It used to be just doughnuts. But now it's research, and painting, and even karaoke. UT's Society of Physics Students is off to an ambitious start this year. Once known mainly for selling coffee and doughnuts on Friday mornings, the group has greatly expanded their activities for the 2002-2003 academic year. It all began in August. "We had a formal initiation this fall. I think it was the first ever," said SPS President Olga Ovchinnikov, a second-year physics major. UT's SPS chapter is run primarily by undergraduates and currently lists about 40 members, a huge increase over last year, when membership was closer to a handful of students. The group meets every other week and has already tackled some major projects, with plans for more. They manned the physics demonstration booth at the University's "Picnic in the Park" on homecoming Saturday, amazing passers-by (including UT President John Shumaker), by freezing flowers with liquid hydrogen and explaining why a can of Diet coke floats in a tank of water. The day's festivities were topped off when Olga and SPS members Stacey Thomas, Richard Hatcher, and Jesse Henderson formed a group called "Failed Experiment" and sang "Rocky Top" in a karaoke contest. The chapter also has big plans to redecorate the undergraduate lounge on the sixth floor of the physics building. New paint ("huckleberry blue"), a new rug, new pillows, and a revamped kitchen are all part of the plan. Going beyond brick and mortar, SPS members Courtney Murry and Michael Dayah have developed a Web presence for the group, complete with a member list, discussion forum, and designated space for professors to list research opportunities for undergraduates. Olga explained that Professors Yuri Efremenko and Bill Bugg were looking for help building a muon detector and Richard Hatcher answered the call, a match she said has worked out well. Jesse Henderson found work with Dr. George Siopsis the same way. The most elaborate project, however, is a cosmic ray research proposal submitted to the national Society of Physics Students organization. "The cosmic ray project is by far the biggest thing," Olga said. "I'm putting in a $2,000 proposal to SPS for cosmic ray detectors." The plan is to build four networked cosmic ray detectors to be positioned at UT and area high schools. The data collected will be sent to a main control data-acquisition computer in the physics department. The students will use the data acquired from the networked machines to identify the initial energies of the cosmic rays. SPS students interested in schools and physics education will develop a curriculum and introduce it to local teachers. Those interested in programming will write the LabView program for data acquisition. "The rest of us will build the detectors," Olga said. Just putting the proposal together was an experience in itself for the SPS president. "I've never written a proposal before," Olga said. She explained that drafting the abstract, purpose, budget, and justification were a little tricky, but luckily she had help from Dr. Efremenko and Department Head Soren Sorensen. Physics Professor Stuart Elston has volunteered his time and expertise to the project as well. Olga met the department's Board of Visitors when they convened in early November and they also offered support. Dr. Glenn Young, ORNL Physics Division Director, offered to supply photomultiplier tubes and other equipment. Dr. James Roberto (ORNL Associate Laboratory Director, Physical Sciences) encouraged her to make a request for support. The chapter will find out in January if their proposal is funded. If so, they may also get an extra $500 for a UT SPS representative to travel to a national conference. And the doughnuts? Not to worry. They're still on sale every Friday morning. For more information on the gregarious SPS chapter at UT, visit their Web site at: http://web.utk.edu/~sps/ Cross Sections, Fall/Winter 2002 Issue, Contents Page UT Physics News & Notes Page UT Physics Home Page This page was last updated on December 5, 2002. Please send comments to cal@utk.edu.