THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2008
NEWS 3A
RESEARCH
Teams test project using zero gravity
12 students travel to NASA's space center in Houston for experiments
BY SACHIKO MIYAKAWA
smiyakawa@kansan.com
Connor McMullen, Plainville junior, describes his zero gravity experience as riding a rollercoaster in slow motion.
"Everything you feel is amplified much more," he said.
McMullen was part of a group of 12 students who worked with NASA this summer and performed research projects in zero gravity.
Three teams from the University of Kansas were among 32 from across the country that participated in the NASA Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program. In the program, undergraduates tested their experiments in NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.
NASA started the program in 1995 to broaden student interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, said Douglas Goforth. NASA's Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program manager.
different levels of gravity.
"The project introduces young scholars to careers with NASA and the space program, encouraging research and testing of serious scientific and engineering ideas," Gorffoth said.
"That was pretty cool for us to have three teams represented," said Emily Arnold, Hillsboro senior.
Emily Arnold, Hillsboro senior, floats in an aircraft during a reduced gravity flight. Arnold, along with 11 other KU students, used NASA's microgravity equipment at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to test their projects and hypotheses in a zero-gravity environment. NASA chose the three teams from the University, which were part of 32 teams chosen from around the nation, based on the teams' research ideas and proposals.
The students designed their projects on campus and then applied to NASA to test them because NASA had the equipment needed to test
Each KU team consists of four to five students from engineering and physics. The teams spent about a year to preparing for their projects.
Laura Stiles, 2008 graduate, said the program allowed her to experience all of the phases of an engineering project: the conception, design, building, testing and data analysis.
The teams brought their projects to Johnson Space Center during summer to test them in a microgravity environment, which meant that gravity was present but had little effect.
Each of the KU teams spent two weeks at Johnson Space Center. The teams conducted their experiments in a high altitude research aircraft, which created a microgravity environment. They took training lessons to avoid motion sickness and to learn how to deal with the different environment before they went aboard.
Aron Terrell, New York City senior, said the aircraft changed gravity inside by adjusting its altitude and angle. He said free-falling from high altitudes created a zero gravity environment.
"It's the closest thing to outer
space for zero gravity simulation"
Terrell said.
This was Stiles and Terrell's teams' second year participating in the program.
"The microgravity environment is very foreign and hard to maneuver in," Stiles said. "This year we designed from what we learned and had a very successful flight."
Their team found the arm could operate better in a microgravity environment than the gravity of Earth. She said the experiment verified their hypothesis.
Jackie Paschang, Stilwell senior.
said networking at NASA was another benefit she gained through the program. She met students who participated in the program from different schools as well as KU graduates. She said she would like to be an astronaut, and the program brought those hopes closer to her.
"It's a great feeling getting to know engineers and scientists and people who work for NASA," Paschang said.
WHAT IS IT? Microgravity defined
Edited by Lauren Keith
Microgravity, also called weightlessness or zero gravity is the absence of gravity. It is best illustrated by astronauts floating in their spacecraft. They are floating because they are in a microgravity environment. Aside from astronauts, many people experience micrograv-
ity every day by riding roller coasters or jumping off diving boards. It is the "free fall" period of these activities when the microgravity occurs and of course only lasts for a short period of time.
www.microgravity.com
ied satellite photos of thousands of cows around the world.
RESEARCH
Most cattle that were grazing or resting tended to align their bodies in a north-south direction, a team of German and Czech researchers reports in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
And the finding held true regardless of what continent the cattle were on, according to the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany.
"The magnetic field of the Earth has to be considered as a factor" the scientists said.
Student veterans may receive more money from new GI bill
BY JESSE TRIMBLE
jtrimble@kansan.com
President Bush passed a new GI bill in June that could cover all college costs for veterans who served after Sept. 11.
The new GI bill, known as the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, will replace the old Montgomery GI Bill but will not go into effect until August 2009. Student veterans currently using the old GI Bill may be able to receive money from the new GI bill.
The old bill paid portions of tuition, room and board, books and supplies, but it was usually not enough to cover all college expenses. Under the new bill, as long as the veteran served for 90 days after Sept. 10, the veteran is eligible to receive benefits of the new bill. Veterans who served 36 months will receive $6,700, the amount that the government considers the cost of tuition and fees. The less time a veteran served, the less money he or she is eligible for.
Darwin Lujan, Wichita sophomore, is a 24-year-old theater major and will be eligible to receive the benefits from the new GI Bill once it goes into effect. But for the next year, Lujan will still receive the benefits of the old GI Bill.
"The old GI Bill is unrealistic," Lujan said. "My part of the rent for my apartment is $350 alone, and then you add in gas, food, bills. It all adds up."
He said he could really use the extra money from the new bill.
On the Montgomery GI bill,
Lujan receives $1,100 for all college expenses.
"It doesn't cover everything," Lujan said. He said he also had a scholarship granted to him by the Kansas Board of Regents that helped him pay for school and books.
Betty Childers, veterans affairs certifying official at the University, said she wasn't sure how the new Gi Bill would affect student veterans.
Associated Press
ment isn't sure how it will be implemented." Childers said.
The bill may be revised before it takes its final form next August.
"We're not sure how it will be implemented because the govern-
"The new GI Bill hasn't been fully explained to us, simply because it may not be 100 percent approved yet," said Sgt. 1st Class Michael Straw, station commander at the Army Recruitment Center in Lawrence.
With the old GI Bill, active duty members would pay the government $100 a month for 12 months to support the program, resulting in a total payment of $1,200. Straw said there was also discussion about eliminating the $100 payment from active members.
As far as Lujan knows, he'll be included in the benefits of the new GI Bill. Lujan signed up for the Marines in June 2002 upon graduating high school. Lujan said he joined to pay for college, but also because he wanted to fight for his country.
Part of a provisioned rifle platoon, he served in Ramadi and Fallujah, Iraq, from September 2004 to March 2005. Because of his service in Iraq, Lujan said he should get all educational expenses paid for by the new GI Bill.
UP CLOSE New Bill Benefits
Edited by Lauren Keith
Eligibility Requirements
- Veterans will receive benefits up to 15 years after their last day of active duty.
NEWS
No bull: Cattle have keen sense of north
- Eligible veterans must have served at least 90 days of continuous active duty after Sept.11,2001.
- Veterans can receive up to $1,000 for books and supplies each year.
- -The new Gi Bill will cover undergraduate, graduate and vocational/technical training.
- Monthly housing allowances will be paid depending on basic housing allowance.
- Veterans can get payments for up to 36 months. The percentage is determined by the length of active duty. However, the amount cannot exceed the most expensive institute undergraduate tuition.
WASHINGTON — Talk about animal magnetism, cows seem to have a built-in compass.
Somehow, cattle seem to know how to find north and south, say researchers who stud-
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