On Jan. 4 Adam Bickford wrote:
 
------------------
The state of Florida granted the Reedy Creek "government" (essentially
Disney's board of directors) unprecedented control over building codes,
highway construction, taxation, and power generation (if they wanted to
Disney could construct a nuclear reactor on their property).
------------------
 
Wow.  I didn't know that Congress or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or the
Atomic Energy Commission and all their progeny had ceded to states such
powers as had been belonged exclusively to the federal government.  I wonder
where Disney would buy its nuclear fuel.  Maybe my relatives in Ocala will be
able to buy chepaer power from them.  Oh, maybe I'm just overreacting.
 
I wonder if we're all heading toward a type of politicization of
nontraditional learning institutions, in which businesses and museums are
going to split off into camps, each demonizing the other and climbing their
own, separate pedestals of  superiority.
 
Maybe the visitor loses out if that happens, even in small ways.  Perhaps
Disney has a lot to teach museums about keeping people comfortable and happy
so that their minds are receptive to learning or other experiences.  Perhaps
museums have a lot to teach Disney about scholarship, informal education,
public trust, and building bonds with their community.
 
Any museum-l subscribers work for for-profit organizations?
 
Todd Happer
[log in to unmask]