Adler president to McCain: Sky machine not an overhead projector
ADLER | McCain ripped Obama in debate for backing $3 mil. device
The president of the Adler Planetarium lifted a black cloth off a familiar schoolroom device Wednesday and declared, “That’s an overhead projector.’’
Behind Paul H. Knappenberger Jr. was an automobile-sized machine. That, he said, is a “planetarium projection system.’’
(Jean Lachat/Sun-Times)
The overhead, “you can probably get for $10 or so on eBay,’’ said Knappenberger.
But to replace the Adler’s sky machine, which creates stars on a domed ceiling, would cost $3 million to $5 million.
Knappenberger felt obligated to distinguish the two after Sen. John McCain, during Tuesday night’s presidential candidate debate, criticized Obama for trying to win federal support for a new star device, calling it a “$3 million overhead projector” and dismissing it as a “pork barrel earmark.’’
Knappenberger said the mention put the Adler “in front of the American public as having been frivolous or foolish in asking for $3 million for an overhead projector.’’
“I just wanted to clarify that is not the case,” he said.
Obama’s efforts to secure the $3 million have been unsuccessful. But Knappenberger said the Adler would try again.
The current star system — a Mark VI Zeiss Projector — was installed in 1967. The manufacturer no longer makes replacement parts, and the inside is disintegrating, so errant, escaping light projects onto the dome.
“New stars are appearing in our sky almost daily, [and] not where they belong,’’ said Knappenberger.
Some 80,000 school children, mostly from the Chicago area but also from all 50 states, visited the Adler in 2007, officials said.
“The national surveys have shown that U.S. students are falling further behind each year in math and science compared to other countries around the world,’’ said Knappenberger. “It’s not comforting to hear somebody who’s running for the presidency not support efforts to improve math and science.”
McCain supporters also charge that the planetarium earmark was a way for Obama to reward ComEd executive Frank Clark, a major fund-raiser for Obama who serves as the Adler board chairman, as well as National Group LLC, a lobbying firm with ties to Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden that represents the planetarium in Washington.
"If John McCain hates science why does he support stem cell research?" responded Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Westchester), Illinois co-chair of McCain¹s presidential campaign.
Earmarks do not undergo the same level of oversight as other federal spending, said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds.
"Taxpayers in Ohio shouldn't be forced to pay for projectors in Illinois without appropriate scrutiny," he said.
Knappenberger said the planetarium started asking local congressmen for federal help in 2005, before Obama declared his candidacy for president.