March 18, 2010

CoMo's Playground

By Vox staff, multimedia by Lyndsey Nielsen Recess: such a magical word for a kid. But why can’t working adults, retirees and students enjoy the same fun? In Columbia, you can. From music and dancing to sports and video games, CoMo has a variety of ways to fulfill your natural urge to explore many indoor and outdoor hobbies. Peek inside these playgrounds we found around town.

The Sunday night pool players

By Story and video by Evan Bush Balls zing back and forth across green felt and ricochet off rails and into pockets. Players work the ivory-colored ball like puppeteers, ripping it into position with backspin or sidespin as if it were on a string, setting up the next shot for target practice. Others send the cue ball bouncing from rail to rail and hope for contact.

Forever young at the rink

By Charlotte Atchley A mass of people swirl around the oval hardwood rink as if they’re trapped in a blender that’s pulsing to the beat of a Black Eyed Peas song. Veteran skaters fly past the flailing arms and legs of the adventurous beginners. Gary DeVore stands above all these skaters, the patriarch of the group.

Tiny Dancers

By Alison Jung Thump. Thudump. Thumpthump. The muted sounds of basketballs vibrate through the floor above and echo off the basement walls of the Armory Sports Center at 10 a.m. on a Saturday. Stepping to the unpredictable tempo provided by the bouncing balls, dance instructor Sonrisa Wood walks absentmindedly, her black sweat pants gently dragging across the beige tiles.

Boxing's not dead yet

By Katie Davis (Web Exclusive) Sweat drips down Edward Oganesov’s gray T-shirt as he lunges toward the padded target in front of him. He smacks a leather shield, barely missing his partner’s exposed forearm. Both young men cock their fists near their faces and, bending their knees, revert to a guarded boxing stance.

In-flight meal

By Francisco Fisher Justin Robertson orders his dog, Blue, to climb into the back of the pickup truck. She whines as an 18-degree wind whips through her crate. A red-tailed hawk named Patricia perches in her wooden box and jingles a locator bell tied to her ankle. Along with the owner, the dog and bird embark on a hunt where strong talons and a sharp beak are the only weapons needed.

Home is where the dance is

By Bethany Jones Christmas lights snake over water pipes clinging to the ceiling in the dank underground tomb of a basement. Dancers rest against the walls and hope to diminish the heat that radiates from their moist skin.

Shoot first, call 911 never

By Juan Pablo Garcia The shooting range is a Second Amendment sanctuary. Worshippers separated by plastic panels line up side by side and wordlessly shoot bullets into paper targets.

Nerd Paradise

By Dieter Kurtenbach Blake Mallory fights Nazi zombies with precise aim and a quick trigger. The other members of his battalion can’t compete, his personal body count already totaling 105. Although he keeps finishing them off, infinite numbers of the living dead advance into the abandoned, rundown house where Mallory has set up his team base. Zombies already have killed the rest of his group.

Horsing around

By Virginia Pasley Inside an unheated stable at Stephens College, the air is a crisp 18 degrees, too cold for most of us but perfect conditions for the horses.

Ageless music

By Keertana Sastry The musicians play, chuckle and tap their toes to create a friendly and informal atmosphere for the audience. The band plays cohesively, quieting down or swelling to a crescendo when the moment feels right. “Happy Birthday” is played for an octogenarian.

Passion of the fencers

By Ilene Davis The opponents shuffle back and forth. Their calf muscles bulge from otherwise lean legs as they move quickly in a linear motion, hopping on their toes. The harsh clatter of steel on steel echoes through the gym.

The Battles of the Boffer Club

By Han Cheung (Web Exclusive) On a frigid Friday afternoon, a fierce battle is raging on Epple Field, next to Reactor Field. A burly young warrior named Steve Kreinkamp, with the character name Fendrel, is kneeling on the ground. Wearing a gray medieval vest, yellow gloves and a red cloth belt, he swings a long pole club at two assailants.

March 11, 2010

The organ donation debate

By Kaitlin Warner The question of whether to donate organs after death is a topic that prompts much speculation and debate. Some people are resistant to the idea due to religious beliefs, but others, such as Mark Price, want to call for mandatory action.

A firefighter’s dream: flame-retardant fit

By Emmy Hayes The sun was glaring in the sweltering Texas heat, and Lynn Boorady was decked in 70 pounds of heavy firefighter gear. “They had me crouching, lunging, walking around with all that gear on,” Boorady says. The gear might not be as fashionable as what she wears to lecture every day, but for the assistant professor at MU’s textile and apparel management department, it was all in the name of firefighter safety.

Harvesting the soybean genome

By Megan Thomas Davis Consider a jigsaw puzzle. Hundreds, even thousands of pieces scattered about. Imagine how difficult it would be with no picture or directions to assemble the tangled mess. Biochemists face this dilemma constantly, and sometimes even they need a little guidance.

Piecing history together

By Anna Gaynor Todd and Christine VanPool aren’t a traditional couple. While others enjoy the first days of their marriage sightseeing or lying on a beach, the VanPools spent theirs taking tree samples on a Navajo reservation.

Remember me

By Amy Kluber The shortcomings of a short-term memory come into play when trying to remember that last item on a mental grocery list. MU Curators’ Professor of Psychology Nelson Cowan attributes this common funk to working memory, the small amount of immediately recallable information that is held in the mind at one time. “It’s how much is in your conscious mind, and it’s how we can sort of define this human feeling of being conscious,” Cowan says.

Stomp the yard

By Mallory Gnaegy Stephanie Manka could hear the agitated beast stomping around the perimeter of the Gabon field station. She could hear the massive four-legged animal ransacking the camp; then it recklessly ripped off the wooden paneling of her room. Panicked, Manka sought safety in another researcher’s cabin. Minutes later, the dangerous African elephant left. She wasn’t dealing with the average Dumbo.

Digging beneath the painted surface

By Lindsay Schallon Columbia College Sociology Professor Yngve Digernes delicately thumbs page by page through a fragile, 90-year-old Spanish newspaper. He doesn’t have a clue what the articles say, but the language barrier won’t stop him. Although it is a slow and daunting process, Digernes manages to flip through hundreds of issues until stumbling upon a key word in the copy: “Rivera.” Eagerly, he passes the article on to his translator and wife, Nancy Flores, and hopes he has finally found a key component of his research. He does this for several years of newspapers.