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The Behrend Beacon
Hubble website
photo probes
mysteries of galaxies
by Aimee Pogson
staff writer
A picture is worth a thousand words and
sometimes one can even resolve a scientific
controversy. This was proven recently when a
photograph taken by Dr. Roger Knacke, director
of the School of Science at Penn State Behrend,
was featured on the Hubble Heritage website for
the month of October.
The site is made up of different images taken
from the Hubble telescope, an instrument that
orbits around the earth and is capable of seeing
and taking pictures of objects in deep space. Dr.
Knacke's picture shows NGC 4319, a spiral
galaxy (the larger object), and Markarian 205, a
quasar (the smaller object). A quasar is a distant
galaxy with a very bright core that emits large
amounts of energy, possibly because of a black
hole at its center.
At first glance this appears to be just another
picture, but there is a mystery behind these two
objects that has intrigued astronomers for almost
three decades. The galaxy and the quasar are very
far away from each other. NGC 4319 is 80 million
light years away from the Earth, while Markarian
205 is 1 billion light years away, yet they appear
to be connected by a faint arm of gas.
By looking at their position in the picture it
appears that Markarian 205 lies within the spiral
arms of NGC 4319. If the quasar and the galaxy
actually were at the same distance away from the
Earth this would show an error with the
astronomers' redshift method of measuring
distance that indicates whether an object is
moving farther away (a shift to red) or coming
closer (a shift to blue). An error like this would
upset some of the foundations of astronomy.
The debate went on. Some astronomers
insisted that there was something wrong with the
relationship of the two objects, that they were
actually connected and the methods of measuring
distance had to be reexamined.
Meanwhile, other astronomers simply said that
it just appeared Markarian 205 was at the same
distance as NGC43I9, due to the distance and
position of the two objects. It was no different
than looking at a person and a tree at a distance.
I :.ven though the person and tree may be far away
horn each other, the viewer looking at them from
a distance sees them as superimposed on each
other and positioned at the same distance.
This is when Knacke suggested to Keith Noll,
a speaker at Behrend's "Open House Nights in
Astronomy" and one of Knacke's former students,
that they take a good, clear picture of Markarian
205 and NGC 4319 and resolve the dispute once
and for all. Noll agreed. They decided to use the
Hubble space telescope to take the picture.
Knacke didn't actually get to use the telescope,
hut he told them where to point it.
There was not a lot of research involved in
tracking and pinpointing the objects because, as
Knacke pointed out, "galaxies do not move in a
Visiting professor Aleprete explains International Studies
by Alyssa Peconi
staff writer
Michael A leprete, a recent addition to the Behrend
teaching staff, has many responsibilities to take on
this semester.
Aleprete is the new visiting assistant professor to
the International Studies department. He is currently
teaching two sections of International Studies 100,
and the International Studies seminar 400.
A native of the Pittsburgh area, Aleprete is a
stranger to the Erie area. He attended his first four
years of college at Duquesne University in
Pittsburgh and then went on to complete graduate
school at the University of Pittsburgh.
Aleprete is fluent in the area of International
Studies, having previous experience teaching as a
graduate assistant at the University of Pittsburgh
for a few years, one year at Duquesne University,
id al , Cone , — Go
PHOTO BY ERIN McCARTY / BEHREND BEACON
International Studies professor Michael
Aleprete has joined the Behrend faculty as a
visiting assistant professor for the year.
Allies and Trigon celebrate diversity
by Caley Doran
staff writer
On Oct. 11, the Allies Program, a branch of Trigon
new to Penn State this year, hosted a luncheon titled
"Allies Come Out" in the Reed commons.
The Allies program is a club for heterosexuals who
support and celebrate diversities related to sexual
orientation.
An ally is a person who respects all people despite
differences such as age, sexual orientation, or race.
An ally expresses an interest in equity and diversity
issues concerning all people.
Allies coordinator Jaimi Bonczar said the purpose
of the event was "to be visible on campus and to get
people to sign our pledge as Penn State Allies in a
fun and welcoming atmosphere."
The guest speaker at the lunch was English
professor Dr. John Champagne. His speech was
loosely based on Michael Warner's book, "The
Trouble with Normal," and the responsibility of
everyone in the Behrend community to support one
another, gay or straight. Students and faculty in
attendance enjoyed a lunch catered by Housing and
Food Services consisting of Italian stuffed shells,
chicken tenders, chicken wings, mashed potatoes,
tossed salad, pasta salad, and fresh vegetables.
There are many different ways to become an ally,
such as using the word "gay" instead of
"homosexual" or vocalizing intolerance of jokes that
attack people of other sexual orientations. The Allies
program meets every Thursday at 12:15 p.m. in the
MCC.
On Oct. 2, Trigon, along with Protestant Campus
Ministry, SAF, and Residence Life, sponsored
speaker Brent Scarpo, who presented the
documentary film he directed, produced and titled
"Journey to a Hate Free Millenium." According to
Trigon President Abbey Atkinson, trle purpose of the
presentation was "to raise awareness about hate
crimes and prejudice; to point out our human
commonality beyond race, religion, creed, ethnicity,
sexual orientation, gender, etc."
The film dealt with hate crimes in relation to three
human lifetime." The position of the objects had
already been recorded and there wasn't much
research involved in finding them.
The resulting picture was a clear image of the
large spiral galaxy of NGC 4319 and the quasar
Markarian 205. Markarian 205 still appears to
be a part of NGC 4319 and there is an arm of gas
that looks like it is connecting them, but the
photograph also reveals many arms of gas
coming off of NGC 4319 that aren't connected
to other objects. That suggests the gas may just
be a characteristic of NGC 4319 or even a part
of Markarian 205. This doesn't suggest that the
two objects are linked. Knacke believes that this
picture will put an end to the debate.
"Had we had this image 30 years ago this never
would have happened; it would have convinced
them," commented Knacke.
Some astronomers may never be convinced
though. They still insist that there is something
abnormal about the two objects, but so far
photographs are the best evidence astronomers
can gather. Maybe this is just as well; probing
mysteries is part of the spirit of astronomy.
Though new to the Penn State Behrend
community, Aleprete calls it "'half big university,'
because the administration is big on rules, despite
the small size of the campus." Also, he notes that
Penn State Behrend has many advantages despite
being a small campus, because "everyone has
access to PSU resources, though we are not
University Park. It is a small environment with
superior research support."
After discussing his field of study, Aleprete
cleared up exactly what International Studies
entails. International Studies is an interdisciplinary
minor that introduces students to global and multi
cultural issues. The idea is to broaden students'
understanding of the connections that link peoples
across international boundaries.
Many of the students who take the IS minor are
planning careers in professional or academic fields
where there are strong international elements
business, politics, law, arts and humanities, and
social sciences. "The minor gives them an
opportunity to focus on these international
connections from a multi-disciplinary perspective,"
said Aleprete.
The historians and political science majors get
to discuss these issues with business majors,
engineering students, and people involved in
theater. Each group of people brings their own
perspective to relevant global issues.
Aleprete began to develop a passion for
International Studies while he was an undergraduate
student, at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall in
1989.
"It was an interesting time period and my
attention was immediately turned in an international
direction," he said. He also feels that IS is a relevant
issue today, because of the recent tragedies of Sept.
11.
"It is interesting to see the reactions of students
after the tragedies of Sept. 11, because it made
international issues even more salient," said
Aleprete.
The 31-year-old visiting assistant
Frida , October 25, 2002
rofessor
major stories concerning the issue. Those stories
included Matthew Shepard, a gay college student in
Wyoming, who was brutally murdered; James Byrd,
an African American man who was dragged to death
in Texas; and the Columbine student shootings. At
the end of his presentation, Scarpo presented all
those attending with a thimble and instructed them
that when they came to a trying time in their lives to
take it out and " fill it with hope, love, and respect."
Scarpo, a graduate of Mercyhurst College, started
the program three years ago and since then has
presented at approximately 200 colleges, 100 middle
and high schools, and 200 conferences.
"I have spoken in every U.S. state except for three
and my personal goal is to do every U.S. state by
the end of the year," said Scarpo. "It has been an
amazing journey." Trigon also organized Erie
PHOTO BY KEVIN FALLON / BEHREND BEACON
Behrend students show their enthusiasm for diversity at the Allies Luncheon on Oct. 11. The
event featured a lecture by English professor Dr. John Champagne.
moved to the area in August from a small suburb
slightly north of Pittsburgh. Growing up in
Pittsburgh, Aleprete is an avid Steelers football fan.
He enjoys various activities such as dancing,
traveling, and reading the Behrend Beacon
(especially the humor page), and also has an interest
in theater arts.
Aleprete is on a one-year contract at Behrend.
He is temporarily replacing Dr. Davies, the
permanent IS professor who is on leave in York,
Canada. However, Aleprete is very enthusiastic
about teaching the International Studies Seminar.
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County Pride Weekend September 6-8.
On Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Trigon presented "If These
Walls Could Talk" in celebration of Gay and Lesbian
History month. Free snacks were provided.
Trigon also had a table outside of Brunos this past
week to raise awareness about gay and lesbian
history. There, members also accepted donations and
distributed rainbow ribbons. Trigon is hoping to bring
pieces of the AIDS quilt and a speaker from the White
House concerning AIDS to campus and to sponsor
open forums on diverse topics.
"Trigon is a thriving organization this year," said
Atkinson. "Our Allies program is expanding and
we have a great deal of allied members who are not
afraid to be associated with us. It's beautiful...the
support we've been asking for all along is finally
beginning to form!"
In fact, he is the first professor to teach this course
because this is the first year it has been offered here
at Behrend. He also plans to teach a senior level
American Foreign Policy course in the spring
semester.
The professor advises his students to read ahead
of time before the test. He also emphasizes that
discussing the material helps retain information in
a better manner.
"There are two methods of learning, reading and
hearing," he said.
Teleseruices Representatiues
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CONTRIBUTED
PHOTO
This photo of NGC
4319, a spiral
galaxy (the larger
object), and
Markarian 205, a
quasar (the
smaller object) is
featured on the
Hubble Heritage
website this
month. The picture
was taken at the
suggestion of Dr.
Roger Knacke,
Director of the
School of Science