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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 2000)
Page 6A Tuesday, September 5,2 Still Lookine hr in ipartinent? rime isRunn'm Out But We Can Help! AGGIELIFE THE BATTALION Vomit Com€t The shadow world ofA&M sciences By Jason Bennyhofe The Battalion Ml Local Phone FREE Standard Cable FREE Washer & Dryer FREE Ethernet* FREE 24-hour Monitored Alarm Texas A&M is a school ground ed in tradition and secrecy. Nowhere is that secrecy more evi dent than in the little-known off shoots of the various science de partments. Tucked away in small corners, off dusty roads that seem to lead nowhere, are buildings with ominous names such as the Center for Space Power and the infamous Soil, Water and Forage Testing Laboratory. One can only imagine what devious and horrible experi ments take place behind the doors of these buildings. Frederick Best, director of the Center for Space Power, is one of the stealthy heads of these shadowy departments. According to him, nothing terrible goes on there. Un til he mentions the “vomit comet.” Best explained, the horrific pur pose of this machine is to study fluid motion. “We fly up into a zero-G aircraft to study the way fluids work in zero gravity,” he said. “They say that the class that vomits together sticks to gether, but this really helps us un derstand how fluids work in space.” Best said this experiment will help develop systems that can be used on the space station. He said it is necessary to study how fluids move and react to shifts in gravity if fluid-dependent systems are to be used on a space station. “We go up into a KC-135 (air plane) to study this,” Best said. “A lot of students have done it : — more stu dents than faculty.” Take his word for what you will. Unfortunately, these deeds are not confined to the sky above Aggieland, they nest here on earth as well. Michael Tomaszewski, a profes sor of dairy management, said that he works to develop new ways for dairy farmers to monitor their herds. Tomaszewski said that the studies he conducts can help dairy farmers be more productive and make their fanns more lucrative. “We work with software devel opment for dairy cows." Tomaszewski said. “It shows pro duction data on cows and the pro ducer uses it to make the best deci sions with his cows.” Strangely. Tomaszewski has dis covered a similarity between cows and college students. “Running is bad in relation to dairy cows,” Tomaszewski said. “The producer is trying to convert as much energy into the milk the cows pro duce. The more fat and protein a cof produces, the more butter and cheex' the producer can make." Institutionalized cow lethargy Jorge Martinez, director of tk wind tunnel at A&M, said that tunnel is used for aerodynamic re search. “Wind tunnels were originallyde signed for airplanes, but their use Iw been expanded to oil rigs, building* cars and everything that isexposednf wind.” Martinez said. “Ourwindtui net has even been used for bikers.\(i actualh put them in the tunnel with big balance attached to the bike make sure the pressure remains le ippn WiT'ifiiwirifif Martinez said that even theg Lance Armstrong has used thcA& wind tunnel. Armstrong used the nel and came back to win the Tour France after debilitating testicti cancer. Martinez said that the windtu is actually a low -speed tunnel,( ble of blowing winds up to 200i per hour. “Ours is often used for truck', Martinez said. "The high-speedwia tunnels can go as fast as Mach 0.9a!]#** the biggest wind tunnel in the wort measures SO feet by 120 feet, b «■*»** enough to hold an actual fighterplas inside it.” |pj oAffy i lift>1*4 ytP!TC« TffjHf VffVl * syrjfffi fiOUufbSfrcelH ♦ (olbe Stalioiy TK. 979-SS0-3680 ♦ wwui.iAclroie.coin tamu Undergraduates who were REGISTERED with the CAREER CENTER received an average of Come to the Stagehand Meeting Wednesday, September 6th at 7:00 PM in Rudder Auditorium Earn $6.00 per hour it itilli ■ h... ■P-- —— r Try something new! MSC -V- ti 11 1 in their OFFERS than non-registered students in May 2000, ■ , v j irnirnmimm Register with the Career center by September 13,2000 and YOUR NAME WILL BE ADDED TO A DRAWING FOR $500! drawing sponsored by IKON ...is now taking applications for both hungry minds and stomachs! TAMU Career Center 845-5139 209 Koldus http://eareereenter.tamu.edu A place to meet your next employer Let us satisfy your famished minds occasionally throughout the semester with dynamic professors in a small, non-academic, relaxed, and family atmosphere. Students meet over dinner three times a semester to discuss meaningful topics from several disciplines. In terested? See us at Open House, come by one of our informationals, or stop by MSC 223-1 for an applica tion. ml.com <k Informational dates: Monday, September 4, 7:00p, Rudder 501 , Tuesday, September 5, 8:30p, Rudder 402 To inform us of your special needs, call 845-8770 or stop by MSC 223-L2^ai « © 2000 Merrill Lyr