page 2 - The Behrend College Collegian. Thursday, April 2, 1998
SGA continued
Melissa Musante, 07 Biology, had
this to say concerning changing the
numbers on the apartments and em
phasizing the names on the build
ings: "It's a pain. I don't like it!"
Jessica Lloyd, 08 Political Science,
stated, "If they want to draw more
attention to the names—they should
replace the (missing) letters." An
other complaint concerning the
apartment quad was that there needs
to be either a map or signs erected
so that there aren't quite so many lost
pizza deliverers wandering around
aimlessly. Chris Reber, Dean of Stu
dent Affairs, replied that there is sup
posed to be a map put in the quad.
What really caused a number of
people to become upset was a simple
statement from Kelly Pahel, "Our
apartment stinks!" This led to com
"Extra-Solar Planets" explored
at Astronomy Open House
by William Jordan
staff writer
"Extra-solar planets" was the
topic of last Thursday's astronomy
open house which was held in Sci
ence 101. Dr. Roger Knacke, Di
rector of the School of Science, in
troduced Alan Boss, who received
his Bachelors degree of Science
from the University of South
Florida, teaches at Carnegie Institute
in Washington, and is the author of
"Looking for Earths."
Alan Boss began the lecture by
talking about the "media hoopla" of
the existence of extra-solar planets.
Boss said that "the claims really are
real." For the first time there is sci
entific proof of the existence of other
planets. Boss had slides to accom
pany his lecture. "Why did it take
so long to discover the first planets
outside our solar system?" Boss
asked. He answered his own ques
tion by saying that it is very hard to
see a planet that is next to a star. He
said that infrared wavelengths can
be detected. He also said that fu
ture telescopes will operate on in-
frared.
Boss said that there are two indi
rect methods of finding other plan
ets outside of our solar system. The
first that he spoke of was that it is
possible that when a star has a
planet, the star may be going around
the planet in what is known as a
"wobble." A scientist named Peter
Van de Kamp thought that he could
use this method to find other plan
ets. By 1963, they had accumulated
a great deal of data about stars.
Bamard's star, which Van de Kamp
discovered, was believed to be
moved by a planet.
In 1973 George Gatewood, while
doing research, found out that he
could not find or duplicate Van de
Kamp's orbit of Barnard's star. It
was later discovered that the tele
scope that was used to find
Barnard's star was changed twice.
Management students
hold mock job fair
by Anne Rajotte
managing editor
Recruiting job applicants, inter
viewing and choosing employees.
Behrend management students are
learning these real life skills in their
classes. Tuesday night, two sections
of management classes held their
own mock job fair in the Reed Com
mons.
Peg Thorns, assistant professor of
management, was overseeing the
fair. According to Thorns, the stu
dents had to create their own com
panies, then recruit other students
in their class to apply for jobs. At
the job fair, the students had to in
terview each other and give tests for
plaints that ceilings and walls don't
meet, windows are not sealed shut
so there are holes in the apartments
which allow all types of creatures to
roam about the apartments freely,
and carpets need replaced—just to
Some of the professors were annoyed that SGA had
the nerve to criticize them for their book selections.
name a few of the complaints. The
students who expressed their discon
tent feel that housing doesn't care
and they also feel like they are be
ing taken advantage of since they are
paying $260 per month for accom
modations that are not worth that
much. Lloyd gave an example of
the top quality materials that must
have been used in her apartment by
It was changed once in 1949 and
again in 1957. These changes in
troduced errors in their data.
The second indirect method of
finding other planets outside our
solar system is the Doppler method.
Boss gave an example to explain
how the Doppler method worked. If
a star was moving around a mass,
such as a planet, scientists would
measure the Doppler variation of
light given off by the star. He com
pared the Doppler measurements to
a train going by. If a train were com
ing, the whistle would be louder as
it got closer, then it would get qui
eter as it moved away.
"Why did it take so long to discover the first
planets outside our solarsystem?"
Boss then said that in 1995 Swiss
astronomers discovered 51 Pegasus
which is the first planet discovered
outside of our solar system. The as
tronomers found something peculiar
about 51 Pegasus. Its mass is about
half of Jupiter and its orbit is roughly
4 days, not 12 months.
Boss then said that two scientists
Marcy and Butler had been collect
ing data since 1988 and as they
looked it over they discovered two
other planets. In October of 1995,
the first cool, brown dwarf star was
discovered. The mass of this type
of star is too small to burn hydrogen
and they do not stay bright for very
long. Brown dwarf stars also have
a peculiar spectrum. Scientists also
discovered the presence of methane
in these types of stars.
The next topic Boss covered was
the theory of star and planet forma
tion. He began with the formation
of a star. Boss said that the forma
tion of a star begins with a dark
the specific jobs they were offering.
Thorns stated that the students had
to "design all questions and choose
the type of tests." Some groups used
The students had to
create their own
companies, then recruit
other students in their
class to apply for jobs.
personality tests while others were
more specific. A group looking for
an interior designer had paint
samples and another group gave a
telling the group how she was able
to visit her neighbors without even
leaving her apartment when she put
a hole through her wall. Someone
else complained that they could hear
the people next door sneezing. With
all of the talk of the bad conditions
of the apartments and the plans to
build a new residence hall, one stu
dent was heard mumbling, "Fix what
you've got."
One sorority member suggested
that they he allowed to write on the
sidewalks like they used to. Reber
tried to address this by stating that
in the past, washing the writing off
cloud in space. A portion of the dark
cloud starts to break down until it
reaches the size of 3 Jupiter masses
which is the lowest mass that you
can reach as the cloud collapses.
The cloud then begins to heat. Be
cause of this it can no longer break
down. This process is what creates
a star. Planet formation begins with
a central star which is surrounded by
a flat disc of dust. Over 1,000 years,
the dust particles begin to connect.
After 100,000 years there are some
small and some large pieces of rock
which have been formed and con
tinue to collide with each other.
"The bigger you are the more gray-
Alan Boss
Teacher at the Carnegie Institute in Wattington
and the author of "Looking for Earths"
ity you have," Boss said. He also
said that "this phase of evolution was
very chaotic." After about a million
years the rest of the gas and dust dis
appears and the planet is left behind.
Scientists do no know why. "Giant"
planets such as Jupiter form in basi
cally the same way, except they have
rocky and icy cores with gas around
them. Boss stated that scientists are
doing calculations to see how hot or
cold the discs are. He said that an
alternate theory to the creation of
"giant" planets is that if the discs of
dust get cold enough, "it clumps into
blobs of gas." This theory of cre
ation is thought to only take 1,000
years.
Boss said that before the first dis
covery of an extra-solar planet in
1995, "basically nothing was
known." Today a lot is known about
these extra-solar planets and several
other classes of objects.
Boss concluded his presentation
by discussing the future of the search
typing test.
Thorns stated that "when the stu
dents are all done, they have really
learned how to do something." Jill
Brown, 08 management, agreed,
stating, "I think its a great learning
experience and it applies to the ma
jor." Brown's group recruited
twenty seven people to fill six jobs.
During their recruiting session, they
gave away free pencils and candy
to encourage students to apply.
Thorns stated that this exercise
give students a chance to practice
both interviewing and being inter
viewed. The students "have to make
choices as to which candidates fit
the job."
News
has taken up a lot of the maintenance
crews' time. The same student fired
back saying, "Rain washes it away
and they can't even plow the side
walks!" Kelly Pahel added, "The side
walks aren't in good condition any-
In frustration one student asked,
"Who can we talk to'? - Zampetti
said that any problem or suggestion
can be put into the SGA box or can
be brought personally to the SGA
meetings every Wednesday at 5:30
in Reed. In addition, Reber said,
"You have every right to express
your concerns. Go to the person
closest to the problem. For example,
for those of you with complaints
about the apartments, email Ed
Mulfinger. Or, send a letter to The
Collegian."
for extra-solar planets. He said that
right now they are using a Keck ID
meter telescope to search for extra
solar planets. In the future scien
tists hope to combine 2 Keck 10
meter telescopes to form a 1(X) meter
telescope. He said that scientists
hope to be capable of seeing Ura
nus or Neptune size particles within
the next five years. Other concepts
for the future include an interferom
eter telescope and a terrestrial planet
finder telescope which would be on
a satellite in space. He also said that
in time by using the thermal spec
trum scientists will be able to mea
sure the atmosphere of a extra-solar
planet.
After his presentation, Boss
opened the floor to questions. One
member of the audience asked if the
formation of Earth's core was
unique. Boss answered by saying
that we 'do not knoW if the other
planets have cores yet but the for
mation of a core is evident. There
fore Earth's core may or may not be
unique. Another member of the au
dience asked if a planet the size of
Jupiter will form in our solar sys
tem. Boss replied by stating that
there is no longer enough gas or dust
within our solar system to form an
other planet. Major planets remain
in a constant orbit and our solar sys
tem is very stable. Another audience
member asked about 51 Pegasus.
Boss said that systems such as 51
Pegasus are not rare. 51 Pegasus is
in a stable system right now. Scien
tists hope to find more than one
planet in each system. It all depends
on how precise your data is.
photo by Jason Blake
Dan Merson, Assistant Coordinator of Residence Life, displays a replica of his $25
reward money for being the first to come up with the name of The Beacon which will be
the new name for The Collegian next year. Managing editor Anne Rajotte is on the left
and editor in chief Andrea Zaffino is on the right.
Police And Safety
R F.,
03/24/98 Met with complainant regarding student who
had copied his parking permit on photocopier
0 3 / 2 4/98 Complainant brought in stray dog. Dog was
placed in garage and state dog warden was notified
0 3 / 2 5/98 Caller stated that there was a very strong odor
of urine in the elevator of Almy Hall
03/26/98 Student lacerated toes while playing outside of
Perry Hall. Victim was treated and transported to Health
and Wellness for further treatment
03/28/98 Saw a female with a Miller beer can in the quad
She gave it to a male who fled into an apartment and
jumped out the window
03/28/98 Reported fight at the suites. Turned out to be a
fake complaint. Checked it out and no one was there
Who do you think
donated the $2O million
to the School of
Business?
"Actually it was me, but don't tell any-
one."
"It was my buddy Pound."
-Brian Stanisavlovich, 02, DUS
"I don't care because I'll never see it."
-Tom Papadatos, 04, Eitglish
"Dean Lilley"
"The Behrend Lion."
"Joe Paterno."
"It was probably Mr. Behrend."
-Amy Swadling, 06, Management
-Todd Benson, 02, Accounting
-John Rix, 08, Psychology
-Peggy Wong, 06, MIS
-Jim Roth, 04, Accounting