n e w s
March 24, 2008Page 2
w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t
Abdullah Ahmed,
Asst. Busss Maa
UNITED STATES - Research-ers at the California Institute of Technology (NASA JPL) con-ducted a study regarding thedifferent ways polymers reactto electricity. The fruit of theresearch led to the discovery of
Articial Muscles (Electro-Active
Polymers). When induced bycertain voltages, the polymerschange shape and size and ap-pear “alive.” The discovery will
provide many benets, especially
with building robots for space.ETHOPIA - The governmentasked the National Bank toexamine all of the gold storedin the vaults after the discoveryof fake gold-plated steel blocksthat have been bought for mil-lions of dollars. What worriedthe government even more wasanother discovery of fake “gold”that had been sitting in the vaultsfor years! Arrests were made asmore investigations were held. VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI gavehis Easter Day address where he urgednations around the world to help stopviolence in many countries that are suf-fering. He said that “We fail to remem-ber… Darfur and Somalia, the tormented
Middle East, especially the Holy Land,Iraq, Lebanon and nally Tibet, all of which
I encourage to seek solutions that willsafeguard peace and the common good.”CHINA - With turbulent preparationsfor the Olympic Games, an unexpect-ed problem presented itself lately: theweather. The forecast indicates cloudyskies during the Olympic Games inChina, which would prevent the us-age of the sun to light the Olympic Torch like every year. A proposedsolution is to light the torch some-where else and carry it to China later.
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This Week at
Mines
CSM received $5.9 million
from the US Department of Energy to research unconven-tional natural gas extraction.
With a $150,000 grant from
the Economic Development
Commission, CSM’s 8th Con
-tinent Project has launched an“aerospace business incuba-tor” that will link select busi-ness start-ups with “expertsin venture capital, legal, risk management, communicationsand management consulting,”according to the Denver Post.
The Rocky Mountain News re
-
ported last week that CSM, in
addition to CU, CSU, and UNC,
could see up to a 9.5% tuition
hike next year. The current pro-
posal is not nite and any chang
-
es to CSM’s tuition must be ap
-proved by the Board of Trustees.
Murray Hitzman, the Charles F.Fogarty Professor of EconomicGeology in CSM’s Geology and
Geological Engineering Depart-ment, was featured during Spring
Break at the Isaac Asimov Me
-morial Debate in New York City.Dean of Graduate Studies Dr. Thomas Boyd announced thatmetal diplomas will no longer beawarded at the CommencementCeremony and graduates will,instead, receive a personalized
paper certicate immediately andtheir metal certicates by mail.“It’s my spring break too!” saidMikayla Buenger, a participant in
the recent trip to Washington DC
with the McBride Honors Program.
The group of students - virtually all juniors from a variety of differentmajors - spent a week investigating
the intricacies of the Federal Govern
-ment and how legislation moves. The students began their trip early
on Saturday, March 8, when mostMines students were beginning their
week of relaxation. There would beno sleeping in for this group, however,
with daily meetings beginning at 8:30.
Along with meeting congres-sional representatives and otherimportant figures in WashingtonD.C., the students were also taskedwith following a piece of legislation
through Congress. For each of the
projects, they were to determinewho the key actors were in eitheradvancing or deterring the legisla-tion, as well as why those key actorsheld the positions that they did. Throughout the week, they met
with the White House Fellows, the
National Research Council, bothColorado Senators Wayne Allard(R) and Ken Salazar (D), and count-less other individuals. Some hadinformation very pertinent to areasthat the students were studyingwhile others offered insights onthe processes of Washington D.C. The eleven students were bro-ken into three groups, each study-ing a different energy topic. Onegroup focused on the Roan Pla-teau and the potential drilling thatmay occur in Western Colorado. This topic has become a hot but-ton issue as estimations regard-ing the potential oil their increase. Another group worked on a projectinvolving nuclear power, analyzing thekey question of what is stopping theUnited States from more actively pur-suing nuclear power. They spoke witha number of different lobbyists and re-search councils during their endeavor.Damien Illing, a Junior in Chemi-cal Engineering working on thenuclear power project, said, “Wespoke to a lot of insightful peoplewhile there. They all had a differentperspectives to add, many of which
we hadn’t previously considered.” The third group analyzed Future
-Gen, a project which involved a cleancoal power plant and carbon seques-
tration technology. Funding for the
project was recently removed from
the Executive Branch’s recent budget
proposal and Representatives fromthe state of Illinois wanted answers. Through meeting with individu-
als from the Office of Manage
-ment and Budget, as well as the
FutureGen alliance, the group was
able to determine a timeline of decisions by which the project pro-ceeded ultimately determining sev-eral causes of the direction change.
The trip wasn’t all work and no play,
however. Students received each of the evenings off as free time to eitherwork on their projects or explore the
city. Most students chose the latter,
spending countless hours site seeing.Junior Kevin Duffy said, “The mon-
uments are amazing at night. They’ve
done such a good job aligning thecity and lighting the monuments
that you just can’t help but standin awe when you rst see them.”
Whether they was busy at work with their projects or exploring thecity, the students generally raved
about the trip. For some it wasan experience that they’ll never
forget, and for others it offered aninsight into a world that they oneday would like to be a part of.
McBride Juniors visit Washington D.C.
to experience public policy frsthand
Anant Pradhan
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