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UB faculty and students respond to ongoing protest in Hong Kong
Anchorman’s David Koechner performing in Buffalo this weekend
Friday, october 10, 2014
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Volume 64 No. 20
UB’s own ‘Umbrella Revolution’
Giselle Lam ASST. NEWS EDITOR
If Kayo Lee was home in Hong Kong, he’d be sitting on the city’s streets baring an umbrella and fighting for the freedom to vote without China’s influence. The UB student and senior psychology major is doing his best to be part of the “Umbrella Revolution” while he is studying in Buffalo. For about two weeks thousands of student protesters have camped out in some of Hong Kong’s busiest streets, using umbrellas as shields from police officer’s pepper spray and tear gas. And now, the meeting with Hong Kong’s government officials protesters have been fighting for will not happen. Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief secretary, told reporters in a conference Thursday that she regretted there will not be a meeting Friday. The government refused to meet with protesters after leaders of the prodemocratic movement called on more supporters to return to the outdoor protests after numbers diminished this week. “I am afraid that is making people’s daily lives into a bargaining chip for the meeting,” Lam said. “We cannot accept the linking of illegal activities to whether or not to talk.” Although they are on the other side of the world and 12 hours behind the city, UB Hong Kong students, who have family and friends protesting, are passionate about what is going on in their home city. They believe the rest of the university should understand what is going on as well. On Sept. 26, a pro-democracy protest broke out in Hong Kong. That weekend, the crowd gained momentum and soon, thousands of citizens gathered to protest the government. “I’ve never seen Hong Kong people
TAKEN ON SEPT. 27, 2014, COURTESY OF FLICKR USER DOCTOR HO
COURTESY OF PASU AU YEUNG
COURTESY OF PASU AU YEUNG
Thousands of protesters, including high school and college students and pro-democracy advocates, gathered in Hong Kong’s streets to object the Hong Kong and Chinese government. To protect themselves from police attacks of tear gas and pepper spray, protesters used umbrellas, giving the event the name of the “Umbrella Revolution.”
that united,” said Sarah Tse, a senior accounting major. Hong Kong had been under British colonialism for 156 years and on July 1, 1997, the city was returned to China, known as the handover. In the Sino-British Joint Declaration, China promised Hong Kong a “high degree of autonomy” for 50 years after the return to China. This would allow Hong Kong to be self-governed for that time, which includes its ability to elect governing officials. The agreement provided Hong Kong with universal suffrage, which is a democratic voting system, and a principle
of “one country, two systems.” The one country, two systems principle says within China, the Mainland will continue with its socialist political system, while Hong Kong will maintain the capitalist system. China said Hong Kong’s 2017 Chief Executive election would be free of Chinese interference. But on Aug. 31, China announced its own electoral committee would select candidates for the 2017 election. Hong Kong citizens gathered in Admiralty, the central business district of Hong Kong, and started a pro-democracy demonstration to protest China’s actions.
Lee said the protesters just want to send a peaceful message to officials about what they want and why they are standing in the streets. Vanessa Ho, a junior biomedical engineering major, said Hong Kong high school and college students are being criticized for participating in the protests because they are “too young” and their “only responsibility for now is to study.” The protest has included study zones, where the students are able to catch up on homework. SEE PROTEST, PAGE 2
Through the solar lens DeShawn Henry works on alternative, affordable way to clean water Samaya Abdus-Salaam ASST. NEWS EDITOR
DeShawn Henry wants to make a difference in the world. He started with a tall-wooden frame with plastic sheeting sitting on top. A Styrofoam box painted black creates a focal point for sunlight, suspended in the center of the frame. Weights are placed around the plastic so it is held taut and water is given space to evenly distribute, creating a spherical lens, similar to a contact lens. Henry, a sophomore civil engineering major, and James Jenson, a professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering, spent this summer researching effective and inexpensive ways to disinfect water. A water lens using solar disinfection was their solution. Jenson and Henry used a water lens to test how much safe drinking water the sun’s heat – which eliminates bacteria and disinfects the water – could produce. Using wood and plastic, Jenson and Henry were able to consistently disinfect water using the sun’s energy – all for the price of Saran wrap. Through the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAP), Henry, along with 11 other students, had the opportunity to work on research projects within the university. The eightweek intensive program allowed each intern to work closely with a faculty adviser as a mentor. The project required each intern to attend team-building seminars twice a week.
Jenson believes the idea of using the sun’s energy to heat water is ancient, but building a device to harvest the sun’s energy came from the Internet. “I looked it up and there was a YouTube video of someone who built a gigantic [lens] in their backyard and used it to burn wood,” Jenson said. “And so I said, if you can burn wood with this, you should be able to use it to treat drinking water.” Jenson brought the idea of creating a water lens to Alex Valencia, a UB alumnus, almost four years ago. Together, Jenson and Valencia laid the initial groundwork – building the frame and analyzing how the size of the frame affects its efficiency. Henry worked with three types of plastic materials – painters’ drop-cloth, saran wrap and the plastic used to wrap shipping crates. Jenson even suggested using the plastic wrap from UB’s food services. Once the water’s temperature reaches 135 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit, bacteria and bugs are killed, making the water safe to drink. Much of the research involved in this project isn’t on the lens itself but on the mathematics behind it. “Now, you might be thinking, this is so simple, a child can throw some water up there, but [Henry’s] work got really complicated because the shape of the lens changes depending on whether the plastic is thick or thin,” Jenson said. The type of plastic used affected how much water the lens can hold and how much water could be disinfected.
DEREK DROCY, THE SPECTRUM
DeShawn Henry, a sophomore civil engineering major, spent the summer researching solar disinfection by using a solar lens to heat and disinfect water.
One of Jenson’s main objectives is for the lens to be made in the cheapest way possible. The civil and environmental engineering department is researching other materials that can be used to filter and purify water through the solar lens project as well as other water purifying projects. “Our whole point is empowerment,” Jenson said. “People should be able to treat their own water without having to buy things.” He suggests people turn to their backyards to find materials – even use their houses as the basis for the lens. The only material they’d have to find would be the plastic. For the water lens to be effective, however, the weather needs to be clear and warm, which makes the lens’ use most feasible in the equatorial regions of the world. But not in Buffalo, according to Jenson, because the lens would often succumb to the weather by falling over or tearing due to wind and inconsistent sunshine. Jenson said the best uses of the lens would be in the case of an emergency,
like an earthquake or typhoon, where it may be difficult to find clean water. Because the lens is so simple and inexpensive to build, using it in the event of a natural disaster would bring clean water to a large amount of people quickly. Research on the lens has been halted because the incoming cold weather makes it harder to keep and maintain heat. But this does not mean that research on different types of water filtration systems has been stopped, too. This year, the department has tested natural plant material, fabric filtration and ceramic water filters through clay pots made of rice husks as a way to filter water. “It’s one of the most ubiquitous materials in the world because so many people use rice and throw away the rice husks, so we’re making clay pots out of those,” Jenson said. Henry said if a person has the materials to build the lens, then they have the ability to save their families and their communities. email: news@ubspectrum.com