More signs of the end times...

[jay]

Pop star Lance Bass of NSYNC will serve as World Space Week 2003 Youth Spokesperson to promote science and math education. Um... what's the connection, again? Other than he has $25M available to buy a Soyuz ticket?

Comments

[brooksmoses]

Well, apparently at least some youth are predisposed to listen to him -- which is probably a good aspect in a youth spokesperson. :)

I suspect that if the intent is to interest kids who aren't already interested, it's probably more important than having actual expertise -- the kids who will be impressed (or, for that matter, even interested) by expertise are already sold on the matter. This is for the kids who think math and science is boring, and who would automatically tune out anyone who seemed sufficiently different from them to be making a living at it.

And apparently Lance is at least interested enough to take the job; I can't imagine it pays well at the rates he's used to....

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

This is for the kids who think math and science is boring, and who would automatically tune out anyone who seemed sufficiently different from them to be making a living at it.

That's probably true... but at the cost of insulting those kids who are interested in actual space or science content ("Lance's Lab"? sheesh...). Making them perhaps less interested, a kind of potential vapidity-by-association.

Here's hoping that no other pop stars take an interest in, say, robotics... ;-).

[nolly.livejournal.com]

It's possible.
On the other hand, I spent ninth grade listening to NKOTB[1] and deperately wanting to go to Space Camp. Sometimes, smart kids like boy bands anyway.

[1] New Kids on the Block, that is. Joey, Jon, Jordan, Danny, and Donny, and I didn't have to look that up. Though I would have to look up most of their last names.

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... that surprises me. So their strategy makes some sense, after all.

[geekchick]

Out of curiosity, why would you make an assumption about anyone's other interests based on whether or not they happen to like a band or a particular band member? I suspect you probably would get a rude shock if you were to look through my CD collection. :) I might still have a NKotB tape somewhere, and I'm sure I've still got some Winger floating around.

Personally, I think he's a reasonable choice in that kids who weren't already interested might *get* interested after hearing him ("Hey, someone think is cool thinks this subject is cool, maybe it's worth looking into."). I don't think there's much point in getting a spokesman that a lot of kids can't relate to if the goal is to get more kids interested in the subject.

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

True... it is possible that the Venn diagram of "smart kids" and "likes contrived boy-bands" may not be a null set. It may be a large set -- what do I know? It's all marketing, I guess :-|

What's a Winger?

[geekchick]

As a datapoint, I consider myself to have been a "smart kid", and I adored the Monkees. I have a few Backstreet Boys mp3s around her somewhere. I think Du Jour from "Josie and the Pussycats" is the funniest thing ever. (You should rent and watch the movie. Really.) It's not "a" Winger; Winger was a hair band from the late 80s/early 90s whose main attraction was that Kip Winger was really, really pretty.

[archway.livejournal.com]

Well, there IS that $25M.

Personally, I don't think I would worry about the kids that will be put-off by Lance Bass. They are intelligent enough to understand he is simply a face guy. (Let's be frank. America rallied once around a monkey for NASA, too!)

I think they chose him for the young girls. By the time most girls are in 5th grade, there is a frightening number of them that lose interest in science and math. This is the same age range that will take note of NSYNC. It may be a shallow spark, but it is a spark nonetheless.

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

True, if we can publicize a chimp, then I guess that Lance Bass isn't more of a stretch. And as long as the other kids aren't turned-off as a result, then any pre-adolescent girls that can be kept interested is a Good Thing.