Ball State University was represented when   first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton launched the Mars Millennium  Project in Washington, D.C., Thursday.

Margaret Merrion, dean of Ball State's College of Fine Arts, was invited to participate in the 1 p.m. press conference as president of the International Council of Fine Arts Deans. The event was at the National Air and Space Museum.

The Mars Project is a White House millennium national educational program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, U.S. Department of Education, NASA and its Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the J. Paul Getty Trust. The International Council of Fine Arts Deans is a cooperating organization.

The interdisciplinary arts and sciences project invited students in communities across the country to celebrate the 21st century in the 1999-2000 school year by imagining and designing the community of tomorrow. Specifically, they will envision a village on Mars in the year 2030.

Participants used their knowledge of history, arts, sciences and technology to explore scientific, social and cultural characteristics they would export to a new planetary environment as they design an ideal community.

Students and teachers developed knowledge and skills in a broad field of subjects such as architecture, arts, design, engineering and math, and advance their technological skills.

"It's a wonderful time for students of all ages to be harnessing their academic and artistic talents to envision what they would want to take with them if we colonize Mars," Merrion said. "It challenges students to think about what's important to them. They will not leave planet Earth without the arts."

Merrion expects their creative projects to use the arts, from drawing and sculpture to music, drama and creative writing.

The Mars Millennium Project will involve students and parents working with teachers, artists, scientists, engineers and community organizations or groups in formal and informal educational settings. Many community resources will be used, including art, history and children's museums, observatories, exploratoriums and scientific laboratories, universities, corporations, and government and civic groups.

Participants were expected to:

• Explore and learn about the culture, history and traditions of their respective communities.
• Discover their communities -  artistic, cultural, scientific and social assets that might be exported to another planet.
• Imagine and design a real and permanent colony on Mars in the year 2030 and create a scientifcally sound, suitable, livable and aesthetic environment for 100 people.
• Develop artistic and cultural aspects of a community on Mars, including symbols, images and cultural qualities that would distinguish and reflect the new community.
• Advance technological skills through computer design programs, Internet research and interactive communication.
• Use an integrative, interdisciplinary approach to learning and teaching in the arts and sciences.

The project will promote parental and family involvement in learning and creating through multi-generational participation, raise compelling life questions that will benefit communities and provide access to formal and informal educational programs.

For more information on the Mars Millennium Project, call (310) 274-8787, ext. 150, or e-mail: mars@pvcla.com.

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information about this story, Margaret Merrion can be reached in Washington, D.C., Jan. 14-15 at (703) 415-5000.)