Reported by: Jacob Vanderbroek
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Oswego Planetarium
by Owen Marchand, WTOP10-TV
Each month, the SUNY Oswego Planetarium holds a different theme during its weekly shows. At Sundays at 7pm the Planetarium holds exciting shows hosted by Dr. John Zielinski of the Oswego physics department. The theme for the month of November is “Astronomical subjects in the works of Shakespeare, Tolstoy, and Mark Twain.”
During these shows Dr. Zielinski will discuss the astronomical topics in Shakespeare’s works such as Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Tolstoy’s War and Peace, as well as Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. He states that he will be giving a background on each of these pieces in order to connect them to the show in a way that is both interesting and educational. During this portion of the show, Dr. Zielinski will talk about important characters, and situations of each of the pieces of literature.
Throughout the show, Dr. Zielinski will also show many clips from films based on these novels and plays and incorporate them within the show. He says that a main part of the show is assimilating as many of these events as possible on the planetarium dome. Along with these clips, some other astronomical facts will be noted such as how all the stars seem to rotate the North Star and that all stars return to the same position in the sky every 23 hours and 56 minutes.
In order to witness this month’s show, one must sign up in advanced as the planetarium only has 35 seats but will allow and over-flow of people to sit on the floor. It is important to get there a little early in order to secure a seat! If the weather is good after each show, there will be a telescopic observation held after the presentation.
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HD Update: One Week Later
What a difference a week makes! Everything is really coming along and we wouldn’t be able to do this without our talented installers. They have been working 12 hour days to make sure the studio is finished in time for our first broadcasts at the end of October.
Check out these pictures we got inside the studio:
V.P. of Productions, Ian Dwyer ‘17 shows off our new HD Ikegami cameras
Fresh out of it’s box, still covered in bubble wrap General Manager, Justin Dobrow ‘17 examines another one of our new HD Ikegami cameras
Speaking of boxes… is that floor we see? Where did all the boxes go? Look at all this progress!
Look at that beauty! Now out of its packaging, our new Ross Carbonite Switcher is sure to be a studio favorite!
The rack room is looking AWESOME. With all the progress that was made in just one week, we can’t wait to see what it looks like next week!
Look at all of these cables! With everything that has to be hooked up we are impressed by this seemingly small cluster that’s left.
From our popular Instagram story to this week’s blog- a handful of our members have frequent meetings with our installers. Not to mention the countless hours they are putting in to help out!
We are nearing the end folks! In just a couple of weeks our HD upgrade will be complete and we could not be more excited.
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University Police To Enforce Strict Policies On Seatbelt Use
The University Police Department is participating in an intensive campaign to ensure that students and faculty buckle-up during their commutes. The program has been a success for the past twelve years.
Police are looking for violations on campus, although the traffic stops may be made off campus.
As part of the nation-wide ‘Buckle-Up Day And Night’ campaign, University Police will have special patrols out looking for motorists who are not wearing their seatbelts.
People not wearing a seatbelt are 30 times more likely to be ejected from a vehicle. Assistant University Police Chief, Kevin Velzy, has been involved with university police for thirty years.
“Because we are a Police Department on a college campus, the majority of our drivers are of college age. We do have some older people, older drivers, that are employees or some people just passing through campus,” said Kevin.
According to the New York State University Police Department, Motor Vehicle accidents are the number one cause of death for those aged up to fifty-four in the United States.
It has been proven that just wearing a seatbelt reduces the risk of death or injury by fifty percent. As a matter of fact, airbags are not a substitute for seatbelts.
More than half of teens aged thirteen to nineteen and adults aged twenty to forty-four who died in crashes in 2015 were unrestrained at the time of the crash.
Men are more likely than women to be unbuckled.
“The crashes have dropped. Our compliance rate, what they also look for in these grant programs, has gone way up. When we first started our compliance rate was about seventy-five percent, which means seventy-five percent of the people that are required to wear a seatbelt in the front seat of a vehicle. Seventy-five percent of them were, and twenty-five percent were not,” said Kevin.
The compliance rate on campus currently lies at ninety-three percent.
A ticket for unrestrained motorists is fifty dollars with no points initially deducted from the license, whereas distracted driving is worth five points on the license in addition to a fine between fifty and two-hundred dollars.
According to the New York State University Police Department, unrestrained motorists involved in a crash are almost four times as likely to suffer a traumatic brain injury compared to those wearing a seatbelt.
