Tuesday, September 10, 2013
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RAINY DAY -
Starry-eyed physics professor
David Gerdes is a professor in
the Department of Physics. He is
currently teaching an introduc-
tory physics course and is work-
ing with the Dark Energy Survey
to map a large portion of the sky.
How did you first become
interested in physics?
Some of my earliest memories
from when I was very little were
of the Apollo moon landings and
being allowed to stay up much
later than my parents had ever
allowed me to stay up so that
I could watch the astronauts
get out and walk on the moon.
That sparked an interest for me
in astronomy and space. When
I started thinking about what
to do in college, I asked around
about what you should study if
you wanted to be an astrono-
mer. I assumed the answer
was astronomy, but everyone I
talked to said, "No, don't study
astronomy. Study physics." You
need to know lots of physics to
do astronomy, and eventually
you can specialize in astronomy
in graduate school.
So did you end up specializing
in astronomy?
I actually went to graduate
school and studied elementary
particle physics. I did my thesis
on a particle collider experi-
ment at the Fermilab outside
Chicago and spent my time
studying high-energy particle
collisions. In 1998, while I was
in the middle of doing this, a
discovery was made that the
expansion rate of the universe
is accelerating, and you can
obtain an accelerating universe
if you put a term - called the
cosmological constant - back in
to Einstein's theory of general
relativity equation. It turned
out that 75 percent of the uni-
verse is this weird property of
empty spaced called dark ener-
gy. That seemed like the sort of
discovery that was worth drop-
ping what you're working on to
try to figure out, and that's how
I got back into astronomy as a
grownup.
-ARIANAASSAF
T H REE T HIN(.S YO U
SHOIJII K NOW fOUAY
Cheryl Strayed, author
of bestselling memoir
"Wild", recently recon-
nected with her long-lost sis-
ter, NPR reported. Strayed's
sister recognized her father,
and thus her sister, within
the first chapter of the book.
Coorrrectgionsod~~o o~oaa~iserot~o
vorr,riosmciadiyom hr~i~erak.
Dinlne SalesFiac
onl inoeot,@m ichigoodaily corn fnneihent~~o
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LSA junior Taima Attal and LSA senior Mary Raup
share an umbrella to dodge the rain Monday.
CRIME NOTES
Chemical leak Visitor
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
WHERE: Harrison Randall
L aboratory
WHEN: Sunday at about
,:25 p.m.
WHAT: University Police
reported that an uknown
substance was leaking from
the ceiling. Occupational
Safety and Environmental
Health responded, but no
report was filed.
violations
WHERE: Thayer carport
WHEN: Sunday at about
6:50 p.m.
WHAT: Suspected
marijuana was confiscated
from visiting subjects,
University Police reported.
All subjects were directed
to leave the campus area.
SUSpicioUS Another stolen
skater bike
Festifall El
WHAT: At the beginning WHO
of every year, 500 student Show
organizations set up disco
information booths on lapto
Central Campus. Interested andn
students are invited to sign retur
up for any and all clubs. WH4
WHO: Campus Information Tech
Centers WHI
WHEN: Today from 11 a.m. to 5 p
to 4 p.m. WHI
WHERE: The Diag andP
Biology Fu
seminar Co:
WHAT: Dr. Stephen Weiss WHO
of the Department of Cell day t
and Molecular Biology will your1
present a seminar to discuss Care.
the process involved in progr
connecting a membrane- will I
anchored metalloproteinase movi
to nuclear transcription WH(
programs. WHI
WHO: Biological Chemistry p.m.
WHEN: Today at 12 p.m.
WHERE: Medical Science
Unit I, room 5330
ectronic sale
AT: The Computer
rcase is offering
'unted prices on
ps, tablets, software
more electronics for
rning students.
O: Information and
nology Services
EN: Today from 9 a.m.
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winter terms by students at the University of Michigan.One copy is avaiable free of charge
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ERE: Michigan Union In an attempt to curb
Pierpont Commons underage drinking, a
new policy at the Uni-
versity of Idaho expels
ttureHashtag freshman with GPAs of 1.0 or
lower.
" FOR MORE, SEE OPINION, PAGE 4
6
0
WHERE: Thayer carport
WHEN: Sunday at about
7:15 p.m.
WHAT: An officer found
subjects skateboarding dur-
ilg a check of the parking
structure. One subject was
carrested on outstanding
wvarrants from another
: gency and turned over.
WHERE: 500 block of East
University
WHEN: Monday at 12:35
a.m.
WHAT: University Police
reported that sometime
between 11 p.m. Sunday and
12:30 a.m. Monday, a bicycle
was taken from a rack on
Cooley Mall.
AT: Today is the last
o submit or tweet
hashtag idea for
er Center events and
rams. Three winners
be chosen for a free
e and popcorn prize.
O: The Career Center
EN: Todayuntil 11:59
Activists passed out
joints in Denver to pro-
test a proposed tax on
recreational marijuana,
The Denver Channel report-
ed. Marijuana is legal in Den-
ver for those 21 and over, but
public consumption is not.
MORE ONLINE LoveCrime Notes?
Get more online at michigandaily.com/blogs/The Wire
Russia offers to control,
Sinai Peninsula rocked by
anti-extremist offensive
destroy
Offer seen as
attempt to avert
U.S. air strike
MOSCOW (AP) - Syria on
Monday quickly welcomed
a call from Russia, its close
ally, to place Syrian chemical
arsenals under international
control, then destroy them to
avert a U.S. strike, but did not
offer a time frame or any other
specifics.
'The statement by Syrian
Foreign Minister Walid
al-Moallem appeared to mean
that diplomatic efforts to end
Syria's 2 /-year civil war were
gaining momentum. But it
remained to be seen whether it
represented a genuine goodwill
gesture by Syria or simply an
attempt by Syrian President
Bashar Assad to buy more time
to prepare for a U.S. military
H-B
Syrian weapons
attack. not acknowledging that it had
"Syria welcomes the Russian them.
proposal out of concern for the Moallem's statement came a
lives of the Syrian people, the few hours after U.S. Secretary
security of our country and of State John Kerry said
because it believes in the wisdom Assad could resolve the crisis
of the Russian leadership surrounding the alleged use of
that seeks to avert American chemical weapons by his forces
aggression against our people," by surrendering control of
al-Moallem said during a visit "every single bit" of his arsenal
to Moscow, where he held talks to the international community
with his Russian counterpart, by the end of the week.
Sergey Lavrov. Also Monday, U.N. Secretary-
However, al-Moallem, would General Ban Ki-moon urged
not give any further details in his Syria to immediately agree to
brief statement and didn't take transfer chemical weapons and
any questions from reporters. chemical precursors to a safe
Russia's proposal confirmed place within the country for
for the first time from Syria's international destruction. Ban
most important international said he will also propose to the
ally that the Syrian government Security Council that it unite
possesses chemical weapons, and demand an immediate
and al-Moallem's welcome chemical weapons transfer
was a tacit acknowledgment. should U.N. inspectors conclude
Syria's Foreign Ministry last that such weapons were used in
year retracted a threat to use an attack Aug. 21 in a suburb of
chemical weapons, saying it was Damascus.
French Foreign Minister
O*WLaurent Fabius said L avrov's
proposal "deserves close
examination" but the chemical
weapons would have to be
placed under international
control in a short time and those
responsible for "the chemical
1 9 massacre" must be punished.
Al-Moallem and Lavrov
6 4 didn't make any immediate
reference to Kerry's statement
when they spoke to the media
after their talks, but a few
hours later Lavrov went before
cameras to say that Moscow
would urge Syria to quickly
6 8 1 2 place its chemical weapons
under international control and
A r then dismantle it.
5 4 8 3 7 Lavrov, who held talks with
al-Moallem in Moscow earlier
2 7 3 1 in the day, said he expected
a quick positive answer from
Damascus.
"If the establishment of
international control over
chemical weapons in that
country would allow avoiding
' strikes, we will immediately
start working with Damascus,"
Lavrov said.
20 suspected
militants killed,
20 captured
EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) -
Egyptian troops and tanks
backed by helicopter gunships
swept through villages in the
northern Sinai Peninsula near
the border with the Palestinian
Gaza Strip on Monday, the third
day of a major offensive against
Islamic extremists, a military
official said. So far, some 20
suspected militants have been
killed and 20 captured in the
operation, he added.
Explosions rocked
el-Mahdiya and Naga Shabana,
two of several villages south of
the town of Rafah, the official
said, where the military hit
targets and shelters used by
militants wanted for the killing
and abduction of Egyptian
soldiers over the past year.
A day earlier, an al-Qaida-
inspired militant group based in
the area claimed responsibility
for last week's failed
assassination attempt on Egypt's
interior minister, describing the
Cairo attack as a "suicide" car
bomb.
The claim could not be
independently verified but it
appeared on militant websites
that regularly distribute
statements from al-Qaida-linked
groups. If true, it would mark
the first time Sinai militants
took their fight to the heart
of the Egyptian capital with a
suicide attack.
Tourist resorts along the
southern coast of the rocky,
desert region saw a string of
suicide bombings in the mid-
2000s thatleft atleast125people
dead and triggered mass arrests
and detentions of thousands
of Bedouin tribesman. The
crackdown soured relations
between locals and the central
government, intensifying
the Bedouins' feelings of
mistreatment and turning the
northern end of the peninsula
into an incubator for Islamic
extremism.
Like Ansar Jerusalem, other
Sinai-based al-Qaida inspired
groups have been blamed for a
spike of attacks against military
and police in northern Sinai
since the military ousted former
Islamist President Mohammed
Morsi on July 3.
The increase in violence
has raised suspicions of links
between Morsi's Muslim
Brotherhood and Islamic
militant groups. Military
officials have accused Morsi of
handlingthegroupstooleniently
and striking a truce with them
to halt their attacks in return for
suspending military operations
against them during his year in
office. This truce, they say, gave
militants free reign to stockpile
weapons, evidenced by the large
caches of anti-aircraft missiles,
mortars, and RPGs and other
weapons seized by the army
since Saturday.
Mustafa Hegazy, the interim
president's political adviser, told
Egyptian TV station Al-Hayat
that under Morsi's rule, the
number of militants in Sinai
jumped to 7,000 or more from
1,000.
"It is graver than what we
thought,"he said in a late Sunday
interview. He said the attempt
on the interior minister did not
signal a broader deterioration
of Egypt's security, which was
being "restored" across the
country.
In the Ansar Jerusalem
statement posted late Sunday,
the group said it carried out
the attack on Interior Minister
Gen. Mohammed Ibrahim's
motorcade to avenge Muslims
killed by security forces
during their violent Aug. 14
dismantlement of two sprawling
encampments set up in Cairo
by pro-Morsi supporters
demanding his reinstatement.
The day left hundreds dead in
what was an unprecedented
bloodbath. It also sparked a wave
of unrest across the country
where pro-Morsi supporters
attacked churches and police
stations.
"The Interior Ministry, the
slaughterer, has seen death with
its own eyes from a martyrdom
operation carried out by a lion
of Egypt's lions," the statement
said. "What is coming will be
worse," it added.
"We pledge to God the
Almighty to seek revenge for
Muslims on all those who
contributed to their killings and
assaulting their honor, above
all el-Sissi and Mohammed
Ibrahim," it said, also referring
to Egypt's Military Chief Gen.
Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi who led
the coup against Morsi after
millions took to the streets
demanding his resignation for
abuse of power.
The statement urged
Muslims to stay away from
the ministries of interior and
defense, indicating that these
two institutions willbe targeted.
It also showed an ideological
proximity to al-Qaida, citing an
Aug. 3 statement by the group's
leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, that
mocked the democratic process
and called upon "soldiers of the
Quran to wage the war for the
Quran," the Muslim holybook.
An Egyptian security official
said authorities are still studying
the statement, but confirmed
that human remains suspected
to belong to the suicide bomber
were found inside the car used
in the bombing. The Health
Ministry said that one person
died a day later of wounds
sustained during the attack, and
more than 20 were injured.
Ansar Jerusalem does
not have a proven record of
carrying out attacks outside of
Sinai. It has previously claimed
responsibility for attacks on
gas pipelines to Israel, rockets
targeting Israel and a 2012
shootout along the Israeli-
Egyptian border in which three
militants and an Israeli soldier
were killed.
A