OCR Text |
Show Monday, Sept. 28, 2009 StatesmanCampus News Page 3 Science Unwrapped explores cosmic volcanoes Briefs Campus & Community By LIS STEWART staff writer People of all ages found something to catch their eye at the Cosmic Volcano presentation Friday for “Windows on the Cosmos,” hosted by the College of Science as part of the monthly program called “Science Unwrapped.” Hands-on experiments that taught simple concepts about volcanic eruptions, meteorites, convection currents, identifying rocks and the formation of the continents followed a presentation on volcanoes in the solar system at 7 p.m. Young children crowded the tables to watch and participate in some of the experiments that were led by student volunteers. While many students said they volunteered beforehand, Shannon Babb, senior in watershed and earth systems, said she got pulled into it just because she showed up early. She ran the Crater Counting exhibit. “We are teaching people how they can date craters by looking at pictures,” she said, pointing at four black and white printouts of different cratered surfaces. The more craters there are on a planet’s surface, the older it usually is, “except on Earth because of erosion,” Babb said. Teaching difficult concepts in an uncomplicated manner so that everyone, even small children, can understand was the initial challenge of the “Science Unwrapped” series, said assistant professor Shane Larson of the department of physics. Larson, who is head of the program, said the program began in January under the theme of “Mind and Body” to see if it could get going. They found that the activities after the lecture was what drew big crowds, which usually consist of parents and their children. “Kids like the hands-on experiments,” Larson said. Hanging around the Pangaea puzzles were 7-year-old Bridger and his brother, 9-year-old Elliot. Bridger said his favorite experiment was when they dissected pig hearts earlier in the year. Elliot said he enjoyed the rocket launches at last month’s activity. Blair Larsen, geology graduate student and schoolteacher, stood quietly behind the Convection Currents table as another geology graduate student explained how the red, warm water that bubbled out of the jar through the cold water in the tank represented vol- Lecturer to look at plural marriage ASSISTANT PROFESSOR CAROL M. DEHLER, from the geology department, explains the structure of different types of rocks to local students as part of the ‘Science Unwrapped’ series Friday. ANI MIRZAKHANYAN photo canic magma flowing through earth’s crust to the surface. Larsen joined the “Science Unwrapped” committee after it started and used her experience in teaching to help gear the experiments to child level, Larson said. The point, Larsen said, is that children and parents will bring home something to talk about. “We try to have activities where we have multiple ranges of ages,” Larsen said. “We hope it is stimulating conversations at home where the kids are asking their parents questions and learning.” In the lecture, which lasted for nearly an hour, attendees were taught by geophysicist Tony Lowry, assistant professor in the department of geology. Comparing a volcanic eruption to a hot air-balloon ride, he guided his students on a virtual tour of some of the universe’s volcanic wonders. Jupiter’s moon Io is the hottest in the solar system, he said. Io’s pizza-like surface was formed by deposits left by 3,000 degrees Celsius lava flow. He covered subjects such as the 30-year debate on Mercury’s possible volcanism, the Moon’s formation and Mars. Lowry had a question in the form Ag Week kicks off By CANDICE MATTSON staff writer Students from the College of Agriculture met with President Stan Albrecht Friday afternoon to present him a gift and to signal the start of Ag Week. Ag Week is a week-long list of events hosted by the College of Agriculture from Sept. 25 through Oct.2. The gift presented to Albrecht was an Ag Week T-shirt and a basket of food products representing different areas of agriculture from Utah. Amy Petersen, Ag senator and senior in agriculture education, thanked Albrecht for his support. Petersen briefly explained the progress in the college, which included new recruitment to encourage students to come to USU. Albrecht accepted the basket and mentioned the new agriculture building that will be built on the Quad. “I want all of you to turn around and look east for just a moment. Imagine what it’s going to be like next May when we do a ground breaking for the new Ag building,” he said. The building will replace the current Agricultural Science Building, Petersen added later. The ceremony is a yearly tradition to kick off Ag Week. Ag Week focuses on events that defines the college, and all seven colleges at the university get a week to celebrate, Petersen said. “Because we are the land-grant university, the College of Ag always has the rights to the first college week,” she said. “This year, we’re trying to focus a lot on the diversity of Ag.” Petersen added they wanted to focus on the different areas of the college that demonstrate their diversity, such as dietetics, family and consumer science, plant science and business. The theme for this year’s Ag Week, according to Utah State Today, is “We’re True Aggies (no kissing required).” “It goes back to the roots of Utah State because Utah State was the Agriculture College of Utah,” said Ailina Smith, sophomore in ornamental horticulture. “We’re kind of the beginnings of Utah State back in 1888 when it was established.” Petersen said the theme came from the idea that the College of Agriculture are the True Aggies because of its history. Petersen said there are many ways for everyone to get involved in Ag Week. On Monday, there will be a tractor parade. It will honor the eight students and the professor who, while on a field trip in 2005, all died in a van crash. Eleven tractors will be brought to campus to symbolize those involved in the crash, nine will be left on campus. Petersen also mentioned that anyone wanting to participate should meet at the stadium parking lot before the parade at 1:30 p.m. On Monday night, there will be a movie shown at the South Farm pavilion on Highway 89-91 in Wellsville. The movie will be “Taken.” On Tuesday, there will be an opening social at 6 p.m. at the Agriculture Systems Technology and Education shop 1498 N. 800 East. Petersen said Day on the Quad will be Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will feature a variety of activities and food. There will also be a service project in the International Lounge in the Taggart Student Center (TSC) called Ag in the Classroom. At 9 p.m. there will be country swing dancing at the Fun Park, 255 E. 1770 North. On Thursday, there will be a donut eating contest at 11 a.m. on the TSC Patio. There will be a chuck wagon breakfast on the TSC Patio Friday morning starting at 8:30. To cap the week off, there will be a rodeo held Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Cache County Fairgrounds. “Everyone is welcome to everything that we do. If you just want to come check it out, please come,” Petersen said. –candice.m@aggiemail.usu.edu of a puzzle for each subject studied, which created audience participation, keeping even the youngest children in their seats. When the lecture ended people hurried out to the Eccles Science Learning Center atrium for the hands-on experiments. “Stump the geologist” was another activity people lined up for after the lecture. Participants were invited beforehand to bring rocks of their own that needed identifying. Geology volunteers were at tables with the other experiments in the atrium to shed some light on people’s mystery rocks. Nathan Giles, senior in geoarchaeology, examined a softball-size conglomerate rock with little crystals jutting out the side. “You can tell by the color it’s got a lot of iron in it,” he said. Giles’ children and their cousins, the Carters, were sprawled on a couch in the atrium by the end of the night. “I like science,” said 7-year-old Parker Carter. Carter had a painted bat on his face like a mask and big smile as he talked about studying rocks in his backyard. Andie Giles, 8, said she has a rock collection. “I liked the craters,” she said. Impact craters made by meteorites were simulated by having participants throw rocks into trays filled with a mixture of flour and Nesquik powder. Chessie Carter, 10, and Mackayl Giles, 5, said their favorite part of the evening was the volcano experiment. A homemade volcano experiment consisting of vinegar and baking soda spewed out of a man-made volcanic mount attracted throngs of children and parents alike. Children were given a chance to pour the baking soda into the dish of red-dyed vinegar, which caused it to bubble and fizz over the sides. “Windows on the Cosmos” will end Oct. 30 with a presentation about what Albert Einstein called “ripples in space-time,” according to the College of Science’s Web site. The get-together, at 7 p.m. in USU’s Performance Hall, will feature a multimedia performance by composer, musician and multimedia artist Andrea Centazzo. “Science is something we think we can have everyone embrace,” Larson said. –la.stewart@aggiemail.usu.edu Global: Making Study Abroad affordable -continued from page 1 Educator and scholar Kathleen Flake looks at the 19th century practice of plural marriage within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 2009 Leonard J. Arrington Mormon History Lecture. The title of Flake’s lecture is “The Emotional and Priestly Logic of Plural Marriage.” The lecture, sponsored by Utah State University’s Special Collections and Archives in the Merrill-Cazier Library, the Leonard J. Arrington Lecture and Archives Foundation and USU’s College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, will take place Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Logan LDS Tabernacle. The lecture is free and all are invited. For USU students, the lecture is an “Aggie Passport” activity. In her lecture, Flake will look at a time in the 19th century when, like so much else in the new nation, traditional understandings of the relationship between the sexes were challenged by many Americans. College students from throughout the region who attend the lecture can participate in the Arrington Lecture Writing competition. Entry forms and details are available at the lecture. Those looking for more information on the 2009 Arrington Lecture should contact USU’s Special Collections and Archives at 797-2663. Aggies invited to submit best photos All USU students, faculty and staff are invited to participate in the College of Natural Resources Nature Photo Contest. All entries will be displayed Oct. 5-8 in the International Lounge of the TSC during Natural Resources Week. Photos may be submitted in the following three categories: 1) Wildlife; 2) Landscapes and Scenery and 3) People in Nature. There is no cost to enter and participants can enter as many photos as they wish in any or all of the categories. Submissions should be framed or matted, with the photo prints no larger than 8” x 10” in size. Entrants should bring their submissions to the CNR Academic Service Center, Room 120, in the Natural Resources Building. Each entry should include the entrant’s name, phone number, e-mail address or best method of contact on the back of the photo. The deadline for submissions is Friday, Oct. 2, at 4 p.m. Following the contest, participants can retrieve their entries beginning at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, at the CNR Academic Service Center, NR 120. For more information, contact Michael Butkus at michael.butkus@ usu.edu or 797-2473. Prospective nursing student meeting today MARY HUBBARD will start her position as vice provost for Global Engagement Oct. 1. Hubbard said she hopes to make the Study Abroad program available for everyone. ANI MIRZAKHANYAN photo H1N1 flu.” Hubbard said one of her priorities as she takes the new position is to make Study Abroad more available to students by working to establish more scholarships as well as partnership exchange programs with foreign universities. Partnership exchange programs reduce costs as two institutions exchange students rather than taking on additional students. “My hope is that we can make Study Abroad programs available to everyone, regardless of economic background,” Hubbard said. Hubbard said she believes having students on campus from various world nations will also enrich global and cultural understanding among students, who will have the opportunity to interact with international students. “We do a lot to celebrate heritage and want to pull in students from all across campus to share in this,” Hubbard said. “It helps that the local culture has created a unique composition of students who have had international experiences and who fluently speak foreign languages on this campus.” Hubbard said she has done a lot to increase international research and relations and hopes to continue to do so as vice provost as well as work to do the same in other fields of study. “I’m now focusing on international affairs where it used to be science and international affairs, so at first it felt like the scope of my work was narrowing,” Hubbard said. “But as I started to become familiar with the position, I realized I was actually broadening my work because now I get to work with people from all disciplines.” On Thursday, Hubbard will leave her position as dean of the College of Science and begin her work as vice provost for Global Engagement. She said she is excited to move forward in the new position. –kayla.may.w@aggiemail.usu.edu Prospective applicants to the Weber State University/USU Cooperative Nursing Program are encouraged to attend a preapplication orientation meeting Monday, Sept. 28, from 5:30-7 p.m. on campus. The gathering will be held in Room 154 of the Merrill-Cazier Library. Applications will be available for the fall 2010 registered nursing program. “This meeting, while not mandatory for admission, is a helpful way to learn about the next admissions cycle and preparations that need to be made for application to the program,” says Yvonne Kobe, pre-health adviser in USU’s biology department. “Admissions officers from WSU will be available to explain the application process and answer questions.” For more information, students should contact WSU nursing program admissions officer Doug Watson at 801-626-6128 or healthprofessions@weber.edu. -Compiled from staff and media reports |