Zone Eight Extravaganza

Zone Eight Extravaganza By Kevin Shay The 2005 SPS Zone 8 meeting was a success. On Saturday September 24, there were 11 university chapters and over 80 people in attendance, giving students the ability to meet other physics majors from the surrounding states. Professors and students alike were engaged in social and intellectual indulgence throughout the day.
The day kicked off with an introduction by University of Louisville chapter president John Lorenz, and zone councilor, Dr. David Brown. Louisville graduate students Sharvil Desai and Romaneh Jalilian gave an introduction to some of their research in condensed matter physics. Students from other universities were anxious to present some of their
Photo: Chase Cox gives a student presentation.	research that was done over the summer. Sarah Hanlin from Butler University talked about her research in condensed matter. Also, Chase Cox from Austin Peay and John Lorenz from University of Louisville shared their REU experiences. After a lunch break catered by Dominos, there was a group discussion for chapters to bounce ideas off each other. Topics included; fundraising, SPS national, outreach, intrazone, social events, and SPS membership. We came up with
some creative and unique ideas on how to improve these areas of our chapters. The pinnacle of the zone meeting was, of course, listening to the thoughts and experiences of Dr. Leon Lederman. There was a Q&A session with the Nobel Prize
winner in the afternoon. He discussed his discovery of the bottom quark and his new interest in science education in the primary and secondary levels. After hearing from Dr. Lederman, the group shuffled over to the Brown
and Williamson Club, located in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. Before the start of dinner, Dr. Brown presented Dr. Lederman with a small Louisville Slugger bat with his name inscribed on the side. SPS didn’t want to send a Nobel Prize winner home empty handed. In the words of Dr. Brown presenting to Dr. Lederman, “SPS has hit a homerun with the Zone 8 meeting and so has Dr. Lederman by being here today. What better gift to give than a Louisville Slugger bat.” A delicious buffet style dinner and spectacular view of Churchill Downs made it the perfect venue to hold the SPS banquet.
The day ended with a public lecture in the evening given by Dr. Lederman in Comstock Hall. The lecture was well attended by the public, especially by local high
school teachers. His talk was focused on the importance of teaching physics before other sciences so that students can gain a better understanding and have more of an interest in the sciences. The American public school system still follows a 19^th century curriculum of teaching and changes need to be made in order to keep up with modern science. Dr. Ledermans good nature, wild sense of humor, and insightfulness made it the perfect ending for the Zone 8 meeting.
For more on our Zone Meeting, visit our Zone Meeting Photo Page.