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LAWSUIT
continued from page 1A
should have been blocked off due to
its condition.
Donald Beeson, the risk manage
ment administrator for the National
Chi Psi Association, said this is the
first time an accident like that has
happened.
Beeson said the chapter followed
the proper crisis response procedures,
adding that he was notified within an
hour of the incident.
Beeson believed that the accident
was solely caused by a faulty
balcony.
"We don't believe alcohol played
any role in what happened,"
he said.
He added that they discussed the
situation with other Chi Psi chapters.
"We use it as a way to educate our
other chapters of what could hap
pen," Beeson said.
The National Chi Psi Association
employs an inspector in an attempt
to prevent accidents like the one in
Eugene. The inspector travels to all
of the Chi Psi chapters that own a
house. He said each house receives
Lauren Wimer Photographer
Two fraternity pledges are suing the Chi Psi house due to injuries that occurred when the
balcony collapsed while they were standing on it nearly one year ago.
an inspection at least every
three years.
Beeson added that he is flying
into Portland later this week to meet
with Brookman and Baston's lawyer
to discuss a possible settlement of
the suit.
Contact the crime/health/
safety reporter
at lisacatto@dailyemerald.com.
MARS
continued from page 4A
Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
More than 300 million miles later,
Spirit reached Mars, according to
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov.
Since its Jan. 3 landing and its de
scent onto the Martian surface, Spirit
drivers have started looking for dues
in rocks and soil indicating whether
the environment was ever suitable to
sustain life. Opportunity, Spirit's twin,
is scheduled to reach Mars on Jan. 25
to begin a similar mission on the op
posite side of the planet.
"This is just a great thing to be a
part of," rover driver John Wright said
from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laborato
ry in Pasadena, Calif.
As one of eight drivers who work
on the two rovers, Wright said team
work is what got Spirit to Mars and
what will take it to a new level in
planetary exploration. With the
ability to control rover mobility,
arm operations and driving dis
tances, Wright said everything fol
lows the daily activity plan, which is
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ASSISTANCE
directed by the rover's photos taken
from the ground and from its or
bital descent.
On Jan. 18, Spirit took a 10-foot,
30-minute "Sunday drive" en route to
its first target, a football-sized, moun
tain-shaped rock called "Adirondack."
The rock is named after a New York
mountain range and is American In
dian for "They of the great rocks."
Considering it took ancient equa
tions and technological genius to
coordinate Spirit's path to Mars,
Wright said geology may guide the
mission from now on, but technol
ogy and astronomy are what got it to
Mars safely.
"Astronomy plays a huge role in the
history of this mission," he said.
For some University professors, the
Mars mission is truly exciting, even if
astronomy has ventured beyond the
Milky Way.
"It is exciting for us, but modem as
tronomy has drifted from solar sys
tems to galaxies, stars and cosmolo
gy," Schombert said. "That's because
knowledge has advanced so far."
However, the former NASA em
ployee said students in his current
introductory astronomy course
aren't always eager to learn of Mars
mission updates, which he includes
on the course Web site as soon as
they are released.
"If I have kept my students awake,
these photos have served their pur
pose," Schombert said.
Assistant geology Professor David
Schmidt is teaching a "very introduc
tory" geology course on the effects
weather can have on the earth's sur
face. Although Schmidt has men
tioned the Mars mission in class, he
said it's hard to get his students excit
ed about the subject.
"It's a great accomplishment to
get the rover there and working,"
Schmidt said. "But there hasn't been
any groundbreaking information
reported yet."
Despite a lack of student interest,
Schmidt said most people recognize
the important role that his field plays
in the current mission.
"Geology is being used as a tool for
their objective," he said. "And that ob
jective is to use geological observa
tions to find evidence of water, and
hence, evidence for life."
Wright, who said he considers the
rover a geologist of sorts, said "plane
tary geologists," representatives of a
relatively new field, will be watching
the mission on the edge of their seats.
"This is their thing," Wright said of
the modem field, which emerged
around the time of the Viking space
missions from 1975 to 1982.
To boldly go where no rover
has gone before
According to the NASA Web site,
less than one-third of the Mars vehi
cles launched by all nations sent data
back to Earth.
With the help of federal funding,
NASA has outfitted the twin rovers
with the ability to view the spectral
characteristics of rocks and to analyze
mineral compounds and chemical
makeup. Besides its highly advanced
computer, Spirit has many geological
tools at its disposal, including an x-ray
device, high-resolution cameras with
rotating color filters and an infrared
scanner, Wright said.
Although the ability to control
the six-wheeled rovers is a techno
logical feat, Wright said science still
has its limits.
"We can't hit a hard rock and break *
it" he said. "But we can grind away at
it and study it with a microscope."
As Spirit gets true-color and 3-I>
photos of rocks in its immediate
vicinity — two were named Sushi and
Sashimi — Wright and the other driv
ers are warming up for observations at
Adirondack.
With the future of the geological
"final frontier" in his hands, Wright
said he is excited to see what lies be
yond the Gusev Crater.
"This is absolutely fabulous," he
said.
Contact the business/science/
technology reporter
at caronalarab@dailyemerald.com.
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