[CPProt.net] Insider theft: Cosmophere ready to repair rep

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Cosmophere ready to repair rep 
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 
November 8, 2005

HUTCHINSON (AP) -- Now that the co-founder of one of the nation's premier
space museums has been convicted of fraud, theft and money laundering, the
Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center is working to minimize the damage to its
reputation caused by Max Ary's case.

Ary, 55, was convicted last week in federal court on 12 charges involving
the museum he ran for 26 years. He is to be sentenced Jan. 19, and has been
ordered to forfeit more than $129,000 that was derived from his crimes.

Jeff Ollenburger, who took over as president and CEO of the Cosmosphere in
2002 after Ary went to work at a similar facility in Oklahoma, said steps
were being taken to beef up security and improve inventory controls as far
back as 2000, even before Ary left.

Ed Able, the head of the American Association of Museums, said letting
people know about the efforts being made to ensure the integrity of the
Cosmosphere's massive collection of space artifacts is a good first step
toward moving on in the post-Ary era.

''The museum needs to be very upfront and public about sharing what they
have done'' to prevent a recurrence, Able said.

Ollenburger said that two years after the museum adopted a collections
management policy that addresses security, access and preservation of the
collection, a ''very intensive, top-to-bottom governance review'' was
conducted to make sure the new policies were being followed.

''It's not tied to anything related to the last couple of weeks,''
Ollenburger said, referring to Ary's trial. ''They are things we started
before and continue to work on now.''

With attendance figures at the Cosmosphere remaining healthy and continued
strong relationships with NASA and the Smithsonian Institution, the
Cosmosphere's reputation doesn't appear to have been hurt too badly by the
Ary conviction, said Sean Smith, a spokesman for the Association of
Science-Technology Centers.

''This was not really an institutional issue, but an individual issue, and I
think the public is aware of that,'' Smith said.

Gen. Tom Stafford, a retired astronaut who testified during Ary's trial,
said the Cosmosphere ''tells the story of space flight even better than the
Smithsonian does.''

That's why museum officials are walking a delicate line between hailing
Ary's role in developing the Cosmosphere and acknowledging his conviction
for selling museum artifacts for his personal gain.

''I think it's important for people to realize that the Cosmosphere is still
here,'' Ollenburger said. ''We're a great museum because of a lot of people.
That doesn't change.''

http://www.arkcity.net/