'SUPERSTITION CELEBRATION' IS FRIDAY THE 13TH AT OLD DOMINION

Science and Reason in Hampton Roads, an organization of students, faculty and community residents dedicated to promoting science, the scientific method, rational thinking and critical examination of dubious or extraordinary claims, will hold its inaugural Superstition Celebration from noon to 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13, in front of Webb University Center at Old Dominion University.

To prove their rationality, passersby will walk under ladders, a superstition dating back to the days of the gallows, and break mirrors, an ancient superstition believed to damage the soul, as well as light three candles from one match and perform other acts that would have terrified their ancestors. Voodoo dolls, tarot card readings and fortune cookies also will be featured.

Members of the group also will be available to explain these superstitions and their origins. Science and Reason in Hampton Roads sprang from the 1999 Old Dominion University College of Sciences' pseudoscience lecture series, which discussed various phenomena, including alternative medicine.

For more information about Science and Reason in Hampton Roads, call Larry Weinstein, associate professor of physics at Old Dominion, at 683-5803.