I was shocked as I awoke on Saturday morning to the news that the space shuttle Columbia had broken up over Texas as it returned home from its 16-day mission. I could not believe what had happened and I began searching for answers.

I followed the news all day and grabbed every paper I could find the next morning. I even looked in The Daily Collegian for some words from those who know about spacecrafts and the forces on them, but was shocked to find that not a single one of my professors had been interviewed about this tragic event. Not only could they provide possible causes for the accident, but they could also provide insight on the future of the program.

When newspapers cover stories, they usually try to go to the experts. In this case, that would be those associated with the aerospace department who teach and research these things all their lives. Hopefully in the future this newspaper will figure that out.