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Show Friday, March 6, 2009 StatesmanCampus News Page 3 Unmanned autonomous vehicles Briefs help farmers manage irrigation Campus closes for Campus & Community ByJAClEFASSELIN staff writer CHRISTIANITY IS CHANGING DAILY said Charles H. Lippy, the LeRoy A. Martin Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies Emeritus, during a speech Thursday. RACHEL A. CHRiSTENSEN photo Christianity plausible, religion scholar says By STEPHANIE BASSETT staff writer Christianity is plausible in the 21st century and the Bible still speaks great truth, said Charles H. Lippy in a speech Thursday at the Chase Fine Arts Center. Lippy is the LeRoy A. Martin Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies Emeritus at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga and current president of the American Society of Church History. He said he has written or edited more than 20 books and is currently working on a textbook on religion in American life. Lippy said there are many challenges that face Christianity in the 21st century. Lippy started the speech by going over the 1950s and the challenges and changes religion was taking at the time. "It didn't matter if you were a Protestant, a Catholic or a Jew, it just mattered that you had a religion," he said. He said there were many changes that were occurring at the time and many new religions began to develop, which is one of the challenges to Christianity. He said there began to be several faith communities in one suburb and people began to realize this was acceptable and one religion was just as good as another. Another challenge Lippy mentioned was the introduction of birth control in the 1960s. He said from that point on there was a steady decline in most Christian populations. He said Christians were not reproducing at the same numbers as they had been in previous years. Other challenges include increased privatization and individuation, Lippy said. He said with entertainment changing as it did, with sermons on the television, religions on the Internet and religious blogs, people began to pick and choose what parts of certain religions they wanted. He said holiness became personal and people began to have communal dwellings instead of organized religions. Lippy said soon more than half of the Christians on the planet will be living below the equator. Christianity is changing daily. Rockers are replacing choirs, people wear jeans to sermons instead of their Sunday best and pastors give short sermons that are convenient, he said. Other religions are growing at a much faster rate than Christianity as well, he said, and Muslims now account for more of the worlds population than Christians. He said, "Is Christianity plausible in such a changing world? Yes,'I believe so. I think the Bible still speaks great truth and Christianity has shown resilience since the very first century and I think it will continue to be resilient." -s.k. b@aggiemail usu. edit When watching the skies around Utah State University, students can rest assured that those UFOs are not piloted by aliens. Rather, the UFOs are actually Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles (UAV), created by USU scientists. Researchers at USU's Utah Water Research Laboratory (UWRL) and researchers at the Center for Self-Organizing Intelligent Systems teamed-up to produce unmanned aircrafts with technology to help Utah farmers better manage precious irrigation water, said Mac McKee, director of the UWRL. As residents of the second-driest state in the nation, Utah agriculturists can afford to waste very little water, he said. McKee said the UAV project began when scientists recognized the need for more accurate data relating to irrigation systems. The research team consisting of Mckee, YanQuan Chen, Wei Ren, Hi-Fang Dou and several engineering students began research on the project about two years ago. Director of the UWRL, Mckee said without realizing the amount of money it would take and without knowing how hard it would be, the team looked to UAVs to solve the problem. There would be a lot of learning to do. "Two years ago this month we had never flown an aircraft," he said. Satellite technology existed but could not provide specific information, McKee said. "We needed finer resolution in space and finer resolution in time," McKee said. The unmanned airplanes are able to take pictures of irrigated lands at a resolution high enough to determine the amount of moisture on the surface of the soil, McKee said. The UAVs are also equipped with artificial intelligence that allows researchers to load flight plans and landing sequences. The flight procedures are completed without assistance from researchers on the ground. Software also developed by researchers at USU is installed on the planes to collect data on the amount of moisture on soil surfaces. The data is then used to project the amount of moisture in the rest of soil profile. Chen, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, said, "The ability to acquire decision-relevant data on soil moisture and evapotranspiration in a timely fashion and at a low cost will enable canal companies and irrigation districts in the state to provide highly detailed information to farmers about soil moisture condition in individual fields." The goal is to use the new technology to determine areas that are currently being over watered and to project future water demands allowing canal companies to better manipulate canal water levels for less seepage or lost water. Water savings could be as much as 5 percent or more of current deliveries - that kind of savings is invaluable, Chen said. Agriculture is not the only application for UAVs, McKee said. "There is a huge array of applications - we just picked the hardest one to start with," McKee said. "We are now developing and testing the electronics that will allow us to track radio-tagged game and fish." This application will allow trackers to find fish in a 40-mile stretch of river in less than an hour. Traditional methods offish tracking entailed floating rivers in boats searching for fish for hours, so UAVs will save time and money, Mckee said. The Utah Department of ;; Transportation (UDOT) has also expressed interest in utilizing UAVs to monitor roads and surrounding vegetation, McKee said. USU is not the first to develop UAVs, Austin Jensen research engineer said, but "everything everyone else is doing is military-related." The UAVs designed at Utah State are not only effective but they are also relatively inexpensive, McKee said. "Unmanned autonomous vehicles, or UAVs, can help provide objective information ... on the cheap," Mckee said. Instead of creating a UAV for $150,000 military budget, the UWRL team had to do something similar for less than $1,000 per unit, McKee said. The UAVs' wings are constructed from Styrofoam and have a six foot wingspan and weigh four pounds on average, Mckee said. The light weight aircrafts can carry up to three pounds of payload and each aircraft is equipped with an on-board computer and GPS unit. Mckee said he believes the attributes of this particular design will allow the university to start a successful business venture. "If the research and development efforts are successful in producing a series of products that have value in the private sector, I can see the university spinning this into a private company. (The project) would basically pay for itself." -jacie.fasselin@aggiemaiiusu.edu T H E FOAM W I N G S of the unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAV) are held by Mac McKee, of the Utah Water Research Laboratory, left, and Austin Jensen, research engineer, right. The UAVs are being developed for research and potential commercial operations. They are relatively inexpensive to make and could be possibly turned into a business venture. CAMERON PETERSON photo Preparing to take the next step mandatedfurlough During the week-long furlough, what services will still be available on campus? All nonessential services will be closed. What follows are essential services that will remain open. The University Library will be closed March 7-8, and open March 9-13 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., March 14 from 1 to 5 p.m. and March IS from 6 p.m. to midnight The library will be running a skeletal crew with just one supervisor and student support. All of the behind-the-scene staff will be on furlough. The library will only offer service at the Circulation desk and the Course Reserves and Journals/Newspaper desk. The north and south information commons will be open Special Collections and Archives will have limited service on March 10,11 and 12 from noon to 4 p.m. The QuadSide Cafe will stay closed during the break. The Taggart Student Center will be open March 10 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the History Fair and March 13 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the City Youth Council. Services open during these times include the USU Bookstore March 10 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Zions Bank March 10 and March 13 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Hub March 10 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Quickstop March 10 and March 13, and the post office will be open March 10 only. The University Inn will be open. Eccles Conference Center will be open March 7 from 6 to 8 p.m., March 8 from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., closed March 9-11, open March 12 from 1 to 10 p.m., March 13 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and March 14 from 7 a.m. to noon. For the Home and Garden Show, the Nelson Field House will be open to the public March 13 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m and March 14 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aggie Athletics will operate for the WAC Tournament in Reno and a home gymnastics meet March 13. USU Housing will have limited office coverage for mail, etc. The office will be closed. Shuttles will not be running. Charted buses already scheduled will continue as scheduled. Police will have people on duty and dispatch will be open the entire week. The Edith Bowen Laboratory School will be open. There will be no change in schedule. The Information Technology Service Desk will have a skeletal crew on duty. The Space Dynamics Laboratory will be open and operating. Museumfocuses on Incas and Mayas In the continuation of the Saturday activity series, USU's Museum of Anthropology hosts "Ancient Mesoamerican Marketplace" Saturday, March 7. Guests will learn about the ancient cultures of Central and South America through a variety of activities. Visitors may choose to participate in the Mesoamerican marketplace which showcases crafts and food.. For more information on this event, call museum staff at (435) 797-7545 or visit the museum Web site (www.usu. edu/anthro/museum/). STUDENTS W A N D E R E D T H R O U G H T H E TSC BALLROOM Wednesday during the Career Fair. The fair was an opportunity for students to meet with potential employers and learn more about their companies. TYLER LARSON photo [ICompiled from staff and media reports |