PHYSICS STUDENTS WIN NATIONAL AWARD

The Old Dominion University Society of Physics Students (SPS) chapter has won a prestigious Marsh White Award from the American Institute of Physics.

Jennifer Hodgson, president of the university's SPS chapter, submitted the winning proposal, which detailed plans for the chapter's new and improved pumpkin drop for 2002. The annual October event tests physics principles on pumpkins dropped from atop the campus's tallest building. The award includes a $300 grant.

This year's pumpkin drop will feature more advanced tests, according to Gary Copeland, professor of physics at Old Dominion and adviser to the SPS chapter.

The White Awards are made to SPS chapters to support projects designed to promote interest in physics among students and the general public.

Awards of as much as $300 are made annually on the basis of proposals submitted by active chapters and are approved by a panel of judges.

The awards, which were first made in 1975, are named in honor of Marsh W. White for his years of service to Sigma Pi Sigma, the national physics honor society. White served as executive secretary, president and historian of the organization.