Of Mice and People, Minority Affairs

Of Mice and People

I was away from NASA for a year and a half, and once I returned I was given a project that had been around but no one had successfully completed. The goal was to create a filtration system to contain odor and waste products produced by mice. That may sound easy, but it's not.

Now it was my turn to take on this project. After a slow start, the team really started making some progress. We created a filter that worked, which could contain mouse waste products and odor in a 1-g environment for 20 days. I could go into graphic detail, but I don't want to bore you.

The sad part about it is that funding for the project ran out when we were in the middle of preparing for a test to build upon our earlier success. I got called out of my lab and was told that I had to stop work immediately, tell everyone working for me to pack up and move on to other projects and that money was no longer available for our particular project.

Now there is another twist to the story. As of last week, we found out that money is now available and that the study will resume in October 1996.

Minority Affairs

The reality of the situation is that I have been one of a very few or the sole representative of a particular minority group for as long as I can remember. I grew up in Clearwater, Florida, attended integrated schools, and for some strange reason, I was usually the only minority person in my classes. So the only time that I was with other minorities was at home, and with kids in the neighborhood and kids that I played sports with. But not in class.

When I look back at my entire educational history, I think it was very strange that I was the only minority in most of my classes, from third grade through my senior year in high school. So at the time, I considered this to be the norm. I began to have more and more minorities in my class when I entered college, and at first, that felt really strange. But I got used to it quickly as we started to relate and communicate.

I think NASA is gaining some ground. I see a lot of minority college students working for NASA. They are getting valuable experience and training, but the problem is that most college students are not being offered jobs at this point in time, due to the civil servant hiring freeze. But again, the training and experience is valuable and important. I see minority representation in other parts of NASA. Whether it is a large amount or small amount, I don't know. But NASA is putting qualified people of different races, sexes and ethnicities in supervisory positions. I think it's a priority for NASA to provide equal opportunity for all people.