V T March 31.2000. The Behrend Beacon, page 3
Astronomy Open House takes
on mystery of The Black Hole'
by Kristen Sedlak
staff writer
The Black Hole, a mystery which
has bewildered humans for many
years, was the topic of the final lecture
of the Behrend Astronomy Series on
Thursday, March 23. Dr. Darren
Williams, assistant professor of
physics, was the featured speaker and
delivered his information to a capacity
audience.
Beginning with a dramatic scene
from the Disney movie The Black
Hole , Williams first set to point out
what a black hole is not. It is not a
vacuum, garbage disposal, or
Amnesty International
to have speaker
by Anne Rajotte
contributing writer
The death penalty in the United
States is an issue that is frequently
debated. George White, CEO of an
anti-death penalty group called Journey
of Hope, has a unique perspective on
the topic. He will be speaking at Penn
State Erie, The Behrend College, on
Wednesday, April 5. at 7:30 p.m. in the
Reed Commons.
In 1985 White and his wife,
Charlene, were victims of an armed
robbery. White survived despite three
gunshot wounds, but Charlene did not.
White was arrested for the murder
of his wife, convicted, and sentenced
to life in prison. He was incarcerated
for over two years before his
conviction was overturned, and he was
found innocent.
Today, White honors his wife’s
otherwise. A black hole is merely a
star that has become so dense that it
collapses inward.
Williams further explained that the
reason black holes appear to be black
is that their density (and thus, their
gravity) levels are so high that even
light cannot travel fast enough to
escape their nothingness.
This involves the “escape velocity.”
Escape velocity is basically how fast
something would have to travel in
order to break through the orbit and
continue traveling away from the
black hole. “Because of this, we know
virtually nothing about what is under
the surface of the black hole, or ‘event
memory by sharing his experience and
perspective with others. “Charlene
White loved life ... that should be her
legacy. What began with a horrible act
of violence should not be memorialized
by an act of vengeance,” White stated.
His speech is being sponsored by
Amnesty International and the Student
Activities Fund. Ray Morelli, co
president of the Behrend chapter of
Amnesty International, commented, “I
have had the opportunity to hear
George White speak in the past. I am
excited to bring him to Behrend so he
can share his story and create
awareness about the issue of capital
punishment at our school.”
The event will be followed by a
candlelight vigil on the Reed Lawn and
refreshments.
Amnesty International holds
meetings every Wednesday at 5:15
p.m. in Reed 113.
horizon,’” Williams commented.
Williams also explained that stars
evolve by transforming the elements
inside them, right down the periodic
table, until they run out of energy.
After producing carbon, a low-mass
star, such as a white dwarf, eventually
becomes dormant and collapses. A
high-mass star such as the sun,
however, would have a much different
reaction. As its size enables it to
continue producing new elements, it
becomes more and more dense
(stopping finally with iron), until it
becomes either a neutron star, or a
black hole.
A simple and brief physics lesson
PHOTO BY MIKE FRAWLEY
Matt Grimmke and Katie Galley take in some culture in Behrend’s
Academic Building. The artwork was bought by Behrend with the
efforts of Dr. Barbara Miller.
followed, with Williams teaching the
audience how one would go about
measuring the mass of a black hole
and its orbital speed by using the
Doppler effect.
Williams is an assistant professor of
physics at Penn State Behrend, and
also a graduate of Penn State. He has
continued his astrophysics research
here at Behrend, and has had his work
published in the scientific journal
Nature.
For more information on black
holes, Williams suggests the book A
Brief History of Time - From the Big
Bang to the Black Hole , by Stephen
W. Hawking.
Artwork catches eye
in Academic Building
by Kathleen Perry
staff writer
Plain cinder blocks used to sur
round students as they walked down
the hallways ot the Academic Build
ing. Now' artwork welcomes students
entering the second Moor of Aca
demic.
In order to spruce up the walls of
Academic, Dr. Barbara Miller, a lec
turer in integrated art, was put in
charge of choosing some prints to be
purchased hy the University and hung
on these plain walls.
Dr. Miller was there from start to
finish, putting in extra hours. Respon
sible for the project, from doing re
search on specific pieces to ordering
the artwork from the Internet, she did
all but hang the frames on the walls.
Dr. Miller was limited to choosing
pieces that were classified as abstract
art and she was interested in display
ing art, from varied cultural back
grounds and by artists of both sexes.
Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending A Staircase No. 2
Jasper Johns. Three Flags
Frida Kahlo, Self Portrait with Monkeys
Frida Kahlo. Self Portrait as a Tehana
Wassily Kardinsky, Gelh Rot Blau
Georgia O'Keefe. Jack-ln-The-Pulpit no. IV
El Lissitsky. Prottn
Robert Motherwell, Flegy To Spain
Jackson Pollock, Number H. 19J9
Mark Rothko. Blue. Green. And Brown
Andy Warhol. Diamond Dust Shoes
Andy Warhol, Four Marilyns
Russia. Mexico and the United
States are just a few examples of the
origins of the chosen pieces, and
women are responsible lor the cre
ation of one third of the pieces dis
played.
One of the most intriguing, and al
ways controversial, pieces of art
placed in the Academic Building is
Nude Descending a Staircase. Pre
sented by its creator Marcel Duchamp
in the 1913 Armory Show, it is known
as the piece that introduced modern
art to America, and has always been
a hot topic of discussion in the art
world.
Miller has noticed students stop
ping in the hallway to look at the art
work, and she has heard through the
grapevine that some Behrend students
have even used the pieces as topics
for class writing assignments. Ac
cording to Greg Cooper, “The artwork
is very nice, it adds atmosphere to the
area, and provides an escape from the
boredom of a normal classroom en
vironment.”
« ’r yy
New Artwork in Academic
Soma Delaunay. Distant Voyages