As seen in the Baylor Lariat, 02/17/2006:

by JONATHAN LUDWIG, columnist

"Get your (derrière) to Mars!" says Douglas Quaid in Total Recall. Pretending to be interested in my psychology course, I was suddenly hit—wham!—by a rogue idea: I seriously want to go to Mars.

Roadtrips, studying abroad, expeditions to North and South Poles -- they all have something in common: our innate, spatial-pioneering instinct -- that is, an instinct to go and to see. Physically move to a place one has never been, as Star Trek's Captain Picard would say, "To boldly go where no one has gone before." But during the last 20 years, that collective, burning desire to explore the depths of space has crash-landed into the endless study of humanity.

Sure, one could argue that discovering has many strands, such as pioneering in medicine, psychology or any of the humanities. But all these issues have one thing in common: people. Where did the Isaac Newtons go? The Ernest Shackletons and the Ferdinand Magellans? These historical greats and their relative contemporaries broke with centuries of stagnant, often circular thinking and began exploring the world.

"But-but-I'm a Christopher Columbus in...sociology." Right. Now the humanities are mildly entertaining, and as a political science major, I know them to be important. But honestly, how much cooler would it be to be the first person to walk on Mars? To explain the rift between the theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics? To invent a craft that will take us to new solar systems? The technological and philosophic implications of such feats would again shake the foundations of humankind.

Still, there are practical reasons for regaining that respect and wonder we have of the world around (and beyond) us.

As we should all be aware, Americans are failing at an alarming rate in the supremely important areas of math and science—the foundations of exploring beyond Earth and our solar system. But this simple fact is far from benign. Expertise in math and science drives innovation, which is essential for an expanding economy and retaining our high standard of living.

"Why is it," asked Craig Barret, chairman and CEO of Intel Corp., "when over the past decade we've seen the most exciting technology innovations in history with personal computing, the rise of the Internet, wireless computing, smart phones, digital cameras and much more, that our children aren't interested in pursuing science and technology as a career?"

Of course, there are many answers to this question, such as dismal standards and abysmal spending in math and science education, as well as low federal support for research and development.

But all this circles right back to us. Is the public just not into science anymore? Hardly. Whenever some aeronautic, astronautic or stellar event takes place, the stories are always near the top of the news headlines. Why? Because people still think the events are incredible.

Steve Fosset made the longest nonstop flight in aviation history Sunday at 26,389 miles. NASA easily captures headlines with its golf cart-sized rovers Opportunity and Spirit, which continue exploring the red planet two years past their planned expiration.

It's no coincidence that we are drawn to the beautiful sights of the Earth and surrounding universe to know more and to see more. It is part of the human condition to ask questions, to understand and to appreciate-the whole basis of our modern addiction to the Internet. With space as the final frontier, we should extend John F. Kennedy's logic: "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

Jonathan Ludwig is a senior political science major from Austin.