(Published by Zocalo Magazine on March 2, 2015.) They are classic scenes in the 1984 film “Ghostbusters.” One is the opener with the grandmotherly librarian who gets the bejeezus scared out of her by the “free-roaming, vaporous, full torso apparition” haunting the New York Public Library. The other scene is with that ghost, who seems to also have been a librarian in her earthly life, shushing the Ghostbusters when they try to ask her questions while she is reading; she then terrorizes and … [Read more...]
Back to Basics
(Published by Zocalo Magazine on Nov. 11, 2013.) “Simple is harder than complicated,” reflects environmental engineering student Andrea F. Corral. Her cohort Vicky Karanikola agrees enthusiastically, “Yeah! Everything is so technologically advanced that you forget the simple. Our designs have to be simplified, they have to be simple to work.” These University of Arizona doctoral environmental engineering students are discussing the challenges of going back to basics, to help a village in … [Read more...]