The Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Science was established 178 years ago as a privately funded institution. About ten years ago, we started to receive a small grant from the city ($10k) but it is subject to an application process annually. In 1986, a county bond issue was passed to pay for the restoration of Union Terminal to house both the Museum of Natural History and the Cincinnati Historical Society and its museum. The Museum Center openedin November, 1990. Five years later, a merger of the two institutions was announced chiefly for economic reasons. There are separate admission charges for each museum and for the OMNIMAX theater, and last week, the first price increase in five years went into effect. One of our permanent exhibit installations had major support from NSF, but government support is nil. As Julia Moore so aptly put it, there's nothing evil about earned income and we are attempting to expand those areas such as outreach, overnight pro- grams and our shops (which are among the best museum shops I've seen). Anne Arenstein Director, Public Programs Museum of Natural History and Science Cincinnati Museum Center [log in to unmask]