better visitor participation than none, but it is not half as satisfactory and educationally rewarding as planning our exhibit so that a visitor is encouraged actually to do something thought-provoking himself. (e) Appeal to a variety of senses.-If possible, sight, hearing, and touch. (f) Be demonstrated by a human being.—The combination of demonstrator and exhibit is usually more effective than either alone. A demonstrator provides descriptive narration longer than the average visitor will read on a label, can emphasize points of interest, is available to answer technical questions, and holds groups together and focuses their common attention on the points being explained. (g) Be ruggedly built and well maintained.—An exhibit down for repairs is not accomplishing its purpose. From this viewpoint the cheapest exhibit construction often turns out to be the most expensive. Well-designed audience participation exhibits must be built to last. They must have oversize motors, dependable mechanisms, and a safety factor in moving parts far greater than required in normal design. Meeting the above design criteria is expensive. It is always possible, of course, to skimp. However, we are now convinced that under the original budget the Federal science exhibit cannot be first-class. Unless it is, we do not believe that the Government's investment in it will bring an adequate return. The additional money here requested will make the difference, and enable the U.S. Commissioner to put on the high-quality show which has always been considered the only justification for the project. 1. The junior science laboratory, $400,000 This laboratory was not originally planned for the Pavilion. Its construction was recommended to this office by a special committee of educators and scientists convened to consider the wisdom of its inclusion. Their recommendation that it be included was urgent and unanimous. It is one of the most exciting parts of the entire science exhibit, and will directly carry out the purpose of the act establishing the Federal Science Pavilion-to interest American youth in careers of science. About 25 specially designed, audience-participation exhibits for young people will be included in it. 2. Selected science exhibits, $550,000 The Federal Science Pavilion is now planned to contain about 125 exhibits depicting the history of science, and the ways in which scientists are currently at work probing the frontier of the unknown. The exhibits now tell a coherent story. They have been chosen with much care from about 400 suggestions. If we are to tell the story of science in the way we believe it should be told, every exhibit is necessary. Together they form a unified whole. The removal of any will leave a gap in the story line of the building which will make the story incomplete. If we do not secure the additional money we are requesting. we can avoid the payment of around $550,000 through outright elimination of about 25 percent of the exhibits now planned. The overall impact and message of the Federal science pavilion, if this is done, will be considerably weaker and less effective. |