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January 16, 2007
Midday film series at Earth and Mineral Sciences Library
University Park, PA—The Fletcher L. Byrom Earth and Mineral Sciences Library announces its Spring 2008 film series, Wednesdays, 12:15 p.m., in 105 Deike Building, University Park. The full schedule is available at: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/emsl/videoseries.html
January 16: "Oregon's Ocean"
Explores the unique ecology and climate of the rugged Pacific coast of Oregon, and explains the controversies and concerns over the use of this geographic niche. (30 minutes)
January 23: "Introduction to Furnace Glass Blowing"
Glassblower William Gudenrath demonstrates the techniques of glass blowing. (30 minutes)
January 30: "Arctic Meltdown, Rising Seas: Threatened Lands, Threatened People"
Discusses the potentially disastrous effects of global warming and climatic change, particularly for the low-lying Marshall Islands and the Arctic areas of North America. (32 minutes)
February 6: "Coal Wars: the Battle in Rum Creek"
Filmed in an isolated hollow of West Virginia, this documentary shows the violent clash between miners and the coal companies that dominate their lives. When the strike was settled, the miners felt that both management and the unions had gained, but that workers had lost. (30 minutes)
February 13: "N is for Nanotechnology"
Documentary exploring the hypes, hopes and facts of the nanotechnology field as seen through the eyes of award-winning scientists, industry leaders and writers. (34 minutes)
February 20: "Celilo Falls and the Remaking of the Columbia River"
Provides an historical overview of the economic and social importance of Celilo Falls of the Columbia River to Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest, and the impacts upon that group that resulted from the erection of the Dalles Dam. (31 minutes)
February 27: "Lime and the Earth: a natural balance"
Explores the origins of lime and how it has been manufactured and used through the ages. (27 minutes)
March 5: "Wind over Water"
In 2001, Cape Wind Associates of Boston announced plans for America's first offshore wind farm -- 130 turbines to be installed in Nantucket Sound off the sourthern coast of Cape Cod. What followed was an impassioned debate about land, energy and the environment. (32 minutes)
March 10-14: Spring Break Week, no video
March 19: "Kilowatt Ours"
Documents the devastating consequences of the predominantly coal and nuclear powered economy in the southeastern United States. Solar panels, energy efficient lighting, and geothermal heating are a few of the solutions to reduce energy costs that are demonstrated by home owners and individuals representing businesses and government agencies. (38 minutes)
March 26: "Estuary: Columbia's Link with the Sea"
In order to communicate the complexity of the resource issues on the Columbia River, this film looks at the relationship between the economic health of the Pacific Northwest and the biological health of the Columbia River and its estuary. (28 minutes)
April 2: "Born in Freedom: Story of Colonel Drake"
Tells the story of Edwin Drake's attempts to extract commercial quantities of oil from the earth and of the drilling of the first successful oil well in Titusville, Pa. (28 minutes)
April 9: "Ecuador"
The Ecuadoran government granted Burlington oil a contract to explore and exploit oil in the Achuar Indian territory without consulting with the Achuar. The Achuar are opposed to the oil company's presence in their land. (26 minutes)
April 16: "Deep Connections" (Endless Voyage)
Like wind-powered surface currents, the density-driven thermohaline circulation plays a major role in global heat transfer and in distributing dissolved gasses and nutrients. Chemical tracers are just one method used to study these deep water currents. (30 minutes)
April 23: "Velocity: Exploring sustainability through wind power"
Wind power, the world's fastest growing form of renewable energy is the focus of this documentary. The film features initiatives and renewable energy sources from Austin Energy, New Belgium Brewery in Ft. Collins, Colorado and The Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems in Austin, Texas. (30 minutes)
April 30: "Something in the Air" (Endless Voyage)
The interaction of the ocean, the atmosphere, and the land form an inseparable system. The atmospheric composition, properties, and circulation of this system as well as the Coriolis effect, wind patterns, and air masses are studied in this lesson. (30 minutes)