Volume XXIV No. 36 • Sept. 8, 2000

 

Submit items to Campus Currents - Top

The Campus Currents is distributed every Friday. If you would like to include an item in the newsletter send it to Campus Currents, Unit 9512 or by e-mail to Campus Currents. Deadline is Thursday at 8 a.m.

CSA position open - Top
The following career service position is open
  • senior building maintenance worker (carpenter), facilities services

For additional information, check the announcement bulletin or contact the personnel office.

Anderson co-authors paper in geophysical research journal - Top
Dr. Steve Anderson, asssociate professor of geology and chairman of the BHSU science department, co-authored with three other scientists a paper titled "Emplacement and Composition of Steep-Sided Domes on Venus" to be published this year in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets.

Working with three NASA-funded planetary geologists from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Pittsburgh, the paper is a culmination of a three-year study focusing on the use of radar images acquired by NASA’s Magellan spacecraft to determine the origin and evolution of the surface of Venus. Collaborating with Anderson are Dr. David Crown from the University of Pittsburgh and Drs. Ellen Stofan and Jeff Plaut from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The research is funded by a $220,000 grant from NASA.

The BH professor said the researchers used Magellan’s radar to penetrate the thick sulfuric acid-rich atmosphere on Venus to identify images and interpret geologic structures present on the planet’s surface. They then compared these features on Venus to active lava flows on Earth. This comparison enabled the researchers to determine the processes at work during the formation of these domes. Once these processes were identified, the affect of the Venusian environment on the surface morphology of the domes was considered by constructing mathematical models of the stresses preset during the cooling of different compositions of magma.

"The Venusian surface is approximately 550 degrees centigrade, hot enough to melt lead, and under enormous pressure from its extensive atmosphere, both of which affect the cooling of lava and the structures that form on flow surfaces," said Anderson.

The end result is that researchers demonstrated that lava domes on Venus are most likely basaltic in composition, similar to the type of lava observed in Hawaii.

BHSU undergraduate students Kelly Schoenfield (foreground) and Denise Neugebauer are collecting research data at Obsidian Dome in California. Working with Dr. Steve Anderson, the BH team gathered research data that became part of a study comparing lava domes on Venus with similar lava domes on Earth. The study, co-authored by Anderson and three other scientists, will appear in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets this year.
 

"The findings in this paper disagree with a number of previous works that suggest that lava domes on Venus are silicic in composition, similar to that observed at explosive volcanoes such as Mount St. Helens (Washington) and Mount Pinatubo (Philippines)," said Anderson. "Silicic magma on Earth is found in areas where tectonic plates are colliding and subducting. … suggesting that basaltic magma, which does not require subduction to form is more compatible with the lack of evidence of Venusian plate tectonics."

The researchers conducted field studies at lava domes in California and Oregon for this paper. Several BHSU undergraduate students served as field assistants for this project, including Denise Neugebauer, Kelly Schoenfield, Jennifer Mercer, and David Finnegan. All have since graduated from BHSU and are pursuing careers. Neugebauer is an environmental specialist for the S.D. Air National Guard, Schoenfield is completing her master’s degree at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Mercer is completing her Ph.D. in geochemistry at Dartmouth, and Finnegan is a graduate student in geography at Indiana State University.

Ruddell Gallery features photos and haiku by professors - Top

Babbitt Lamb

"Through Both Eyes" is the title of an exhibition of haiku and photography by Black Hills State professors Dr. Charles Lamb and Steve Babbitt at the Ruddell Gallery through Sept. 29.

Lamb, an associate professor of biology, and Babbitt, associate professor of communications/photography, combined their talents to introduce the public to this art form. The exhibition consists of 33 haiku poems written for and inspired by the accompanying photographs. There will be a closing reception Thursday, Sept. 21 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the gallery.

The BH professors have attempted to "capture a moment in time … and tell us a little bit more about the world around us."

 Haiku is a Japanese verse form, notable for its compression and suggestiveness. It consists of three unrhymed lines of five, seven and five syllables.

The Ruddell Gallery is located in the Miller Student Union and is open to the public at no charge weekdays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and weekends from noon to 5 p.m.

"two old friends

listen to the setting sun

and say nothing"

 

Sarver paper will be published in Fishery Bulletin Top
Dr. Shane Sarver, associate professor of biology at BHSU, recently had a paper accepted for publication in the November issue of Fishery Bulletin.

Sarver’s article is titled "The Occurrence of the Brazilian Sub-species of the Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus westonii) in Florida Waters." The research for this paper and a previous paper "Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Evidence Supports the Recognition of Two Sub-species or Species of the Florida Spiny Lobster (Panulirus

argus)" (Journal of Crustacean Biology 18(1):177-186 were supported by a grant from the Black Hills State University research committee.

Sarver has been a member of the BHSU science faculty since 1996. He teaches classes in biology, genetics and evolution. He is responsible for developing a state-of-the-art genetics laboratory on campus featuring an automated genetic analyzer, which is one of the only instruments of its type in the entire region. He earned his Ph.D. in zoology from Louisiana.

Kopco will present at Adams Museum workshop - Top
Paul Kopco, BHSU instructor, and Helen Alten, conservator and president of Northern State Conservation Center in St. Paul, Minn., will present a workshop to demonstrate methods of conserving and preserving important photographs Sept. 23 at the Adams Museum and House in Deadwood.

Nearly everyone has irreplaceable family photographs that they aren’t sure what to do with – or more importantly – how to care for them for future generations to enjoy and understand their family history. The museum is presenting the workshop in conjunction with its yearlong exhibition "A Snapshot in Time: Photography as Historic Preservation", which runs through Dec. 31, 2000.

Kopco will demonstrate how to digitally restore photographs by scanning and utilizing computer programs to manipulate the images to their original appearance. He is also the designer, composer, and instructor of his company PM Enterprises, which includes Digital Designs, Dakotah Records, and Knowledge of Personal Computing On-site/line. Kopco will demonstrate how to digitally restore photographs by scanning and utilizing computer programs to manipulate the images to their original appearance.

The workshop will be Sept. 23 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Deadwood City Hall, 102 Sherman Street. Reservations are required and can be made by calling the Adams Museum at 605-578-1714. 

Jean Johnson, a business instructor at BHSU, is teaching a series of workshops being offered to MDU employees. The workshops are sponsored by the university’s Center for Business and Entrepreneurship and consist of two sessions each of Word, Excel, Outlook-level 1, and Outlook-level 2. Johnson is teaching six to seven employees at a time. The workshops, three to four hours in length, will continue through Sept. 20.