OCR Text |
Show 4 Business.,& Science FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2012 The Weber Mind-Meld WSU students present their diverse research at NCUR Snowbasin owl habitats Ogden Syndrome study By Stephanie Green correspondent I The Signpost By Stephanie Green correspondent I The Signpost Austin Earley, a senior graduating with a degree in zoology, was hoping to enhance his resume by participating in undergraduate research. In the process, he was able to learn about the ecology of the flammulated owl and how human interference has affected the owls that inhabit the Snowbasin area. The goal of the study was to see how recent trails along Snowbasin impacted the already-established breeding grounds of the flammulated owl. The flammulated owl is a small owl, around 6 inches long, that lives primarily in the western United States. Earley, along with his re"I opened up one of the search group, studied a small nest boxes," Earley said. sample of the owls. They dis- "I was attacked by a flying covered that owls closer to squirrel. That was one of the the trails had a lower weight more surprising things to than owls that were farther me." away from the trails, indicatAlthough Earley said the ing higher levels of stress. hardest part of the research Earley said the study was the statistical analysis, sample was too small to "sta- he also said he enjoyed the tistically support anything experience overall. drastic," but the findings did "The mosquitoes kind of indicate a correlation. sucked," Earley said. "But Earley was not only able they're part of nature, and I to learn more about the hab- enjoyed every minute of it. itat and life of a flammulated The owls were absolutely owl, but also had a unique adorable." experience. One day, he was inspecting the nest boxes to ensure safety and adequacy Comment on this story at for owl habitatation. Sex education influential wsusignpost.corn. By Patricia Stauffer b&s reporter I The Signpost Weber State University is characterized by hernias, seniors Courtney Black and facial and congenital abnorDanielle Schwab saw their malities, and severe emphyresearch project as an op- sema, among other things. portunity to learn the emoThe infant boys affected tional impact that a child by Ogden Syndrome have a with special needs has on a short lifespan of 6-8 months, family. with the oldest known vicSchwab and Black, both tim of the disease living only graduating with a degree in 15 months. medical laboratory science, Black and Schwab ininterviewed families who terviewed the two affected have lost children to a rare families, gathering evidence genetic disorder known as to document the experience Ogden Syndrome. of losing a child to Ogden Ogden Syndrome is an X- Syndrome. linked chromosomal abnor"We're talking with them mality that is carried from about a child who has mother to son. Only two passed away," Schwab said. families are known to be af- "That was their life, and one fected by this disease, which of the hardest things that 4\ they had to go through. There were multiple times when Courtney and I ended up in tears with the family." Schwab and Black said they hope their research will be able to help the people who have children with Ogden Syndrome. They said they see the research as an aide to further doctors and researchers in their knowledge about how to handle and help the families affected by Ogden Syndrome. They also said they hope others learn the emotional complexities of having a child with Ogden Syndrome. Comment on this story at Learning made affordable wsusignpost.corn. By Patricia Stauffer b&s reporter I The Signpost Rosa Portillo is looking Portillo's study was excluforward to her graduation at sive to WSU students, rangthe end of this semester with ing from freshmen to gradua degree in health promo- ating seniors. tion, and this Friday she will Portillo conducted the be presenting her findings study as a result of her interin her recent sexuality study est in the topics of human carried out on campus. sexuality and sexual educaPortillo surveyed 100 stu- tion, and how, together, they dents on campus to find out influence an individual's sextheir types of sexual educa- ual behaviors. tion during previous school"I wanted to gain an uning, as well as information derstanding of how eduabout current sexual activity cated the population on "I wanted to find out campus was in these areas to whether the type of educa- determine the effects," Portition students received as llo said. adolescents, as well as their More than half of Portillo's education level, played a surveyed population reportrole in their behaviors," Por- ed previous comprehensive tillo said. sexual education that in- cluded detailed information about contraceptives, sexually transmitted diseases and abstinence. Six percent reported no formal sexual education, and 33 percent reported education consisting only of abstinence strategies. The findings appear to be inconclusive as to a connection between levels of education and sexual activity among WSU students. Results of a relationship between sexual education and sexual activity do appear to have a strong correlation, however. Comment on this story at wsusignpost.corn. Students observed that at NCUR Friday is based on some of Weber State Univer- a method Bender and Booth sity's technology is not as up developed to simulate UHto date as that of the profes- PLC extractions while using sional world. the HPLC that WSU currentAccording to research by ly has. Using this methodolTrandon Bender, Jenacee ogy, students will be able to Booth and professor Ed- practice UHPLC extractions ward Walker, almost every without the cost of going to company in the chemical an institution that owns one. industry requires experience "If you're in a chemistry handling a high-pressure program at Weber, you know liquid chromatography in- that you're not going to get strument. With advances in any experience in high-presultra-high-pressure liquid sure liquid chromatography chromatography quickly until your senior year of the becoming an industry stan- chemistry bachelor's Bedard, it is expected that ex- gree," Bender said. perience with UHPLC will be This presents a problem integral as well. for students who receive the The research presented chemical technician two- year degree and then try to pursue positions in industry. "We saw a hole in undergraduate research, and we hoped that, by developing this method, students would be able to get the training necessary for jobs," Bender said. Bender said one of the purposes of NCUR presentation was to get advice from other academic sources on how to conform their methods to fit the needs of other undergraduate programs facing similar problems. Comment on this story at wsusignpost.corn. Students display mobile power plant at NCUR By Jessica Klemm b&s editor I The Signpost There is one final fall semester before the $20,000 and 3,000-pound mobile elemental power plant is projected to be complete, after three semesters of effort. More than 20 individuals across four disciplines within Weber State University's College of Applied Science and Technology have contributed to the engineering of the MEPP. "The idea is to have a power generation station that you can take off the grid and provide power to run communications equipment, radios, medical equipment, just everyday items," Brian Gray said, an electronics engineering technology senior and the project lead. The device is composed of four rechargeable 12-volt batteries that will be powered by solar panels, a 30-foot tall retractable wind turbine and a water turbine. According to Gray, all of these components, which sit atop a trailer bed, were "built, cut, manufactured, machined by students at Weber State." Gray said the MEPP will have the capability to power his 1,200-square-foot, two bedroom, one-and-a-halfbathroom house (6-7 kilo- Computer lab opens Anderson said there was a Students are graduating colfallout shelter directly under lege and starting off with dethe building, which was one sirable incomes. The ribbon was cut to of the only shelters on WSU's Sean Stromberg said it open up the new computer campus. was nice to see facilities now science lab at Weber State The room was repainted match the quality of the proUniversity on Thursday. with the WSU colors of pur- gram. The Stromberg famThe new lab was a renova- ple and white and decorated ily donated $50,000 to the tion of an old lab built during with banners that relate to renovation of the lab. Some the Cold War Era. The once the computer science stu- members of the family are dim, rundown room was dents. graduates of computer sciturned into a more bright, in"It makes the students ence from WSU. viting room, with more space feel like the program is im"They definitely are a for students to work portant," Anderson said. `purple family," Anderson "We haven't remodeled According to Anderson, said. this area probably since the the computer science proAnderson said students Cold War Era," said Greg An- gram at WSU has more grad- feel very comfortable, and derson, department chair of uates than any other unicomputer science. versity in the state of Utah. See Lab page 5 watt hours of power usage per day) for one day. However, Gray noted that if a person is resourceful and enough natural energy is available, the MEPP would have the capacity to run indefinitely. Future plans include integrating it into engineering technology courses at WSU in an effort to teach students about renewable energy. "I think we envision using it and maybe even market- ing it out into the private sector," Gray said. "This would be something very useful to first responders, disaster- preparedness people - thirdworld countries, even, that don't have an available power grid." However, Gray noted that the MEPP cannot presently compete with coal and oil in terms of cost. "But if it ever got picked up by a commercial manufactur- ing company, costs could be reduced, and it might be affordable," he said Currently, the MEPP is sitting by the Shepherd Union Building on display for NCUR. Gray is scheduled to present the project for NCUR on Friday at noon in the Wattis Business Building, Room 113 . Comment on this story at wsusignpost.corn. By Brandon Arnett correspondent I The Signpost PHOTO BY CORIE HOLMES I THE SIGNPOST The Computer Science Department celebrates its makeover with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. |