Annual Boat Regatta draws crowd at U. Illinois

Daily Illini (U. Illinois)

(U-WIRE) - The annual University of Illinois Boat Regatta at the outdoor IMPE pool Friday evening drew a crowd to cheer on canoes, box-like creations and even a boat with sparks and smoke spurting out its side. The boats, made from cardboard, were entered into a competition in which the fastest boat to make it across the pool won. Other awards included the ``titanic award'' for the most spectacular sinking, an award for the most creative use of cardboard, the most outrageous design and the team with the most spirit. Many boaters were dressed according to a theme. Members of the American Society of Civil Engineers wore bath robes and towels on their heads and raced a yellow duck. Others were dressed as mermaids.

U. Connecticut professor works on time machine

The Daily Campus (U. Connecticut)

(U-WIRE) - A University of Connecticut theoretical physics professor is working on the key to traveling back in time. According to Ronald Mallett, the solution is simpler than traveling through a rotating black hole or an unstable wormhole. Mallet has been working on creating a time machine since he was 10 years old, when his father died from a heart attack at the age of 33. He plans to use the device to go back in time and warn his father. Mallett's theory uses laser light that is forced to circulate in one continuous loop by using mirrors or fiber optics. A single spinning particle, such as a neutron, would be placed in the center. The particle would be dragged around in empty space, and moving it away from the center could send it into the past.

U. Alabaman Banned Book Week promotes awareness of censorship

The Crimson White (U. Alabama)

(U-WIRE) - Last week the University of Alabama chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union sponsored Banned Book Week in order to make students aware of government censorship. Nakia Handley, president of the University's chapter of ACLU, said, ``We wanted to show people how some really great literature is being taken away from us.'' This year, the most frequently challenged books were the most popular ones. J.K Rowling's Harry Potter series, several Stephen King books, ``The Canterbury Tales,'' and ``To Kill a Mockingbird'' are just a few of the books that have come under fire recently. Banned Book Week also discussed Supreme Court cases during World War I, World War II and the Cold War, in which people were arrested for publishing anti-war material.

Approximately 700 U. Maryland students homeless after tornado

The Diamondback (U. Maryland)