For my senior capstone, I will be writing about 3D bioprinting, or the creation of human tissues and tissue structures using 3D printing technology. Specifically, my research will be focused on the current and possible future impacts of 3D bioprinting becoming the main source of organs for transplantation surgeries. I will study and speculate on possible social, ethical, and economic impacts. This topic is important because of the world’s massive organ shortage. If this technology replaces organ donation, there will be significant changes in the current medical culture.
What’s your area of expertise? What do you primarily research and/or teach? And what drew you to this field?
I like to study symbols and the way that symbols interact with machines. My specialization has to do with the strange combinations of images and texts that people made in the period after the invention of the printing press. In the terms of English PhDs, this makes me an “early modernist.” A more common term for my period of specialization is “the Renaissance.” I’m drawn to the Renaissance as a moment when individuals found a way to relate to the past and the future through their inner humanity. There’s a phrase used in the Renaissance, uomo universale, which points to the way that close critical attention to inner human life can be the basis for achieving historical connections. Renaissance humanists reached into the future by pulling technologies out of pure abstract thought, like linear perspective or the printing press; the humanists reached into the past by re-learning forgotten languages – in the process they re-animated ancient Greek philosophy. I try to practice some of this by keeping one foot in the classics and the other involved with current innovations in symbolic technology.
As for my personal background, I kind of like to think of myself as a transitional character in my corner of the academy. I want to break certain patterns that were part of my upper-level education. We’ve all seen some negative examples, so now let’s choose to do things in a better way. There are a lot of students at Mines who could use a fresh new approach to classes like Composition, and the best thing I can do here is to provide novel, intentional approaches.
Are the sins of the father the responsibility of the son? This is one of the many questions President Barack Obama was challenged with when creating the controversial policy DACA. DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) is a policy that has garnered a vast amount of criticism and controversy. Recently, the topic has been under increased scrutiny with a Texas judge declaring the policy to be unconstitutional. What I want to explore specifically in my capstone is how DACA has impacted the United States and other countries legally, socially, and culturally and whether this impact has been beneficial to the American people.
However, before examining the former president’s decision, a little bit of background on the border itself is necessary. Prior to the 1990s border security was relatively uncontrolled and immigrants from Mexico and South American countries could virtually just walk across the border without much fear of being stopped (Guerette, 2005). This lack of border security was simply not maintainable, which led to the increase in security during the 1990s (Guerette, 2005). This security included an increase in agents along the border, an increase in surveillance along the border, and the creation of physical barriers such as walls. While this made a more secure border, it also had some unintended consequences that have become critical factors in the current border situation. First, the increased security led to illegal immigrants heavily relying on smuggling to enter the U.S., which led to a shift in the mission of border security (Guerette, 2005). Currently, smuggling is considered a greater issue than immigration. Second, increased security has led to migrants choosing more dangerous methods in order to cross the border (smuggling included), which has unfortunately resulted in an increase in deaths along the border. This has led to the border patrol adopting an increasingly medical and humanitarian role, as they now are far more focused on the prevention of migrant death and application aid to injured and at-risk immigrants.
AI is technology that simulates human intelligence and possesses the ability to evolve based on its designated purpose. In the hospitality industry (including tourism, hotels, and restaurants), the use of AI is on the rise because of the greater efficiency compared to human employees. Artificial intelligence can’t steal from the cash register, doesn’t take sick days, and won’t leave a manager short-staffed. Business owners are interested in the switch to AI “employees” because they significantly save on labor costs, can communicate in every language, and perform menial tasks which allows for human employees to work larger tasks.
I became increasingly intrigued by wildfires in the western U.S given how crazy the 2020 season was. I have family in both Nevada and California, and the effects of that fire season still have impacts on them today. What I didn’t know at the time was that dry thunderstorms, which produce dry lightning, are a major cause for wildfires in the U.S. A recent example is the August Complex fire in 2020, which burnt about 470,000 acres alone in California, making it the state’s largest wildfire ever. It was created when dry lightning sparked multiple smaller fires that grew into a larger complex of fires. The average cost of fighting wildfires is $1 billion annually with millions of dollars in property loss as well (National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC),ND).
Sunday Gulch in Custer, SD. May 5, 2023. Photo by Markus Sonnenfeld.
Growing up on a farm in rural South Dakota, I heard someone say once that no matter how much it rains, a farmer will always complain about it even though deep down they’re grateful for it. This is what helped guide me towards the Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences program at South Dakota Mines after figuring out that my initial degree in Computer Science was not where I wanted to go with my life. I wanted to understand why it did or didn’t rain on our farm, but it rained on our neighbor’s farm. I also wanted to understand why farmers, whose entire lives rest in the hands of the weather, don’t get the focus they deserve when it comes to forecasts.
A supercell rolls over a crop field. This will likely cause damage to the crops through high winds and heavy rain showers. Courtesy: Creative Commons.
This year, the STS program ran its first-ever Halloween costume contest. Dressing up for Halloween is a perfect chance for students to show off some creativity and possibly even highlight some connections between science/technology and society! Some of our faculty dressed up, too – we had a pirate, a fancy lumberjack, Introverty the 8th Dwarf, and Goth Judy Jetson.
We had a number of really excellent entries in the contest, and we’re happy to share the winners below (except for one person, Jace Williams, who received an honorable mention but who has not given permission to use his image – if that changes, the post will be updated accordingly).
We have plans for another costume contest next Halloween, so start thinking about costume ideas for 2024!
First place: Pari Bailey, as a Renaissance fairy.
Second place: Gaven Williams, as a creepy scarecrow (on stilts!).
What’s your area of expertise? What do you primarily research and/or teach? And what drew you to this field?
My area of expertise and what I got my graduate degree in is creative writing, short stories and poetry. Many years ago I got the opportunity to team-teach a creative writing class modeled after a writing group that I’ve been leading since 2000, and it was wonderful. However, to be honest, I have always loved teaching English 101. Watching students find their voice makes me smile.
What’s one of your favorite courses, topics, or specific texts to teach? Why?
Over the years, I’ve used many texts, essays, poems, and short stories, but one of my favorite essays of all time to use in English 101 is “Why Write?” by Paul Auster. It is timeless.
The Exorcist. Hereditary. The Ring. Texas Chain Saw Massacre. These are often named some of the scariest movies out there. They’re also among the most popular horror movies, ones that are watched and re-watched, considered classics. Horror movie fans want to be scared, after all.
But what makes these movies – and others like them – so scary? And which is really the scariest?
Since 2020, the Science of Scare Project has run an experiment to try to answer the second of these questions. The project asks a panel of 250 people to watch horror movies while measuring their physiological responses to them and then ranks the scariest movies based on those responses. In past years, they have relied simply on heart rates, but – after some criticisms from horror fans that this emphasizes only one sudden type of fear – they have updated this for 2023. Now their study includes not only heart rate as way to measure excitement and fear but also heart rate variance, arguing that “the lower the heart rate variance the more stressed our audience members became, a good indicator of slow burn fear and dread.”
Frey speaking about his piece “Minesweeper World Map” (2018).
While here, Frey also visited Matt Whitehead’s Drawing class and worked with students on a poster creation project. In preparation for his visit, the class toured his show in the Apex Gallery and discussed the work and how it fit within the class’s idea of “the grid.” For the workshop, Frey started by discussing his take on the grid, which he sees as being all around us. He shared images that he took in his hotel that morning to help illustrate this. In his artwork he examines various ideas but is often looking for ways to challenge our understanding of the grid, while still working within it.
Asked to design posters for invented events and issues (using Nathaniel Russell’s fake flyer assignment described here), students invented lost animal posters with a twist, public service announcements about wearing sunscreen, warnings about birds, and much more. Many posters used similar design techniques even when their content was wildly different, illustrating how specific kinds of media (like informational posters) come with formal expectations that shape their content and presentation and connecting to Frey’s work in its focus on the idea of disrupting the social grid.
The Novum 