Thursday, April 29, 2010

Stetson Trivia Question 3

Most of us know that the movie The Waterboy was filmed in DeLand and Debary, utilizing several Stetson locations as sets. Did you know that two other movies have been filmed on campus? Which one of the following movies was also filmed at Stetson?

a. Ghost Story
b. Estás nominado: Cuando la realidad supera a la ficción
c. From the Earth to the Moon
d. Days of Thunder

The answer is A, Ghost Story!

Ghost Story is a 1981 American horror film based on the book of the same name by Peter Straub. It is directed by John Irvin and it stars Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Houseman and Craig Wasson. Another film with Stetson scenery is The First of May (1999) a movie also based on a novel about an unwanted boy and a forgotten old lady who find that running away to join the circus is really coming home. Estás nominado: Cuando la realidad supera a la ficción, a 2005 Spanish TV show, and From the Earth to the Moon, a 1998 TV miniseries also used the campus for some scenes. Days of Thunder, a 1990 Tom Cruise movie, did film in both Daytona and DeLand, however not on campus.

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Stetson Trivia Question 2

Stetson University has hosted a number of notable lecturers over the years. Which of these individuals has NOT given a lecture at Stetson?

a. Elie Wiesel
b. Zora Neale Hurston
c. Archbishop Desmond Tutu
d. Former President Jimmy Carter

The answer is B, Zora Neale Hurston!

While Hurston's hometown of Eatonville is not far from DeLand, the talented writer never came to lecture at Stetson. We have had the honor of hosting author Elie Wiesel in 1996, Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 1991, and Former President Jimmy Carter in 1992 through the Stewart lectures. You can see a list of lecturers and read more about them here : http://www2.stetson.edu/~ljguenth/group/stewart_lectures.htm

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Stetson Trivia Question 1

We all know Stetson was founded in 1883, but what was the name of the university at that time?

a. Stetson College
b. DeLand College
c. DeLand University
d. DeLand Academy

The answer is D, DeLand Academy!

Stetson University was founded in 1883 by Henry Addison DeLand, a New York philanthropist, as DeLand Academy. At that time DeLand Hall was the entire institution! In 1887, the Florida Legislature enacted the Charter of DeLand University as an independent institution of higher learning. DeLand University's name was changed in 1889 to honor John B. Stetson, a benefactor of the university, who served with town founder Henry A. DeLand and others as a founding trustee of the university.

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Monday, April 26, 2010

Grab Bag Trivia Question 5

What have scientists determined was inaccurate about the physical appearance of the terrifying Velociraptors in the 1993 sci-fi chiller Jurassic Park?

a. they should have had feathers
b. they should have been bigger
c. they were the wrong color
d. their tails were too long

The answer is A, they should have had feathers!

In 2007 paleontologists reported that they found quill knobs--where feathers had been anchored--on a velociraptor fossil forearm unearthed in Mongolia in 1998. Spielberg's version of the velociraptor also had some size issues: they were too big and their tails were too short and flexible when compared to fossil evidence. Also in Jurassic Park III, Dr. Alan Grant, played by Sam Neill, states that Velociraptor were smarter than dolphins, whales and some primates. Based on fossil evidence, this is highly unlikely. It is more probable that, while intelligent by dinosaur standards, they were less intelligent than modern big cats.

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Friday, April 23, 2010

Grab Bag Trivia Question 4

How fast, in miles per hour, can a sneeze travel?

a. 5 mph
b. 20 mph
c. 60 mph
d. 100 mph

The answer is D, 100 mph!

The fastest ever recorded sneeze left the nose at 165 miles per hour, and an average sneeze travels at 100 miles per hour. A sneeze is caused by your lungs forcing air out to expel germs, and the action uses your stomach muscles, chest muscles, throat muscles, vocal cords, face muscles and eye muscles. If you want to impress your friends, feel free to use sternutation in your next conversation, as it is another name for a sneeze.

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Grab Bag Trivia Question 3

What famous 19th-century storyteller often left a note at his bedside stating "I only seem dead," for fear he'd be buried alive after being prematurely pronounced dead?

a. Fyodor Dostoyevsky
b. Charles Dickens
c. Hans Christian Andersen
d. Edgar Allen Poe

The answer is C, Hans Christian Andersen!

The Danish fairy-tale writer who brought us such classics as "The Little Mermaid", "Thumbelina", "The Ugly Duckling", "The Emperor's New Clothes", and "The Princess and the Pea". Andersen lived until August 4, 1875, dying of insidious causes in the home of his close friends Moritz Melchior and his wife. Shortly before his death, he had consulted a composer about the music for his funeral, saying: "Most of the people who will walk after me will be children, so make the beat keep time with little steps." Before his death, steps were already underway to erect the large statue in his honor, which was completed and is prominently placed at the town hall square in Copenhagen. At the time of his death, he was an internationally renowned and treasured artist.
Stay curious,
Team ARC

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Grab Bag Trivia Question 2

What is the main ingredient of the Chinese culinary delicacy known as rubber band salad?

a. Kelp
b. Octopus tenticles
c. Dried jellyfish
d. Rice noodles

The answer is C, dried jellyfish!

Dried jellies are popular in many Asian countries, especially Japan, where they're considered a culinary delicacy. The texture is reportedly crispy, yet elastic—hence the name “Rubber Band Salad” for a dish sold in China. The Chinese believe eating jellies will reduce high blood pressure.Blue jellies have become an increasing nuisance to Australian fishermen. In summer, large swarms of blue jellies flood the coastline of northern Australia, clogging nets and reducing fish catches. Some Australians, perceiving an increased market for jellies in Asia, have decided to take advantage of the situation.

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

A "Classes are Quickly Coming to an End" Tip

“Hello, my name is Sims Klein!”

USE THE REFERENCE LIBRARIANS! Many of us do NOT like asking for help. It’s beneath us. We need no help! Well, there are times when we absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, need help. For instance, let’s say you’ve picked a fabulous research idea and you are beyond excited about it, and then VOILA! You go to the library and can’t find one single thing about your topic. Enter reference librarian. They work at that round desk in the middle of the library on the first floor. Introduce yourself and be nice to them. You will not regret it! And F.Y.I. their names are Sims, Jane, Barbara, Pat, and Jane!

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Grab Bag Trivia Question 1

The remains of what famous animal are kept in a peanut butter jar at Tufts University?

a. Flipper the Dolphin
b. Jumbo the Elephant
c. Nim Chimpsky the Chimpanzee
d. Dolly the Sheep

The answer is B, Jumbo the Elephant!

Jumbo is famous for his part in the Barnum & Bailey Circus. In 1885, Jumbo died in a train accident and showman P. T. Barnum had him stuffed. In 1889, Barnum donated Jumbo to Tufts, where he became the school mascot. When fire destroyed the preserved pachyderm mascot in 1975, his ashes were put in a peanut butter jar and kept for good luck for the university's sports teams, which are known as the Jumbos.

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Monday, April 19, 2010

Zoology Trivia Question 5

What is the only animal that can see infrared and ultraviolet light?

a. Bat
b. Jellyfish
c. Goldfish
d. Kimodo dragon

The answer is C, Goldfish!

While some animals can see the visible spectrum and either infrared OR ultraviolet light, goldfish are the only known animal to be able to see all three. Their ability to see infrared light can help them hunt in murky waters. Some studies show that younger goldfish can detect and are sensitive to UV light, but that this may diminish with age.

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Friday, April 16, 2010

Zoology Trivia Question 4

The platypus is a mammal, though it lacks a trait common to the vast majority of other mammals. Which mammalian trait does the platypus lack?

a. It doesn't produce milk for its young.
b. It doesn't bear live young.
c. It doesn't have a four-chambered heart.
d. It isn't warm-blooded.

The answer is B, it doesn't bear live young!

When the Platypus was first encountered by European naturalists, they were divided over whether the female laid eggs. This was not confirmed until 1884 when W. H. Caldwell was sent to Australia where, after extensive searching assisted by a team of 150 Aborigines, he managed to discover a few eggs. Mindful of the high cost per word of wiring England, Caldwell famously but tersely wired London, "Monotremes oviparous, ovum meroblastic". That is, monotremes lay eggs, and the eggs are similar to those of reptiles in that only part of the egg divides as it develops.

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Zoology Trivia Question 3

Baby llamas are known as what?

a. Crias
b. Calves
c. Kids
d. Foals

The answer is A, Crias!

Baby llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, and guanacoes are all called crias (singualar: cria; pronounced: cree-ah). Crias are up and standing, walking and attempting to nurse within the first hour after birth. Dams (female llamas) do not lick off their babies, as they have an attached tongue which does not reach outside of the mouth more than half an inch. Rather, they will nuzzle and hum to their newborns. Well-socialized and trained llamas are very friendly and pleasant to be around. They are extremely curious and most will approach people easily.

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

A "Make the Last 2 Weeks Great" Tip

Roy G. Biv

Having trouble remembering what Gorbachev did for the Soviet Union? Make up an acronym. What is an acronym, you ask. Well every letter in Roy G. Biv relates to a color in the visible spectrum (red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo, violet). This may take a little more time to come up with, but it might be a good way of remembering those really important facts that you just know you are going to be tested on. …still wondering what the acronym is for Gorbachev? So am I dear blog reader…so am I.

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Zoology Trivia Question 2

What is the heaviest flying bird alive today?

a. Argentavis
b. Kori Bustard
c. Californian Condor
d. Mute Swan

The answer is B, the Kori Bustard!

A native of East Africa and South Africa, the kori bustard can fly in short bursts. The male typically weighs about 40 lbs. The heaviest kori bustard on record weighed 48 lbs! The Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) has been recorded as a second runner up, with the largest weighing 18kg or 39.6 lbs.

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

ARC Presents: "Good Night, and Good Luck - Finishing the Semester with Confidence"

ARC Presents:
"Good Night, and Good Luck"
Finishing the Year with Confidence


This is ARC’s last presentation of the semester. Join us as we talk about ways to prepare for final exams while still taking care of ourselves, body and mind.

Tuesday, April 13th
Library, room 25L
4:00-5:00pm

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Zoology Trivia Question 1

What mammal has the densest fur?

a. Polar Bear
b. Luck Dragon
c. Platypus
d. Sea Otter

The answer is D, Sea Otter!

The smallest of marine mammals, sea otters have up to one million hairs per square inch on their backs; In the head of an average male with a hair bearing area of approximately 80 square inch area, the density is approximately 1,250 hairs per square inch (rounded)...so sea otter fur is about 800 times as dense as an average human's!

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Monday, April 12, 2010

Music Trivia Question 5

Fill in the missing lyrics
"Seventy Six trombones led the big parade
With a hundred and ten cornets close at hand"

Which are the missing instruments?

a. Trombones
b. Bagpipes
c. Trumpets
d. Kazoos

The answer is A, Trombones!

"Seventy Six Trombones" is the signature song from the 1957 musical play The Music Man, written by Meredith Willson. The song also appeared in the 1962 film and 2003 TV movie adaptations. "Professor" Harold Hill uses the song to help the townspeople of the fictional River City, Iowa visualize their children playing in a marching band by hearkening back to a day when he saw several famous bandleaders' bands in a combined performance. While an average-sized high-school marching band might have 10 musicians playing the trombone, and a large university band seldom has more than 30, the band that Harold is describing included 76 trombones, 110 cornets, "over a thousand reeds," double bell euphoniums and "fifty mounted cannon" (popular in bands of the time); if such a band actually existed, it would be at least a tenth of a mile long!

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Friday, April 9, 2010

Music Trivia Question 4

Which classical composer wrote the music for the opera "The Magic Flute"?

a. Rossini
b. Mozart
c. Verdi
d. Beethoven

The answer is B, Mozart!

The Magic Flute (German Die Zauberflöte) was composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The opera was premiered in Vienna on 30 September 1791, at the suburban Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden. Mozart conducted the orchestra, Schikaneder himself played Papageno, while the role of the Queen of the Night was sung by Mozart's sister-in-law Josepha Hofer.

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Music Trivia Question 3

Jazz is a 20th century musical idiom which has passed through various trends. One of the these, Be-bop, is mainly attributed to what two jazz legends?

a. Duke Ellington and Joe "King" Oliver
b. Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie
c. Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith
d. Sammy Davis Jr. and Ray Charles

The answer is B, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie!

Gillespie and Parker, both out of the Earl Hines Band in Chicago had traveled with some of the pre-bop masters, including Jack Teagarden, Earl Hines and Jay McShann. These forerunners of bebop began exploring advanced harmonies, complex syncopation, altered chords, and chord substitutions and the bop generation advanced these techniques with a more freewheeling and often arcane approach. Bebop or bop is a style of jazz characterized by fast tempo, instrumental virtuosity and improvisation based on the combination of harmonic structure and melody. In a bebop compositions such as Dizzy Gillespie's "Salt Peanuts", the rhythmic emphasis is on the second and fourth beats of the measure. Such new rhythmic phrasing techniques give the typical bop solo a feeling of floating free over the underlying song form, rather than being tied into the song form.

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Music Trivia Question 2

This popular classical piece was composed in 1880 in a little over a month for a ceremonial occasion commemorating the country's victory in a war earlier in the 19th century. Its composer didn't think much of it and described it simply as "Very loud and noisy".

a. Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" from Die Walkure
b. Beethoven's Fifth Symphony
c. Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture"
d. Strauss' "Dance of the Seven Veils" from "Salome"

The answer is C,
Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture"!

The Year 1812, Festival Overture in E flat major, Op. 49, popularly known as the 1812 Overture, is an overture written by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to commemorate Russia's defense of Moscow against Napoleon's advancing Grande Armée at the Battle of Borodino in 1812. The overture debuted in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow on August 20, 1882, in the Gregorian or NS calendar (the date in the Julian or OS calendar was August 8). The overture is best known for its climactic volley of cannon fire and ringing chimes. Sixteen cannon shots are written into the score of the Overture; logistics of safety and precision in placement of the shots require either well-drilled military crews using modern cannon, or else the use of sixteen pieces of muzzle-loading artillery, since any reloading schemes to attain the sixteen shots or even a semblance of them in the two minute time span involved makes safety and precision impossible with 1800s artillery. Time lag alone precludes implementation of cues for the shots for 1812-era field pieces.

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Music Trivia Question 1

Which famous Christmas carol is sung to a melody by Felix Mendelssohn?

a. Hark, the Herald Angels Sing
b. Deck the Halls
c. Jingle Bells
d. Silent Night

The answer is A, Hark, the Herald Angels Sing!

"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is a Christmas hymn or carol written by Charles Wesley, brother of the Methodist movement founder John Wesley. It first appeared in Hymns and Sacred Poems in 1739, under the topic of "Hymn for Christmas-Day". The original opening couplet was "Hark! how all the welkin rings / Glory to the King of Kings". The version known today is the result of alterations by various hands, most notably George Whitefield, Wesley's co-worker, who changed the opening couplet to the familiar one we know today. The tune that is normally used for this carol is based on a chorus composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1840, part of his Festgesang (Gutenberg cantata) or Festgesang zur Eröffnung der am ersten Tage der vierten Säkularfeier der Erfindung der Buchdruckerkunst ("Festival Song .. to commemorate the invention of book printing"). This hymn was regarded as one of the Great Four Anglican Hymns and published as number 403 in "The Church Hymn Book" (New York and Chicago, USA, 1872).

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Monday, April 5, 2010

IHS Trivia Question 4

How many gallons of air does the average adult human inhale daily?

a. 30
b. 300
c. 3,000
d. 30,000

The answer is C, 3,000!

On average, people take 24,000 breaths each day. Each minute we breathe about 2 gallons of air, which means we take in close to 3,000 gallons in one day! Breathing is one of the few bodily functions which, within limits, can be controlled both consciously and unconsciously. So happy spring, go out and enjoy a breath of fresh air!

Stay curious,
Team ARC

Thursday, April 1, 2010

IHS Trivia Question 3

What is the longest and largest nerve in the human body?

a. Spinal cord
b. Sciatic nerve
c. Femoral nerve
d. Ulnar nerve

The answer is B, Sciatic nerve!

The sciatic nerve--also known as the ischiatic nerve--is a large nerve fiber in humans and other animals. It begins in the lower back and runs through the buttock and down the lower limb. It is the longest and widest single nerve in the human body. The sciatic supplies nearly the whole of the skin of the leg, the muscles of the back of the thigh, and those of the leg and foot.

Stay curious,
Team ARC