Evergreen Research

Why should there be a place in the CPJ for science at Evergreen? Why should the community be interested in science at Evergreen? Why should students and faculty want to write about their research for the CPJ? I became more concerned with these questions on February 13, when the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) kicked off its 163rd annual, week long, "Meeting and Science Innovation Exposition."

This was the second time Seattle has provided the venue for the AAAS to showcase discoveries, highlight the fun of science, and wrestle with critical issues of the day. The theme was "Engaging Science-Sustaining Society" and offered two hundred sessions covering a wide array of sciences. Each session brought a panel of top researchers together to present their latest research followed by a period for discussion. For example, one of the sessions was on the topic, "What is Time," with a panel made up of an astrophysicist, a quantum physicist, a theologian/physicist, and a theologian/philosopher. It was mind-bendingly amazing. All together, the topics at the convention represented almost every area of science from research in genetics to research on the limits of the universe. Here is a list of just a few of the session titles:

"Patenting Human Genes"
"The PetaFlop Initiative"
"The Last of the Nomadic Herders"
"Northwest Coast Aboriginal Plant Use"
"Accuracy in Science News Reporting"
"Host Genes and Resistance to HIV infection and AIDS"
"The Future of Industry on the Internet"
"New Technology in Hanford Waste Treatment"
"Science Teaching and Cognitive Psychology" "Watershed-Based Restoration in the Northwest"
"Science, Policy, and the Old-Growth Forests"
"Science of Memory"
"Neurobiological and Environmental Approaches to Communication in Different Species"
"Creating Healthful Food Systems"
"Is Sustainable Tropical Forestry Possible or Desirable"
"Biodiversity and Human Responsibility"
"Human Behavioral Ecology and Evolutionary Biology"

This list exemplifies the diversity of scientific research going on around the world and here at Evergreen. Even the session titles sound like Evergreen program names. What struck me about this convention was the enormous number of reporters, from every type of mass media, covering the sessions. NPR broadcasted live from some sessions, Time magazine reported on "What is Time" and every TV station probably sent up a special satellite for the presentation by, the Elvis of computer nerds, Bill Gates. In some sessions the news reporters took up the first two rows of the audience. Most people are interested in science, this is evident in the onslaught of mass media. So, why is it that there are hundreds of reporters covering one week of science presentations at the Seattle Convention Center, but not a single article in The Cooper Point Journal on presentations that go on all year long at The Evergreen State College? Why is it that, just in the last year, we have had Evergreen science faculty, recent alumni and students being interviewed or published in The Olympian, Discover Magazine, National Geographic, and various scientific journals, but not one article in our own Cooper Point Journal? It seems an Evergreen science student has a better chance of showing up in the New York Times than in the CPJ. Why, in fact, one Greener, Elizabeth Thomas, appeared in a New York Times photo from the AAAS convention.

I've heard a number of people voice dissatisfaction with the limited variety of subject areas covered in the CPJ. Many people agree that a school newspaper has a responsibility to cover social injustices, political actions, and activities in arts and school sports. But, what of science? I donÕt remember ever seeing a news article, letter or opinion in the CPJ covering whatÕs happening in the sciences here at Evergreen, or anywhere else in the world (there were two letters in one recent issue--Bravo!). The people who complain (myself included) are one of the reasons for this lack of content in our school paper. The CPJ is always asking for submissions, but obviously these have been lacking in the area of Science at Evergreen.

Evergreen students and faculty are researching some fascinating subjects and their choice of subjects are influenced by events taking place in the environment and society that effect us all. Some students ask why anyone would be interested in what Greeners are doing in the lab. Of course most protocols are going to bore even the best science student to death, but there is so much more to scientific research than steps in a procedure. It is up to the person writing the article to put the research into a context and language that everyone can understand and relate to. Isolating T-even bacteriophage (viruses that attack bacteria) and running PCR on their DNA can be pretty damn boring, but if the reader is told about the immense danger in the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria, such as Tuberculosis, around the world due to current pharmaceutical, horticultural and agricultural practices, an article on this bacteriophage and its possible use as a natural antibiotic can become interesting to everyone who breathes.

Many students come to college with the fear of math and science, which society and years of mundane, poorly taught high school classes instill in them. Evergreen offers these students the chance to let their own curiosity entice them aimfully through math and science to a better understanding of a subject of their own interest or concern. Coverage of engaging questions being addressed by science students at Evergreen could foster these studentÕs own interests. Science does not always have to be cold, unbiased facts. Researchers do not have to fit a stereotype. You donÕt have to slave over a research assignment purely for the sake of fulfilling a requirement. If you have a research topic, figure out why you want to research it, what about it fascinates you, then let us know about it in any format you want--make it sexy, make it funny, make it spine rippingly frightening or just pleasingly informative. Personalize your own data to tell a story. Team up with a student from another class who has another approach or, better yet, an opposing view. Flag waving can be important, but I hope to see the sincere ambition to intelligently develop and communicate all sides and feelings around the sometimes controversial scientific issues and techniques.

I thought I didn't have time to contribute to the CPJ while in programs such as Molecule to Organism or Matter and Motion, but with hind-sight, I see many projects could just as easily been written in an article manner and submitted to both my professor and the CPJ. Credit should be awarded to anyone who understands their research well enough to communicate it effectively to the average person on Red Square. Such a skill is very sought after in many career fields such as teaching, law, politics (be it taking part or tearing it apart), and the mass media. And, just one well written article in your portfolio can set you apart from other equally qualified job or grad school applicants. Science students often leave Evergreen with skills and knowledge of subjects in scientific research, but are in the dark on what career and academic options are open to them, what kind of salaries they might expect, and how they compare to everyone else out in the academic and work force. A science column could be a great place to share experience and give advice for seeking out and applying for work or grad schools, since currently nothing exists on this campus for such dialogue.

Science articles existed in the CPJ in the distant past, written by science students. I would like to initiate a more consistent coverage of science in the CPJ, covering Evergreen student, faculty and alumni research, experiences and philosophies. How will this work? I suggest people try to write articles about their own research or someone elseÕs. Students and faculty in philosophy programs should also submit articles on the philosophy of science or the science of philosophy. Although, faculty are usually busting their butts trying to keep up with daily duties, I think an occasional work from our closest role-models is important. If they have time for Discover and National Geographic, they should have time for our own Cooper Point Journal. If you are working on something or know of some research that would be worth covering, but canÕt cover it, send an e-mail to thomasel@elwha.evergreen.edu or muellerm@elwha.evergreen.edu and include what the research is and why you think itÕs important. One of these people may cover it. If you think anything or everything I wrote in this article is bull or beautiful, donÕt e-mail me. Write it down and submit it to the CPJ. Any words about what science is about, will help Greeners get more familiar with their place and options in science.

Mark Mueller

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To Be or Not to Be a Ph.D.

This question and more to be addressed by Evergreen's new Math and Science Network

We are in the sciences because we love finding out about the world and how it works. But how are we going to work in the world? Starting a life in science is more than just being good at bench research, it's a career made up of many obstacles and choices. C'mon science folks, do we really know what we are getting into? A new organization, the Math and Science Network, recently sprang up on campus. This presents a unique opportunity for math and science students to discuss the realities of life after Evergreen. One of the most immediate questions facing us is whether or not to apply for graduate school. Traditionally, students have been encouraged to get a Ph.D. and find a job in academia. While students are still being encouraged to take that route, some who have followed it are questioning the wisdom of their choice. Without a good war, the government is not seeking out Ph.D.s like they used to. Today there is talk of "Ph.D. birth control." What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a Ph.D.? What areas of science are overpopulated with Ph.D.s and which are not? Is it worth the extra schooling?

These questions are fueled by the recent rise in media coverage of underemployment among postdoctorates. For example, Alan Hale, co-discoverer of the Hale-Bopp Comet, has used the wave of publicity surrounding the comet to draw attention to the predicament facing Ph.D.s in the sciences. He even sent out an e-mail saying that, "the opportunities for . . . a career in science are limited at best. . . there is no way that I can, with a clear conscience, encourage present-day students to pursue a career in science." Furthermore, The American Institute of Physics (AIP) Education and Employment Statistics Division has done extensive research and says that "the U.S. awarded 1461 Physics Ph.D.s in 1994-95. 86% of these new graduates received permanent jobs. . . Of the Ph.D.s who accepted potentially permanent positions, 45% were working outside the field of Physics and a quarter of those left the science and technology enterprise [altogether]." Chemists report that their unemployment rate is the highest in 22 years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a net loss of around 10% in the total number of people employed in the US as engineers between 1990 and 1993.

Enough numbers--what might the life of a Ph.D. be like today? In February, the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Exposition was held in Seattle. On the last day which was devoted to career workshops, Ph.D.s talked about their grad school lives (or lack thereof), career choices, and the paths they've taken. They were either tired of begging for grant money (life wasn't supposed to be about chasing the almighty dollar), or sick of working on the same research topic for years on end with results few and far between (the MTV generation wants synaptic fireworks of wonderment and realization). Some were sick of working around the clock to teach classes, do research and publish papers to keep their job (Ahhh, a balanced life of family, friends, nature, and enjoyable work following one's own curiosity); others were just out of work due to an apparent lack of jobs for Ph.D.s in their area of expertise (I'll go all the way and get a Ph.D. because then the doors will open for me.) These woeful Ph.D.s looked like one of three types: 1. The nervous speedy juggler type with the survival instinct to describe their wretched lives in such a way as to convince themselves that they are happy. 2. The mellow graduate of the Ph.D.-twelve-step-program, who bottomed out and took a job in a totally unrelated field, or 3. The older, wiser Ph.D. that is just coming out of the speedy juggler phase and into retirement where they are able to try and fix what they feel is wrong with the system. It was a depressing sight. However, a handful of Ph.D.s stood out from the rest in that they were grounded and exhilarated with their careers and lives. These Ph.D.s had, at some point, become interdisciplinary, exploring related areas such as diplomacy, mass media, law or business. Some of them had to be creative in building a career because they weren't interested in the typical medicine, biotech, engineering, or academia routes. They all had similar advice: create opportunities--don't assume they'll hunt you down, build a multidisciplinary network, tailor your education to the life and work you plan on having, choose a thesis advisor that will allow you to research the broadest spectrum of your interests, consider a masters or double masters rather than a Ph.D., and at the end of the day check to make sure you're not just exhausted but also exhilarated. At the Math and Science Network, students, alumni, and faculty working in science will share information, experiences, and advice. Discussions will be about preparing and applying for grad schools and jobs, recent articles, web sites, scholarships and anything else you want to bring into it. All areas of math and science are welcome! The Network now meets most Wednesdays at Noon in Lib 3500. For info contact guilesm@elwha.evergreen.edu.

Mark Mueller and Elizabeth Thomas

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Research at Evergreen:

An Alternative to Antibiotics?

Antibiotics first became available around 1944. They were "miracle drugs" that could reduce once lethal infections to simple inconveniences. Since that first unveiling, the use of antibiotics has skyrocketed. This use (and overuse) has resulted in a corresponding increase in antibiotic resistance among bacteria. Scientists are being forced to look back at the methods used before World War II to treat infectious diseases that are quickly becoming incurable. In particular, they are now looking at some of the remedies used in less westernized parts of the world. One possibility is currently being explored at Evergreen. For decades, the people of the former Soviet Union have used bacteriophage to treat infections. Bacteriophage--tiny viruses that attack bacteria--are the natural predators of the microbes that cause diseases such as tuberculosis, syphilis, dysentery, leprosy, and cholera, to name only a few. They can be found in all of the habitats in which bacteria are found: in the digestive tracts of mammals, in the oceans, in soil (perhaps on Mars), etc. Like antibiotics, bacteriophage can only attack bacterial cells. In Tbilisi, Georgia, of the former Soviet Union, phage are poured on open wounds, ingested, injected into the blood stream, and used to sterilize counter tops and other surfaces. Use of phage has dramatically decreased the rates of infant mortality and increased the chances of survival from many common bacterial infections, resulting in a longer life expectancy. In the Bacteriophage T4 Lab on campus, two projects are currently being undertaken to look at the possibilities for phage therapy. Mark Mueller and Stacy Smith are testing different strains of bacteriophage on varied bacteria. Some bacteriophage are extremely specific and can attack only one particular strain of bacteria, while others can attack a wide range of related microbes. This is important for any future medical applications. One drawback of antibiotics is that they wipe out all bacterial strains--both harmful and helpful. The digestive system of a healthy animal is full of bacteria. These bacteria prevent other hostile pathogens from moving in. Antibiotic treatments empty the intestines of bacteria, leaving ample room for new, and perhaps toxic, residents. Antibiotic resistant bacteria are particularly likely to fill the void, exacerbating the problem. Bacteriophage, on the other hand, target only the harmful bacteria, leaving the rest alone. By testing which bacteriophage can attack a particular host, we get some idea of which strains may be useful medically. Another part of Mueller's study is the isolation of bacteriophage from the wild--particularly from the wastes of other animals. In order to be able to safely and conscientiously use phage, we need to find out as much as possible about the ecology of bacteria and bacteriophage in their natural habitat. Phage have been studied since the 1920's. In the beginning, they were seen as a potential cure for disease. Eclipsed by the emergence of antibiotics, they have become tools for the study of molecular biology, biochemistry and microbiology. The bulk of data collected since the discovery of DNA centers around lab conditions instead of the physiological and ecological environment of "wild" phage. Another group of students, Elizabeth Thomas, Graham Lankford and Erik Goldberg, are studying T4 and its host E. coli in selected conditions like those in the intestinal habitat. The pH of the digestive system ranges from very acidic (below 3) to around neutral (7.5). For the most part bacteriophage have been studied in neutral conditions with the optimal nutrients, temperature and oxygen content for their host. We would like to deviate from these standards and see whether or not bacteriophage adapt to changes in their host's physiology. New treatments must be discovered in the dawning of a new "post-antibiotic era." Phage therapy is one exciting possibility currently being studied on campus. It offers a cheaper, more specific remedy for bacterial infections. Bacteriophage replicate on their own, making them more effective per dose than antibiotics. Although it will probably be quite a while before phage become an accepted medical treatment in the western world, they could also be substituted for antibiotics in agriculture, replacing those that are now being sprayed on crops and fed to livestock.

If you have any questions about phage therapy or would like to take part in this research, please contact Elizabeth Thomas at thomasel@elwha.evergreen.edu or Mark Mueller at muellerm@elwha.evergreen.edu.

-Elizabeth Thomas

Further reading:

"The Return of the Good Virus," Discover, November 1996
Arrowsmith, a novel by Sinclair Lewis
"The Revenge of the Germs, or Just Keep Inventing New Drugs," a chapter from The Coming Plague by Laurie Garrett
"Phage Therapy Revisited: The population biology of a bacterial infection and its treatment with bacteriophage and antibiotics," Bruce R. Levin and J. J. Bull, The American Naturalist, Vol.147, No. 6, June 1996

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Research at Evergreen:

Hard Science Meets Ancient Healing

Over the last decade there has been a surge in the popularity of Eastern Medicine. Acupuncture, herbal remedies, yoga, and other forms of healing have become both acceptable and commonplace. One Japanese form of healing, Jin Shin Jyutsu, is a type of acupressure currently being studied at Evergreen. The philosophy behind the treatment is this: Along with infectious agents and accidents, things of the mind--attitudes, fears--can block the flow of energy through the body. These blockages, if left untreated, can become embodied in the flesh, resulting in illness, disease or changes in physical stance and stature. They may also result in backups in other parts of the body, resulting in more physical damage. Jin Shin works to remove blockages, and restore the correct flow of energy. Pressure is applied at two points until their pulses synchronize, then the practitioner moves on to a new pair of points along the "flow." Knowledge of the individual's pulse at different points (and the ailment) enables the practitioner to determine which flow is involved. Janet Ott, a certified practitioner and Evergreen faculty member, is studying the physiological effects of Jin Shin Jyutsu on the body. She has a lab set up in which students can work on a subject while monitoring different physiological responses--respiration, pulse, ECG, EMG, galvanic skin response, and EEG. Three different aspects of this research are currently being investigated by students. Caryn Potenza, Nina Bellucci, and Chie Okazaki are studying the effects of Jin Shin on scoliosis (abnormal curvature of the spine). They are working on an energy flow affecting skeletal structure, and are observing its effect on Bellucci, who was diagnosed with scoliosis six years ago. They are monitoring changes in pulse, respiration and muscle activity to find a correlation between use of Jin Shin and physiological activity. Because the length of this healing process is dependent on the length of time the subject has had the condition, two months may not be enough time to dramatically alter the curvature of Bellucci's spine. Her osteopath is following their work with interest. Emily Jacobsen and Ryan Cox are monitoring the effects of Jin Shin on asthma. They are trying different flows twice a week over a ten week period and recording data on pulse and respiration rate. Both have had asthma for most of their lives and are hoping to see a reduction in both severity and number of attacks. They are currently looking for volunteers with asthma interested in taking part (contact jacobsee@elwha.evergreen.edu or rcox@elwha.evergreen.edu). Allison Becker, Dawn Russell and Jonathan Stammers are researching the physiological effects of Jin Shin Jyutsu on different individuals using one specific flow. If you are interested in donating three to six hours of your time to be a subject in this research, contact beckera, dawnr or stammerj@elwha.evergreen.edu. One last area of interest is the points themselves. The points used in Jin Shin are physiologically distinct points within the body. They are believed to be areas with unusual numbers of gap junctions (a gap junction is a bridge between two cells that allows electrochemical pulses to pass through freely). Some of the points can be detected electrically using the physiology instruments in OttÕs lab. This is something Ott and former student Eric Jung have investigated in the past and hope to explore in the future. One focus is why some points can be detected electrically but not others. Is it particular to the subject? Or is there a correlation between health and electrical activity? If you would like to find out more about Jin Shin, or would like to participate in this research, please contact Janet Ott at ottj@elwha.evegreen.edu or ext 6019.

Is there an issue or a research project in the sciences that you would like to see covered in the CPJ? Let us know at thomasel or muellerm@elwha.evergreen.edu.

Elizabeth Thomas and Mark Mueller

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Greeners Make Impression

"The presentations given by these students at the ACS meeting were outstanding" said Dr. Dharshi Bopegedera, the program coordinator of the Atoms, Molecules and Research (AMR) program, after eight of her students presented their research projects at the 1997 American Chemical Society (ACS)--Puget Sound Section--Undergraduate Research Symposium. Almost half of the presenters at this year's symposium, held May 3rd at the University of Puget Sound (Tacoma), were Greeners. The prestigious ACS award for the "Best Presentation" was won by an Evergreen Student, Lawrence Watts. This is the second time a TESC student won this award. The first Greener to receive the award was Dayle Anderson (in 1995), a then AMR student. There were a total of 18 presentations this year. Undergraduates from the University of Puget Sound, Pacific Lutheran University, Western Washington University and Seattle University also presented their research. No undergraduates from the University of Washington presented their work. The names of TESC presenters and titles of their presentations are as follows.

Gary Broeker "Comparison of Solid Phase Extraction Disks To Solid Phase Extraction Columns Using Phentachlorophenol As An Analyte" (A possible environmentally conscious sampling method for detecting toxic wood preservatives).
Carl R. Childs "Analysis of the Fatty Acid Composition of E. coli Cell Membranes" (A potentially faster, more precise, method for identifying bacterial infections).
Heather Hill "Development of a New Method for Detection of Rancidity in Almonds"
Sara Holt "The Reversible Oxygen Binding Properties of Cobalt Tetraphenyl Porphyrins" (A potential method to quantitate oxygen in blood and other fluids).
David Hudson "Use and Effectiveness of Semipermeable Membranes as Sampling Devices in the Environment as a means to Quantify Semi-Volatile Organic Pollutants in Water"
Tyler Johnson "Purification of the T4 Bacteriophage Protein gpALC and Characterization of the inhibitory Effect of this Enzyme on E. Coli"
Cynthia Toompas "Microsphere Loading with Fluorescent Dyes" (Microspheres are used to track blood flow and detect blockages before and after a heart attack).
Lawrence Watts "An Ab Initio Approach to Induced Visible Emissions in Ambient Air"

David Hudson presented results of his work from his independent contract "Environmental Analysis" (1995/96 academic year). His work in the AMR program could not be presented due to insufficient data. Albert Balch Jr. worked on a project titled "Fourier Transform Infra-red Spectroscopy of Germanium Monohydride" but was unable to present it, since he has not obtained sufficient data. Much of Albert's time was spent perfecting the experimental set up, which can now be used by future students. Some of the comments Dharshi heard from chemistry professors from other universities who were at the symposium included, "They (TESC presenters) are very comfortable on their feet answering questions." "They really understand what they are doing and seem very interested in their work." "How do you manage to get so many of them involved in research?" "They are obviously well prepared."

Dharshi requires all AMR students to prepare and present the results of their research projects at the annual ACS meeting. One student, David Hudson, said, "I was extremely scared when I found out I had to present my work. I would never have volunteered to do so on my own, because I thought my time was already monopolized by other school work. It's almost unheard of to formally present work as an undergraduate researcher at larger universities. Now that I've done it, I will present another project next year." In speaking of the success of TESC presenters Dharshi said, "[In AMR] students are individually supervised by faculty members not necessarily associated with the program. This ensures one-on-one contact (so critical in the research environment) and also provides the opportunity for students to have access to a wide range of research projects.The faculty supervisors are doing this work voluntarily above and beyond their regular teaching load. This years faculty supervisors are Fred Tabbutt, Clyde Barlow, Jeff Kelly, James Neitzel, Peter Pessiki, Dharshi Bopegedera (all chemists), Ken Tabbutt (geologist), Betty Kutter (biologist) and Judy Cushing (computer scientist). There are also two research sponsors not connected with TESC; Francis Lau (Brown and Haley Inc.) and David Feller (PNNL). Sara Rideout (TESC library) guided students in doing literature surveys for the projects. It is a well established fact that science students who participate in undergraduate research are more successful in college and beyond. In most science programs at TESC, opportunities are provided for students to pursue their research interests. For students doing research in chemistry, the annual ACS symposium provides an excellent opportunity to showcase their projects, giving them valuable experience and exposure. If you are interested in presenting your research at next year's symposium, contact Dharshi Bopegedera at bopegedd@elwha.evergreen.edu for information (office-Lab I, 2006, ext. 6620). One final note: AMR students will be presenting their research at a poster session on Friday, week 10 (June 6, 1997) in Lab II, first floor from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. Web pages created by students for their projects can also be viewed at that time. Please come!

If you have an issue in the sciences or a research project that you would like to see featured in this column, please contact the authors at thomasel or muellerm@elwha.evergreen.edu.

Mark Mueller and Elizabeth Thomas

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Beer Bottles for Science

by Scotia Stebbins

Since Robin LaSalle wrote the article about our $50 linear accelerator a few weeks back, my project group and I have become celebrities of a sort. People will drop into our lab room to ask us about the beer bottles. (We donÕt need any more, but thanks to all of you who have offered!) Robin wrote a great article, and we appreciate very much that she exposed all of you to our project. I was hoping to take this opportunity to explain some more about how we are utilizing beer bottles in our project. First of all, let me explain why we need to use beer bottles. The objective of our project is to accelerate electrons in a vacuum and to detect them in a cloud chamber that Angus Macnab built last year. (For more about cloud chambers, see his web page at http://192.211.16.13/individuals/macnaba/home.htm). Our source of voltage is a device called a van de Graaff generator. You may have seen one of these in your high school physics class. We want to attract electrons to a positive plate, but the van de Graaff generator produces negative charge. We had to find a way to turn the negative charge into positive charge. By capturing the negative charge that the van de Graaff produces and storing it, we can build up just as much positive charge as the van de Graaff produces negative. This is done in a capacitor. A capacitor is something that stores electrical energy or charge. A capacitor can be two metal conducting plates separated by some distance. As negative charge is built up on one plate, an equal amount of positive charge is built up on the other. If there is a high enough voltage, the air between the two plates will ionize. A spark will jump between the two plates, neutralizing them both. We don't want to neutralize the charges. Rather, we want to use the positive charges to attract the electrons. To avoid the neutralization of the capacitor's plates, a dielectric (a material which does not conduct electricity easily) is placed between them. This allows for greater charge to be built up on both plates. Let's apply this idea of plates to our capacitor system. Our capacitor system uses beer bottles to store charge. Glass does not conduct electricity easily. It is our dielectric. Our beer bottles are filled with salt water (or electrolyte) and placed in buckets which are also filled with electrolyte. The charge inside the bottles is one plate of our capacitor system, and the charge inside the buckets is the other plate. Each bottle can store about 30,000 V (volts) of charge. We want to achieve 300,000 V to accelerate the electrons toward the detector. This is why we have so many (66!) beer bottle capacitors. The greatest problem with the capacitors is a phenomenon called corona discharge. Electric fields are much stronger on pointed surfaces and sharp edges. Corona discharge is a problem because it is a way for the charge to leak into the air where it is no longer useful to us. The bottle caps have many sharp edges. After trying several methods of insulating the bottle caps, we have decided to use a rubberized insulating liquid that dries and covers all the exposed wires and bottle caps. (Plus, it's bright yellow and looks cool!) On top of the water in the bottles is a layer of mineral oil. A vegetable oil mixture is on top of the water in the buckets. The mineral oil in the beer bottles and the vegetable oil in the buckets is a way for us to try to eliminate as much corona discharge as possible. The mineral oil separates the charge in the electrolyte from any air that may be present in the bottle. The vegetable oil separates the charge in the electrolyte from the air above the surface of the water in the buckets. Once the capacitors have stored enough positive charge, we can try to accelerate the electrons. We excite the electrons by heating up a wire. Connecting the positive plate of the capacitor system to the tube that the electrons are in will provide an attractive force to accelerate the electrons from the end of the tube with the wire to the end of the tube with the detector. I hope that this has cleared up any confusion about beer and our project. Feel free to drop in and ask questions any time! We love to show off our work to fellow students. We can be found in Lab II, Room 1241.

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Research at Evergreen:

Flywheels Offer a Clean and Efficient Energy Storage Alternative

By Jason Davis

Every time you turn on your computer or any electric load, the energy being consumed has to instantaneously be produced somewhere else. Here in the Northwest, a few more gallons of water from a reservoir are probably instantly run through a dam to spin a turbine to produce that electricity. Electricity is a short lived form of energy; it is a commodity which is used as soon as it is generated. This unique property creates problems when our distribution or generation system fails or is damaged. Because electricity is not being stored, when the power goes out, our computers and lights instantly lose power. Critical electric loads often have backup power supplies. These systems are expensive, and in the case of generator powered back-up systems can take several moments to begin supplying loads, doing little or no good since 98% of all power glitches last for less than three seconds. Chemical batteries are effective in certain low power applications, but are also expensive, inefficient, and an environmental hazard. There has never been an effective, economical, efficient way to store large amounts of high quality electrical energy and power. Until now. We are all familiar with the heavy stone flywheel kicked with a foot to spin up a pottery wheel, but fewer of us know about a similar possibility involving electrical energy storage. Spinning at RPM values ranging between 7,000 and 200,000, composite flywheel systems may overwhelmingly surpass all other means of electrical energy storage. The flywheel energy storage systems I've been investigating typically use high strength glass and carbon fibers woven into a thick cylindrical flywheel. This design allows an integrated motor/generator to spin the flywheel to extremely high speeds, with the outer fibers reaching 3,700 miles per hour. The amount of kinetic energy stored in a rotating object is proportional to the square of the rotational speed and the distance the mass is located from the axis. This leads to a flywheel design which has the majority of its mass far from the center axis, and has the ability to achieve high rotational speeds. This combination can lead to impressive performance possibilities, especially with regards to power output. Existing flywheel modules can produce around 8.0 kW/kg of power, compared to a V-8 internal combustion engine at around 0.7 kW/kg, and lead-acid batteries at 0.1 kW/kg. This type of performance is important in applications like electric vehicles where low weight and high power is desired to provide snappy acceleration. When weight and size are not a major concern, as in stationary power quality, peak load shaving, and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) applications, flywheel modules can be combined to meet high power demands. For a flywheel system, storing and supplying large amounts of power is easy. The only factor limiting how much power can go into or be drawn out of a flywheel is the size and capability of the motor/generator spinning them up and down. Storing energy for long periods of time is not nearly as simple, and is governed by several forces working constantly to slow the rapidly spinning flywheel. Flywheel systems which can store the energy to power an automobile are still being developed, but several less complex, high power units, will be emerging on the market in the next few months. This prospect has people involved with these applications curious, excited, and anxious. Flywheel energy storage is by no means a new concept. Several key advancements in the development of magnetic bearings, material strength, high efficiency motor/generators, and electronic controls have allowed scientists to take a fresh look at the possibilities flywheels have in store. If this article has sparked an interest, you should come and listen to all the exciting details at my presentation May 29 at 4:30 in Lab I room 1050. I have some great information to share, and will be talking more specifically about basic flywheel structure, current designs, and the groups and companies working with flywheels.

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Research at Evergreen:
Crabs

Crabs like to live in salt water. But just how salty does the water need to be for a crab to live in top condition? The daily life of a crab in an estuary requires it to adapt to changing salinities caused by the characteristic fresh water-salt water mixing zone of an estuary. In order to survive the varying salt content of an estuary, crabs must maintain a salt (ionic) balance in their body fluids. This balance can be maintained in one of two ways: by osmoregulating or by osmoconforming. Osmoregulating crabs keep their internal ionic concentration the same at any salinity, while osmoconforming crabs change their internal ion balance to match that of the water they live in. The gills of a crab act as the site for ion transport. The enzyme responsible for transporting the ions is carbonic anhydrase (CA). When a crab is placed in different salinities, its CA activity changes as it adapts to the new ion content of the water. With this statement, I will lead you into Lab II, up the stairs to the third floor, and straight to a laboratory used by The Marine Environment (TME). All student here are busy working on their spring projects, but it is on one project in particular which I will focus. On a large black table near a window (a necessity when faced with 9+ hours in the lab) sits a water bath. Next to it is a computer with a pH probe and meter attached. This equipment is being used by three TME students, Dawn Holmes, Raphael Ritson-Williams, and Nicole Nelson (me), to monitor carbonic anhydrase activity in Cancer gracilis (the most abundant bottom-dwelling crab in the Puget Sound estuary) in response to different salinities. 43 crabs were caught at TESC beach and kept in salinities ranging from 10ppt to 37ppt for two weeks. When the two week acclimation period was over, the CA activity in the gills of five crabs from each salinity was measured. The purpose of this study was to test which salinity produces the greatest carbonic anhydrase activity in the gills, and which gill pair (4 or 8) has the higher activity levels. We found that the highest carbonic anhydrase activity is in the salinity of 25%. Gill pair 4 showed consistently higher levels of carbonic anhydrase activity than gill pair 8 at all salinities. This indicates that gill pair 4 has the greatest ion regulating capacity, and is very important in adapting the crab to changing salinities.

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Science Anyone?

I¹d like to take this moment to welcome you all back to Evergreen. I¹m sure you¹re amazed at the unusual new carpet in the A dorm, shocked at the radical readjustment of the Housing Community Center, and perhaps a little perplexed at the food found at the Corner Café; but chances are you are not prepared for what is the most amazing, most shocking, most perplexing thing of all: there are science courses at Evergreen. It¹s true. Still stranger: there are science students at Evergreen. I know, I¹m one of them. Even seasoned Greeners may not have noticed this scientific subculture, as most of us spend our days cloistered in the bowels of the lab buildings conducting unfathomable experiments and attempting to master arcane mathematics. Occasionally we emerge, blink our eyes at the sunlight (ormore likelythe rain), and see a world of red bricks, bongo drums, and giant clocks that read 4:20 for more than a decade. We see a world in which we areperhapsa little underrepresented. We are attempting to change this. Last year, a groups of students started a project to heighten the Evergreen community¹s awareness to the interesting (yes!) scientific work going on right under their noses. Though only active for the Spring quarter, they managed to generate an impressive number of articles in our beloved Cooper Point Journal about events, research, and insights affecting the sciences at Evergreen ... but that was merely the beginning. We are back, fully rested from our vacation, and ready to continue our quest. You may think that you have no interest in the sciences and, thus, have no wish to read articles about it. This is where you are wrong. Every week scientific topics like Mad Cow Disease and our mission to Mars make front page news in the world¹s most respected newspapers. The environmental studies for which this school is renowned are based largely on the hard sciences. Some of the ongoing research projects at Evergreen should interest even the staunchest science-phobe: take professor Janet Ott¹s research on naturopathic medicine, for example; or the T4 Lab¹s project to study a bacteria-attacking virus that may one day replace antibiotics; or last year¹s student project to build a particle accelerator consisting mainly of beer bottles. This is research that will directly affect you. Sure, science can be presented in a way calculated to put you to sleep in under five minutesthis is the way it is often taught in high schools and colleges around the countrybut Evergreen is never satisfied to go about things the ³accepted² way. Keeping with this tradition, science here is taught with enthusiasm and care so that the overall experience is rather pleasant and, yes, fun. We shall try to honor this tradition as we create our articles. However, we cannot do all this alone. The typical science student has about three hours of free time a week and we usually try to spend this time eating orif we¹re luckysleeping. In an attempt to spread out the load of maintaining a weekly science column, we will eagerly accept submissions from the scientific portion of our reading audience. Doing cool research or are simply interested in some topic? Write an article about it! Working on a project for a program? Chances are, you could get your professor to give you credit for presenting some or all of your project as a CPJ article. Please make your submissions as objective as possible and be sure to include proper references, but remember, this is not a scientific journal: make your articles lively and interesting, humorous and sexy. The deadline is the Friday before the issue of the CPJ in which you want it to appear. Contact us for more details. Interested science students are encouraged to join the Evergreen Science & Math Network, a newly formed support group for math and science students at Evergreen. They provide help in finding graduate schools and internships, publicize and assist research, send people to conferences, and more. They¹re still bubbling over with ideas, so if you want be in on the beginnings of something big, you¹d best hurry and join soon. Meetings occur every Wednesday at one o¹clock in Lib 3500. Hope to see you there!

Mark Mueller, Elizabeth Thomas, and Christopher Wolfe (muellerm, thomasel, & wolfech @elwha.evergreen.edu)

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Brain Rot:
The Perils of Eating

Prions, Mad Cow Disease, Kuru, Scrapie. Whatever you want to call it, this is one scientific discovery that has an impact on anyone who eats--even vegetarians. In 1955, a young scientist by the name of Carl Gajdusek traveled to Australia where he was sucked into working on the disease kuru--a neurological disorder found in the Fore tribe. The symptoms are similar to those of Parkinson¹s. The disease begins with general loss of muscle control which develops into an inability to move or swallow over the course of three to six months. Autopsies of the victims showed that their brains had become spongelike and full of knots of protein known as ³amyloid plaques² which are also found in victims of Alzheimer¹s. The cause of the disease was unknown. It was found primarily in women and children, and victims showed none of the classical signs of infection or inflammation. A mystery. Eventually, however, the cause of the disease was traced back to the burial ceremonies of the Fore people. These ceremonies are carried out primarily by women and children and include feasts where the body is cooked and eaten. By feeding bits of brain and other tissues to laboratory animals, scientists showed that the bodies of those who had died of the disease were infectious. Kuru was then found to be almost identical to both scrapie, a condition that had been observed in flocks of sheep as early as 1730, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob¹s disease, a sporadically occurring illness found in the early 1900s in middle-aged people. Creuzfeldt-Jakob¹s disease progresses much more slowly than Kuru, and often leads to blindness, dementia, and dramatic personality changes. In 1985 a similar disease broke out in British cattle. Formally christened ³bovine spongiform encephalopathy,² but commonly known as ³Mad Cow Disease,² the disorder quickly became prevalent throughout England. English farmers began to report that their cattle were acting funny. Previously calm and gentle cows became skittish or aggressive, had muscle spasms and eventually died. Dead and diseased cows have traditionally been delivered to the slaughterhouse--to be made into meat-and-bone meal--and no exceptions were made for those dead of this new illness. Meat-and-bone meal is made of diseased livestock (cows, sheep, pigs, sometimes chickens) and the parts of healthy livestock unfit for human consumption. It is used as a protein supplement to feed other livestock, to increase their growth rate and milk production. In 1988, when it became obvious that meat-and-bone meal was the common factor in all of the cases of mad cow disease, the British government banned the sale of carcasses obviously infected with the disease. The ban did not affect cows living with or sharing food with diseased cattle, so farmers who discovered a cow with the symptoms immediately slaughtered any animal who might be expected to fall ill. This allowed them to bypass the ban, and asymptomatic cattle were still made into meat-and-bone meal, sausages, hamburger, sweetbreads, and other beef foodstuffs. It was assumed that the disease could not be crossed between species, so nothing was done to protect the human food supply until the following year. This had serious consequences. In 1993, cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob¹s disease began to appear in teenagers. By 1996, seven young people were either dead or dying of the disease. Up until that time, only four cases had ever been diagnosed in adolescents. In March of 96, the British Secretary of State announced that the disease had probably been spread by beef food products. Fortunately, the US Department of Agriculture banned the import of British beef in 1989, and no cases of mad cow disease have ever been reported among American herds. However, meat-and-bone meal is still fed to livestock in the US. Cattle, pigs, mink, mice, hamsters and possibly chickens, are all susceptible to a form of mad cow disease. Scientists believe that random outbreaks of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which can occur as a result of spontaneous mutation, could spread easily through the American food supply. Approximately 77 million Americans eat beef every day. Even those of us who don¹t eat meat are not necessarily safe. The causative agent of all of these diseases is a protein, or more accurately, a prion, known as PrP. It is extremely stable. Tissues from infected animals underwent all of the following ordeals, without losing their ability to infect: 30 minutes of boiling, 2 months frozen, a variety of methods of disinfection, being dried for 2 years, and irradiation with UV light. It may have no problem passing through the digestive tracts of mammals, to be incorporated into manure and compost. Amply spread onto food crops, the manure may then result in infectious (but organic) vegetables. If this can happen, we are in serious trouble. Could such an agent enter the water supply? The jury¹s still out. For right now, all that¹s certain is that mad cow disease is a degenerative brain disease which can be transmitted to any human who consumes the diseased flesh of an infected animal. -Elizabeth Thomas