By. Ashton Meadows
Have you ever thought about the world around you? Where does the wind blow? How did we get here? These questions may get passed off as just a question, with no real reason to answer it, but really, it is much more interesting than that. If you take those thoughts seriously and work hard enough, you’ll be able to answer any question you think about in the universe. These are the thoughts of a scientist, and these thoughts are dying in Oregon due to little action taken on both our side and the lack of knowledge about the scientific programs that are available.
First, let us talk about the programs. Some programs/universities that are available, according to Springwater Trail High School english teacher, Mr. Ramsey, is University of Oregon, which is sort of known for its physics and psychology dept. OSU, on the other hand, is, as Ramsey puts it, “Oregon’s science hole, a bit more than UofO. OSU has a major marine biology program there, and it also works with an organization called NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), which is a federal agency involved with the studies of the weather and the climate. It also has a major school of engineering, which is, you could say, applied science, where you take the principles of science to build things, such as computer chips, and civil engineering, such as building roads.”
But have you heard about many of these programs? Have you heard any news about them? Only those truly interested in a scientific career might have, but other than that, many in Oregon care too much about other stories to care about the sciences. There are more stories about the protests going on in Portland than there are actual discovery stories being made, and that’s not how it should be. For example, you can simply just type “Oregon” into Google News, and you will have to scroll down a mile to find a science article. Typing down “Oregon science” won’t yield you better results, as many science articles were made either weeks ago, have little views, or it doesn’t even show science and just shows unrelated stories. Go ahead, try this little experiment yourself.
Now, you might be wondering, “why should I care about science here, it’s just a bunch of gibberish to me.” You should care because science is what drives society forward. Without it, you probably wouldn’t be reading this article. I’m not saying you should be a professional scientist, but you can try to do what you can to help the dying scientific community in Oregon. This can be done by helping university science programs, attending science shows they do in Oregon, and other such things. Maybe you could even work with OMSI, as the programs OMSI has are made for curiosity and wonder of the planet, as a representative from OMSI had put it.
Now, let’s talk about how society has rejected science more and more. There is an increasing growth in things like anti-vaxx, flat earth, and other such communities that reject scientific facts. The reason for this might be because of things like misinformation, distrust in the scientific community, and bad explanation and logic to bring them back. To show them what is truly right, show them experiment results, actual facts, studies that prove the claims that they think are false, as they cannot dispute actual evidence. Don’t attack people for believing in the flat earth, but when you have an argument with them, you should politely disagree and show them evidence of a round Earth.
In conclusion, get out there. Help your scientific community, even if you think you cannot contribute, trust me, science will always need more resources to help, and you might be the tipping point for them. You may even find that you are interested in science, and with enough work, you can answer any question you have.