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Campus Life Stellar Seating
Campus Life Stellar Seating | Stellar Seating |
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| Written by Bryan Bastible | ||||
| Tuesday, 30 September 2008 08:56 PM | ||||
  Galaxy memberships are available for the Planetarium. The lifetime membership, which costs $1,000, includes a memorial plaque and eight passes a year to planetarium shows. (The Shorthorn: Michael Rettig) For $1,000, people can be a part of the university’s planetarium — permanently. New planetarium director Levent Gurdemir said since its opening in 2006, the planetarium has allowed the campus community to sponsor a chair and have a 28-character inscribed nameplate. “Someone would want to donate because it’s an educational institution, so having an item like a chair dedicated to your name would show how special you are,” Gurdemir said. The different levels of the planetarium membership include: the star level for $40, the solar system level for $60, the star cluster level for $100 and the galaxy level for $1,000. The galaxy level is permanent, while the other levels must be renewed annually. About 47 chairs are currently dedicated with nameplates. Gurdemir said money raised from the chairs helps support the planetarium and its programs, serving more than 50,000 people every year. Physics chair James Horwitz, a galaxy level member, said the fundraiser is a good thing for the university and the planetarium. “With that nameplate, you’ve got a long-term legacy,” Horwitz said. “In my case, my wife and I met in Alaska and part of that was seeing the beautiful aurora, so we have a short description of watching the aurora on the nameplate.” Amy Osborn, College of Science dean assistant, joined the galaxy membership because it was a “new concept on our campus,” and wanted to give back to a friend. “I just thought it was a fantastic way for UTA to be adding to the ever-expansive facilities,” she said. “I had a very dear friend who named a star after me, so I put the constellation name ‘Scorpius’ and the coordinates on the nameplate.” Allan Saxe, political science associate professor, had his name inscribed on a chair nameplate simply because he loves the planetarium. “I know it sounds funny, but I do,” Saxe said. “It just gets me off the planet and makes me understand how big the universe is. If I could afford it, I’d put my name on the planetarium.” Gurdemir said with the donation support, the planetarium will also provide updated digital technology. “It will be a much stronger planetarium ... and will provide better vision, better tools, better protection to its audience or visitors,” he said. Views: 1130 | E-mail
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 02 December 2008 02:22 PM ) | ||||
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