Students meet the man who demoted Pluto
By Mackenzie Sunday Cub@TheColumbiaStar.com

(l- r) Rebecca Holms, Toney Tompson, Boris Klaric, Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, Mackenzie Sunday, and Kimberlee Plowden.

Twelve high school students were able to chat with a world renowned astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, October 3. Dr.Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, is the scientist who demoted Pluto from planetary status.

Students from A.C. Flora High School, Spring Valley High, and Columbia High had the opportunity to ask Dr. Tyson questions while being filmed for the

ETV program, Conversations

with Scientists and

Astronauts, which aired October 12.

The students asked Dr. Tyson about such things as a career in astrophysics, his thoughts on Pluto, and how he balances his career and family.

Dr. Tyson met with the high school students after talking to over 2,000 middle school students from Richland One and Richland Two at the Koger Center. Tyson's visit was co- sponsored by the Richland

Country Public Libraries, the South Carolina

State Museum, and Richland School District One.