Physical Sciences Resource Center (PSRC)

October 3-4, 2008

The Fall Meeting of the CSAAPT will be held at Tidewater Community College in Virginia Beach Virginia.  Registration will begin Saturday at 8 am in the Science Building.  A physics demonstration session will kick off the meeting at 8:30 am, followed by contributed papers.  A  business meeting will take place following lunch. The local organizer of this meeting is David Wright (757-822-7307), dwright@tcc.edu. A map of the TCC campus is here. The meeting registration fee will be $10.

List of talks submitted so far for the meeting. Please send your title and abstracts directly to David Wright, dwright@tcc.edu.

Meeting Highlights

• Banquet on Friday night at the college

• Soup and Sandwich luncheon at the college on Saturday

• Compadre workshop on Friday with Bruce Mason of Oklahoma University

• Hands on motor workshop on Saturday

• Planetarium Program on Friday night (Digistar 3 Digital Laser oriojector). All dome show + bells and whistles

• Observatory tour and observation (weather Permitting) : 6" Takahashi Refractor and 20" Planewave CDK Pasco equipment display

• Demonstration show

• Contributed papers

• Coffee, juice, assorted pastries, and fruit tray will be available during registration and snack breaks, courtesy of TCC.

• Prizes will be awarded for the best paper in each of four categories:   four year college/industry,  two year college, high school, student.

• Meeting registration fee is $10.

Workshops

• Compadre Workshop:  2 hours, 5:00-7:00 pm  Friday October 3, Science Building. This will be done in a computer lab, with 12 computers and a maximum of 24 participants. The workshop acquaints participants with the use of Compadre, a digital library for all Physics and Astronomy Communities.

• Motor Workshop:  1 1/2 hours, following the conclusion of contributed papers on Saturday Oct 4.  Starting between 1 and 2 pm. Participants assemble a small dc motor, mount the rotor, power it with a battery, and make it spin by bringing up a magnet. The operation of this model motor produces many observations, which participants explain through further investigation. Each participant will receive a motor and related materials.

• Workshop Participants should preregister by sending their name and contact information to David Wright by September 24:  dwright@tcc.edu.  There is no charge for the workshops, but preregistration is required.  You may sign up for one or both.  There will only be a limited number of on site registration slots.   Participation will be on a first come first served basis.

Contributed Talks

• 15 Minutes, including questions.  Talk Title and Abstract should be sent by e-mail to David Wright (dwright@tcc.edu) by September 24.

• The presentation room has a PC desktop computer with projector, DVD/VHS player, and document camera.   Those with power point presentations should bring them on a USB drive, although it will also be possible to hook up a laptop to the projector.  We have the latest version of Power Point.

 Physics Demonstration Session

• Saturday morning will begin with a physics demonstration session.  Those wishing to present a demonstration should send the title, brief description,  and time required to David Wright by September 24.  The demonstration may be brief, but it should be no longer than 10 minutes.   We encourage those presenting a demonstration to provide handouts (40) that give details or explanations.   We have a copy machine if we have underestimated the attendance.

Banquet

• The banquet will be at 7:30 on Friday night at TCC.   Lunch on Saturday will also be at the college.  Details to follow.

Planetarium Show

• Following the banquet, we will visit our state of the art planetarium.  It has a Digistar 3 Laser projector which projects 16 million pixels on the 40 ft dome. We show an all dome production, and demonstrate the capabilities of the system.  Prepare to be amazed and entertained. Weather permitting, we will also view the stars through our 20"  CDK reflecting scope or the 6" Takahashi refractor in our slide off roof observatory just behind the science building.

Conference Hotel

• Barclay Towers, 809 Atlantic Avenue, Virginia Beach, VA

• $79 per night, double occupancy.  ($90.27 including all taxes) Children less than 18 in the same room are free.  Extra adults at $10 each.  Maximum of 5 per room.

• Please indicate that you are with the "AAPT" group block in order to receive this discounted group rate.  Call 757-491-2700.  Reservations must be made by Friday, September 5, 2008, at which time any unreserved rooms will be released and put back in our hotel inventory for sale.  Guests may also have the same rate if they wish to stay over Saturday night.

• Living rooms with private oceanfront balconyFree continental breakfast. Two-room suites, all with king size bed and queen sized sofabed. Kitchens equipped with refrigerator, stove, oven, cookware, microwave, toaster, coffee maker and place settings for four.  Spa with dry sauna, steam sauna and hot tub on the oceanfront. Ten station weight room and exercise bike.  Free Parking.

• For more information www.barclaytowersvb.com.

• Check-in time 3 pm.  Checkout at 11 am.

• Average high temperature  in Virginia Beach is in the lower 70s with water temperature in the upper sixties.  There are many things to do in the area.

Directions

• TCC map

• College Address:  1700 College Crescent,  Virginia Beach, VA 23453 Directions to the Barclay Towers Resort Hotel from Out of Town: Take I-64 East to Norfolk, then go East on I-264 toward Virginia Beach. Follow I-264 all the way to the Oceanfront where the street will end at Atlantic Avenue. Turn right on Atlantic Avenue and go approximately 13 blocks to 809 Atlantic Avenue. The hotel will be on your left and its parking garage on your right.

• Directions to Tidewater Community College from Out of Town: Take I-64 East toward Norfolk, then go East on I-264 toward Virginia Beach. Take the Rosemont Road exit, and turn right at the light at the bottom of the exit ramp.   Follow Rosemont Road, going south, for about 3.7 miles to Faculty Boulevard. (Faculty Boulevard is the next stoplight past the stoplight at Buckner Blvd.)  Turn right onto Faculty Boulevard.  When you arrive at the stop sign, park in the parking lot that is to your left, and park close to the two story building in front of you, which is the Advanced Technology Center (ATC). There is no parking permit required. The Meetings are in the Science Building (see TCC Map).

• Directions to Tidewater Community College from Barclay Towers Hotel: Go south on Pacific Avenue. (Pacific Avenue is one block west of the hotel.) After going over the Rudee Inlet bridge it becomes General Booth Boulevard. Follow General Booth Boulevard for 3.5 miles until you arrive at Dam Neck Road. (At this intersection there are large shopping centers on your right.) Turn right onto Dam Neck Road and follow it for 5.1 miles. Turn right onto Rosemont Road. (Rosemont Road is the first right after the major intersection at Holland Road.) Take Rosemont Road to Faculty Blvd, turning left onto  Faculty Boulevard.  When you arrive at the stop sign, park in the parking lot that is to your left, and park close to the two story building in front of you, which is the Advanced Technology Center (ATC).  There is no parking permit required. The Meetings are in the Science Building (See TCC Map). Travel time is approximately 20 minutes.

 If you have questions about our organization, meetings or anything else please do not hesitate to contact any of our officers.