Discovery Channel's new HEAD RUSH science programming got a shout-out, complete
with exlamation point, from FCC Commissioner Michael Copps this week as programming that "truly serves the public interest!"
The
commercial-free after-school block, which also airs Saturdays from 7-9 a.m., debuted Aug. 23. It is targeted toward middle school students.
Discovery calls it part of the network's commitment to the
White House's STEM (science, technology, engineering and math)
education program.
"I welcome
Discovery's launch of Science Channel's new educational and
commercial-free HEAD RUSH programming," said Copps in a statement posted
on the FCC's Web site. "Our country needs to reassert
its genius in science, math and engineering for the challenging and
competitive Twenty-First Century world our kids are growing up in."
Science plus
TV is not a new equation, from Beakman's World and Bill Nye to the
beakers wielded by the Boomer generation's Mr. Wizard, but the White
House is pushing for more hard sciences education
as an issue of future global competitiveness.
