\u201cTo be an entrepreneur, you must be willing to take on a new venture and accept full responsibil- ity for the outcome,\u201d JP O\u2019Brien said last Tuesday to a room full of Colorado School of Mines\u2019 (CSM) students and faculty, as well as people from the community. \u201cI\u2019ve been successful because my risk-taking has been based on knowledge.\u201d O\u2019Brien is the Execu- tive in Residence in the Division of Economics and Business at CSM and the CEO of SageFire, Inc., which, according to their website,

solutions and services to help entrepreneurs and small business owners get the most from their businesses.\u201d His lecture, called \u201cThe Spirit of Entrepreneurship,\u201d focused on what it means to be an entrepreneur, as well as the common mistakes which go along with entrepreneurship, and how to avoid them.

asking what they thought it meant to be entrepreneur. Answers ranged from \u201cSomebody that starts something on their own\u201d to \u201cSomeone who is self-employed.\u201d O\u2019Brien commented that it comes from a French word which means \u201cTo undertake.\u201d To undertake a venture, O\u2019Brien intoned, as well as to undertake risk. According to O\u2019Brien, the

best question he has asked his clients has been \u201cWhat are we going to undertake together?\u201d

ing the listeners with a list of eleven traits, and asked them to rate each trait as being positive or negative for entrepreneurship. These traits ranged from being motivated to achieve to being a compulsive gambler. He also asked them to rate themselves on each of these traits.

Then, the group went over their thoughts on the traits. Some of his responses were surpris- ing, challenging the commonly thought of traits of entrepreneurs. For example, O\u2019Brien gave the opinion that high risk taking was a negative trait. He said that \u201cUn- dertaking certain responsibility for an outcome\u201d was important, but taking too high of risks was bad. On this topic, he also said that

\u201cThe problem is the person won\u2019t give up \u2013 a person thinks they\u2019ll change things by doing the same thing in the same way.\u201d Later in his talk, he returned to the subject of risk taking. \u201cYou need to have, as an entrepreneur\u2026 high risk tolerance.\u201d

After discussing the traits of en- trepreneurs, O\u2019Brien talked about his factors of success. These in- clude \u201cVision, passion, leadership, innovation, communication and resilience.\u201d He focused particularly on passion, \u201cI like to look to people who like to set goals and have passion behind them.\u201d

These factors of success hav- ing been discussed, O\u2019Brien moved on to the pitfalls which are common among entrepreneurial ventures. Most important among these is what O\u2019Brien called \u201cThe valley of despair.\u201d This is the time in a venture when revenue of a company is well below what the entrepreneurs are expecting \u2013 it\u2019s an occurrence which happens to all ventures, according to O\u2019Brien. However, given enough time and effort, a good venture will come out of the rut. \u201cThis feeling [as- sociated with the valley of despair] affects you so deeply at your core\u2026 I can\u2019t say anything but to tell you it\u2019s okay\u2026 you need to recognize when you\u2019re in the valley of despair, and it\u2019s not the end of the world.\u201d

by discussing different types of entrepre- neurs. These include entre- preneurs, who measure suc- cess in terms of revenue; intrapreneurs, who measure success on

organizational change and social entrepreneurs, who measure their success in terms of social change. In regards to the latter, O\u2019Brien

company that has a requirement to make money for its investors to make social change.\u201d

To sum up, he mentioned that someone once asked him, \u201cDo you see the world simply as op- portunity after opportunity?\u201d This, along with the factors of success he mentioned, which he thinks he possesses, makes him a good entrepreneur \u2013 someone who has started three of his own busi- nesses. He asked to listeners to try to think of the world this way, and in doing that, they might become entrepreneurs too.

\u201cThis is my fourth lecture in 30 hours,\u201d said Dr. Peter M. Duncan as he spoke on campus last week during a lecture hosted by the Society of Exploration Geophysi- cists (SEG). Duncan, who earned a Ph.D. in Geophysics from the University of Toronto, once acted as the President of the SEG, and came to Mines as part of the SEG\u2019s distinguished lecture tour. He came to speak about the use of passive seismic technology as it relates to the oil and gas industry.

For the non-geophysicist reader, passive seismic technology is sim- ply listening to low-frequency move- ments and seismic events (such as earth quakes) via geophones and other sensors. The data collected from passive seismic can then be used to determine a plethora of geological features, such as underground oil sources and rock structures. It is different than active seismic, a process which involves invasive wave-production and can lead to environmental concerns and problems. \u201cPassive seismic is to conventional seismic what a stethoscope is to an ultrasound,\u201d said Duncan, \u201cWe listen to all the \u201csquishy\u201d sounds that are emitted while we\u2019re interacting with a reser- voir. We correlate those sounds to the engineering activity and try to

When Dr. Duncan decided to start his own passive seismic company, Micro Seismic Inc., he re- searched what little had been done

the SEG and others in the industry, he found an interesting editorial from over a decade ago. \u201cIn this case, a geophysicist named Peter Ed- wards, who worked at Exxon, had written in and expressed an opinion that geophysicists were missing the opportunity to apply some of the passive seismic

technologies to oil and gas ex- ploration,\u201d said Duncan, \u201cThe editors of the journal in 1992 said Edwards

was full of bunk. They believed there was no hope for passive seismic applications for the oil and gas business. We are very conservative and take a long time to accept new technologies.\u201d

A brief history of passive seismic applications followed. One example was particularly apt and had a Colo- rado connection: Rocky Flats. \u201cIn April of 1962, they drilled a well and began to pump millions of barrels of waste water,\u201d said Duncan, \u201cWithin a very short time, the area began to experience earthquakes. Immedi- ately, the USGS and Chevron began

currence of earth quakes in relation to their pumping.\u201d This experiment, and similar endeavors, led to a few patents relating to passive seismic data collection and procedures. However, nothing happened in the oil industry for nearly 20 years.

His main focus was that passive seismic needs to be better integrated into the engineering world, further improving the interpretation

of the raw data provided. Also, he mentioned that this data could be used for a variety of applications within the oil and gas industry. Finding missed op- portunities and untapped reserves, estimating permeability, and deter- mining faulting direction were all areas that could be improved via passive seismic.

Dr. Duncan challenged the pro- fessors and students present as he closed. \u201cThe textbook on inter- preting the \u2018squishy\u2019 sounds we\u2019re hearing with this stethoscope hasn\u2019t been written yet, that\u2019s up to you guys.\u201d

\u201cI think it\u2019s very difficult for a company that has a requirement to make money... to make social

For liberal and conservative reactions to the elections, go to www.oredigger.net

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the next president of the United States of America after a landslide victory over rival John McCain.

Congress worked to pass its second stimulus package, promis- ing at least $61 billion toward im- proving the depressed economy.

Washington, found that women with a history of migraines have a lower risk for developing breast cancer, especially types of cancer that are hormone related.

The storm blocked highways and interstates, trapping motor- ists, and left thousands without power.

President-elect Barack Obama selected Rahm Emanuel as his White House Chief of Staff. Emanuel is a fellow Democrat from Illinois who was elected to the House in 2002.

The nation ofVe n e z u e l a launched its first satellite into space from a launch pad in China. The telecommunications satellite is expected to be used for trans- mitting medical and education information, and will not be used for commercial needs.

Three arrests were made in the town of Villach, Austria, in relation to the theft of the \u201cPrince of Bur-

be worth over $4.1 million. The gem was stolen in August from a German jewelry dealer.

category three hurricane with wind speeds of 115 miles per hour by Friday.

The collapse of the College La Promesse Evangelique, a school in the town of Petionville,H a i t i injured at least 100 students be- tween the ages of 10 and 20, and killed over 50. It was reported that the school collapsed due to the weak construction of the building.

The death toll from the North Ossetian suicide bombing in Vladikavkaz, Russia, was

peace deal between Israel and Palestine is unlikely to occur by the end of this year. The White House has announced that peace in Israel is considered to be a long term goal.

A study conducted by the RAND Corporation showed that teens

who watch television shows con- taining sexual content are more likely to getp re g n a n t or to im- pregnate a peer.

The Chinese production prob- lem ofm e l a m i n e content in food products has spread to eggs. The dangerous chemical, which causes irritation to the skin and eyes, as well as renal failure, has also been found in baby formula and meat products.

English scientists have studied nearly 9,000 distributed questionnaires to families with kids. The results showed that infants that were exposed to peanuts\u2014in the form of peanut butter\u2014at an early stage were much less likely to develop peanut allergy. The study suggests that early exposure to peanuts can prepare the immune system to be more tolerant, and inherently avoid developing allergy.

paper explains that it is the beat, not the motion of the toes, that draws the in- sects. Further, it was observed that toads and frogs use this technique to hypno- tize their prey for easier consumption.

shaman has been resurrected. Archeologists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have excavated one of the oldest known graves of shamans. The shaman was a woman, almost 5 feet tall, and with deformities in the legs that likely prevented her from walking easily. The skeleton was surrounded with bones of animals, such as cow tails and eagle bones, and a foot of a human being was also buried in the site.

life concept! A team of scientists at Purdue University has conducted an experiment to measure the half-life of certain elements. During the experiment, a fall in half-life

was in progress. The scientists suggest that the x-rays emitted by the sun can cause variation in the decay of certain isotopes. If true, old theories must be revised or replaced. More experiments are now scheduled.

The quest to achieve smaller and lighter devices has pushed forward research on nanotechnol- ogy. In particular, one aspect of nanotechnology is assembly of nanoparticles.

The problem with nanoparticles is that they are far too small to be assembled by human hands. Stephanie L. Brock, of Wayne State University\u2019s Department of Chemis- try, gave a lecture last Friday exam- ining a solution: Sol-Gel methods for assembly of nanoparticles.

\u201cIf you are interested in solid state devices, and you are making your nanoparticles from the bottom- up, you\u2019re making them in solution. Then, at some point you have to get them out of solution, you have to integrate them with each other and into solid state devices,\u201d Brock explained. \u201cWe want a method of self-assembly that\u2019s going to allow us to link the particles together.\u201d

One process involves hydrolysis followed by condensation of the product until a silicon oxide gel is produced in methanol. However, to be useful, the gel must be dried. Unfortunately, one cannot leave the gel out on the laboratory bench, as it will lose its structure and turn into what is called a xerogel.

Brock talked about her group\u2019s method of drying, \u201cIf you really want to retain this kind of structure while you dry it, then there are a variety of ways of doing it, but the one way that we\u2019ve adopted is really to use

When the gel is dried in this fash- ion, the product is called an aerogel due to the presence of air pockets retaining the original structure. \u201cThis is a great architecture for silica,\u201d said Brock. The properties of the aerogel are somewhat limited, but can be

Are Newton\u2019s Laws the most important things for a physicist to know? According to Patricia Rankin, not at all. Rankin is the as- sociate vice chancellor for faculty diversity and development at the University of Colorado at Boulder and a physicist herself. The ques- tion Rankin posed during her pre- sentation to the Colorado School of Mines faculty was \u201cWhy does diversity matter, and how can we increase it?\u201d

force not diversified? Even after decades of feminism and women\u2019s rights the number of women in

comparatively small to that of men. South Korea, for example, has one- sixth the population, but graduates the same number of women as the United States.

Traditional arguments for the lack of female presence in the sci- ences include such old reasoning

But, Rankin said, \u201cThe argument that bringing women in is a bad thing doesn\u2019t really make sense.\u201d After all, the most innovative and productive environments are those with people from all different demo- graphics and backgrounds. \u201cIf you have a team that thinks all the same

in their designs,\u201d Rankin explained. A variety of opinions stimulates creative thinking.

\u201cAnother argument is that wom- en just don\u2019t want to be scientists or engineers\u2026it\u2019s a variant on the nature versus nurture argument,\u201d said Rankin, \u201cBut if you look at what men and women want in a career, there aren\u2019t any obvious differences.\u201d

A better reason for the lack of diversity is the perception of women and their performance as profes- sionals. According to Rankin, \u201cIf a woman is successful, it is more likely to be attributed to luck rather than skill\u2026 but if she fails, it is at- tributed to lack of skill, but bad luck for a guy.\u201d

making composites.\u201d These com- posite aerogels now develop new properties such as insulation and conductivity.

times be troublesome, and alter- natives need to be found. \u201cWe want to look towards non-oxides.\u201d However, when researching what other people have done, little is found. \u201cThere\u2019s not a whole lot,\u201d remarked Brock.

The reasoning behind moving beyond oxides is due in part to the ability to engineer different proper-

make them at different sizes and they have different luminescence properties, different luminescence colors.\u201d With these different colors,

The process of producing the nanoparticles is separated into two functions, \u201cWe\u2019re going to make our particles, and then we\u2019re going to assemble them,\u201d said Brock. She detailed the reliance of the proper- ties of the gels on certain properties. \u201cIt\u2019s really going to depend on the density,\u201d said Brock. Luckily, the xerogel produced by leaving the sample out has a different density than the aerogel, so multiple proper- ties may be obtained.

Other property experiments involved the basic elements of the gels. \u201cWe were interested in whether you could improve properties by altering the shape of the building block.\u201d When other building blocks, such as rods, were used, the strength of the gels improved.

duced were highly adaptable and useful for a multitude of purposes. Brock mentioned the simplicity of the production, \u201cWe just make the gel and we basically turn it into whatever we want.\u201d With a wide variety of applications, these gels could lead technology into even smaller realms.

Strong, challenging debate and provocative geological questioning were hallmarks of Professor Warren Hamilton\u2019s recent CSM campus lecture. Professor Hamilton is a nationally prominent scientist and Distinguished Senior Scientist for the Department of Geophysics at the Colorado School of Mines

troversial view of plate tectonics. Hamilton presented theories on the geodynamics of early earth and the timing of the onset of modern plate tectonics that are strikingly different to many current Precam-

As part of the Van Tuyl series, Hamilton posed a series of direct statements intended to challenge aspects of recent tectonic research, particularly that focusing on un- derstanding the evolution of the Earth\u2019s mantle and internal structure during early parts of its history. The central question of the talk, \u201cWhen did Plate Tectonics begin?\u201d has far- reaching geological implications and has been investigated intensively, particularly in recent years. As a

the Geological Society of America dedicated their Penrose Conference to the subject, under this precise title question.

thinking.\u201d His questioning presenta- tion style throughout implied a keen sense of his focus on needing to dig down to the underlying assump- tions when utilizing and building on other\u2019s work. To some, these challenges will be appreciated as a salient reminder of the need to keep scientists \u201chonest\u201d in their objectivity when appraising data, especially when drawing on the work from other disciplines where there may

application of the data. To others, his comments will be more accusa- tory that the research community is

researchers do not provide convinc- ing lines of evidence to support their hypotheses and models.

A cornerstone of Hamilton\u2019s lecture was the proposal that there were no semi-rigid Archaean litho- spheric plates, as required by Plate Tectonic theory, earlier than two bil- lion years before present. Key parts

tectonic models need to couple Archaean crustal pressure-temper- ature conditions with mechanisms

Important geochemical rock type variations also need to be taken ac- count of in proposed models. Highly contrasting rocks are observed \u2013 but how can these be derived from similar basaltic parent materi- als and under what upper mantle conditions? The underlying question continues to be debated: When did the modern style of plate tectonics still in operation today, initiate?

For large scale processes such as plate tectonics, being able to consider the big picture is truly cru- cial. A solid technical background is fundamental, but an open mind and intellectual courage are also needed when carefully scaling up local or regional observations by orders of magnitude. Forming tenta- tive answers to such big questions requires bold ideas. \u201cMegathinking\u201d is a term coined to describe the geo- science thinking needed. Standing on the bounds of what is known and understood, any researcher has a high chance of being at least partially incorrect.

scientists can utilize an unconven- tional theory that they develop to further the thinking of the whole

man\u2019s signature theories is the well- known \u201cSnowball Earth Theory,\u201d presented in various papers since

researchers, global glaciation is a fairly controversial hypothesis and still debated. Despite the data/ technical ambiguities in such a topic, Hoffman is credited with posing many stimulating questions, forcing the research community to think carefully about the robustness of alternative ideas and models. Iterative self-review is positive and necessary, and over time, advance- ment is made.

Successfully challenging how we look at a given subject is perhaps the most important contribution any researcher or group can hope to make, and perhaps also the most

acceptance of an idea or guiding principal taken to be an absolute truth, regardless of proof. The

Well framed questions are highly effective in advancing scientific thought. Where systems are highly

break the problem down into ele- ments where it is possible to simplify part of the problem to consider in isolation whilst still learning about the whole system.

Hamilton set out to challenge what he considers to be unsup- ported, widely accepted dogma. Without such scrutiny, many mythi- cal beliefs would still be accepted as \u201cfact.\u201d Hamilton set out his personal theory, but was somewhat hypo- critical with his approach, providing

not fully addressing questions from the audience. Some researchers present clearly felt that Hamilton went beyond constructive question- ing of the work of others.

as much as men to receive the same recognition. The bias in the selection process for jobs creates problems for women. \u201cI think one of the hard things for us to accept\u2026 our selection process is not going to get us the best and the brightest,\u201d said Rankin.

Some new interview styles are designed to eliminate the bias that comes along with face-to-face in- terviews. These \u201cBlind interviews\u201d are sometimes used in musical auditions, where an interviewee will perform behind a curtain so the interviewer cannot determine race or gender. Studies on blind

the selected applicants are women, whereas traditional interviews can result in male-female ratios of three to one.

So what is Rankin\u2019s advice for young women in science and en- gineering? \u201cWomen need to learn to network, think strategically and long-term and negotiate.\u201d Rankin also said to be assertive and take credit for your skills. \u201cOur students will compete in an increasingly diverse world and need to work with people from a wide range of backgrounds.\u201d