County Manager explains basic science on national TV
As Clark County manager, Shawn Henessee has many responsibilities, such as preparing a half-billion-dollar annual budget, overseeing over a thousand employees and presiding over the bureaucracy that is county government.
Now, Henessee has another job: explaining basic science to millions of people.
Henessee’s debut as an up and coming Neil Degrasse Tyson came via the Today show, which sent a reporter all the way to Clark County to watch people jump off the bridge at Moulton Falls Regional Park.
The reason for the assignment was the one-year anniversary of Tay’Lor Smith pushing Jordan Holgerson off the bridge at Moulton Falls Regional Park. A video of the incident went viral and drew national headlines. The Today show’s story revealed that people are still jumping off the bridge despite a sign telling them not to.
The segment included an interview with Henessee repeated the explanation for the impracticality of putting up a fence or other measures to prevent people from jumping. In the end, Henessee explained that you shouldn’t jump off the bridge because of science.
“The message is actually very simple: You’re not immune to the laws of physics, and in the end, gravity always wins,” Henessee told Today.
