USCTIMES
MARCH 2014 / VOL. 25, NO.3
SCIENCE FAIRS!
WHAT’S INSIDE?
EARTHQUAKES!
WEIRD SCIENCE!
ALCHEMY!
USC seismologists explore S.C.’s faults, page 12
Eight professors recount their personal science fair experiences, page 8
New book turns history into gold, page 12
USC TIMES / STAFF
USC Times is published 10 times a year for the faculty and staff of the University of South Carolina by the Division of Communications. Managing editor Craig Brandhorst Designers Philip Caoile Michelle Hindle Riley Contributors Peggy Binette Frenché Brewer Glenn Hare Thom Harman Chris Horn Page Ivey Liz McCarthy Steven Powell Megan Sexton Jeff Stensland Photographer Kim Truett Printer USC Printing Services Campus correspondents Patti McGrath, Aiken Candace Brasseur, Beaufort Cortney Easterling, Greenville Shana Dry, Lancaster Jay Darby, Palmetto College Jane Brewer, Salkehatchie Misty Hatfield, Sumter Annie Smith, Union Tammy Whaley, Upstate Submissions Did you know you can submit photos, stories or ideas for future issues of USC Times? Share your story by emailing or calling Craig Brandhorst at craigb1@mailbox.sc.edu, 803-777-3681.
The University of South Carolina does not discriminate in educational or employment opportunities or decisions for qualified persons on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetics, sexual orientation or veteran status.
FROM THE EDITOR
PROJECT SCIENCE FAIR Last March, five or six of us here at the Division of Communications volunteered as guest judges for the 57th annual Central S.C. Regional Science and Engineering Fair, hosted by USC at the Carolina Coliseum. What we encountered was truly inspiring. From skullcaps that measure brain waves to statistical models predicting the future success of NFL draft picks to what may or may not have been a hand-drawn blueprint for the world’s first time machine, we saw it all. Most of us were judging fifth and sixth grade projects, but the learning curve was sometimes surprisingly steep — and not because we’re a bunch of former English and journalism majors. These were bright kids, and their enthusiasm was contagious. It is with last year’s fair in mind — and this year’s fast approaching — that we came up with the idea for this special issue of USC Times. The celebration of trifold posters and the scientific method begins on page 4 with a look at the history of science fairs in America, courtesy of history doctoral candidate Sarah Scripps. Word of Sarah’s dissertation-in-progress, “Science Fairs before Sputnik,” came to us after we put out a call for faculty reminiscences of science fair glory, and we’re positively thrilled that it did. We came away from the interview noticeably smarter and think you will, too. Now for that glory thing. “Weird Science,” our collection of whacky and wonky science fair narratives by members of the USC faculty, begins on page 8 and includes an astonishing tale from School of Medicine professor Adam Hartstone-Rose. We’re not handing out prizes, but Adam’s tale does demonstrate, in a mere 300 words, just how transformative the science fair experience can be. Of course, it also left us wondering just what a New York City teenager was doing studying lemurs in Madagascar, but that’s a story for another Times. And the narratives don’t end there. Between engineering professor Michael Sutton’s anti-magnetic blackout and seismologist Philip Crotwell’s mercurial fruit flies, we found some pretty compelling stuff. We even brought in something of a ringer, soliciting a piece from writer and women’s and gender studies professor Julia Elliott, whose debut short story collection, “The Wilds,” comes out this October from Tin House Press. We figured we could count on Julia to spin a good yarn and we weren’t wrong. The science fair fun technically ends on page 10, but the science continues. For example, you can dig in the dirt with an archeologist (“Field Notes: Chester DePratter, page 11), find fault(s) with a seismologist (Understanding Our Faults,” page 12) or go for the gold with some modern day alchemists out of USC Aiken (Systemwide, page 12). Of course, if you need a break, you can also just pick up a good book. The 3rd-annual Open Book Series, previewed on page 2, features several titles worth your time. Finally, a quick shout-out to physics and astronomy administrative assistant Evelyn Wong, who won our name-that-typographic symbol contest last month, correctly identifying and explaining the bit of whimsy in the header of our evolving Systemwide page — right , Evelyn!
CRAIG BRANDHORST MANAGING EDITOR
VOL. 25, NO.3 1
TIMES THREE
RUDY ROCKS!
Take a tour of the Forty Acre Rock Heritage Preserve and Wildlife Management Area with USC’s resident naturalist Rudy Mancke. The 2,200-acre heritage preserve in Lancaster County is where the Piedmont meets the Sandhills and is designated as a National Natural Landmark. The area includes granitic flatrocks, waterslides, waterfalls, pine forests and a variety of wildflowers and wildlife. The class will meet at the park at 10 a.m. March 21. Directions will be emailed to participants before the course, which costs $49. For more information, click on the Carolina Classroom link at discover.sc.edu.
LIVING HISTORY Alumna Henrie Monteith Treadwell, the first black student to graduate from the University of South Carolina since 1877, completed a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry in 1965, then continued her education at Atlanta University, earning a master’s and doctorate in biochemistry. As director of Community Voices at Morehouse School of Medicine, Treadwell studies health care for underserved populations and health concerns of black male teenagers. As part of Carolina’s commemoration of 50 years of desegregation, she will deliver the I. DeQuincey Newman Lecture at 6 p.m. March 27 at Spigner House.
Office Space Got a cool or unusual workspace? How about a killer view? USC Times wants to know where you work, what you like about it and why you decorated it the way you did. Send photos, descriptions or lyrical tributes to your home-away-from-home to craigb1@mailbox.sc.edu.
PlusOne , ANYONE? For years, the university has offered benefits
“Households are changing. You’ve got adult kids
such as membership at recreation facilities and
coming back home, people caring for elderly
library access to family members of faculty
parents, and domestic partners,” said Caroline
and staff. Now, in response to requests from
Agardy, associate vice president for Human
faculty and staff with nontraditional families,
Resources at USC. “We wanted to make sure that
the university has broadened these benefits to
we are not excluding some people from benefits
include any adult living in the same household
that we control and that other employees get.”
with an employee. The PlusOne program is the result of many requests, primarily from new
Interested faculty and staff members can learn
faculty, and is similar to programs at other
more about the program at carolinacard.sc.edu/
Southeastern Conference schools.
PlusOneid.html
2 USCTIMES / MARCH 2014
REQUIRED READING
BY GLENN HARE
TIME WARP
2014 OPEN BOOK SERIES PUSHES BOUNDARIES
Martin Amis’ “Time’s Arrow” recounts the journey of Dr. Tod T. Friendly — in reverse chronology. The novel follows the former Nazi physician from his American deathbed to his return to war-torn Europe to a concentration camp where he liberates captive Jews. “Time’s Arrow” and other works of fiction that push the boundaries of time, place and narrative structure will be showcased during the 2014 Open Book Series March 17 through April 16. “Writers are always experimenting with new ways to explore universal themes,” says creative writing professor Elise Blackwell, who directs the annual literary series. “And this year’s writers are exceptional at crafting new approaches that get readers thinking about age-old themes.” Part book club, part lecture series and part community read, the Open Book is a “hybrid”
literary event, Blackwell explains. “We focus on books that are of high literary value yet also accessible to the general reader in the hope that the series will appeal to the whole community.” Before each author visit, there is a public discussion. During the next session each writer talks about a specific aspect of his or her book, including what inspired it, the process of writing it and reactions to it. “This approach makes for a very interesting and engaging dialogue,” says Blackwell, “and the writers deeply appreciate that the audience is familiar with their book.” Sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, this year’s Open Book Series features five award-winning writers, including Amis, who was named one of the “Fifty Greatest British Writers Since 1945” by The Times of London. Amis has also been shortlisted for the Man Booker and James Tait Black Memorial
prizes. His other best-selling books include “Money” and “London Fields.” MacArthur Foundation fellow Yiyun Li will read from “Gold Boy, Emerald Girl,” a collection of short stories written in lyrical prose. In the title story a professor introduces her middle-age son to a favorite student, unaware of the student’s true affections. Kirkus Review called “Gold Boy, Emerald Girl” “a stellar assortment of stories about the struggles to escape and connect in contemporary China.” Raised in Beijing, Li came to the U.S. in 1996. She is the recipient of the Frank O’Conner International Short Story Award, the PEN/ Hemingway Award and The Guardian First Book Award. Her other writings include “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers” and “The Vagrants.” Charles Johnson’s 1990 National Book Award-winning novel “Middle Passage” has
VOL. 25, NO.3 3
IF YOU GO... What: 2014 Open Book Series Where: The Ernest F. Hollings Special Collections Library located in the Thomas Cooper Library. When: 6-7 p.m., Mondays and Wednesdays beginning March 17 Registration: Free; priority seating is available to registered participants until 5:30 p.m.; artsandsciences.sc.edu/theopenbook/
achieved the status of a classic. Set in 1830, it presents a personal and historical perspective on the U.S. slave trade, telling the story of Rutherford Calhoun, a freed slave who unknowingly boards a slave ship bound for Africa. The New York Times Book Review called it “A novel in the honorable tradition of ‘Billy Budd’ and ‘Moby Dick’…heroic in proportion…fiction that hooks into the mind.” Johnson’s other books include “Oxherding Tale,” “Faith and the Good Thing” and “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Tales and Conjurations.” “A Visit from the Goon Squad,” by Jennifer Egan, won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The series of stories loosely follows the intersecting lives of music producer Lou, musician-turned-producer Bennie, Bennie’s assistant, Sasha, and a host of other characters. The Irish Independent described the book as “thoughtful, subtle, funny, wacky, energetic,
and profoundly authentic.” Egan is also the author of “The Invisible Circus,” “Emerald City and Other Stories” and “Look at Me.” As a journalist, Egan writes frequently for the New York Times Magazine. Composed of six related stories, Irish author David Mitchell’s “Cloud Atlas” takes the reader from islands in the South Pacific in the 19th century to Reagan-era California of the 1970s, then to a post-apocalyptic future where a new religion has formed. Mitchell’s other books include “The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet,” “Black Swan Green,” and “Ghostwritten.” He is the winner of the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhyse Prize for the best book by a writer under 35. “Cloud Atlas” was a Man Booker finalist.
SCHEDULE Yiyun Li, “Gold Boy, Emerald Girl” Monday, March 17: Talk Wednesday, March 19: author appearance David Mitchell, “Cloud Atlas” Monday, March 24: Talk Wednesday, March 26: author appearance Jennifer Egan, “A Visit from the Goon Squad” Monday, March 31: Talk Wednesday, April 2: author appearance Charles Johnson, “Middle Passage” Monday, April 7: Talk Wednesday, April 9: author appearance Martin Amis, “Time’s Arrow” Monday, April 14: Talk Wednesday, April 16: author appearance
For more campus events, visit calendar.sc.edu.
4 USCTIMES / MARCH 2014
VOL. 25, NO.3 5
Science Fairs in America
CAPTURING THE IMAGINATION BY CRAIG BRANDHORST
VER STAY UP UNTIL 3 A.M. STENCILING A HYPOTHESIS AND CONCLUSION ONTO A TRIFOLD POSTER WITH A GRAPH SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE? OKAY, YOU KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT SCIENCE FAIRS. LISTEN UP, THOUGH: SARAH SCRIPPS HAS YOU BEAT. A doctoral candidate in history, Scripps is currently completing a dissertation titled “Science Fairs Before Sputnik,” which traces their evolution from 1928 (when the first large-scale science fair was held in New York City) to the mid-1950s. “I was interested in children’s understanding of science, how children engage with science and how that’s changed over time,” says Scripps, who came to USC for the master’s in public history program before pursuing a doctorate. “In the 1960s and ’70s, projects become more homogenized — you start to see the three-panel, argument-driven projects we all know — but earlier projects were very different. I find this earlier time to be the most transformative.” Rooted in the progressive Nature Study movement of the early 20th century, America’s first science fairs were designed to foster an appreciation for the natural world among children in urban areas and tended to have an agricultural bent, not unlike the 4-H competitions that preceded them. However, as the idea captured children’s imaginations, they expanded in size and scope.
6 USCTIMES / MARCH 2014
SARAH SCRIPPS, DOCTORAL CANDIDATE IN HISTORY, AUTHOR OF THE DISSERTATION “SCIENCE FAIRS BEFORE SPUTNIK”— DID YOU EVER DO A SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT YOURSELF? I did an inventor’s fair project. It wasn’t science, per se. My invention was Soap Afloat, which was a floating soap dish. But I don’t really know what purpose this Soap Afloat was supposed to serve — it was really just a soap dish Velcroed onto a piece of wood! This was in 6th grade…
“They really caught on like wildfire,” says Scripps. “By the end of the 1930s, you start to see the sorts of categories we think of today — chemistry, physics, engineering. That’s also when they started to spread to a national scale.” But prewar projects didn’t fully resemble the ones we know today, according to Scripps. Into the 1940s, for example, it was as common for participants to build dioramas that told narratives about science as it was to follow the steps of the scientific process. Those early fairs were also open to collaborative team and club projects. By the time of the first National Science Fair in 1950, however, the focus had shifted to the individual, and fairs were increasingly meritocratic, with the related Westinghouse Science Talent Search even requiring participants to “pass” an IQ test. “When science fairs started, they were more about grooming children to have a scientific habit of mind,” says Scripps. “In the post-WWII period, they become much more about creating future scientists and engineers.” Scripps even tracked the careers of former National Science Fair winners, discovering eight Nobel laureates and dozens of other prominent scientists, many in fields related to national security. “With a lot of these children, after college, their career is ‘classified’ or they worked for the Atomic Energy Commission. And it makes sense. Companies like Westinghouse were the primary sponsors at that time, and, of course, Westinghouse was part of the military-industrial complex.”
VOL. 25, NO.3 7
But if the Cold War helped shape the fairs of the 1950s, subsequent decades sparked other changes. The environmental movement of the late ’60s and early ’70s, for instance, prompted the historic ban on vertebrate animal experiments. Since the first international science fair in 1958, the concept has also grown and spread outside the U.S. Eventually, in 1998, semiconductor chip manufacturer Intel began sponsoring the International Science and Engineering Fair, which now attracts more than 1,600 high school students from 70 different countries. “Children embraced this from the beginning and developed their own sort of scientific community, not in spite of their youth but by virtue of it,” says Scripps. “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.”
SEE YOU AT THE FAIR The 58th Annual Central SC Region II Science and Engineering Fair will be held March 21 at the Carolina Coliseum and promises to be the biggest one yet, with more than 600 participants expected from nine Midlands counties. The top female and male winners in the senior division move on to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles. “In the past, our students have won third or fourth place in their categories at the international competition,” says Science and Engineering Fair director Oscar Lopez. “This is impressive, given that 70 countries participate every year.” The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair is a program of the Society for Science and the Public, which provided the archival images for this story.
8 USCTIMES / MARCH 2014
ALLEN MONTGOMERY, RESEARCH PROFESSOR, PUBLIC HEALTH
WEIRDSCIENCE
In Hamilton, Ohio, where I grew up, I entered a science fair with a display of crystals that I had grown by dissolving a chemical in water and then letting it evaporate very slowly. As the chemical comes out of solution, under careful conditions it deposits as a single crystal, which then grows in a form unique to that chemical. I had started this project a couple of years before without thinking about the fair, and in that time they had grown to be quite large. In fact, four or five were very large – several pounds, and in beautiful colors.
*
School science fair projects can be amazing expressions of creativity, innovation and budding intelligence. They can also be downright disastrous, sometimes hilariously so. USC Times asked faculty to recount their personal experiences testing hypotheses and reaching conclusions and received the following remarkable narratives. We were all young once. USC’s best and brightest are no exception.
Janice C. Probst, professor, public health; director, S.C. Rural Health Research Center My 9th grade science fair project was a nutrition experiment: feeding one mouse a balanced diet and a second, experimental mouse a low-quality starch diet. (This was back in the day when using live animals was acceptable.) I did all the approved science geek stuff: borrowed a small scale from a neighborhood pharmacy for portioning out the special diets, fed the mice, observed them for two months. Before the fair I prepared my poster, “Well Fed But Starved?,” wrote up my results and lugged the two cages and the rest of my display into the gym of my Catholic high school. The next day it snows outrageously. I don’t get into school for four or five days. When I get back, I learn that the mice had somehow escaped, but that Sister Andrea, the science teacher, had successfully recaptured them. Visual that I can only imagine: plump nun in full old-time habit dashing after white mice in a basketball gym packed with a high school’s worth of science fair projects. Later, I learned from my mom that the principal had favored mousetraps or some other form of summary execution, but Sister Andrea had prevailed. I believe I got third prize.
* No animals were harmed writing this story. All experiments were conducted by children in a different era.
In their six-liter Erlenmeyer flasks, lit from beneath, my crystals were striking. I won the local fair and then the semi-regional. However, I knew nothing about crystallography. Principles of structure or growth? No, they were just pretty objects and challenging to grow. Also, the light underneath the jars heated up the water, and by the time the judges arrived, some crystals started to be re-absorbed in the solution, leaving one of the largest lopsided. The judges asked me some questions and looked at the jars, but that was the end of the line for me and my beautiful crystals.
VOL. 25, NO.3 9
ELISE LEWIS, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
Carlina de la Cova, assistant professor, Anthropology, and African-American Studies The science fair experience I remember best was in fifth or sixth grade and it was traumatic. I tested the effects of different colored lights on plant growth and, apparently, there is no substitute for real sunlight. I showed up to school with dead plants and a long face. Some of my classmates had done experiments using dry ice, and I thought it was so cool. I’d never seen that before. I certainly hadn’t made the connection between dry ice and those awesome MTV videos and ’80s films like “Ghostbusters” until I saw their projects. I had always been more fascinated by people, diseases and history, and after the science fair experience, my projects started to reflect that. Today, I love science and have found a way to merge pathology and history. I suppose I should thank that science fair for pushing me toward my interests.
When I was in fourth grade, I had a cousin who was finishing dentistry school. He gave me a bunch of extracted teeth, which I soaked in coffee, Coke or water. My conclusion? Coffee and Coke are bad for your teeth. I think the only reason I won first place was because I had real teeth in my exhibit. I took third place in the district fair. After that experience, the only thing I knew for certain was that I did not want to work again with teeth. Ever.
Adam Hartstone-Rose, associate professor, cell biology and anatomy, School of Medicine My junior year of high school, I entered a project called “Through the Eyes of a Lemur” in the New York City science fair. I had been working at the American Museum of Natural History, where I had started studying lemurs, and had even taken a trip to Madagascar — my first of six — to study them in their natural habitat. Still, my chemistry teacher had to convince me to enter. While I was pretty geeky, participating in the science fair seemed to take things to a whole new level. Finally, I did present but when I was invited to the award ceremony, I asked if it was really worth going, as my teacher was already satisfied with my participation. They assured me that it would be worth it. I was skeptical, but I thought that at least I might meet some girls. My teacher joined me. I convinced my parents that it wasn’t worth taking off work. Well, I won a couple of the small awards and was pleased with the few hundred dollars in prize money. I also met a girl, who I ended up dating for a few months. I was completely unprepared, however, when, at the very end, they read my name for the top prize overall for a junior: a full four-year scholarship to NYU! My teacher nearly passed out. As it happened, I didn’t go to NYU. Duke is home to a world-famous lemur center, and when word spread of a high school lemurologist, they, too, offered a scholarship, which I accepted. I’ve gone on to graduate school, received a graduate research fellowship from the National Science Foundation and ultimately found a career — all because of a science fair that I had to be dragged to. I look back at my teenage self and laugh at what a punk I was.
10 USCTIMES / MARCH 2014
Michael A. Sutton, professor, engineering; director, State Center for Mechanics, Materials and NonDestructive Evaluation In seventh grade, my science teacher asked if anyone wanted to enter the school science fair and build something interesting. I agreed, and the teacher and I eventually built a demagnetizer. Essentially, this was a big electrical coil inside a wooden box. When I put a magnet inside the coil and ran current through the coil by pushing a plunger
PHILIP CROTWELL, SEISMOLOGIST, EARTH AND OCEAN SCIENCES I did a couple of projects in high school involving fruit flies. The basic idea was to breed the fruit flies, kill them with ether, then count them and look for mutations. The first project was the kind where you already know what’s going to happen, and it wasn’t particularly memorable except for the stench of the stuff the fruit flies eat, which is kind of like rotten bananas. The next year, I came up with this weird idea to put mercury in the vials and see what happens. They would never let you do something like this now, mercury is highly toxic, but this was a different time. Ultimately, the mercury didn’t seem to have any effect whatsoever on the fruit flies, but I did learn something: If you don’t use enough ether, you only knock the flies out, you don’t kill them. So as I’m sitting there trying to count fruit flies, a bunch of them start waking up and flying off, which, now that I think about it, may have affected my results…
on top, the resulting electromagnetic fields would demagnetize any magnet put inside. I built the box out of oak and varnished it until it was beautiful, wound copper wire around a metal cylinder and placed this coil inside the box. We connected the coil to a wall plug and tried it out by pushing the plunger, which was on top of the box. Well, it worked the first time, so I decided that I was ready. On the day of the science fair, just before the judges arrived, I put my demagnetizer in my booth, just in front of my poster describing how it operated. Nervous because this was my first fair, I decided to plug it in and make sure it worked. The next sound I heard was like a very large bee – BZZZZ – coming from my demagnetizer. Immediately, smoke rose from the oak box. At almost the same time, the entire room went black. I had shorted out the electrical system in the entire building! Thus ended my very short science fair career.
Julia Elliott, assistant professor, English and women’s and gender studies, Extended University In fourth grade, I designed a double-blind study on the effects of nutritional disparities on Mesocricetus auratus, the golden hamster. After creating a cage with a two-chambered bucket and a square of window screen, I provided each specimen with cedar shavings, a water bottle and a feeding dish. Specimen one, Jackal, received carrots, spinach, apples and vitamin-fortified pellets. Specimen two, Hide, received a sad diet of cookies, ice cream, Coca-Cola and, most regrettably, Jim Beam bourbon whiskey from my dad’s liquor cabinet. Although I didn’t record data on feeding times or amounts, I used a dropper to fortify Hide’s water with spiked Coke, which felt very scientific. In less than a week, I made some amazing discoveries. Jackal was a relaxed fellow with a curious pink nose. Hide, however, squirmed, bit and seemed to suffer from digestive issues. This data led me to the profound conclusion that fruit, vegetables and vitamin supplements constitute a healthy diet, while junk food and booze constitute an unhealthy one. Before I could release my findings to the scientific community, however, my little brother secretly placed both Jackal and Hide into the “unhealthy” side of the cage. On the night before the science fair, I found the rodents brawling on a pile of cookie crumbs and urine-drenched cedar shavings, both of them irritable and hungover. My discovery ruined, I labored until midnight, constructing a last-minute Play-Doh digestive system. Although it didn’t prove much about what diet does to our bodies, my purple-and-red rococo masterpiece was at least humane. It also foreshadowed my future career in the humanities.
VOL. 25, NO.3 11
GET SMART
FIELD NOTES: CHESTER DEPRATTER BY PAGE IVEY
For field class students visiting archaeologist Chester DePratter’s latest dig site – a Civil War prisoner of war camp on the grounds of the former State Hospital in downtown Columbia – the goal is to dig like a scientist. DePratter and several USC archeology students are currently digging up select plots on three acres in the southwest corner of the 165-acre Department of Mental Health campus, which served as a POW camp in the winter of 1864-65. About 1,300 U.S. officers were held at the makeshift prison, known as Camp Asylum, but there were few barracks or tents, so many prisoners slept in holes to stay out of the elements. It is those holes, long since buried, that DePratter and his students hope to find. “For me, it is interesting to see the juxtaposition of the historic and the prehistoric,” says Tara Smith, a 21-year-old senior from Fair Haven, N.J. on her second dig. “You can see the distinctions in the dirt.” DePratter takes a trowel and scrapes at the ground. His trained eye follows a line of red clay, a line of black dirt and a line of lighter brown dirt. These three veins represent different eras of history. The clay is the base, what would be here if peo-
CHESTER DEPRATTER
“We hope to find some of the dugouts the prisoners used. They built stick and mud chimneys to go with them, so there should be a depression. If they were lined with wood, we should see some evidence of that.”
ple had never touched the earth. The lighter brown and black areas are fill dirt, likely from when the area was transformed from a gravel parking lot to green space. “You have to read the earth,” says 23-year-old senior Jacob Borchardt of Columbia, who is on his first dig. This particular plot was chosen because it had been least disturbed and, according to period drawings and maps, served as the prison’s hub. As students outline their dig areas, they shovel dirt into large boxes with screens on the bottom so the dirt can be sifted for artifacts. “The most intriguing thing about archaeology is to combine the amount of physical labor involved with the detail work to find these little pieces,” Borchardt says. “It’s all about strength and finesse.” So far, the researchers have found coat buttons and Goodyear rubber combs used to remove head and beard lice. But artifacts aren’t that important to DePratter, who says he’s more interested in finding evidence of how the prisoners lived and learning about that particular moment in history. “It’s not what you find,” DePratter tells his students. “It’s what you find out.”
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BREAKTHROUGH BREAKOUT
UNDERSTANDING OUR FAULTS BY STEVEN POWELL
SYSTEMWIDE
FOCUS UofSC AIKEN
USC Aiken chemistry professor Monty Fetterolf, university affiliate Cathy Cobb and a California State University Los Angeles distinguished professor emeritus of chemistry and physics are co-authors of the forthcoming book “The Chemistry of Alchemy” (Random House). Fetterolf spoke with USC Times about the project. First of all, what is alchemy? Alchemy was the belief that everything is composed of the same set of elements, and with the proper catalyst, these elements could be assembled into any desired product, including gold. This notion persisted for more than 600 years in Western thought. The practitioners of alchemy came from all walks of life — scholars, priests, pirates and thieves.
Why tackle this particular subject? What’s the allure? This is a book of alchemical demonstrations accompanied by brief biographies of the curious lives of the alchemists who performed them. We were fascinated at the perseverance of alchemists in the face of what had to be overwhelming evidence contrary to their belief. It is impossible to make gold by any chemical means, and they had to have seen failure after failure. We wanted to know what kept them at their fires.
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I
f you were among the many South Carolinians who felt the earth move during last month’s Valentine’s Day earthquake — or even if you just read about the magnitude-4.1 Edgefield temblor the next morning — you know this part of the country is not immune to seismic activity. What you may not know is that South Carolina is the most seismically hazardous state in the eastern U.S. The most powerful earthquake ever observed on the East Coast struck in the Palmetto State, with an epicenter just north of Charleston. Because the magnitude-7 quake hit more than a hundred years ago, in 1886, many people don’t give it much thought. But geologist Jim Knapp’s research is showing that public safety officials should definitely take the seismic landscape into account as they draw up emergency plans. USC professor emeritus Pradeep Talwani did much of the pioneering work on seismicity in the eastern U.S., mostly in the Charleston region. Knapp’s work picks up where Talwani left off. “We’re relative newcomers,” Knapp says of his research team. “Our interest grew very naturally several years ago out of our DOE-funded work on evaluating the feasibility of geologic storage of carbon dioxide in South Carolina.” In the course of the study, Knapp’s group developed a new understanding of the geometry of buried faults in the seismically active Charleston area, called the Middleton Place Summerville Seismic Zone (MPSSZ). Those faults are associated with the opening of the Atlantic Ocean some 200 million years ago, when the tectonic plate upon which Africa rests began to separate from the one under North America. Knapp, doctoral candidate Erin Derrick, and the rest of the research team are positing a new map of the region’s faults. Those faults cause frequent earthquakes that are so small (magnitude 4 and less) they often go unnoticed by the public. But that wasn’t the case in 1886. And there’s a distinct possibility that a similarly powerful quake might hit the now heavily populated region. As part of her dissertation, Derrick is proposing the location and structure of a new fault, the Lincolnville fault. “It’s actually quite important because it runs underneath, or along, Interstate 26, which is the major transportation artery in and out of Charleston,” she says. “If a major earthquake were to hit that area, it’s essential for public safety to make transportation plans that take that into account.”
AROUND THE SYSTEM
GLAUBER’S GHOSTLY GOLDEN GARDEN
USC Aiken dining service partner ARAMARK announced the arrival of a campus Starbucks.
When alchemists grew these ghostly trees topped with goldcolored iron oxides they believed they were on their way to a glittering golden harvest.
USC Beaufort presents “Connections: Explorations in New Media” (March 20-April 6), featuring art created by USCB students and faculty.
So did reproducing these ancient experiments shine any light on their motivation?
USC Lancaster TRiO Programs hosted the 4th annual Soul Food Cook Off to raise funds for emergency textbook scholarships.
After digging into the old writings for alchemical reactions we could reenact, we were amazed. No wonder they thought they could make gold! We reproduced their glittering alloys and found they looked remarkably like gold.
USC Salkehatchie will present the play “What Matters Most” this month at the Carolina Theater. The original play takes audiences back to the Salkehatchie region of the 1960s.
USC Sumter named Michael Sonntag dean. Formerly, Sonntag was chief academic officer at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. USC Union will host the 4th annual Upcountry Literary Festival March 21-22. The keynote speaker is Southern cooking expert Ronni Lundy. USC Upstate will welcome Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham as the inaugural speaker for the Dr. John B. Edmunds Jr. Distinguished Lecture Series on March 26. To learn more about the USC system, visit sc.edu/about/ system_and_campuses.
“Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in history “Science fairs were originally designed to make science fun, there was an element of playfulness. I think we should always remember that.” Sarah Scripps, doctoral candidate in
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