Social laws are like traffic laws. You obey them or you don’t at your own peril. We learned this lesson firsthand a few weeks ago, when we travelled to Fajardo, Puerto Rico for Spring Break.

To the Editor:

Re: “Gov. Luis Fortuño Advocates for Puerto Rican Representation,” Opinion, March 9

Following years of debate about how to fund Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory, a federally owned research center managed by Cornell, prospects for its financial backing appear better after the National Academy of Sciences called the facility “unique” and “unmatched” in its ability to detect dangerous Near-Earth Objects.

Arecibo itself dates back to 1960, when former Prof. William E. Gordon, engineering, proposed the creation of an observatory to research the ionosphere. The facility now houses the world’s largest radio telescope, with a main reflector dish that measures 1000 feet in diameter and covers 18 acres.