Monthly Archives: February 2013

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Faculty spotlight: Lauren Cooper

Lauren Cooper, Mechanics of Materials course coordinator and professor at Mines, has quite the medley of industry experience—she has worked as a surveyor, energy auditor, teacher of grades between 3-12, and even worked for a hospital in Nicaragua. Currently, she works to positively advance the way engineering classes are taught at Mines.

Gear Review: Rock Hammer

Like any Mines student, you are probably in the market for a new rock hammer. Fortunately, your search can be complete after you acquire the Estwing Pointed Tip Rock Hammer. This rock hammer is extremely gneiss as it boasts spectacular one-piece forging—just one of the reasons why Estwing sets the industry standard for rock hammers. Most importantly, all Estwings are made in ‘Merica.

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CASA open house

The Center for Academic Services and Advising (CASA) is a new department at Mines as of the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year. Last week, CASA put on an open house event to show off their building and officers. CASA offers public and private tutoring and academic excellence workshops, while also handling the CSM 101 class, academic coaching, and more. The tutors cover all the core classes and even some higher level classes such as thermodynamics and statics.

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Geek of the Week, Kevyn Young, Junior, Mechanical Engineering

Many Mines students feel as if they are walking into Mordor as they trudge on in their studies. Unlike most students, Kevyn Young enjoys the engineering life and motivates himself by being involved on campus. He keeps a balance by enjoying his life outside of school while still maintaining his studies in an efficient manner. To find out his secrets, “The Oredigger” sat down with Young for this week’s “Geek of the Week.”

What is Science?

The question, “What is science?” in addition to being philosophically interesting, has important practical and social implications. For example, the National Science Foundation reports that, in 2003, at least 25% of Americans believe that astrology is a true theory.[1] A 2012 Gallup Poll reports that 46% of Americans believe that creationism is a true theory.[2] Given that one acts based upon what one believes, it is reasonable to assume that some Americans act in accordance with astrology or creationism. The consequences of these actions range from silly (only associating with ‘Virgos’) to serious (devaluing scientific exploration in the name of religious dogmatism). Astrology and creationism are widely regarded as non-scientific (or, “pseudo-science”) by the scientifically literate. So, how do scientifically literate individuals make judgments about what is, and what is not, a science? What rational criteria can be proposed that would demarcate, say, physics, astronomy, biology, etc.—the disciplines that we agree are sciences—from pseudo-sciences like astrology and creationism? It turns out that the task of deriving demarcation criteria is difficult: under a bit of rational scrutiny, seemingly satisfactory demarcation criteria turn out to be unsatisfactory. Let’s look at some plausible candidates:

This Week in Colorado History: Electricity and Bigamy

Lyman Hulen sat in the Golden jail this week in 1914, charged with bigamy. The case appeared fairly open and shut, as Hulen confessed to having married two women at once. However, it was complicated when Bertha Hulen “came to Golden…and after a short conversation…denied that he is now or ever has been her husband.” The other Mrs. Hulen was not feeling so gracious, and was “anxious to have the charge pressed.” Golden police contended Hulen was guilty, and Mrs. Hulen was making a futile attempt to clear him.

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