Surfing for the stars

Rick Levine is hoping to eventually generate a database of up to a million subscribers or more, which will allow him to do some serious data mining and research to confirm astrological beliefs. He can imagine the effect it would have on how skeptics view his pet science if user surveys revealed that the predictions were right after all.

He also sees some serious commercial applications in the wings. "What if an Amazon.com realized that, by employing our company as a research arm, they could increase their e-mail response rate?" Given a large enough sample, Levine says, it should be fairly easy to predict astrologically when a person is more or less inclined to buy stuff.

"What if I were to begin to develop, just from birth data, signatures of people who might be more willing to respond to an ad for camping equipment than the latest book by some intellectual figure? No one's done this kind of research," he says. "This is something that none of the other astrology Web sites out there are even interested in looking at.

"There are ethical issues there," Levine allows. "If we can isolate periods of stress and offer them stress-relieving products, on one hand, you could say that's a great service; on the other hand, without some prior notification that that's what you're going to do, there could be some invasion-of-privacy issues."

Sure, privacy could be a problem. But if StarIQ can actually help e-tailers extract more money from consumers, that will boost the reputation of astrology like nothing in history.

Astro-study

Jeff Jawer managed to get a BA in the "History and Science of Astrology" from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst back in 1970, but to do so he had to create his own program through the school's Interdisciplinary Studies program, one of those do-your-own-thing experiments that colleges were so fond of back in the day. Today, he could get virtually the same degree from an accredited, state-recognized college based in Lynnwood, although he would have to do it over the Internet.

After years of planning and fund-raising, the Kepler College of Astrological Arts and Sciences is, according to its president, Enid Newberg, the first college in 400 years specifically granted the authority to award bachelor's and master's degrees in astrology. The school is named for Johannes Kepler, the famous 16th century German astronomer, known as the father of modern astronomy for determining the basic laws of planetary motion.

Getting the school established and accredited "has been a nine-year project," says Joanne Wickenburg, chairman of the college's Board of Trustees. "We started our freshman class in July." She says the motivation for creating the college was "not only to reexamine the authenticity of astrology" by sponsoring objective research, but to "bring back some of the credibility that was lost and to let people know that it is a serious area of study."

The college has established itself as a distance-learning school, relying on the Internet to furnish the connections between professors and students. Students are also required to show up in person for a weeklong symposium each quarter, as well as write at least three term papers and a final research project.

Just as naturopathic medicine and acupuncture have gained acceptance over the past decades, Kepler's supporters are banking on the idea that, by providing an academic setting where researchers can conduct objective studies and students can take serious classes, astrology will be able to enter the social mainstream in the 21st century. In fact, Kepler is using the campus of Bastyr University in Bothell for their first symposium, scheduled for mid-January.

"The founding of the college will lead to heightened public respect and expectations of what astrology is capable of providing to the full spectrum of society," Newburg said in a press release when the state certification was finally granted.

M.F.