OUT & ABOUT UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
7D
Monday, August 19.1996
Big bugs are the buzz in N.Y. exhibit
The Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y. — Giant hissing scorpions and swarming 10-foot dragonflies are invading the state capital.
And they won't be leaving anytime soon, to the delight of many children.
Fortunately, for the faint of heart, the insects aren't real. They're giant robotic models that are roaming an exhibit hall at the New York State Museum.
The insects are part of the museum's interactive "Backyard Monsters" exhibit, geared to increase interest in the pesky critters.
"Insects get a bad reputation," said Jeffrey Barnes, the self-proclaimed bug doctor of the museum. "We're trying to get people to see how useful they are to the world."
Without insects, there would be a shortage of flowers and plants in the world, Barnes said. Insects and flies transport seeds, pollen and other substances from flower-to-flower, helping produce new flowers.
Visitors get a bug's-eye-view of life as they come head-to-head with the mechanized creatures, which
also include a praying mantis, beetle and carpenter ants.
The models are placed in larger-than-life natural settings, complete with 12-foot-long blades of grass and giant versions of common back yard items such as golf balls and sunflowers, said said David LaPlante, supervisor of exhibit productions at the museum.
"We're trying to make people's imaginations run wild," LaPlant said. "There's so much you can do to make it fun."
The mechanical insects are part of a traveling display produced by Creative Presentations, Inc., a California-based robotics company best known for creating giant robotic displays for museums and theme parks.
Its largest models include E.T. figures at Universal Studios theme parks across the country and Greek mythological figures that "come to life" at Caesar's Palace Resort in Las Vegas.
The exhibit reveals up to 20 facets of insect movements, including darting eyes, waving antennae and creeping legs.
Children can take turns frolicking at educational
play stations, where miniature robotic bugs and build-your own models are at their disposal.
Visitors — unless they suffer from entomophobia — can sneak an up-close look at real and normal-sized specimens.
Kim Frey of nearby Schodack said her two sons also gave the exhibit a thumbs up.
"I think it's great," said 4-year-old Christian Deso, who was accompanied by his mother, Kim, of Selkirk, an Albany suburb. "I want to go catch some insects now."
"I think this is cool," said her 9-year-old son, Patrick, who aspires to build his own mechanical models one day.
"I usually just kill ants and collect grasshoppers," said Patrick's 6-year-old brother, Shawn. "But I don't think I could kill these ants. They look so big and real."
The insects are on display in Albany until Dec. 29; at the New York Hall of Science in the New York City Borough of Queens until Oct. 27; and at the Insight Science Museum in El Paso, Texas, from July 31 to Oct. 22.
Take time to check out on-line colleges before enrolling in classes
By The Associated Press
If you're taking courses through cyberspace, it's still important to check out the school's credentials the old-fashioned way, experts say.
Dubbed distance education, on-line classes have attracted more than 300,000 students, according to estimates by the National Continuing Education Association. Some educators say that in the future, most students will take at least some of their course work on-line.
"It's a buyer's market, so picking the right school is a critical choice," says Lynne D. Ballard, director of the continuing education division at Champlain College in Burlington, Vt. She recommends
checking whether the school is accredited. Potential students also might want to learn what the business world thinks about the school you're considering.
"Think carefully before investing time and money in a school that isn't accredited," Ballard said. "Ask your employer or other employers in the marketplace about how they would view a degree or certificate from that school."
Ballard's school offers SuccessNet, an on-line distance learning program that offers virtual classrooms to students who can earn a range of professional certificates and degrees entirely by computer.
Her advice is echoed by Elizabeth A. McDaniel, executive provost and vice president of academic affairs at Nova
Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., another school that offers on-line classes.
She adds that potential students should also find out if there are opportunities to chat electronically with other students; many of students' classmates probably will be people with real world experience. "In the best classrooms, students learn from other students as well as from the professor." McDaniel said. "It's the same on-line."
In fact, students should expect to participate more in classroom discussion than they would in a normal lecture hall setting, she said. And the teacher should be able to reply to e-mailed questions in 36 hours or less.
"If not, you may not be getting the personalized attention you deserve." McDaniel said. "A 24-hour response time should be the goal."
Distance learning methods include audio cassettes, on-line by computer, interactive audio-video and satellite networks.
Broadcast television or one-way video may be frustrating for students who like exchanges with classmates, the administrators said. But if students' reading and writing skills are weak, they may have trouble with on-line courses, which rely heavily on those skills and are the basis of interaction among students and teachers.
Wild water party to end in Ozarks
The Associated Press
OSAGE BEACH, Mo. — The state water patrol has announced plans to crack down on the so-called Party Cove area of the Lake of the Ozarks after a tidal wave of complaints of rough waters and nude revelers.
Since the start of the summer, 300 to 350 boats have gathered each weekend to create an island of sorts by linking their boats at the 4-mile marker of the Glaize Arm inside the Ozarks State Park.
Residents say the dangerously high wakes have flooded shoreline restaurants. Festivities in Party Cove often involve alcohol and partial nudity.
The Missouri State Water Patrol said officers from the parks service, the highway patrol and Camden County Sheriff's Department also would be in boats to increase pressure on area lawbreakers.
Water patrol officers will be pulled from other areas of the lake to cover the area, said Col. Larry Whitten of the water patrol.
"We will be targeting any violation of state law with emphasis on boating while intoxicated, careless and imprudent operation, coming too close to docks and inside buoys, lewd behavior, littering and any type of drug activities," Whiten said.
In addition, the patrol has asked residents to be shore deputies — even using their cameras to catch illegal activities. The patrol encouraged residents to get as much information as possible, including the name of the boat, how many people were in it and its direction.
"We've been asking these people to be like a neighborhood watch force," Whitten said.
This year has seen heightened complaints because while the Party Cove is not new, its location is.
The cove was originally located at the 14-mile cave, but the water patrol blocked the area at the start of this season to protect private developers. To the initial surprise of the patrol, the boats regrouped en masse at the 4-mile marker of the Glaze Arm.
With the increased problems, the patrol also stopped calling the area Pave Coyne, Whitten said.
"It's causing the problem, the way its being referred to," he said.
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