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Show Monday, Nov. I, 2010 Utah Campus Voice since 1902 Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com Week brings notable speakers to support sustainability By ARIANNA REES staff writer This year's Sustainability Week is the first to be hosted by both the College of Natural Resources and USU's Sustainability Council. The week will include free movies, displays and other events, said Michael Butkus, academic adviser for the department of natural resources. "The purpose of Natural Resources and Sustainability week is to make people on campus more aware of natural resources and sustainability programs, and to get them involved," he said. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, the collaborators will host a Sustainability Kickoff in the TSC International and Sunburst Lounges where students can come to plant seeds and learn about sustainability efforts on campus. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, a Natural Resources and Sustainability Fair will be held in the TSC Lounges. As part of the Blue Goes Green Sustainability Council initiative, students will be able to meet with various campus groups involved with natural resource management and sustainability. Students will also have the chance to learn about sustainability through Blue Goes Green Walking Tours on Thursday. Students meeting at the first floor atrium in the BNR building at 11 a.m. will be able to participate in a guided tour of USU's efforts to go green. At 1 p.m., students can meet at the south doors of the Spectrum to tour USU's extensive heat plant and tunnel system. The Quinney Library will be spon- soring several films throughout the week, all at 7 p.m. in the first floor atrium of the BNR building to promote conservation and environmental sustainability. The documentary "No Impact Man" will be shown Monday, "The Cove," an Academy Award Winner for the Best Documentary of 2009, will be shown Tuesday, and the film "Ghostbird," which documents a community's efforts to protect woodpeckers, will be shown Wednesday. There are also several speakers expected in the week's events. Wednesday's activities include seminars by guest speaker Mike Sutton, the Vice President of the Monterey Bay Aquarium and a College of Natural Resources alumnus. There will be a seminar at 10 a.m. on the future of seafood and how oceans can be protected while still providing us with sustainable seafood sources. In another seminar at 4 p.m. called "Protecting Our Oceans: Establishing Marine Reserves in California," Sutton I See KICKOFF, page 3 SPS brings physics and people together in haunted labs By CATHERINE MEIDELL news editor In the spirit of Halloween, USU's Society of Physics Students (SPS) had a physics professor lay on a bed of nails and smashed a cinderblock on top of him during Friday's Haunted Labs in the SER building. This was just one of the many laws of physics demonstrated in the Haunted Labs. Kenneth Bennion, a junior majoring in science and math education, said unlike lying on one nail, lying on rows and rows of nails will "balance out and prevent any of the nails from puncturing the skin. After the professor lay down on the nails, another square piece of wood covered with evenly spaced nails was put on his stomach. On top of that piece of wood was a cinder block, and one of the SPS members raised a mallet and smashed the cinder block. The nails did not injure the professor. "If I were to step on you with a tennis shoe it would hurt a lot less than if someone stepped on you with a high heel, because there are so many points of pressure," Bennion said. It was the first annual Haunted Labs at USU, and curious attendees came steadily throughout the night. USU's new green laser beam was cast into the sky, marking the student-organized labs from the top of the SER building, and could be seen from most areas of Logan. The theme of the haunted labs involved a meteor landing in Logan, creating radioactive matter to warp the scientists' brains. Physics could be seen at work from the beginning when attendees were waiting in line to purchase a ticket. Plasma domes and fluorescent lighting lined the walkway to the ticket sales and into the lab. Bennion played actual footage and sound that a USU professor recorded of space matter hurtling through the sky. "Some people don't do The Howl thing," Bennion said, "We're just trying to give people more options during Halloween." A crew of approximately 40 students spent the afternoon transforming the SER building Friday, STUDENTS TRANSFORM into mutant scientists through costume at the Haunted Labs on Friday. CATHERINE URIE photos including Shea Durfee, a freshman majoring in geology. He said he was amazed how much the group was able to accomplish in a short period, considering classes were held in the building that morning.Throughout the three floors, optical illusions through reflections and refractions were set up as well as examples of trajectory. Durfee was positioned to scare anyone who crossed his path, and said he got great reactions. "I was impressed with the costumes," said Jarren Jenkins, a junior in finance and economics. "The zombies and mutant scientists really played their parts well." Shane McGuire, who also attended the Haunted Labs, said he became most afraid when he entered into a hallway that was pitch black, covered entirely with black tarps so no light was seen. "We want to bring science and the people together," said Linsey Johnson, president of SPS. "So, first we make science fun and make the people want to have their questions answered." Johnson said it is helpful for physicists to teach through the social interaction that the Haunted Labs provided, because some physicists are hired into jobs where they must translate ground-breaking physics research to the public. All of the profit made will go toward buying equipment for SPS's elementary school demonstrations because they are currently borrowing most of it from the physics department. Johnson sad she would like to get equipment to teach angular momentum, which requires a spinning stool and weights. The leader of the physics demonstration will have an elementary student sit on the stool and hold out their arms while gripping the weights. While the stool spins the student is told to bring their arms close to their body, and this increases the momentum of the stool. Many families attended the Haunted Labs, and Bennion said he wants to encourage more to become interested in science-related events, the same way a family may be interested in a music performance. Johnson said these types of events are good for both the scientist and the curious attendee. "Physicists have this attitude so they don't interact with the public, so this is the perfect way for them to share their knowledge," Johnson said. — catherine.meidell@aggiemagusu.edu USU professor judges national cake challenge By JESSICA SWEAT staff writer The show that claims to take you to "the biggest and best food battles around the world" recently took one Utah State University professor to Denver, Colo., to be a judge in determining which extreme cake-baking contestant can best embody an urban legend and take home a large cash prize. Utah State University folklore professor Lynne Sullivan McNeill received the role as judge for the cable television show "Food Network Challenge" after being asked to submit an audition tape earlier this year by show producers. She then received a call informing her that she would be one of four judges to determine which contestant will walk away from the cake challenge with a $10,000 prize. The show aired Sunday, but was filmed in May. McNeill said filming took 11 hours, but at the end of the day, the decision to award the prize money was truly in the hands of the judges. Contestans were allowed to prepare 50 percent of the cake before THE FOOD NETWORK CHALLENGE is a program on the Food Network that aired an episode Sunday that featured Lynne Sullivan McNeill, a USU folklore professor, as a judge in the cake-making competition. McNeill said the cakes were so immaculate it was difficult to decide on a winner. Inside This Issue 11/01/10 USU's bee lab is the only ARS lab in the country to research bees other than the honeybee. Men's basketball wins first exhibition game 93-51. I See NETWORK, page 3 www.utahstatesman.com Check out Big Blue's Best Calendar, the best master calendar on campus. Send something in ... let people know what you're up to. Official Student Newspaper of Utah State University • "It's All The News You Need!" |