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July 28, 2011 | International, News, People, Photos, Students, Summer | No Comments
July 28, 2011 | International, People, Students, Summer, Video | No Comments
July 27, 2011 | International, News, People, Students, Summer | No Comments
By Andrea Eastes, Keaton Smith, and Nick Zolman
In order to connect sites in England to the books we have read, Academy students studying abroad in England embarked on a trip to Whitby, the site of Dracula’s arrival in Bram Stoker’s same-named novel. Throughout our day, we came to know the city quite well and fell in love with the combination of old and new.
After a quick breakfast at the Harlaxton Manor, we ventured north to Whitby. Upon arrival, we quickly dispersed to explore the town. All of us were immediately captured by the port’s charm and lovely old world architecture like Whitby Abbey and the many Victorian structures. Some of us opted to explore the streets and roam around the plethora of stores that Whitby offered. Popular spots included gift shops, curio stores, antique shops, and the Gutsy Ginger, an eclectic store full of odds and ends. Many returned with purchases such as trinkets, hats, traditional Whitby jet jewelry, and even a raptor tooth! Others decided to journey to other parts of town, to enjoy parks, museums, a Dracula themed haunted house, and live music on the streets. We all really enjoyed the morning’s excursion. The people were friendly, as were the dogs that went about the town with their owners. The only thing that may take a while getting used to is the traffic patterns! Whitby was full of roundabouts and clogged streets that made navigating difficult.
After thrift shopping and sightseeing in Whitby, we were shuttled off to our residence for our stay in the small, yet beautiful bed and breakfast: the Mallyan-Spout Hotel. Upon arrival, we were given the chance to explore the beautiful surrounding landscape. Many of us chose to view the Mallyan-Spout, for which their residence is aptly named for, while others chose to seek the train station down the street. The Goatheland train station actually served as the Hogsmeade train station in the first Harry Potter movie. One of the staffers actually got to play a Slytherin in the film when he was thirteen.
After a few hours of exploration, we all headed back to Whitby for dinner. In downtown Whitby, we were exposed to excellent dining and service at the Magpie Restaurant. Everyone experienced British cuisine at its finest. From Shepard’s Pie, to beef casserole, to a variety of England’s classic, fish and chips. Some of us also experienced firsthand some customary differences that they were not necessarily expecting. When we asked for water, a couple of us were handed a large glass bottle of spring water instead of free water from the tap (and if you were not careful, you could end up with Sparkling Water, a much more bubbly twist). Others learned that “lemonade” in England is not the same adored, lemon-flavored, sugary drink we had as children, but instead, a carbonated drink that resembled a lemon-lime soda, such as Sprite or 7-UP.
Dinner at the Magpie was followed by a tour through Whitby and an eerie recounting of some of the city’s most gruesome tales. We were led by a sinister-appearing, though quite jovial, man identifying himself as Harry, who was well-versed in the lore and legend of the seaside town. We saw the spot where Count Dracula himself was reported to have come ashore in the shape of a large, black wolf from a beached Russian ship. We heard tell of the spirits professed to haunt the houses and pubs of the area; those unfortunate souls chained to the world after ghastly deaths by hanging, beheading, and yet more grisly mutilation. We were told about two mischievous cats severely wounded after an encounter with two irate townspeople, whose injuries were later noticed to be remarkably similar to those of two laborers then assumed to possess powers beyond the natural world. We learned the secrets the Hand of Glory, an aid to thieves wishing to creep through houses without attracting the notice of the sleeping inhabitants. We also came to know about a one-armed lighthouse keeper who died of a heart attack many years ago, but whose body still appears on occasion to this day on the seventy-first stair of his tower. We finally broke up and headed back to our bed and breakfast for the night, left with much to ponder as we retired to our own rooms.
Tomorrow we will discover more of the city and in particular the Whitby Abbey, but for now the day has left us all with tired feet and a belly full of fish and chips.
July 26, 2011 | 5Q, News, People, Research, Students, Summer, WKU | No Comments
Since 2010, the Gatton Academy has offered students the ability to pursue summer research experiences through the Gatton Research Internships Grants (RIG) program. Made possible through the generous support of Mr. Carol Martin “Bill” Gatton, the program offers competitive grants to Gatton Academy students between their junior and senior years to support summertime research internships across the Commonwealth and the world. By providing a funding mechanism, the program directly creates new avenues for growth and exploration. Throughout the summer, we’ll share insights from students who are the recipients of our 2011 grants.
Rebecca Brown (’12) of Boston, KY is spending part of her summer working with Dr. Michael Carini of the WKU Department of Physics and Astronomy studying Optical Monitoring of TeV Candidate Blazars.
1. What does research mean to you as a young person interested in STEM?
To me, research is being able to produce new data. By doing research, you’re contributing something new to the scientific community.
2. Tell us a little about the research experience in which you are participating this summer that the Research Internship Grant is funding.
My research is in astronomy/astrophysics. I’m staying on WKU campus for five weeks continuing the research I started last semester. From 9 to 5 on weekdays, I work in the Physics and Astronomy Department reducing data from images of blazars taken from the Kitt Peak telescope in Arizona. The data I’m collecting is a measurement of the blazars’ magnitude, or brightness, which in turn indicates whether or not it’s actively consuming matter.
3. Will you be using this research experience as a launching point for any particular applications, competitions, or scholarships?
As part of the internship, I have to write a research paper. This paper closely follows those for Siemens competition entries, so I hope to use a polished version of the research paper to enter.
4. How does this research experience or internship fit into your educational and professional goals?
In the short-term, it allows me to catch up on the backlog of data the tends to accumulate with the pictures I’m working with by allowing me more consistent time to research. In the long-term, it gives me experience which will help me attain my career goals (astrophysicist and professor). In addition it ensures that I actually know what I’m getting into with my field, and won’t end up backing out halfway through a degree.
5. What do you aspire to achieve in the next ten years?
I’d like to attend a reputable college with a good astronomy department and eventually work my way up to a Ph.D. I would continue research along the way.
July 25, 2011 | International, News, People, Students, Summer, Video | No Comments
After flying over 5,000 miles, we arrived in England on Monday. Though experiencing the symptoms of jetlag, we all have been exploring Harlaxton Manor, its surrounding grounds, and the nearby city of Grantham. On Monday night, “Zyggy,” our tour guide, took us around the manor. There is no doubt about it: Harlaxton is HUGE. In this video we give you a quick glimpse of the manor.
July 21, 2011 | 5Q, News, People, Research, Students, Summer | No Comments
Since 2010, the Gatton Academy has offered students the ability to pursue summer research experiences through the Gatton Research Internships Grants (RIG) program. Made possible through the generous support of Mr. Carol Martin “Bill” Gatton, the program offers competitive grants to Gatton Academy students between their junior and senior years to support summertime research internships across the Commonwealth and the world. By providing a funding mechanism, the program directly creates new avenues for growth and exploration. Throughout the summer, we’ll share insights from students who are the recipients of our 2011 grants.
This summer, Nicholas Zolman (’12) of Mount Sterling is working with Dr. Tim Gorringe of the University of Kentucky’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, analyzing periodic and chaotic motion using a double pendulum.
1. Tell us a little about the research experience in which you are participating this summer that the Research Internship Grant is funding.
My project has two main goals. The first is to acquire data from a Wii remote, so that one could cheaply perform physics experiments in a high school, university, or some other setting. The second is to observe the chaotic motion of a double pendulum and apply the idea of Lagrangian Mechanics in order to come up with a good model of the motion.
2. How does this research experience or internship fit into your educational and professional goals?
Professionally, I wish to be a particle physicist. At first glance, double pendulum research seems to have nothing to do with particle physics. However, if one were to look deeper into the confines of my research they would notice that the ideas and concepts of Lagrangian Mechanics are vital to the structure of Quantum Mechanics.
3. What are you looking forward to the most about your second year at the Academy?
At first glance, most people would jump away from my schedule – Physics II, Differential Equations, Multivariable Calculus, and French II. However, I look forward to each of them! It incorporates the three subjects I love the most: Math, Physics, and la Français!
4. What is your biggest Gatton Academy accomplishment?
I am most proud of my ability to adapt. It was kind of weird to go to sleep and not wake up to a home of only three other people, I had to wake up to a home of more than a hundred people!
5. What do you love most about the Gatton Academy?
Personally, I love the opportunities I have here. I’m taking more math classes next year than my high school could offer through their entire curriculum; by the time I am out of high school, I will almost have a Math Major at WKU. But probably the greatest opportunity is to study abroad as a high school student. For instance, I will be studying English in England this summer.
July 19, 2011 | 5Q, News, People, Research, Students, Summer | No Comments
Since 2010, the Gatton Academy has offered students the ability to pursue summer research experiences through the Gatton Research Internships Grants (RIG) program. Made possible through the generous support of Mr. Carol Martin “Bill” Gatton, the program offers competitive grants to Gatton Academy students between their junior and senior years to support summertime research internships across the Commonwealth and the world. By providing a funding mechanism, the program directly creates new avenues for growth and exploration. Throughout the summer, we’ll share insights from students who are the recipients of our 2011 grants.
Keaton Smith (’12) of Alexandria is performing research this summer at Northern Kentucky University’s Department of Computer Science with Drs. Richard Fox and Jeffrey Ward. Keaton is pictured with Dr. Ward on the NKU campus earlier this summer.
1. Tell us a little about the research experience in which you are participating this summer that the Research Internship Grant is funding:
I am working with Dr. Jeffrey Ward and Dr. Richard Fox at Northern Kentucky University on writing a program able to generate a musical composition that sounds good according to user input, music theory, and some other criteria. The program will use genetic algorithms in the generation process: several compositions will be selected by a scoring process from a pool of many, and those selected will be randomly changed and scored in turn. This can happen for many “generations” and at the end the one with the highest score will be output.
2. What does research mean to you as a young person interested in STEM?
Research has been a big consideration for me throughout my interest in computer science. It is a great opportunity to explore previously unknown areas and gain experience in real-world applications of classroom learning.
3. Will you be using this research experience as a launching point for any particular applications, competitions, or scholarships?
I hope to submit this project to the Siemens competition; regardless of the outcome, I think it will be good to have the experience of my work undergoing professional review.
4. What is the part of the summer experience you are enjoying most?
So far this summer I have really enjoyed being stimulated through an academic project but at the same time having the freedom to work on this project whenever I wanted.
5. How does the Gatton Academy help Kentucky from your point of view?
The Gatton Academy is really one of Kentucky’s biggest assets; it gives talented, motivated individuals the chance to achieve above and beyond what could be expected at a more traditional high school. The education that Kentucky’s young minds receive at the Academy can only help throughout their lives as they grow to become major influences on the world.
July 14, 2011 | 5Q, News, People, Research, Students, Summer, WKU | No Comments
Since 2010, the Gatton Academy has offered students the ability to pursue summer research experiences through the Gatton Research Internships Grants (RIG) program. Made possible through the generous support of Mr. Carol Martin “Bill” Gatton, the program offers competitive grants to Gatton Academy students between their junior and senior years to support summertime research internships across the Commonwealth and the world. By providing a funding mechanism, the program directly creates new avenues for growth and exploration. Throughout the summer, we’ll share insights from students who are the recipients of our 2011 grants.
John “Jack” Ferguson (’12) of Union is working with Dr. Hemali Rathnayake of the WKU Department of Chemistry this summer on his project titled Fluorescein and FITC Derivatives Functionalized Silsesquioxane/Bridged Silsesquioxane Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization, and Particle Morphology.
1. Tell us a little about the research experience in which you are participating this summer that the Research Internship Grant is funding.
I am working on the synthesis of fluorescein silsesquioxane nanoparticles with Benzyl Chloride. It sounds really complicated, but it’s basically attaching fluorescent particles onto silica spheres smaller than cells for bio imaging.
2. Will you be using this research experience as a launching point for any particular applications, competitions, or scholarships?
This research will be used on any applications I can fit it on, and I will be sure to enter it into the Siemens and Intel competitions.
3. What are you looking forward to the most about your second year at the Academy?
I am really excited for my new classes, but I think I am more interested in the new students coming to the Academy.
4. What is your biggest Gatton Academy accomplishment?
My personal favorite would be that I scored in the 77th percentile on the ACS organic chemistry II exam. I did better than 77 percent of college juniors across the nation.
5. What do you love most about the Gatton Academy?
The RC setup. The connection built between students on floors is great. We could all live in our own little worlds and not know each other, but the social atmosphere of the Academy has made me more friends than I’ve ever had before.
July 12, 2011 | 5Q, News, People, Research, Students, Summer, WKU | No Comments
Since 2010, the Gatton Academy has offered students the ability to pursue summer research experiences through the Gatton Research Internships Grants (RIG) program. Made possible through the generous support of Mr. Carol Martin “Bill” Gatton, the program offers competitive grants to Gatton Academy students between their junior and senior years to support summertime research internships across the Commonwealth and the world. By providing a funding mechanism, the program directly creates new avenues for growth and exploration. Throughout the summer, we’ll share insights from students who are the recipients of our 2011 grants.
David Sekora (’12) of Franklin is researching in knot theory to study DNA with Dr. Claus Ernst of the WKU Department of Mathematics and Computer Science this summer.
1. Tell us a little about the research experience in which you are participating this summer that the Research Internship Grant is funding:
This summer, I am researching knot theory under Dr. Claus Ernst here at Western. I am mainly working on various Mathematica functions to help analyze and understand knots, but I am also learning a considerable amount of knot theory and sitting in on a complex analysis class too!
2. What is the part of the summer experience you are enjoying most?
I am enjoying the fact that this is pretty much like being at Gatton, without the classes! Most of my friends are here doing research, and I am immersed in math!
3. How is this different from the way you think most high school students spend their summers?
Most high school students spend their summers goofing off – playing video games, driving around town and getting in trouble, etc.. On the contrary, I am sitting here in an office, on a computer, not playing World of Warcraft but using Mathematica!
4. What are you looking forward to the most about your second year at the Academy?
I’m looking forward to being an Avatar. It will be cool to be a role model for the incoming juniors. Also, I like having the added responsibility of being part of the Academy’s PR team!
5. What do you love most about the Gatton Academy?
What I love most about the Gatton Academy is the sense of community. We have our own little world in Florence Schneider, with our own culture and sensibilities. There is a common Academy Spirit shared by most of the students that you just can’t find anywhere else.
July 7, 2011 | 5Q, News, People, Research, Students, Summer, WKU | No Comments
Since 2010, the Gatton Academy has offered students the ability to pursue summer research experiences through the Gatton Research Internships Grants (RIG) program. Made possible through the generous support of Mr. Carol Martin “Bill” Gatton, the program offers competitive grants to Gatton Academy students between their junior and senior years to support summertime research internships across the Commonwealth and the world. By providing a funding mechanism, the program directly creates new avenues for growth and exploration. Throughout the summer, we’ll share insights from students who are the recipients of our 2011 grants.
This summer, Christian Jolly (’12) of Henderson is working on research with Dr. Steven Gibson of the WKU Department of Physics and Astronomy to analyze radio telescope data to investigate galaxy structure.
1. Will you be using this research experience as a launching point for any particular applications, competitions, or scholarships?
The research I’m doing is actually quite groundbreaking making any results fairly significant. This will definitely be a huge selling point for applications and scholarships and you can be sure you’ll see this around Intel and Siemens.
2. How does this research experience or internship fit into your educational and professional goals?
A better fit could not have been found. This is exactly the type of work a person of my desired profession will be doing on a daily basis giving me a strong foundation to base my decision on.
3. What is your favorite Gatton Academy memory?
My favorite academy memory is one that will live in the hearts of second floor boys forever. It was 2’am when a pipe burst above my room. The community factor was quickly realized as everyone pitched in by both moving furniture out of the room and sacrificing their towels in an effort to clean up!
4. What is your biggest Gatton Academy accomplishment?
My biggest accomplishment is taking on Astrophysics, a class with four pre-req’s that I was missing and only four other seniors willing to take on the load. I worked very hard in that class and was proud of the B I made.
5. How does the Gatton Academy help Kentucky from your point of view?
The academy shows youth that there are actually opportunities in their home state. Speaking from experience I always believed it would be necessary for me to go up north to do the type of specialized research I’m doing now!