Monday, Oct. 20, 2014 | Volume 210 | Number 40 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
Caitlin Ellingson/Iowa State Daily
Bong Wie, director of the Asteroid Deflection Research Center, works with graduate students in aerospace engineering to study approching asteroids and how to predict, deflect and destroy them.
Defending Earth from asteroids Researchers study distances from Earth, the use of nuclear weapons to destroy anticipated asteroids By Abby.Wadeson @iowastatedaily.com On Feb. 15, 2013, an asteroid exploded over Russia that was believed to be 19 meters in diameter. The asteroid struck the city of Chelyabinsk and injured more than 1,000 people, according to bbc.com. The Chelyabinsk asteroid caused panic around the world. It sparked a serious international interest in developing a plan for what to
do to protect the planet from asteroid strikes. Members of Iowa State’s community are working to solve the problem. Bong Wie, Vance Coffman Endowed Chair Professor and director of the Asteroid Deflection Research Center, found the issue of asteroid strikes to be a “very fascinating, technically challenging problem.” Wie founded the ADRC in 2008 to begin solving the problem. Wie said that asteroid
strikes are matter of probability, and the probability is very small. That being said, the number isn’t exactly zero. On Aug. 30 of this year, a 30-40 meter asteroid was detected, and four days later it flew by Earth, Wie said. “So far we are very lucky,” said Wie. “Sooner or later, one may hit the Earth. We need to prepare for that.” George Vardaxis, graduate student in aerospace engineering, said that the ADRC looks at small cases and rare occurrences where an asteroid
would be coming close to and potentially impacting Earth. The team works to decide what they would do about it. Their proposal is to send a nuclear weapon into space to blow it up. This system would be used in cases where there is a short warning time of a year or less. Vardaxis’ part in the process is locating the asteroid and deciding if it’s in danger of coming into contact with the Earth. He uses computer programs to track the orbits of asteroids.
Vardaxis joined the ADRC because of his interest in “orbit determinations and impact risk assessments.” Ben Zimmerman, graduate student in aerospace engineering, has the job of blowing up the asteroid. He decides how strong of a nuclear device will be needed for destroying it. Ideally, the asteroid would be blown up into small pieces that would burn up in the atmosphere or not hit the Earth at all.
ASTEROIDS p8
Night of dance raises funds to aid women’s health care By Carolina.Colon @iowastatedaily.com
Charlie Coffey/Iowa State Daily
Dan Barker, co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, gives a lecture on the separation of church and state Thursday in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.
Activist talks about freedom from religion By Emily.Eppens @iowastatedaily.com Dan Barker believes religion should be separate from government. Barker, one of the co-presidents and founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, visited the ISU free speech zone on Friday to talk to students about the separation between church and state. Barker was a former evangelical preacher who is now an atheist activist. He tells his story from faith to atheism in his book “Godless.” “You can’t sell to skeptics something that we don’t think that we need,” Barker said dur-
ing his speech at the Memorial Union on Thursday. “You have to convince us that we need it in the first place.” The Freedom From Religion Foundation receives complaints about a potential mixing of church and state and writes letters to schools and other organizations, fighting for the constitutional right. “It’s an honor to be called a blasphemer,” Barker said. “We live in a country where we have freedom of speech, and freedom of religion.” Barker said the Freedom From Religion Foundation receives complaints and threats everyday, which the police have
SEPARATION p8
Women in India face discrimination and low self-esteem issues on a daily basis. For the first time in Iowa State University history, the Indian Student Association created an event in order to raise money for those women. The first annual “Teach Me How to Desi” night was Friday, where five ISU student dance groups taught other students segments of Bollywood and Hollywood style dances. Kwisha Patel, senior in marketing and international business, said what the event was all about. “We raise money for the Smile Foundation, which is a big Indian foundation that supports those women who have been raped or sexually assaulted,” Patel said. The Smile Foundation has about 10 different outreach programs, including the Girl, Child and Women Empowerment section. Health care for women in India can be challenging to find, according to the Smile Foundation’s website. The foundation, in support with Proctor & Gamble, created a program called Swabhiman aimed at ensuring improved health for women. The foundation has a focus on reproductive health and menstrual hygiene through training and
Jenna Reeves/Iowa State Daily
Dance groups perform their routines before teaching them to the audience during the Indian Student Association’s Teach Me How to Desi night in the Great Hall on Friday.
other information, education and communication tools, the website said. Latif Masud, senior in electrical engineering, shared the meaning of Desi. “Desi means ‘one from our country.’ This is the first year we celebrated this event and we hope to continue having it,” Masud said.
The Great Hall was packed with people from India and guests with other ethnic backgrounds as well to learn about the cause and the dances. Each dance group performed for about 30 seconds. After the performance, the groups taught the crowd the
DESI NIGHT p8