ALUMNI BANQUET - FEBRUARY 22, 2008

SAN DlEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ANNUAL BANQUET - FEBRUARY 22, 2008

sponsored by
SDSU GEOLOGY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
(aka "FRIENDS OF THE DEPARTMENT")

This year's banquet will be held at the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park in San Diego. The Friday evening event begins with a social hour at 6pm and dinner at 7pm. The meal will be followed by a program including a department update and recognition of retiring professors, Dr. Clive Dorman and Dr. Gary Peterson. The evening will also include a presentation to and by Dr. Gary L. Peterson, this year's recipient of the Baylor Brooks Honored Alumni Award.

The Mexican buffet dinner will likely include quesadillas, flautas, chipslsalsa, beans, rice, tortillas, fajitas, carnitas, guacamole, salsa and all the accompaniments to build awesome tacos and burritos! Water, soft drinks, wine and beer are included with this year's banquet fee.

As a fund-raiser to partially fund students' banquet meals and other Alumni Association activities, we will have a silent auction that will be set up at the beginning of the evening and will conclude after the evening's program. If you have any items to donate to the auction, please bring them We sincerely appreciate your donations!

The San Diego Natural History Museum is located in Balboa Park. Directions are available at http://www.sdnhm.org/. Use the north entrance. For banquet reservations, please complete the attached form. For more info, contact Sue, sdsuneoalum@att.net

CURRENT SDSU GEO-STUDENTS - At least 50 percent of your banquet fee will be reimbursed IF you make a reservation AND show up at the banquet!!! And, remember, SDSU geo-alumni may be your future employers (and are a great bunch of people to know! You're gonna be one of them!)

Reservation Form

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$$$ REQUESTS FOR ADDITIONAL DONATIONS $$$
"FRIENDS OF THE DEPARTMENT"

(aka SDSU Geoloav Alumni Association)

The Friends of the Department (your SDSU Geology Alumni Association) is active year-round, currently does not solicit dues from the alumni on the mailing list, and (because our checking account balance is low) requests your assistance in funding our annual activities such as:

• Help fund student meal costs at the annual banquet
• Assist with expenses for our honored alumnus of the year
• Maintain a plaque in the department with nameplates of our honored alumni
• Prepare, distribute and email info regarding our events
• Maintain and update email group list
• Provide scholarship funds to SDSU geology department students
• Buy and donate equipment needed by the department

Your donation is sincerely appreciated and may be submitted with your banquet reservation form.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

SEMINAR - Paul Bedrosian

Electromagnetic Imaging of Active Fault Zones

Paul A Bedrosian
US Geological Survey
Crustal Imaging and Characterization Team

Suspected impact crater is center of teen's universe

His discovery launches 3-year research project

By Sharon A. Heilbrunn

EL CAJON – After years of research, an East County teen has perhaps accomplished a first – identifying an ancient meteorite crater in California.
Sam Spevack, a Grossmont Middle College High School senior, found what scientists believe is a possible crater near Stockton that was created by a meteorite hitting the Earth millions of years ago.
Sam, 17, has been working on the project for three years. “It's kind of like a hobby,” he said.
He found the crater when his father, geophysicist Bennett Spevack, was finishing projects near the area.
Sam noticed the feature while looking at seismic data his father was using and decided to investigate further. “I was able to recognize what I thought looked like an impact crater,” Sam said.
The formation – dubbed the Victoria Island Structure and measuring about five kilometers in diameter – is buried about one mile beneath the Earth's surface. Its circular shape is similar to known impact craters.
If Sam's theory is proved – scientists are working on that now – it will be the only known impact crater in California.
In November, Sam was honored as a regional winner in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology, a highly respected event for high school students doing graduate-level work.
To enter, he submitted a 20-page report on the project. At the competition, he delivered a PowerPoint presentation to a panel of judges, his peers and members of the public. Although he didn't win first place, he was one of 30 finalists out of more than 1,000 entries.
“I was slightly nervous,” Sam said. “The competition was really amazing. All the projects were really interesting.”
Jared Morrow, assistant professor of geology at San Diego State University, has mentored Sam as he looks for evidence of the impact.
“Sam is extremely diligent,” Morrow said. “Very hardworking. He's very bright, very well-rounded.”
Sam's interests spill into the musical world. He plays violin, clarinet and piano. He recently sent applications to several universities, including Cornell, University of California San Diego, San Diego State University and UC Santa Barbara's College of Creative Studies.
“I really like musical composition,” he said, noting that he might pursue a career in that field.
Sam has spent nearly 300 hours on the impact crater project, taking little steps each day that involve mapping, lab work, research, writing and reading.
Even though the work can be tedious, it's gratifying for him to remember that if he hadn't made this finding, “the impact would still be unnoticed under the Earth's surface,” Sam said.
He will continue to research physical and geochemical data with Morrow. Eventually, they will present their findings in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, with the hope that it will be accepted by the larger scientific community.
The project is a long-term one, Morrow said, but Sam is being patient – and optimistic.
“Right now, it's a suspected impact,” Sam said. “That's a short step away from being proven.”

Source San Diego Union Tribune
Sharon A. Heilbrunn is a community news assistant in the East County office.
Sharon Heilbrunn: (619) 593-4957; sharon.heilbrunn@uniontrib.com