SPS Minutes 10-25-01

SPS Minutes 10-25-01
Who:
Giani Waghelstein, Chris Curatolo, Dave Ries, Meaghan Doyle, Carolyn, Pete Harris, Lindsey Lavoie, Claudia Kulhanek, Dwayne Henclewood, Prof. Roach
and maybe some others who I don't remember because we weren't organized enough to write down who was there!

What we did:
First we settled who the officers for this year are (actually elected last spring):

SPS Officers for 2001:
President: Giani W. (replacing Carolyn who resigned)
Vice Pres: Chris C.
Secretary: Dave R.
Treasurer: Kendy H.
SGA Repr: Meaghan D.

Study Break Discussion:
We discussed several ideas for a study break at the end of this semester.
Trip to Boston Museum of Science: many in favor of this, but it was suggested to put it off until perhaps a weekend next semester.
Dinner at Crossroads, Pool afterward: This is what we did last fall and people liked it since it was easy and not a big time commitment (important around finals!)
Movie with Ice Cream: Some in favor.
It was suggested to combine the dinner at Hogan with a movie showing on the system there.
Resolved: to ponder this and make a final decision at the next meeting.

'Contest' Discussion: Several people (e.g., Meaghan) have been keen on the idea of having a contest (e.g., BattleBots!) in which individuals or teams would compete at building the 'best something'. This didn't go beyond the talk stage last year but there was feeling that maybe we could pull it off this spring (spring weekend?).
Prof. Roach offered to look into parts or kits to build things, such as solar-powered cars or ?
Meaghan offered to see what budget from the SGA was, to purchase the materials. (Also for prizes?)
Others were instructed to think about (a)how to organize such a thing and (b) what would the competitors build/do.
Experiment:
How many meter sticks can you stack outwards from a table edge?
The final best result: about 0.76 meters using 1/2 meter sticks (10 sticks)
Theoretical best: 1/2*(1 + 1/2 + 1/3 + 1/4 + 1/5 + 1/6 + 1/7 + 1/8 + 1/9 + 1/10)=1.46 meters
Oh - we also did: Finding the center of mass with your eyes closed. It really works!

Dwayne, a brave soul, volunteered to do the next Experiment.

Speaking of which, the next SPS meeting will be Wednesday Nov. 5th!