Dale Baker is a scholar of science education in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. Before participating in a panel on what the U.S. can learn from other countries about teaching the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math), she sat down in the Zócalo green room to discuss how Latin could have changed her life, her favorite sci-fi novel, and what keeps her up at night (hint: nothing).
What are you keeping in your garage that you should have thrown out already?
Very, very old camping equipment and cans of paint.
What teacher or professor changed your life, if any?
Mrs. Couphas, my Latin teacher in high school. I thought that I was going to be an archeologist, so I set out to learn Latin so that I could do Roman archeology. Of course, life didn’t turn out that way, but that was part of my plan.
What’s your favorite thing about Tucson?
It wouldn’t be the traffic. … The Arizona Inn.
What food are you most likely to binge-eat?
I don’t binge-eat.
If you went back to school today, what would you major in?
An anthropologist of food.
Where do you go to be alone?
I have a chaise lounge in my bedroom, and I close the door, sit on this chaise lounge, and have a glass of wine or a cup of tea and my book.
Hot, medium, or mild?
Hot.
What’s your favorite science fiction novel?
That would be really hard for me to say. Probably Dune.
What keeps you up at night?
Nothing. I am a good sleeper.
Voyage into outer space or deep sea exploration?
Space.